I thought today I might talk about the topic du jour, mostly for posterity's sake more than anything else. Maybe in the future I'll read this blog and think, damn what an idiot I was. I'm speaking of course about our overlord and savior, A.I.

I'm kind of a late adopter. I liken it a little bit to when Amazon first came out and people were flabbergasted that I didn't have an Amazon account and I literally never ordered anything from there. I went to the grocery store once a week and I bought everything I needed. Amazon was never going to replace that so the fact that I COULD buy paper towels or aluminum foil online, just didn't really provide me with any benefit, so I never did it. Now I buy things on Amazon like a bad habit. If I haven't received a package in the garage in a few days I start to get sad and look for a little present to cheer myself up.

I'm kind of the same way with AI. People are like, "You don't use AI?!" and I say, "For ... what?" Like literally anything AI can do I can do myself only better. Perhaps not faster. Don't get me wrong, I have started to dabble. Like the blog on my side company's website. I no longer write those. I still come up with the idea for the blog, but then AI cranks it out in 2 seconds because I couldn't care less about the quality there. And I've vibe coded some tools for genealogical purposes for my extended family's organization. But sometimes it's more annoying to vibe code, and takes longer to iron out, than just doing it myself.

I can see how some people use it for emails and shit. Because they don't know how to type. So that could be a major time saver. Just not for me. And also, guys, when you use AI to write an email or a congratulatory message on an ecard or something, it is glaringly obvious that you've used AI and that is a huge insult. So let's resolve to keep interpersonal communications interpersonal.

The bubble around AI is probably prone to pop soon. Not that it won't continue to be amazing and do all kinds of cool shit, but I think the hype is overdone and the financial ROI just won't be there. And then the stock market will come crashing down from its current record heights. Then we'll pick up the pieces and stop trying to shoe horn this shit into every nook and cranny of daily life where it doesn't below.

In the ever-evolving landscape of today’s modern digital era, it is crucial to remember that by fostering a proactive synergy and unlocking your hidden potential, we can truly delve into the heart of the matter—so, without further ado, that’s my two cents, folks! 🚀🌟✨ #Innovation #GrowthMindset

(I asked AI to write my conclusion.)

We are almost to the 21st Febrehab in history. This one I think is going to be relatively easy. I decided that the only things I'm giving up besides alcohol are caffeine and sugar. There's a couple of reasons for this. Firstly, I am about 8 lbs lighter than average. Turns out 18 months of health issues are a great diet! So I don't really want to lose weight.

Secondly, this year after having my gall bladder out and being advised to avoid fat, and then having a really bad kidney stone and being advised to avoid oxalates, I hired a dietitian. They were covered by my insurance and I figured that would be a lot easier than doing all the research myself and coming up with a new diet plan. I met with a guy on a zoom call and he seemed really knowledgeable. He laid out what he would do in the way of tracking food, balancing macro-nutrients, and increasing calories, protein, and calcium. Turns out I've been under-eating for years, and not getting nearly enough protein. And even though my kidney stone was made of calcium-oxalate, and I was advised to reduce oxalates in my diet, the other thing you can do is INCREASE calcium. Turns out more calcium in your diet binds up the oxalates before they can get to your kidneys.

Then the douche ghosted me. He never delivered a meal plan. He never spent one second thinking about me after our initial meeting. But ... what he did do was make me think, "Oh that's all you were going to do? I can do that." So I built a spreadsheet and started meticulously tracking what I was eating. Then I made minor adjustments to breakfasts, lunches, and dinners until a week of eating balanced everything out. That included having a protein shake every day, since it's nearly impossible to get enough protein without it. We both think we're seeing a change at the gym since we work out consistently, but perhaps were just starving our muscles previously, and now they are able to grow.

So, I don't feel like abandoning my new healthy balanced diet just to deprive myself for a month. This will be an easy Febrehab as a result. It's not without precedent, but they've been getting harder lately. And last year was the 20th anniversary, so I made it especially hard.

