Weekends Thread, October 2024

What October weekend fun have you got planned? Spooky? Sweet? Salty?

I have a clear weekend, for a change. Lots to do, though. Prepping the yard for winter, dealing with harvested veg, etc. Plus housecleaning and working on my print for next week's class.

Also, yesterday (Thursday) was my 19th Thingaversary, and I was so busy I had no time to celebrate. I did listen to an audiobook, but I really wanted to have a DNBR day, and it just wasn't possible. I have two library books that are not finished and due today, and I'm going to try to get through them. The library doesn't have fines but both books have waiting lists so I can't renew them.

Happy Thingaversary. Hope you can get to your reading day soon! You remind me that mine is on the 12th. My 18th. I won't be able to celebrate that day as I will be at a family reunion. Does it count that today I purchased a book on Kindle that I read about in my grandmother's diary?

As for this weekend, I got nuthin.

>1 tardis: Happy Thingaversary. Enjoy it as much as you can...whenever you can.

>2 MrsLee: Does it count that today I purchased a book on Kindle that I read about in my grandmother's diary?

It definitely counts. A BB from your grandmother is a definite hit. Keeps it in the family.

This weekend we are returning to Ireland. Saturday we drive to Sainte Merè Église where we stay for one night. On Sunday we sail from Cherbourg and arrive in Dublin on Monday morning. I hope the sailing will give me a few hours reading time.

>1 tardis: Happy Thingaversary :)

>1 tardis: Happy Thingaversary!

>3 pgmcc: Safe travels!

This is a long weekend here: for reasons too long to explain, Queensland celebrates the King's birthday on the first Monday in October (His Maj's real birthday is in November). WE have no plans, but I've had pretty much a DNBR day today.

Recovering from Durban Botanic Gardens's 175th anniversary symposium. Both Better Half and I were asked to present papers, and several of those present asked her to write a book (on aquatic plants) after she gave hers. The food was, er, Durban, meaning if you didn't like spicy you lost out; but the liquid refreshment was great.

>1 tardis: Happy 19th Thingiversary! You must have joined up pretty soon after the website went public, correct?

My son is bringing a carload of guests for two days. My house is small so it should be interesting. Luckily we have great weather, so they can hit the beach. (Though I think the water has cooled off enough that swimming isn't in the cards.) I think they are planning on playing the game Wingspan* this evening. I have played a couple of times, and I will be happy to sit and watch.

https://stonemaiergames.com/games/wingspan/

We have a game today. Should be a good time. It’ll be perfect fall weather.

Tomorrow we need to caulk the new baseboards. We got new flooring downstairs. To save a bit of money, we are doing the finishing touches ourselves. Im so glad the carpet is finally out!

>7 clamairy: Yes, I was one of the earlier LT members. I saw a post about it in a blog called Library Stuff and was intrigued. Entered a few books, was hooked. It had been going for a couple of months at that point. At one time my library was in the top 10 for number of books. Of course, that didn't last; I am in 4010th place of this instant, and am likely to fall further at any moment. I have seen LT through ALL the changes, and it's still my favourite place on the internet.

>9 tardis:
That is a great commendation for LibraryThing.

Sitting on the docks in Cherbourg waiting to board our ferry home. This morning we visited The Airborne Museum in Sainte Mère Église. It commemorates the paratroop drops of the US army on D-Day. It was a very sobering experience. I was quite subdued for some time afterwards. I have had too much war today.

>11 pgmcc: Thank you for honoring my countrymen by going to the museum and acknowledging their sacrifices.

>12 clamairy:
You are very welcome.

>7 clamairy: Wingspan is a great game! The artwork is so lovely I could just look at it and not even play!

>9 tardis: LT is the best place on the Internet, and the Green Dragon is the best best place!

>9 tardis: Right there with you! The general environment of LT has value on so many levels (and, yes, the Pub is where I spend most of my time).

>14 Sakerfalcon:
The “bestest” you might say.

>1 tardis: happy thingaversary!

