I got up earlier than normal yesterday because I have dog detail duty on weekends. The hounds make me think they simply MUST get outside, when all they really want is a human up early so they can sleep on the couch with an audience.
My morning routine always looks the same no matter what time I get up. It consists of a cup of coffee and browsing content online. I start with X (formerly Twitter), to get the latest news from those I follow including AP, Reuters, and local news. One of the first offerings I ran across yesterday morning was WAVE Weather doing a live “SnowTALK” segment. Meteorologist, Brian Goode, got dressed in his suit and tie, set-up for an online broadcast, and 10 minutes in he had 12 viewers… including me.
I found out 2 things.
Next weekend, my area could have below zero wind chills and snow.
There are instances your time is worth more than trying to gain traction/viewers online.
If you want attention online in today’s world, your content has to be controversial. It’s a good thing I don’t post here on whatifitdid.com for clicks and ad revenue. What started as a way to keep the Pesky Neighbors informed during their time in Florida, I continue to post because it’s fun for me to look back throughout the years at my dogs and what was going on in my life.
A wise take-away from my kid?
Y’all know I think it’s fun (and funny) to create images and video clips via AI. Again, I’m not creating anything to garner attention in Internet land — but a whole bunch of people are doing just that. Ben made the comment that he’s sick and tired of AI slop (low-quality, algorithmically produced content flooding online spaces). And I thought, “me too!“
How long before AI isn’t the latest “new thing?”
I may be creating a video clip of Dharma doing the Trump dance but I’m not trying to pass it off as real… and I’m not doing it to get others to buy what I’m selling. Everyone jumps on the latest “new thing” in an attempt to carve out a spot for themselves for a ride to the top. Take professional speakers for example — currently, if you don’t have something to say about AI, you don’t get booked. That’s what companies are looking for because AI is changing the business landscape.
That means you have a whole lot of “experts” talking about something they don’t know shit about. It fuels the hype and gets the desired attention… for now anyway…
Now you know: A 2025 Pew Research Center study found 50% of U.S. adults are more concerned than excited about AI’s increased use in daily life, up from 37% in 2021, with 57% rating AI’s societal risks as high.
You pretty much know the world has taken a wrong turn and has gone totally bat shit crazy when you see the following as a news headline:
I know babies/toddlers potty train at different age levels, and I know Ben was into that phase earlier than other friends that had babies about the same time. He graduated to padded cloth briefs and would NEVER pee in them… but he sure did love pooping in his ‘big boy’ underwear. If I had to ask for permission to change him, he would’ve worn shit for days.
What’s wrong with people?
This type of craziness isn’t just in parenting, you guys. It’s across the board. I know I talk a whole lot about common sense and here I go again… It might also be a good time to stop listening to politicians. I put in my earbuds, cranked up my sweeper, and listened to the speakers prior to voting on releasing the Epstein files. 90% of those speaking got all dressed up to act like a heathen. Yelling and spouting disrespectful commentary picking at each other — it’s disgraceful.
Like Dharma, I understand I’m on the outside looking in… (For the record, she may look pitiful but she LOVES being outside in the rain.)
As I listened to many of the Democrat speakers saying, “Trump could release those files today! Why won’t he?” <—same thing over and over using slightly different wording, I’m wondering why the heck Trump won’t just release all the darned files. After the vote, I looked it up, “Can Trump release the Epstein files today — and if so, why won’t he?” Here’s what I found:
Trump could direct DOJ to release more documents, declassify materials, or otherwise push for transparency — and in fact, his administration has released Epstein-related documents — but he can’t unilaterally force the release when there are legal constraints. (Could this be why he instructed the DOJ to investigate the people he named… to delay release?) Matter of fact, there are three federal judges who have rejected Justice Department / Trump-administration requests to unseal Epstein-related grand jury materials. And they are all Democrats! (1 appointed by Clinton and 2 appointed by Obama.)
My main takeaway? Either those elected to branches of government speak to one another with respect and at a normal modulated tone, or they should be required to dress the way they act so we can spot the barbarians before they open their mouth.
In a land far away from the Internet there is normalcy.
Go out and get ya some of that (even if the weather is ugly) before you cross over to the land of some sort of alternate reality — an insane place where “normal” means women are men and men can have babies and you need consent to change a dirty diaper. It’s like the Twilight Zone on steroids out there — guard your common sense because everyone is trying to take it away from you.
