Two of the drive-throughs that YA and I frequent (especially in the summer) are Taco Bell and Dairy Queen. About eight months ago Taco Bell installed a chat bot to ask people if they are checking in using their Taco Bell app. I do have the app (it occasionally rewards me with a free burrito or fiesta potatoes) so the chat bot has actually been a good reminder to me to have the phone handy so I can give them the check-in code. At that point the system switches over to a live person to take your order.
About four months back, Dairy Queen went to a fully automated ordering system at their drive-through. I bristled at the idea but not enough to boycott my Dilly bars. Since YA and I are creatures of habit at Dairy Queen, it’s pretty simple and we haven’t had any ordering disasters.
Then two weeks ago I was by myself, getting my Dilly bar, and the automated voice had a southern drawl. I kid you not. It threw me for a loop and I spent the next hour or so trying to think back; had I completely missed that before? Then the following week when we were there, it was a male voice with a midwestern accent. I breathed a sigh of relief – I wasn’t going crazy. Then yesterday, it was a woman’s voice, but not the southern woman.
Of course, this leaves me with a bunch of questions. How many automated voice options are there? Who chooses which voice for the day (the manager, the person who opens, corporate office)? Or does the computer randomly pick voices during the course of the day? If a particular voice gets complaints, can they change it at the store level? Are the voices patterned after particular people or just AI-generated? What happens if you don’t want to order from a chat bot? Can you simply repeat “representative” until the computer gives up?
Any chat bots/automated systems driving you crazy? Or that you’ve made peace with?
It’s so hot that I’m using Celsius instead of Fahrenheit just to have a lower number.
It’s so hot I saw the Devil buying an air conditioner.
It’s so hot I almost called my ex so I could be around something shady.
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Another busy week just doing stuff. Meetings and stuff. I didn’t even have the padawans come out.
We had a hen hatch out 13 babies.
13! What was she thinking!!??
I cut grass one afternoon, I watered our new trees. Twice. I cut the grass around the trees.
I got the new steering hose back on the tractor and added 1.5 gallons of hydraulic oil that had leaked out, and I found and tightened a loose bracket underneath from when I ran over that stump earlier this spring, and we’re good to go again.
The corn just keep growing.
The height doesn’t equal better yield, (unless you’re chopping the whole plant for silage), but it doesn’t make the ear or grain any better. It just means the plant had good soil and good moisture.
The oats is ready to be harvested anytime. The sooner the better as the quack grass is overtaking the oats in places. Early reports of harvest is fairly positive. We’ll see.
I get an email every week showing the price of gasoline and diesel fuel.
It was going the right direction…I was starting to think about filling our farm barrel again.
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I have a problem. Well, more of an inconvieniece than a problem: I have a hard time making the peddles work on our lawn mowers. Or anything with a foot pedal operated by the right foot.
Yellow is forward, teal is reverse, and red is brake.
Because that’s the leg I hurt when I was 14 years old. In fact it was July 17 of 1978 when I did that. Forty eight years it’s been broken / messed up. But that stuff never bothers us so much when we’re young does it.
Anyway, my foot doesn’t move much. It’s sort of stuck out at a 45° angle to the right. And I wear a brace to support the ankle. I can’t twist the foot in, or move it up and down much. Meaning on the lawn mower, with the two peddles for forward and reverse next to each other, depending how exactly its built, I can’t twist my foot in to get ONLY the forward pedal, or I can’t push it down enough to move. I’ve made various modifications over the years including attaching a three inch block of wood on the pedal. If I take the brace off, I have more movement, but the foot hurts more too. I’ve tried scooching over and sitting sideways in the seat, but that’s not the best solution.
All this to say, I am working on modifications to the pedals on one of our lawn mowers to get my foot on there.
We use this one for mowing between the trees because it’s a little smaller and fits between the rows better.
This is modification version 3.3 and it’s almost there; I need a vertical block on the right end. That would provide both a stop for my foot, and room to push down without hitting the reverse pedal.
