Just need to talk to my friends (218)

Iris L.

Good morning.

Only 2 hours of sleep last night.

HB, the Apple Air Pods Hearing Aid feature sound interesting. I have an android phone. I might have to think about switching if my hearing gets worse. Thank you for checking this out for me.

Iris

Lorita

Hi, took me a while to catch up. Had a busy day -: plumber got the icemaker hose off. There was/is ice In the bottom of the freezer. Probably from non working icemaker. Also did a couple of other things while he was here.

Also I have never eaten an artichoke either with no plans . We had rain during the night and once today. Plumber Said the roads were really muddy.

I was out in the storage building just now and the floor is covered with black walnut husks. Rusty has been using the doggie door. I saw a little seedling so may transplant it somewhere. I haven't planted flower seeds yet -thought I would wait until the rains let up.

Thunder tonight!!

GothicGremlin

Beautiful day here in the PNW, 75 degrees and sunny. It's the last great day before our upcoming bout of overcast skies and rain.

HB - interesting about cardoons. I wonder if my family just used the word wrong. What we always had as "cardoon" were fried artichoke stems, no cream sauce of any kind. Various members of my family (including my parents) had artichoke plants in their yards, so I know that's what they were. But, the older members of my family always played fast and loose with language, so it wouldn't surprise me if they were wrong about what they were eating.

Beth - I'll admit, I'm not a big fan of artichokes, but I know how to eat them. You steam them for a time, 30 minutes or so because you have to soften them up. Then you peel off each leaf/bract one by one with your fingers, dip each in melted butter and/or mayo (so says my s.o..) and scrape off the insides of the leaf/bract with your bottom teeth. You eat the heart separately. Sounds gross, I know, but for people who love artichokes, this is heaven.

As an aside, Castroville, in central California, is known as the artichoke capital of the world. It is also the home of the Giant Artichoke (a sculpture). People take their artichokes very seriously there. 😄

JeriLynn - I haven't thought of Witchy Woman in a long, long time!

Judith - I'm with you, I always shop the local stores. I've only been in a Walmart once, probably 30 years ago. Amazon is for emergencies only, and going to Target is a rare, rare occurrence.

Lorita - No artichokes for you either? Maybe they grow better on the west coast?

We're planning on a long, gothy night tonight. Can't wait. 🙂

Iris L.

I ate artichoke once, at someone's house. It was okay.

I am planning on meeting up with two of the women from my Italy trip on Sunday. The venue is 30 miles away, in Century City. I'm not looking forward to the traffic.

Iris

Carl46

Lots of pretty cars in town today. The National Street Rod Association has its annual regional Memorial Day weekend car show at the fairgrounds in Springfield, and hundreds of '32 Fords and '57 Chevys and whatever come from Texas, Michigan, and all points between. People line the main streets in lawn chairs on Friday and Saturday evening to watch the cars cruise up and down, and lots of people pay to see the cars at the fairgrounds during the day Saturday and Sunday. My late brother Alan loved those cars and we went to the fairgrounds to walk around and look at the cars together. Some of the cars are for sale. Hobbyists will finish a car, sell it, and buy another old car to work on. This is a pretty big deal for a small town, and the motels and restaurants near the fairgrounds make a lot of money.

ronald71111

Good morning

Ron

eaglemom

Good morning

jfkoc

I am from Chicago and grew up on artichokes (seasonal). Never had broccoli until I was an adult.

!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO THUNDER !!!!!!!!!!!!

Lorita

They went for sure last night. It got kind ot physical a few times. Looking forward to the next game. We had some rain this morning and it's still cloudy and damp. I stayed in bed until 10 a.m., not sleeping but watching tv.

I'm having problems with one of my rechargeable flash lights- it won't charge. Does those charging cords or the thing you plug into an outlet wear out? This happened a while back with my phone.. Luckily I had a spare phone and charger.

The antique car show sounds like fun Carl. We used to have a 1949 Dodge Warfarer that we took , or drove, to one. That car was heavy and fun to drive. Big difference in what we get now most of the time.