Not just on the weekend, but I am currently visiting my Mom on Saltspring Island. It is lovely here, and I am staying with lovely extended family (Mom's husband's daughter and her husband). Bob (Mom's husband) is still in hospital after a small stroke or similar event in mid-August. He is waiting for a bed in extended care, so he won't be coming home. Mom is coping, but her age is really slowing her down now. I see quite a change from my last visit in April, although she'd had a virus the week before I arrived, so some of it may be still recovering from illness. I'm glad I have my dog with me, as I have an excuse to go for a walk. Leaving in the morning, for a roundabout trip home. I'll be doing some visiting along the way.

>11 pgmcc: sitting on the dock of the bay, huh. Watchin' the time rolling away?

>18 MrAndrew:
You have me ear-wormed now.
:-)

This weekend I actually have something going. My nephew and his wife are hosting a family reunion. This was supposed to happen last May, but my brother's health was too precarious, so it got moved to this weekend. I told my nephew that trying to pick a day when all the family could attend might be impossible with our large family, so pick a day which worked for his family and go from there. So now only one of my kiddos will be there. Oh well. My own family is probably the most reclusively inclined of all the sibs, so the fact that one of my sons and his family will be there is a win.

Yesterday I made a very large pot of chili beans from my mother's recipe (these are pinto beans with ground meat, tomatoes, celery, onions and garlic, with Gebhardt's chili powder, comino, salt and Mexican oregano. Not too heavy on the spicy heat, just flavorful.

Tomorrow I make a large Devil's food cake with ganache icing. Saturday is the party day, and Sunday I will be teaching my nephew's wife how to make baking powder biscuits like my dad did (what she doesn't know is that I'm flying by the seat of my pants every time I make them). These are the sort of biscuits sausage gravy would go on, similar in looks to a scone, but not as sweet or dense. Got it? :P

>20 MrsLee: Oh, such lovely plans! The food sounds amazing. Now I need to go and eat something, anything... :)))

>20 MrsLee:
Nice.

These are the sort of biscuits sausage gravy would go on, similar in looks to a scone, but not as sweet or dense. Got it? :P

Got it. I like US biscuits and gravy, even if they should be called scones and sausage cream sauce.
:-)

Re scones: not all scones are sweet. In particular, there are cheese scones. The wife of a former Premier of Queensland was famous for her pumpkin scones. Scones are not normally served with gravy, although there are stews with a topping which is basically scones. Also, decent scones are not dense.

Quiet weekend, says me hopefully. I had my appointment with the consultant surgeon at the hospital this morning. Told her about the possible visit to Doha and the need for respite care for Mrs H. Her answer was that the surgery wasn’t going to happen for a while yet and I should do whatever I needed to, and she was quite relaxed about the idea of travelling. Therefore, assuming I can get respite care for Mrs H, and travel insurance, I hope to go to Doha. On Monday I’ll have to make some phone calls. Lots of phone calls.

>23 haydninvienna: I experimented with scones and tried making savory ones with herbs, but they still need some work. Leaving out the sugar from the recipe changed the chemistry, and they didn't rise very well. Cheese ones tasted good but were very flat. I'm sure there's a trick to it that i haven't learned yet!

>24 haydninvienna:. Crossing fingers and thumbs on your behalf!

>23 haydninvienna: Perhaps "dense" isn't the word I'm looking for. Maybe "rich"? The recipe I have calls for cream and not milk in the recipe. I like the way they come out, although, I'm sure they are probably not the best from the photos I've seen of other scones. They are definitely not as fluffy as my baking powder biscuits (when I get them right).

Hoping for you that things fall into place for your plans to go through as you wish them to.

>25 Darth-Heather: My base for savoury "scones" is Joy of Cooking's Rolled Biscuits. I cut the butter (or equivalent) into pea-sized lumps and then fold the dough over at least 10 times before rolling out and cutting. They rise in beautiful flaky layers. I usually add grated cheese before the folding process.

For my biscuits & scones I have always cheated and used my KitchenAid. I toss in the butter and the flour, salt & baking soda, etc. And I always use buttermilk. Lately I have been trying to make them healthier by using ½ white and ½ whole wheat flour. Or mixing ⅓ white, ⅓ whole wheat and ⅓ almond flour. These are delicious, but they don't hold together quite as well. I have bought some ground psyllium to try adding. It apparently gives the yeast something to eat and stretches in a gluteny way.

>26 jillmwo: >27 MrsLee: Thanks, both of you!