Need a heel rest too.
In a perfect word I’d move the reverse pedal out to give me more room. But that’s a little more involved.
WHAT INCONVIENCES HAVE YOU IN YOUR LIFE? Go ahead, complain for a day. You’re allowed.
About a month ago we had quite a bit of rain and the humidity stayed quite high into the evening. I was delighted to see small lights flit here and there all over the yard, and realized they were fireflies. We also saw them in the woods near our rental a couple of weeks ago near La Crosse. Grandson was entranced. There aren’t many fireflies in Brookings, SD.
It seems fireflies like heat and humidity, and we never had them in ND or in Winnipeg since it is so much drier there. There were tons of them the year we lived in Southern Indiana. We were pretty close to the Kentucky border. It was really hot and humid. The fireflies are my favorite memories from Indiana. Husband did his predoctoral internship there. We moved to Indiana after several years in Winnipeg. It was a pretty awful place after living in Canada. At that time Indiana was considered the most politically corrupt US state. It was very socially conservative. I was glad when our year there was up.
I can’t imagine there weren’t fireflies here in Luverne when I was growing up, but I really have no memory of them. Neither does Boommate. It was great to see them the other night. They seem magical.
Got fireflies? What are the best and worst places you have lived?
About 90 miles outside of Columbus is The Wilds, a wildlife conservation center developed on reclaimed land that had been mined for coal for four decades. Starting in the late 70s, the Ohio Zoological Commission began developing a plan for using that land for a special wildlife conservation area. They began in 1984 with 9,154 acres and the first animals, the Przewalski Horse, an endangered wild species, were introduced. Two years later, The Wilds opened to the public. Today there are close to 500 animals, representing 19 species, that roam the acres of The Wilds.
YA and I learned about The Wilds through the same tv show that introduced us to the Columbus Zoo (Secrets of the Zoo) and we knew that if we visited Columbus, we had to include it in our plans.
The only way to see the animals is on a safari tour; we took the medium-tour so there were 14 of us in the back of a Ford pick-up (there were seats). The tour was a bit over 3 hours and it was amazing. We were fairly up close and personal with Persian Onagers, Pere David Deer, Grevy’s Zebras, the famous Przewalski Horses (called P Horses) and two kinds of Oryx – Fringe Eared and Scimitar-Horned.
One of the youngest Bactrian Camels had been hand-raised after his mother rejected him. Named Latte, he was more than willing to come right up to the truck to get scritches under his chin. The Sichuan Takin was not as big or golden as the takin we have at the MN Zoo but The Wilds does have the largest breeding takin herd in North America.
Latte
We fed giraffes from the truck – two of the herd really like this and one in particular, Tuffy, lets folks give him little pets on his necks. (I bought a tee-shirt w/ Tuffy on it.) At that same stop, the two female ostriches approached and one of them clearly didn’t like the look of me. Before I realized how far into the truck she could reach, she gave me a nip on the hand. For the rest of the stop, she repeatedly tried to get me. Nobody else on the truck, just me.
Sadie
In a shaded copse we found five banteng, a species of wild cow. They have 1 male and 4 females. Apparently they are working on a program to determine if they can breed the current herd – the male banteng is quite elderly and if the females are still fertile, they will bring in a new male to help with reproduction. When I asked what would happen to Elvis, the male, our tour guide said that he would relocate to a pasture where a few other elderly animals reside – a cushy banteng retirement home, as it were. For some reason I thought this was really funny.
Elvis
The highlight of the tour was when we were taken down to the winter barn area – some of the animals over-winter there since the Ohio climate isn’t that great for African animals. There, in one of the rhino barns was Bernard. He is living a cushy rhino retirement and one of the things he enjoys is getting pets and scritches. Our group was happy to oblige. Bernard is a Southern White Rhino so he is sporting some serious horn. We didn’t pet that part! This was a thrilling experience. I know I’ve said in the past that I’ve never had a Bucket List, but I’m thinking about doing one now so that I can write “petting a rhino” on it and then checking it off.
