Trump’s televised announcement yesterday hadn’t even started and I knew with 100% certainty I will never stand behind a politician at a presser. These 9 people stood waiting for a LONG time…
The woman in red was the first to be noticeably uncomfortable. Those red shoes were KILLING her. She began by barely lifting one foot to get a softer position in those heels — and it wasn’t long before she was lifting one leg after the other. At the 20 minute mark, she was backing up to the wall for support lifting that left leg up over and over again.
I know how she feels… I’ve done that dance before myself.
The first thing Trump said to these people was something about them making a lot of money — the power behind the world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies. The woman in red thinks she’s not being paid nearly enough. 😉
Also, for the record, men stand with their legs apart and hold their hands in front — and women stand feet together with their arms at their sides.
Notice the men insofar as hand-clasping personality types. 😉
Hand clasped in front with the left hand on top is associated with being more emotionally driven and intuitive and they lead with feelings rather than logic.
Hand clasped in front with the right hand on top is associated with a more analytical or logical mindset and prefer structure, planning and control.
In case you’re wondering, in the group of pharmaceutical companies represented, there were males 3 leading with feelings and 3 leading with logic and control. Trump stood with his left hand on top… meaning he leads with feelings if you believe the hand-clasping personality indicators.
And finally, the woman in red gave the best speech of all.
Now you know: Aluminum Christmas trees were invented in 1959. When Charlie Brown started badmouthing them in his 1965 special, he pretty much killed the market. They had all but disappeared by 1969.
I’m a “Merry Christmas” person and not a “Happy Holidays” one, but I titled this post as a holiday gift because by the time you read this, it might be too late to buy something to receive before Christmas. It’s a great ‘start the new year’ gift too! It’s one of the best — if not THE best gift you can buy — for yourself or a family member.
Buy an Oura Ring!
Perry snagged me a new one while they were on sale and gave it to me early (https://ouraring.com). My old ring was beat up and scratched. All my data transferred to my new device and today, I got my year end results.
After walking that many miles in 2025, I need a nap.
Interesting to note that high stress results in low recovery — low stress results in high recovery — and the quadrant with the least amount of action is low stress low recovery. Makes sense though, right? The Oura Ring wearable will let you know more things about your body than you can even imagine. And best of all, it will help you — or someone you care about — to score big health improvements in 2026.
Now you know: Study found that women rated the same man as MORE attractive when told he was married, but men rated the same woman as LESS attractive when told she was married.
My PC hasn’t been playing nice and yesterday, it went from bad to dead. I bought a new SSD drive and it worked ok for about a month. Upon attempting an update of the system this morning, it locked up. I’ve tried deleting and reinstalling everything — but that process quit at 57%… at least 10 times.
I’m so frustrated!!
I mentioned in an earlier post that PCs are now bloated with their proprietary stuff. You can’t get away from it. Did you know that BitLocker (disk encryption) is auto-enabled? If you do a hardware change, BIOS update, or a system repair, you must have your BitLocker recovery key. For each drive!! Oh… and the crappy Edge browser is tied to Windows — and Defender, Store and Copilot are integrated.
I took a break and stared at the Christmas lights for about 30 minutes…
That didn’t help my mood or fix my system. So rather than continue whining over my challenges, I’ll simply say I hope your day yesterday was better than mine — and that today is stellar for us both.
Now you know: Santa Claus didn’t originally rescue the misfit toys from their island at the end of the 1964 Christmas special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer until concerned viewers wrote letters to NBC. The following year, a new ending was added where Santa is shown saving them.
The demand for “dumb” devices, such as feature phones, non-smart TVs, and other low-tech electronics, is growing, particularly in North America and among younger generations like Gen Z and millennials. This trend is driven by concerns over digital overload, privacy, mental health, affordability, and a desire for simpler, distraction-free technology.
We’re so saturated we’re sick of it! I may not be part of the “younger generation,” but I’m sure tired of the exposure. Tired of being exposed to constant advertising I don’t want — and tired of my every move being exposed to the world.
Options are incredibly limited.
I started out as a mac girl 100 years ago. Close to 10 years ago, I got pretty darned tired of the Apple ecosystem. The “your computer is too old to update to the new stuff but we’re going to remind you to update anyway by nagging you with a pop-up every single time you attempt to use your device,” put me over the edge. Not quite able to totally give up my love for Mac, I simply added a PC.
At that time, the PC wasn’t requiring an update every 10 minutes like the mac, and you didn’t have to login to do anything. That’s all changed! Microsoft now nags me constantly to sign in to my one drive account. It’s about security they tell me. Updates are frequent and here lately, it’s like a totally new set-up experience in every update.
Linux is currently the choice for minimalists wanting to get away from proprietary systems like Windows or macOS, which often come with preinstalled, non-removable software.
Smart TVs — and the devices and apps you use to connect — are horrible.
I personally prefer Apple TV for connectivity to the apps required to watch a streaming service because there aren’t ‘in your face’ ads. Roku? Amazon Fire? Your smart TV options? All are simply AWFUL! But even if you get a “dumb” TV, you still have to connect it to some kind of casting device if you want to stream anything — and they’re going to track you.
Now you know: 100 year old actor, Dick Van Dyke, was 18 when he learned that his parents lied to him about his birth date. He thought he was born in March, but was actually born in December. They lied to him to cover up the fact that he was a love child and was conceived out of wedlock.
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.