It's the Thanksgiving long weekend in Canada, so there's a lot of eating going on. Being retired, the day off holiday means little, and we're not doing a big family meal, but we are going to the residence where my husband's mother lives to have dinner with her on Monday.

Other than that, it's nice weather so yardwork and reading books. Plus packing because I'm going to visit my mother on Tuesday. Flying into Victoria, renting a car and getting a ferry to Salt Spring Island. I'm staying a week. I'm already stockpiling books to read on the trip :)

I'm no expert on American biscuits, or really scones for that matter. However i have eaten my share of scones in Devonshire teas (yum!). I'd say that dense or heavy is a good description of less-than-ideal scones. "flaky" is never a word that i'd associate with scones (crumbly, perhaps). Flaky layers with cheese does sound good though.

>22 pgmcc: "sausage cream sauce"... you are welcome to the copyright for that. Good luck with the marketing.

Currently sitting with my wife eating cheese. I am having the Saint Agur, Munster and some Galet de La Loire. Eating the cheeses with baguette, of course.

This strikes me as a very fitting weekend activity.

>32 MrAndrew: I'd say that dense or heavy is a good description of less-than-ideal scones. "flaky" is never a word that i'd associate with scones (crumbly, perhaps). Flaky layers with cheese does sound good though. This represents a sound discussion of the particular baked item.

>33 pgmcc: So the consuming of cheese and baguette is lunch or is it dinner? Inquiring minds want to know. In either case, was there a glass of wine as well?

Got thru a week of group discussions and doctor's appointments. (I swear that, on some level, she views me as a hypochondriac. On some other level, she thinks I might die. Six relatively small vials of blood still seems excessive.)

>33 pgmcc: Fitting indeed!

We had goat cheese and brie yesterday ;)

>33 pgmcc: sounds like a lovely way to spend the weekend.

>34 jillmwo: I always hesitate to go to the doctor because I feel like they’ll look at me like I’m crazy. For example, I’ve been having elbow problems. Finally went to the doc. One was fine. He had to refer me. The osteo doc treated me like I was bothering her. She sent me to PT. If I have to go back to the osteo, I’m requesting someone else.

Not much going on here. Lots of college football. Reading in between plays. And then the usual chores.

If you haven't eaten grilled peaches with goat cheese and honey, you're missing out.

>36 catzteach: I think my primary care provider is generally okay; within the context of current medical practices, she is there to do referrals to be sure that anything that's out of whack gets looked at appropriately. The blood work is generally considered to be routine in the grand scheme of things. She'll call me and tell me if I need more Vitamin B, more vegetables in my diet and provide me with the necessary booster vaccinations. (She wanted me to get the flu shot as an example so I did.) And I don't need to see her again for another six to eight months unless something flares up. I tend to load up on what I view as long-term protective aspects, like physical therapy. (A necessary evil.)

>37 reconditereader: That sounds excellent.

>34 jillmwo:
Our cheese consumption was for lunch. We did not have wine. It was a light lunch because I was making Singapore Noodles for dinner.

At dinner time we did have wine with the Singapore Noodles. We also drank wine with the cheese course after the Singapore Noodles. Very civilised.

My six monthly check-ups require blood samples. They fill six small vials of blood and send them off for a bank of tests.

>34 jillmwo: & >40 pgmcc: I recently had to read the details of a medical trial I may be eligible for; all 37 pages. I thought it interesting that they detailed the amount of blood that would be drawn each time, not only in ml, but then they would say, "about 2 tsp." etc.

Back from the family reunion, it was loads of fun and satisfaction of visiting loved ones. I am privileged to have lovable family, and although many of us have different political and religious beliefs, they all remain civil. Pretty sure there were a many children as adults and they kept busy with their own amusements. The organizers had pumpkins to carve, and Bingo to play. So much food. I was able to reconnect with one of my favorite distant cousins. So nice to catch up with him.

The biscuit making this morning was a qualified success. I think I added too much lard, and it wasn't refined lard, so had a flavor, but they tasted fine with the sausage gravy. Everyone liked the way they flaked, then melted in the mouth.

>41 MrsLee: that's not a medical trial document, it's a vampire's cookbook.

A friend of mine is a study/trial monitor for Dana Farber Cancer Institute. If you would like to have me look at it, she might have some insight as to how the study is designed and what the likely monitoring might be like.

