Yesterday I trekked over to Gertens; I had a great coupon. Normally just a coupon wouldn’t get me to drive over there but they do carry that hot bird seed that I like, so figured a chunk of change off one of those cylinders would be nice.
It took me a bit to find the seed cylinders – they’re ramping up their Christmas stuff and have moved a lot of the endcaps around in the feed department. When I did come around the corner, what confronted me was a TON of products from the company who makes the hot stuff. The photo above is the endcap with all of it.
Right next of my Flaming Hot Feast there was another big cylinder called Burning Love. I looked at them both, different ingredients although both seemed to have the hot pepper that deters the squirrels. But at the price point, I didn’t want to make a mistake. As I stood there considering my options, it occurred to me that I could check online to see the difference. And then I had the ephiphany that I could just call the company directly. A helpful woman answered the phone right away and let me know that the difference was that Burning Love is just safflower seeds with hot pepper. Flaming Hot Feast has a bigger variety of seeds with hot pepper.
The Burning Love was almost a pound heavier at the same price point, so I decided to give it a try. As I walked away, I thought about the amazing thing I had just done – used a small hand held device to call a company in Texas for no cost to get an immediate answer. (Yes, I am aware I could have found someone who worked at Gertens and asked them, but I think this was faster.) While I sometimes think technology is too big for its britches, yesterday I loved my cell phone.
Any technology that has amazed you recently?
Trail Baboon 
ai is the new iphone
it is changing the world profusely simply because its so good at its task fulfilling capability
nice to have your brain involved but if its task work … ai
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I was intrigued by my recent experiment with AI image-making (the shark algorithm thing). I hadn’t explored it previously and hadn’t had a reason to do so. I have played with it a little more, just to see how it responds and what it can do (it did great with a squirrel on water skis, less good with a rabbit in a vegetable patch with a green vest and a pocket watch. It just couldn’t scale the watch to my satisfaction.)
I’ve never had much luck with safflower seeds. The birds just don’t seem interested.
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For the past 4-5 years, I’ve used a satellite communicator on my BWCAW trips to keep in contact with my wife. All the ones I’ve used have been smaller than a cell phone and are capable of sending and receiving texts. I can also start a tracking feature that shows my progress via GPS on a map my wife can access online. Pretty cool, because I don’t think she’d allow me to go on these solo trips without one.
Chris in Owatonna
***BSP*** It’s going to be another beautiful fall day at the Riverwalk Market Fair in Northfield on Saturday, Sept. 28, from 9-1. Come down and browse my books, have a chat, buy some produce from local growers, or find something else to your liking from dozens of other vendors. There’ll also be a few food trucks, free live music (always worth a trip by itself!) and fun people watching.
It happens at Bridge Square in the heart of downtown Northfield, so you can also avail yourselves of many more dining and shopping options. And Carleton and St. Olaf alums can always visit your respective campuses for a walk down memory lane.
***END BSP***
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Chris, did you see that Axel’s in Mendota is closing permanently on September 30th?
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I have this new-to-me smart phone. I have only used it for a call once so far, and must let it up for Voicemail (or not??). But it just dawned on me that, for my next meeting, I don’t have to print out the info in some emails – I can access them FROM MY PHONE!
Up until now, I have just been constantly loving email – amazed that you can communicate so easily with any number of people at once to arrange meeting times, share and get info. I still remember trying to do all this by phone. AND THEN , just imagine before phones!
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Morning –
We’ve got friends on a trip to Italy at the moment, and another friend living in South Korea, and I am constantly amazed that we can text each other almost instantaneously! It blows my mind! HALF A WORLD AWAY!
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And I got to go with a friend “to Scotland” with her – she posted photos almost daily, and it was a joy to see what she was doing.
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The new Duolingo Adventures AI looks interesting but it’s $30/month.
A little steep for a game.
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I enjoy how people can mix so many images and sounds.
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This is funny. The guy that posted it though…..WTH?
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I could not get to a reply all day. Lately I am enthralled with making an appointment with someone via paper calendar. I am disillusioned with electronic calendars. Making Dr’s appointments at offices that have e-systems takes way too long. So my tech of choice is a pencil and paper.
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I do like audiobooks, and if you use the Libby app it has a sleep timer. There are some books I listen to fifteen minutes at a time. That’s about how long I can stay awake.
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Me too, with a print book.
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