Bernard
What a fabulous day – after the safari ride, we had veggie burgers at the little café and then did some damage at the gift shop. I am seriously recommending this to anybody who gets anywhere near Columbus. Just an amazing way to spend a day. The Wilds has a few ways that you can stay on the property overnight (yurts, little lodge and a new set of rooms attached to the giraffe barn. YA and I talked about maybe going back one day and doing that.
Ever had the chance to pet a wild animal? Would you stay overnight in a giraffe barn?
My local library might as well be my second home; I’m there on average twice a week. I was hoping they’d have some adjunct program this summer to the Library Passport but alas, they’re just running it the same as last summer.
Two weeks ago, they broke out the chalk for one of the Reading Hour programs and the pavement all around the entrance was decorated with colorful artwork. The photo above that says “Pippa was here” is my favorite. Yesterday I noticed that it’s still there, albeit a little faded after two weeks. I love the idea that some kid planted a metaphorical discovery stake at the library. Or maybe creating their version of a Hollywood Walk of Fame star?
Whatever the reason, I adore that my library is used and treasured!
OK, fantasy day. I’ve giving you each a box of chalk. What artwork will YOU leave in front of the library? Will you use all the colors, or do you have favorites?
One of the highlights of our Columbus weekend was a day at The Columbus Zoo. We got there right at opening and got a nice discount for being Minnesota Zoo members. We did not really have much of a plan for the day – just wanted to see everything.
Not in any particular order…
Saw the tiger feeding and met a staff member who had been part of the Secrets of the Zoo show!
Watched a training session with two gorgeous cheetahs.
Walked through Adventure Cove (glass tube with water on all sides so you can see the various sealife swim above you and below you.
Watched the lion feeding. I had the BEST spot of anyone… I kid you not.
YA walked through the Lorikeet Aviary
Lots of kangaroos in the Kangaroo WalkAbout
Extraordinarily expensive pizza lunch
Spent a LONG LONG time at Stingray Bay. YA is besotted with petting stingrays and little sharks.
Petted some goats at The Barn
Gorgeous polar bears
Visited the manatees and got to see “Stubby”, who can’t be released to a boatstrike injury but has acted as a mom to many young rescue manatees over the years. Even found a cool manatee t-shirt!
I’ve talked about Jack Hanna running the Zoo for many years, basically turning it around and creating the fabulous experience that it is today. Up near the Africa area, there is a great bench/sculpture of Jack and his wife, Suzi. I couldn’t resist the photo op!
We were at the zoo for almost 8 hours and I can truthfully say that I slept like a rock that night!
Yesterday was the anniversary of the day we lost Edith, our LIttle Jail Bird. Here is another of her posts – one of my favorites!
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Jim’s comment “The squirrels around here seem to be unusually pesky” got me thinking about how much I hate squirrels. South Minneapolis squirrels seem to be especially hateable. People who say squirrels are “cute” either are crazy or they haven’t seen the squirrels in my neighborhood.
When I grew vegetables in my yard, it was an endless source of frustration to see tomatoes get almost to the point of perfect ripeness and then find it lying on the driveway with a squirrel bite taken out of it. The thought of eating a tomato that had been handled by one of those rodents deterred me from ever cutting off the bitten part; my compost pile was the only thing that benefitted from the squirrel leavings (and, actually, the compost pile didn’t benefit, either – see below).
I now only grow herbs and fruits and flowers in my yard. Squirrels like to dig in the planter boxes on the front porch or any freshly turned dirt and also do things like eat tulips off stems before they open their blooms. But at least they aren’t eating my food.
One time a squirrel got into my house. I’m not sure how…but you haven’t seen pure craziness until you’ve seen a squirrel dashing around your house at full speed.
We’ve all heard about how squirrels rob bird feeders of the bird food. If you have an open compost pile, to which you add food scraps, in your yard in south Mpls, you are basically operating a free restaurant for squirrels.