>42 MrAndrew: Hmmm

>43 Bookmarque: Thank you, it seemed pretty straightforward as far as what is expected of me. I will let you know after I talk to the doctor this Thursday.

>41 MrsLee: Oh my. I hadn't thought about that aspect, but certainly for informed consent, you would indeed need to read all of the fine print in the 37-page "thing". Nice that they do the conversion for you!

Oh and I meant her look at it, not me as I would be less than useful. Hope it is something that can help you.

Busy, busy weekend for me. At least it wasn't work-busy.

I played in the state senior games (for us older folks who still fancy ourselves athletes) table tennis Saturday. I am not very good, so I did not expect much. The skill level this year was much higher than in past years, I think. As I expected, I lost more than I won. That was okay with me.

I stayed over Sunday to play in the state table tennis championships. Again, I played about as I expected. Won two matches, lost two. Three of the four went the full five games, so I was very tired and hungry at the end. This probably contributed to my being very frustrated and agitated about the poor scheduling of the events of the day. I left about 1 p.m. for the two-hour drive home, which allowed me to contemplate in peace about the weekend.

Vacation day from work today to try to rest up. Of course had to do some yard work, cleaning up fallen branches from the huge old maple tree in my front yard. The tree is so huge that my arms only go 1/3 of the way around the trunk, so it is very old and tends to shed branches a lot.

After my primary degree I tried to teach myself Russian. All that stuck was Da, Nyt, and я не говорю по-русски, which means, “I do not speak Russian”.

Just got home today from two weeks away. Left Saltspring Island where I was visiting Mom on Wednesday. My hostess was headed into Victoria, on Vancouver island that day, so I was able to give her a ride to the ferry. We separated when it docked, as I had to catch the next ferry to Tsawwassen (mainland). I drove to Osoyoos to overnight with friends there, which was lovely. The next day I stopped to visit a friend in a seniors residence in Summerland - sadly he has dementia. He knew me and was happy for my visit, but got confused heading to his room at one point. I overnighted that night in Lillooet with more friends. Was lucky that the youngest daughter had just arrived for Thanksgiving weekend, so saw her as well. Friday we had a lovely late breakfast, then toured her under-construction house south of town, after which I headed to Prince George. I spent the night at my friends' house there, but they were away camping, but I had visited with them on the way down. Saturday I headed for Charlie Lake, near Fort St. John for Thanksgiving dinner with friends. I usually camp there, but stayed in the house, since I didn't have my trailer. We had lovely night around the fire with lots of friends. I stayed Sunday there, too, hanging out, walking dogs, playing with children, feeding chickens, knitting, trying to find what was wrong with Kristine and Ard's well, and generally having a nice time. This morning we had Al's famous "mountain man breakfast" - done outside by the fire in a dutch oven, and consisting of bacon or ham, potatoes, eggs (from the resident chickens) and cheese. Lovely! After breakfast I went into Fort St. John to pick up a few things, then headed for home. It was a lovely drive, and I ran into friends both in the FSJ store, and at a rest stop on the way home. Walked the dog with a friend after I got home, and was very pleased to hear that his dog, which was diagnosed with cancer, might actually not have that, and seems to be improving. Lovely Thanksgiving weekend!

>49 NorthernStar: wow!

I read a book.

>49 NorthernStar:. What a wonderfully sociable time! Glad you had such a lovely time away from home!

>50 MrAndrew:. What did you read?

>41 MrsLee: The family gathering sounds great. Best of luck with the trial. The 2 tsps doesn't sound terrible.

>47 Hammy_JLK: That sounds fun.

>49 NorthernStar: What a wonderful adventure, filled with all of the good stuff, family, friends and good food

My daughter is visiting. We met some friends of mine at the Oyterfest in Greenport Sunday afternoon. We had a lot of fun and snarfed up soooo many raw oysters. My daughter got a ride home in one of my friend's boat. We ordered pizza, and we were just settling in our seats by the water to watch the sunset when one of my friends took a tumble on a brick pathway with a full wineglass in her hand. The stem of the glass snapped off and embedded itself under her chin. There was an ER visit and 8 stitches required. There were many teaspoons of blood to be cleaned up. So a bit of a tumultuous ending to an otherwise perfect day.