Now you know: In 2016, a monkey fell onto an electrical transformer, shorting it and causing the entire country of Kenya to have no electricity for 4 hours. The monkey survived.
Yesterday, Katie let me know she was on the way to our place but it would take some time to get here. The delay wasn’t because she was coming from Tennessee — she was leaving for here from just across the highway — but the transportation was a golf cart.
I always love to see her and miss her the second she leaves. Like me, Bri and baby can’t wait until she moves back to good ole’ Indiana.
Crazy how times have changed…
Spending time in the car with my Momma headed to the dentist last week, we were talking about the assassination of Charlie Kirk and about how the video of him being shot circulated on social media. And then, Mom shared a story about my family from the early 40s.
My grandma, Bessie McKain, had 5 boys overseas fighting in WWII all at the same time. G’ma knew the boys weren’t stationed together because that was no longer allowed after the death of the Sullivan brothers. (Five brothers serving together were killed in action during the Battle of Guadalcanal.) But… she had no idea where any of them were.
No Facetime. No text messages. Occasional letters.
Mom said G’ma would get letters from the boys, but they were infrequent and they never included anything you might expect. Even simple problems like “the food is awful out here, mom,” and weather conditions which might indicate a location were blacked out. All mail was censored by the US government to protect sensitive information. No “loose lips” in WWII.
Can you imagine if it was your loved one(s) fighting in a war outside of the US and not knowing where they were or what they were doing?
To put things into perspective…
So in WWII, as a matter of national security, mail was censored so nothing would be revealed if it fell into enemy hands. Today, it feels like pretty much everything is blabbed for all to read online… and as citizens… we feel like we deserve to know it all. 🙄
Now you know: At one time there were 10,000 censors employed between the United States and United Kingdom just to review WWII mail.
I don’t know why, but for some reason I thought Perry’s birthday was today, the 6th of February. It occurred to me 2 days ago and I was in a panic. I was wondering what gift I would get since the shipping window was over, and even sent Ben a text letting him know we’d be doing cake and ice-cream on Thursday.
Looking for a photo of Perry to share on his non-birthday, I ran across the following one from last year. I didn’t share it earlier because it’s a reminder of how a certain few number of Disney rides are incredibly hard on bad backs. I look like a blind woman in pain — and half of that was right.
Perry’s b-day is 2/24 — not 2/6.
I still don’t know what I’ll buy for him and feel pretty stupid that I screwed up the date. At least I didn’t buy a cake. Everyone does stupid things sometimes. In today’s connected world complete with social media, we hear about most of those crazy things. Like this guy…
Now you know: During the Cold War, the U.S. developed the Davy Crockett, a recoilless rifle that fired one of the smallest nuclear warheads ever made.
So my lawnmower’s issues are above the pay grade of Perry and Mr. Pesky. Next step is to the guy that put a new motor in it years back. Depending upon the repair cost, a new lawnmower might be in my future.
Next, one of the upstairs mini-split units leaked water all over the wall and floor. S&L — my A/C dudes — showed up before noon and had it working again in a little less than an hour. I haven’t gotten the bill yet. 😬
And on down the road to the real question I want to ask…
Is the Internet dead?
If you agree with me that the Internet is turning into nothing but garbage, raise your hand. If the Internet isn’t dead, it’s dying and in need of something — I don’t know what.
Mainstream media reporting is total shit. Even browsing the Washington Post this morning, I noticed they offered up titles like, “The Nazis took my mother’s boyfriend,” and, “A 70-yr-old-Granny Made a Push-up Bra for Women to Wear All Day.” And even those newsworthy tidbits were surrounded by clickbait links.
ONE solitary article on cbsnews.com this morning had 69 paid advertising links (with images) sprinkled throughout. Yup, I counted them. So while I read from several sources, I take everything as “it could be true.” That’s what I’m doing with the election too. I’m watching the Democratic National Convention, just like I did the Republican one earlier.
The left against the right.
On night one, it seemed like everyone speaking was screaming. Mad screaming with a little hopping even. You had to be a really strong democrat and Kamala supporter to think it was good. I tuned in late on night two but I did hear Michelle Obama. I’ve never been a fan of hers, but she did great. Former President Obama did great as well. My opinion only… but it was a good night for the Democrats.
Now you know: The most recent BOEING whistleblower, whose recent death was ruled a suicide, told his close friend “If anything happens, it’s not suicide. I like to breathe too much; I’ve got so much stuff I need to do and things that I haven’t done that I want to do” prior to his death.