But the real reason I hate squirrels? They hate me. Here’s proof. Those of you who also live in the city of Mpls know that the big gray garbage bins the city provides us for our trash are pretty tough. But they’re not tough enough for south Mpls squirrels. Our diabolical neighborhood squirrels chewed a squirrel-sized hole in the lid of my trash bin. They would then go inside the bin and enjoy snacks
(this was before I composted most of my food scraps). Then, I out I came, blissfully unaware of any danger, with a bag of trash to put in the bin. I threw open the lid – and SHAZZZAAAMMM out flew anywhere from one to three squirrels in my face. They ran away, laughing hysterically at my scream, and plotting when they can do that again.
I learned to kick the trash bin several times and then stand back before I lifted the lid. After the squirrels escaped, I gave it another kick, then waited to make sure they were all gone before I carefully lifted the lid and tossed in the bag. But sometimes in my usual spacey way, I would forget to kick – and once again the squirrels would enjoy their dominance over me.
Any “cute” object or animal driving you crazythis week?
Mondays can be tough. Monday two weeks ago I accidentally ripped open a bag of flour in our pantry, which is also called the ‘doghouse’ as it’s a completely impractical storage area six feet deep, with a three foot door opening three feet off the floor, inside a closet. Because Heaven forbid my mom would waste any storage area. My family and I were recently talking about this area; as kids we had to climb in there to get things for mom because the adults could never get in there.
Long story longer, a month ago I needed something in a hurry from a tote behind a shelf unit in the doghouse. I had to move a bunch of stuff to get the shelf out to get the tote out. I had junk scattered all over the kitchen. And it all sat for a few days because I wanted Kelly’s help putting stuff back. And then early Monday morning, I was doing something in there that I don’t recall and something shifted and as I tried to shift it back, I ripped open the bag of flour. Then I knocked a 48 pack of AA batteries on the floor. It was a new package and batteries went everywhere. I closed the door and went to an eye appointment.
Later in the day, after my eyes cleared up, I started cleaning up the flour and trying to organize. I bought some pull out shelf slides and cut some boards and then realized if you pull out the shelf unit, you can’t get in the closet. So you’d have to be standing in the closet before you pull out the shelf, meaning you’d have to move the stuff in there first, and at that point Kelly said let’s re-evaluate this idea. Always the practical one that woman.
The Doghouse Pantry.
This last Monday I stopped at the Farm Service Agency (FSA) office to report my crops for the year. It’s called certification and it’s how the government tracks our production for all those farming handouts we get. I worked for this office back in the 1980’s when it was called the ASCS office. Certifications were easier back then. I had emailed this year’s certification maps into the office twice, trying to get the process done correctly, and there were still some questions. An hour and a half later all was well and I am certifiable. I mean certified. The agent helping me did a great job and when I told her this process was easier 30 years ago she gave me a blank look. Well, it was, I said. It just was. Trust me.
I went home and was gonna mount the loader back on the tractor for an upcoming lumber delivery. Usually this is a quick five minute job. But I bumped something and something shifted and bolts popped out and the support stands gave way. I stopped the tractor there so as not to make things worse. And then things got sketchy. I used a bunch of those wood blocks I was just saying I didn’t know why I had so many of. And I used a thing called a ‘Porta Power’ that I bought at an auction, and a jack, and a metal stand I’ve been saving for 15 years just for this purpose. I said some prayers and got it all jacked back up and the bolts replaced and the stands back in place and got the loader mounted. Whew!
I thought I was gonna start mowing weeds this week. I haven’t gotten that done yet. Got some other stuff done though.
Tuesday morning I donated platelets. It was my 80th donation, meaning 10 gallons (which I quibbled about; donating whole blood 80 times might equal 10 gallons, but not donating platelets even at two units / donation. Still, I got a 10 gallon pin and a new hat.