Yesterday we went shopping and antiquing, and I found a cement sea serpent that I am going to go back and inquire about when the shop is actually open.

>52 clamairy: A terrifying end to a lovely day! Glad she is ok.

>52 clamairy: I am glad your friend is ok!

>52 clamairy: Hopefully, everyone is recovering -- both physically as well as mentally. Banish glassware and just pour the wine into sturdy tin cups.

>52 clamairy:
Oh dear! I hope your friend recovers quickly and that she can remember the good parts the day without the end of day disaster totally washing away the good feelings.

>52 clamairy: What they all said, but especially Peter.

>52 clamairy: I third what Peter said

We have no plans for the weekend, except for being cozy, books, chores, cooking, etc :) We took a beautiful walk this morning. The autumn colours are gorgeous.

We have come to Howth to buy fish and enjoy the sun at the harbour. I have just enjoyed a lunch of calamari, fisherman’s pie, and a pint of Guinness.

>60 pgmcc: Sounds pleasant!

>59 Alexandra_book_life: We're only just beginning to see those changes in color.

>60 pgmcc: Sounds very nice and delicious :)

I am on Salt Spring Island, visiting my mother and helping her with self-care and stuff around her apartment. Exciting meals in the facility's dining room every night. The food is really good but it's a bit like being on show.

Mom's health is iffy, and her back has been really bothering her, so there's been a lot of medical stuff (3 hours in emerg! Hitting ALL the best tourist spots!) but we're also getting some files cleaned out and some other projects done. My stepfather has gone into long-term care so she's on her own in the apartment. We've gone over to visit him, too.

I walked downtown one day while mom was napping, and visited the used bookstore, but I didn't buy anything. I have enough with me, but of course am always willing to buy more if there's anything I want :)

I go home on Tuesday.

On Friday I winterized as much as possible around the house in preparation for a forecast major snowfall. Then went to knitting group, then to a memorial for a friend who died recently. She had a kidney transplant which was going well, but then she fell and hit her head. I was out of town for two weeks, and at least 4 people I know died in that time.

Today I was helping work on the ski trails, getting them ready for winter. So far we only have 2-3 cm of the forecast 15-20 cm of snow. I also voted in the provincial election.

Sunday there is a potluck at the seniors centre, and I think nothing else scheduled. Lovely.

>64 NorthernStar: I just saw this post and I am so sorry that you've experienced that kind of loss. Even if you were only close to one or two, that's a hard thing to process.

OTOH, I hope the potluck at the seniors centre was pleasant?

>64 NorthernStar:
Sorry to hear about the people you know passing in such a short time. My condolences.

I signed up for a 4 day course in etching at the local printmakers' society. Saturday and Sunday this week and next week. I'm looking forward to it, although I still don't have a design prepared.

Sunday is going to be the only day in the next week or so that will be above 10C so as soon as I get home I need to rush out and wash the outside of all the windows. Main floor isn't a problem but upstairs is trickier. I'm not a fan of long ladders.

Oh, the drama in my very narrow sphere of life!! The pizzeria has screwed up our dinner order.

>68 jillmwo:
Outrageous!

I say take off and nuke them from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

>68 jillmwo: Noooo!
I am now curious about the exact circumstances.

>70 MrAndrew: That is such a great answer, and could apply to many situations.

>69 pgmcc: >70 MrAndrew: >71 Alexandra_book_life: >72 MrsLee: It started because we didn't have a good plan for Friday night's dinner. I had already vetoed hot dogs as an option and we had a Zoom thing at 6pm. Now we don't normally join the Zoom thing until 6:15 at the best of times, but we hadn't even realized how late it was when we decided to opt for pizza as a solution. My husband called it in about 5:30; the place told us it would take 30 minutes. Being impatient, he headed up at 5:45. He got there and they handed him the pizza and it was NOT the usual half one side sausage and the other side pepperoni. Gasp!!!! They'd mixed up the two things TOGETHER. (I know. Barbaric. First no presidential endorsement by a national newspaper for our candidate of choice and then they screw up the dinner order. Spouse was not happy.)