Have fun today, Iris. I don't know how you can handle that traffic. I usually don't meet more than a dozen cars when I go to our little town. I do think the traffic has picked up, mostly big trucks, since the data center is going in. Carl, or anyone, what is the purpose of data centers other than to ruin pretty land?

Carl46

Lorita, I suspect the rechargeable battery in your flashlight is worn out. They don't last forever, just like the rechargeable batteries in our cars.

I don't know a lot about data centers, but I suspect that when you ask Alexa how tall a basketball player is, the answer comes to you from a data center, as does this message. If I post something about needing a new flashlight, and I start seeing ads for flashlights, that comes from a data center too.

I filled my gas tank while buying groceries today. I'm getting about 30 mpg with the Subaru, quite a bit better than in the Maxima, which had a substantially more powerful engine and got about 22 mpg. Gas was $4.049, less than high tax states but nearly $2 more than before the attacks on Iran.

The weather forecasters expect an inch of rain in the next four hours. I'm going to put the car in the garage. TTYL

Sweetwater

One theory about data centers is they will be used for surveillance.

Carl46

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/273053#Comment_273053

They already are. Part of the evidence used against the man accused of stabbing the four college students last year was the location of his phone that night. We don't yet have facial recognition on every street corner, like China, yet.

jfkoc

Our economy would come to a screeching halt without data centers. Walmart alone owns 2 data centers.

Carl46

Yep. It's worrisome to me that our economy is that fragile in a time of war, but it is.

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/273055#Comment_273055

jfkoc

Not certain but maybe we would not be talking on our porch either.

Iris L.

My local newspaper just ran an editorial about data centers. Basically, the plan is to build these gigantic computers and routers in order to be able to compete with China. That's what the editorial stated: "It's crucial to build the infrastructure that allows this to take place—and that ensures that the United States can compete with China."

There are 3,000 new data center projects in development around the country, primarily in CA, VA, GA and TX, also in other states. But there is a lot of opposition.

Iris

Lorita

There is one.being built three miles from me on beautiful range land with lots of solar panels and a big electrical station. Another about 15 miles NE and another 25 miles and lots more in Oklahoma.I would have opposed but had no chance. The bought some of the 450 acres and leased the rest for 99 years. Money speaks. I think I have mentioned one guy got. 20 million for 160 acres!

About batteries - Bryon's son told me there is a battery in tablets. Maybe it's the problem with my oldest tablet, too. Too much for this old brain to comprehend!

I saw bits if Stephen Colbert:s final show. Did you all see Paul McCartney? He is one day older than I. No wonder I hesitate to look in a mirror.

jfkoc

When I charge your phone…tablet….computer I assume I am charging a battery. Right??? If so I imagine they can be replaced.

GothicGremlin

@Sweetwater - I hadn't thought of data centers being used for surveillance (in that way). I think of data centers as tools - data centers allow us to have internet service, kind of like how cell phone towers allow us to have cell phone service. But, data centers can be used for surveillance because of who their customers are. Some of the extra large centers are the ones that power AI companies, like OpenAI and Anthropic, who are in the surveillance business. Palantir, as well. Palantir isn't seen as an AI company, but they are very much a surveillance company.

@Carl46 - From what I read about that guy, the evidence the police had was cell phone tower data - his phone pinging the cell phone tower, plus video surveillance (his car). I think there was DNA evidence as well, but I don't remember all of the details.

We don't have facial recognition cameras on every corner yet, but we have a pretty vast surveillance network as it it. Flock (AI cameras, license plate readers, etc.) is everywhere, and Flock engages in mass surveillance. Flock and Palantir work together.

Ahh, the life of a privacy advocate.

I ended up staying up late last night - Death Guild went on until 3am, so I got up at the crack of noon today. 🙂 That felt good. I'll be going to bed earlier than that tonight (even though it's after 1am now). I have stuff to do tomorrow so I can't sleep the day away.

Lorita - I didn't see Stephen Colbert's final show, but I read about, and there was a photo of Paul McCartney. He looks great!

ronald71111

Good morning

Ron

NannyG55

Speaking of privacy - I will be changing my User Name. But, I'll be back.

sandwichone123

Data is everywhere. Everything that's online is stored in a data center, including the information about cell phone pings. But these older data centers have not been so intrusive in our lives until they get hacked. The newer data centers that everyone is talking about are to support AI. Each use of AI uses a tremendous amount of data, meaning electricity and the water to cool the electronics. Coming as I do from the desert, the amount of water use is as concerning as the electricity.