Our basement bathroom remodeling has begun… I don’t think it will take long as nothing major is really happening. The old cement board shower walls have been removed, and a new shower stall will be installed, a new vanity, and new toilet. With bidet!
1968 no more.
I got lumber delivered…more work for me and the boys.
More on this when we get to it.
And then I decided to haul in some scrap iron before I take the loader off the tractor again. I loaded up the trailer and when I got out of the tractor there were spots on the front fender, and the inside of the front wheel was wet. That seemed like a problem.
What you’re looking at here is something pretty special. It’s a hydraulic hose under the tractor that controls the steering. There’s one on each side. This one has developed a leak and was spraying oil around. Usually the dealership can just make up a new hydraulic hose, but for some reason, the parts manual didn’t tell them what parts were needed for this. I took the old one off and up to John Deere. Turns out one end is odd.
John Deere says there’s two of these hoses in North America. One is in Texas and one is in Canada. Which doesn’t make sense. Something isn’t right. Hydraulic hoses break; how can there only be two of them?? But I’ll get them, on Tuesday. And this whole thing really discouraged me. I had things to do with that tractor the next few days.
I did have 2700 pounds of scrap iron at $160 / ton. So that will pay for the new hydraulic hoses.
I’ve got corn tassling! It seems early.
And these flowers, which I only post because some of you got grumpy about them last year. : – )
Here’s the neighbors cows hanging out.
How now Brown Cow.
The boys helped me do some work at the Rep theater. We hauled out 30 old lighting fixtures that are not used anymore. I’d like to renovate these…create something funky out of them.
Last weekend we vacationed in La Crosse, WI with our son and his family. It was a lovely time. We have wonderful memories, like seeing our 11 month old granddaughter have her first ice cream. She thought it was pretty wonderful. We also took away a nasty upper respiratory virus that Granddaughter brought from her daycare. Son, Dil, and Grandson all were ill by Sunday evening. Husband seems to have avoided it. I got it on Monday. By yesterday I was running a low grade fever, had lost my voice, and was coughing my head off.
I don’t get sick very often, but I must give the impression I don’t take care of myself when I do get sick. because I have never felt so bossed around as I felt this week. Husband insisted he drive me to the doctor after he and Boommate made sure I made an appointment. Boommate ordered my out of the kitchen when I was just trying to straighten up, and they both made me set up a nest for myself on the sofa. The dogs even got in on my care by lying on top of me so I couldn’t get up. Then Boommate started to work on a big pot of homemade chicken noodle soup that takes hours to simmer. I feel very loved.
It has been ages since I had a summer cold. The doctor told me that the symptoms would be the worst on the fourth to sixth day. There was very little she could give me aside from something for my cough. I don’t like going viral this way.
What sort of a patient are you? Any good “first” stories?
YA and I switched from margarine to butter a long time ago. It was a hit to our budget at the time so I’ve spent years keeping an eye out for butter on sale. I have absolutely no brand loyalty to any kind of butter, unless you count the seriously fancy hand churned butter that I get a Kowolskis every couple of years.
I’ve also been lucky enough to have two friends who have worked at dairies. My friend Tim worked at one of the big names for years and he would regularly be able to grab a pound or two of butter from their “free shop”. Right about the time he retired, my friend Rita moved to the same company and now part of my solstice gift every year is a gift bag of butter. Such wonderful friends.
Because of how I acquire some of my butter, I don’t always know what I have in the fridge. Last week, I opened up a box of butter and was surprised when eight little wrapped bars fell out. Instead of four ½ cup bars, there were eight ¼ cup bars. As a baker who goes through quite a bit of butter, I laughed out loud. I didn’t know anybody packaged butter like this. I do occasionally need a half a stick of butter but it’s pretty rare and when I do, I just cut a whole bar in half. Not a reach.
But I suppose there may actually be a need for these half bars since somebody somewhere when to the trouble to manufacture and package these things???
Butter or margarine? Any brand loyalty? Would you appreciate half bars?
Trail Baboon 