The thing is that this is a small business, not a chain. They make excellent pizzas (so we're not in favor of the nuclear option offered by MrAndrew). We've supported them for the past 27 years via once-a-month-pizza night and one son swore by something called an inside-out that they made when he was a teenager. The guy working the counter told Pat he'd make things right and Pat texted me they were making a new pie and he'd be delayed a while yet.

Now the woman who hosts these weekly zoom get-togethers always asks people to RSVP via Facebook and I'd been late with mine as it was. So now I had to jump on the system and tell who-ever was there that we'd be later than usual. Okay. Everyone nods and gives me a thumbs-up to reassure me that I'm not a social pariah.

Patrick then texts me to say that the girl who took his order over the phone was being reprimanded by the manager. My text back to him is "Oh, dear. Does it look like she's going to be fired?" (Because I don't want the guilt and it wouldn't have killed him to take the damn pizza the way it was. Some of these kids NEED the work. I'm wincing.) Patrick assures me that she's not getting fired. I am relieved but meanwhile, during all of this, I've missed the next day's weather report which is annoying.

He arrives home with the fresh pizza. We each gobble down two slices in loutish, unmannerly fashion. I'm worried over whether the cheese will prove to be a problem for his digestive track; he's worried that I'm not happy with the less-than-nutritious meal option.

Then we separate to the two different computer locations to join Zoom only to discover that tonight's conversation is not particularly high-tone in terms of topics. I kid you not -- funny stories about finding toilets in public settings, the medical myths surrounding menopause and why society doesn't talk about it, how a hospital is moving to automation with robots, and one very brief exchange about the new movie, Conclave, which features Stanley Tucci and Ralph Fiennes. (No opportunity to see the movie yet, so that was why it was so brief.) No Shakespeare, no classic science fiction, no news of children or new food recipes. It was not the most diverting of gatherings. We're all just a bunch of old farts.

So that was the drama with a disappointingly anti-climactic ending. Too much information?

>73 jillmwo:

Your pizza story reminded me of a tale told by an IBM speaker at a conference a long time ago. It was the early days of what consultants called Customer Relationship Management and of computers capturing incoming telephone numbers. He told us of his experience ordering pizza. He rang the pizzeria number, a pizzeria that his family regularly ordered from. For some funny reason I remember his surname was Brown. His conversation went as follows:

Rang the number and the phone was answered.

Pizzeria: Hello! Is that Mr. Brown?
Mr. Brown: Yes.
Pizzeria: Would you like to order some pizza?
Mr. Brown: Yes.
Pizzeria: Your last order was ... Is that correct?
Mr. Brown: Yes.
Pizzeria: Would you like to order the same again?
Mr. Brown: Yes.
Pizzeria: The address we have is... Is that the same delivery address for this order?
Mr. Brown: Yes.
Pizzeria: Your pizza will be with you in... Thank you for your order. Have a good evening.

He told us he rang the pizzeria, said "Yes" five times, and pizza arrived at the house.

Sorry your order was not so easy.

Also sorry that your zoom conversation was not as interesting as you had hoped.

By the way, I loved your post. It was not too much information.

>73 jillmwo: Gotta say, I ordered extra coffee pods at our hotel room, and a robot brought them to us. It was quite possibly the most exciting event on our trip. Husband met it in the hall and walked with it to our room after it had a brief conversation with another robot. Meanwhile I ran to get my phone so as to record this historic moment. Then we thoroughly confused it because we had our door open. Our thing bee-booped, backed up, then forward, the phone rang twice, but I didn't get there in time, so I called the front desk. I guess the robot calls your room when it arrives and when you answer the phone that is the cue for its lid to open. Front desk opened it remotely and we had our coffee pods.

I told all this to my friend who used to work at the hotel with me. We had fun asking each other things like, but does it plunge toilets? Can it tell naked guests to return to their rooms? Will it catch a snake in the room?

Two nights later I ordered some towels and coffee, expecting the robot and feeling proud that I knew how to receive it, and there was a knock on the door. A man to deliver our items. I guess they were afraid the country bumpkins might break their robot.

>76 jillmwo: Based on what my friend said about the care and training involved with robots being introduced into these settings, the experience can be fraught with anxiety. She was helping the robots in the hospital adapt to the setting; they had to learn how to deal with elevators. When they deliver medication, someone must respond to them very quickly. Otherwise they sit there lamely, unable to do anything else. Ordinary doors represent a barrier, if they can't open on the basis of sensor or via a swipe card. (I actually envy you your little encounter w/ the robot and its precious cargo of coffee pods...)