Everything we use (it seems like) uses electricity. If it's not plugged into the wall, it has a battery.

Lorita

Guess I'm an old fuddy duddy but I prefer the way things were when I was much younger. I realize things will never be that way again but life was easier.

Pretty warm day here not much wind. Good day for people on the lakes.

jfkoc

Stayed up watching The Tudors…Ann's head is about to roll.

eaglemom

Thunder and rain here. I worked in the yard earlier and about melted. Of course I watered everything!🤪

DH is restless about the car race in Atlanta later on today. Its raining there now. He likes Nascar and watching it. He reads, does a puzzle, plays a game, something while the race is on.

I'm going to go distract him with playing a game for a bit. Redirect him, so to speak.

Let's be careful out there. I'll be back later to check on everyone.

jfkoc

Change is not always easy for me but it will happen.

I do not want to grow my own food. I do not want to put what I don't eat in a jar for later use. I do not want to churn butter or slaughter meat. I want to be able to fly across our country and to to other countries. I want a car and paved streets not a horse and dirt road. I want a hospital that forges forward to care for me when ill. No to outhouses and wells…yes to the internet which serves as my class room every day. Yes to the printing press and movies. Yes to TV and gas stoves and icemakers.

Lorita…you are not a fuddy-duddy. You, like everyone, does not always see the future as a trade off. The big question is, I think, what are we willing to give up for "what was".

Ann's head is gone and Henry has his 3rd wife.

My new flag has arrived (my computer>the internet>Amazon warehouse>airplane>delivery truck>myhouse>flagpole all within 18 hours I got a Betsy Ross flag in honor of 250 years. Also found a Red Ripper flag to fly on Dick's birthday.

Iris L.

Good afternoon.

I'm still waiting on a pet tool that I ordered a week ago. I'd still rather drive to a store and pick up what I want. Tomorrow I'll follow up.

Today I'm going to meet two women from my Italy trip. I have to drive for one hour.

Iris

GothicGremlin

Judith - I'm with you. I am not a tough guy, and I really like my creature comforts. Change will happen whether I like it or not, but I'm never going to like traffic circles. Never.

Happy day for us here in the PNW! Copper River sockeye salmon showed up in the grocery store! Copper River salmon season here is short - it'll be over by mid-June. If you happen to see it in your store, grab some, you won't be sad. Since it's the beginning of the season, the prices are sky high - $99 per pound for Copper River King salmon - which is just crazy talk, and $50 per pound for Copper River sockeye salmon (which is what we got). We got lucky though, very short flash sale that we just happened upon , $20 per pound. We jumped on it.

As I was waking up this morning, I was reading the news online. Bad news, bad news, bad news, and then - an article about the La Brea Tar Pits!: 'Pompeii, but in the middle of a massive city': the ice age fossil site hidden in Los Angeles. Well, it's not all that hidden, it's on Wilshire Blvd., which is a main street in L.A..

My parents made the mistake of taking me there as a child - the museum wasn't there yet, but I remember being just fascinated by that place. All that tar. My favorite exhibit at the museum is a simple clear cylinder filled about half way with tar. You can push the plunger at the top down, and then try pulling it back up. You'll meet a lot of resistance. It demonstrates how difficult it would have been for an animal trapped in the tar to escape.

Otherwise, I'm having a lazy day and looking forward to munching some salmon. 🙂

Lorita

I need to put up our flag. Thanks for reminding me, Judith.

Ligaments , I guess, behind my right knee I injured 60 years ago, are really bothering me today. Can hardly bend it. Second quarter, Thunder behind six points. Wen down to take trash and checked on the bridge they are replacing What a mess it is..

Thought I might open the north barn doors. Did do a little but decided I would wait and do it tomorrow or let Bryon open them. I couldn't get the stakes out of the ground and didn't want to get in the barn and fall down+ it is dark in there.

Going to watch the game and go to bed. Sleep well.

jfkoc

Copper River Salmon….once. It sure was good!