>75 MrsLee: That sounds fun! I've only run into the ones that clean the aisles in certain stores. Some of them have big googly eyes on them, like the ones in Stop & Shop. Did yours have a face?

No, just a screen that showed messages. It was shorter and bigger around than those. It's top opened up and whatever you had ordered was inside.

>75 MrsLee: are you sure that he wasn't a robot? Did you give him a turing test? Or at least a Captcha? Get him to identify the cookbooks from a selection of books with food in the title?

>75 MrsLee: Have you by any chance seen the Tread the Globe episode (somewhere in Series 8; it's on YouTube) where they eat at a restaurant in Tokyo where all the waiters are robots? Your coffee-pod episode sounds remarkably similar.

>78 MrsLee: That makes sense. They want the center of gravity low so it doesn't tip over, and they need a large area to put items in.

>79 MrAndrew: I am with you. Test those robots! Knowing who you're dealing with is good advice.

The Rise of the Robots is a great overview of the technology behind AI and the LLMs. It came out in 2015 but captured the essence of what has been happening, what has happened and is likely to happen. It is backed up with plenty of data and references. It would be interesting to see an updated edition but I think that would primarily be reporting on just how the underlying technologies are being applied to dehumanise the workplace and maximise corporate profits by eliminating labour costs. That would be in line with the overall theme of the 2015 edition.

The book is such a good overview of the technology, regardless of the main premise of the book, I have recommended it to several contacts in the IT field, including sales people. They have found it invaluable in getting a mental grip on the area.

This weekend has been focused on two things.

1: Reading Karla's Choice. Both my wife and I have been reading and enjoying the book. I finished it at 07:15 hrs today. Strongly recommended to anyone who likes Le Carré's stories, espionage novels, and any tales of the Cold War.

2: Getting ready for our son's business trip to the USA. Currently he is in Reykjavik awaiting is connecting flight to the States. After dropping him at the airport around 8am we went to IKEA and awaited its opening to have breakfast. While waiting my wife read Karla's Choice and I read Kala, this month's book club read.

Yesterday we went to a local shopping centre for our son to buy shoes and a few other things in preparation for his trip, and then we had a meal together to mark his leaving. Ate at Eddie Rockets, an American style dinner.

In parallel to the two focus topics above, we also brought a load of green waste to the dump; tree cuttings mostly.

>84 pgmcc: I'm glad you enjoyed the book. Is your son going to be able to visit your daughter while he is in the States?

>85 clamairy:
Unfortunately not. While he is in the US she will be in Europe. The real rub is that while she will be in Europe she cannot swing a visit to us, and we are the centre of the Universe. How bad is that?

On the subject of robots, or machines doing the job of a human, we were pleasantly surprised that one of the parking garages had a human at the exit collecting money. She was pleasant and helpful and enabled us to take a breathe after dealing with the minor stresses of elevators, traffic, parking and such. We made a point of telling her how lovely it was to have a human to interact with.

>79 MrAndrew: I didn't think of that! He also didn't get a tip because he surprised me, and this old country gal didn't think to tell him to wait a minute for it. Oh well.

>86 pgmcc: Wishing the best for your son's travels, and your daughter's. Perhaps a letter to her employer is in order to tell them to get their priorities straight.

>86 pgmcc: Oh, I'm sorry...

I finished the first two days of my etching course. When I did etching before we used all sorts of smelly, toxic stuff, and the product being used in this course doesn't require ventilation or special solvents or anything. Very pleasant to use. I pulled the first couple of prints today and need to make some changes to my copper plate. The course runs next weekend as well.

Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to use this print for my Christmas card, but I'll see how it goes. It's a black-capped chickadee, one of my favourite birds, and would be an appropriate subject if the print turns out well enough.

This isn't a weekend thing (although weekends are kind of irrelevant when you're retired anyway LOL) but it kind of fits with the theme of actually doing stuff.

We went out last night for dinner and Nerd Nite*. Dinner (Japanese) was excellent, and we had enough time to visit a nearby used book store before we had to get to the theatre. I bought eleven (11) books! One (Access Denied) is a mystery, the other 10 are by C.J. Cherryh to fill in holes in my collection. I'd have probably bought more, but Marcel made me leave so we wouldn't be late to the show. Also, we walked over and I had to carry all the books home.

*Nerd Nites are based on the premise that "learning is more fun while drinking" and feature a cash bar, plus several short presentations by people who are VERY nerdy about something. They started in New York and have spread to cities all over the world. Two of last night's presentations were book-related: one on defiling books in the name of art and the other on rare books. The third presentation was on ground source heating. All fun and interesting.

>90 tardis: Now I am wishing we had such a thing as Nerd Nites. Sounds fun, even if you get hit with an uninteresting subject now and then, at least you can have a drink in hand to get through it!

>91 MrsLee: It's interesting how often a subject that doesn't look appealing becomes quite fascinating when the presenter is a true enthusiast. Topics in the past have included burlesque dancing (with demonstrations!), squirrels, linguistics, wildfires, compost, stage magic, baculums, farts in space, and dozens more.

>90 tardis: and >91 MrsLee: I LOVE the idea of Nerd Nights. What a fabulous concept.

>90 tardis:
I tell people I am on a 365 day weekend.
:-)
Some people take a while to get it.

>90 tardis: , >93 jillmwo: Nearest one to me seems to be in Newcastle, which is a solid day's drive away. Pity.

>90 tardis: I love the idea of Nerd Nites! I'd love to go :) Did a quick search in my area, but nothing came up...

Husband and I decided to take the road less traveled on our way to Costco today. We headed out on a road named Jelly's Ferry to the Bend area (a bend in the Sacramento River which forms a farming community). Tootling along this road we saw cows, new vineyards and some foliage putting on their autumn dresses. We came to a road we hadn't heard of before and decided to see where it goes, but before we got very far, there was another fork in the road, and a large pickup was blocking the road we had intended to go on, so we took the other one. It led through some beautiful farming country I had never visited, some of them very large holdings. We came upon a pioneer cemetery. There was a character parked by the entrance so of course we had to speak to him. He was very helpful telling us the history of the area and where the roads led to (I was a bit disappointed about that because I was looking forward to the surprise), then he handed us a bright orange, hand- lettered paper. Apparently he is running for governor and his campaign centers on dividing California into 3 states which form an independent country. I won't go into details, because of politics. ;) Too bad for him, I already sent in my ballot. Although, I don't think there was actually a vote for governor this year.

Anyway, we managed to disentangle ourselves gently and enjoyed a ramble through the cemetery. We had our picnic lunch on one of the benches while watching two hawks swooping around above us. A lovely day.

COWS! i hope that you shouted. Or is that a personal affectation?

lol Jelly's Ferry.

Love the idea of Nerd Night, but i have lodge a personal protest about phonetic spelling. Have to agree that "xx is more fun while drinking". Hmm well maybe not flying a passenger jet. For the passengers anyway.

That was quite the adventure! Love it. I go down weird roads all the time, but haven't ever run into a delusional candidate before. How fun.

>97 MrsLee:. Oh, my goodness. You lucked out and met a true Eccentric!! (I wasn't sure we had any left in this country.) And one with a plan for re-jiggering the area. What fun!

>97 MrsLee: Sounds like an excellent jaunt into unknown areas.

I'm headed up to Connecticut tomorrow, to deliver some supplies to my son at his new house. He is moving in on Saturday, and most of what I'm delivering is designed to protect his hardwood floors while his friends move furniture into the place. I'm coming home in the late afternoon. And then on Sunday I am going back up there to help unpack and stay overnight. I'm so excited for him. He's owned a condo for the last 6 years, but has always had multiple roommates. This time he'll have a house with a yard with just his girlfriend, and their dog and cat.

His new place is only 50 miles away from me, as the crow flies. It will still take me close to 3 hours each way, but 90 minutes of that is a (usually very relaxing) ferry ride across Long Island Sound.

>101 clamairy: I can't decide if the weekend is going to be a completely exhausting experience for you or if the ferry ride will make up for all of the back-and-forth schlepping.

>98 MrAndrew: We generally "Moooo" at them. They were politely interested in us. It was a lonely road.

>101 clamairy: Congrats to your son! That is exciting.