Speaking of 20th anniversaries, tomorrow is my 20th anniversary with Daniel. You believe that? I do. Love you, Daniel! Here's to the next 20.

I said before that I had migrated all of my social media content to posts on SideshoViD.com, but that wasn't entirely true. I had not posted any of my Instagram stories. To be honest, that's mostly because I didn't know I could. I thought that once they disappeared they were gone. But the other day I noticed my "Archives" on Instagram had every story I'd ever posted.

They made it basically impossible to access that content from my laptop, but on mobile, there was a button to click to download the photo or video. I was astounded at how quickly videos were downloaded to my phone and then uploaded to my website. They must be compressed or optimized somehow. It was literally as fast as I could click that they were done. As a result, it only took a few evenings sitting on the couch crunching through them to complete 2018-2024.

The cool thing about that is that there was a period of time, a couple of years even, where stories were the sole format I used. I liked that they were more ephemeral, less pressure, and felt more spontaneous or narrative. So now a huge chunk of time from around 2022-2024 that was previously unrepresented has some history here.

I also like that it took the topic tag for "squirrels" from obscurity to #6 most popular topic. Those were the primary years we spent getting to know Muffin and trying to get her to eat out of our hands. So that is all documented now for posterity. She's here right now in fact having a little breakfast before heading out to work. Look for her to pop up a lot more in the This Day In History section! 🐿

By g*d, I think I've done it. I am about to head to the gym to run a measly 3 miles leaving me a cake walk to victory tomorrow. I don't want to sound too confident because my knees could still blow out at the last minute, but I think its safe to say this is a victory. I'm pretty excited ... about never running again.

I'm also excited about drinking some of my home brew on Saturday. I put all 50 bottles in the fridge last night so they'd be nice and cold by the time we were ready to drink them. Serious party time.

So my home office is coming along nicely. I ordered my second monitor when it went on sale last week. I originally had planned on having 3 22 inch monitors, but I think for now 2 will be enough. It's not just enough desktop space, its damn near too much. I can barely mouse over from one side to the other without picking up the mouse halfway in between to get more traction. Not to mention the physical size of the monitors. I don't know if there's any way that 3 could even fit on the desk that I have. It is an impressive sight though. So impressive I think I'll post a picture for you. Catch you skillets on the flip side ... deeerunk. Peace.

I went out again last night despite vowing that I never would. Once again, I was rather annoyed by the drunk people and left early. You don't have to be drunk to have fun in a club, but I firmly believe you need a couple drinks just to take the edge off of what is an overwhelmingly obnoxious situation. I mean, look at it objectively. It's dimly lit except for a few neon and strobe lights, the music is so loud that conversation is virtually impossible, and people are packed in and stumbling over each other. You're going to want to have a few beers if you're going to last the whole night.

The thought had occured to me after Febrehabruary that I might invent Marehabch and Aprehabil. By the time I hit May, I would have no choice but to resume drinking until Septemberehab, and that's just not clever. Even though Febrehabruary was a great success and one of the best months of my life (I'll have a final tally for you when it's truly over) I don't feel the need to repeat it immediately. This could become a yearly ritual for me, though. If I've learned anything from a month of sobriety, and I like to think that I haven't, it's that drinking isn't bad or wrong, but moderation is key. In this spirit, I bought myself a nice bottle of wine to drink on Tuesday. I'm fucking retarded.

I don't think I ever announced this, but I am incorporating wine bottles into the decoration of my kitchen. If any of you drink wine often, or just happen to have an occasional bottle lying around, save it for me because I could use about 20 empty bottles, and that will take me DAYS to accumulate. Thanks.

Well, I think its just about time for me to go cook a dry chicken breast while living vicariously through Contessa With Her Shoes Off. Then I'll drink a few gallons of water so I can sweat it out in yoga. I am so v. busy and important. Check you skillets later.

Man, its going to be another late night. I am such a procrastinator. Tonight's late night is brought to you by the letters ENGL and the numbers 210. I have to do an audience profile on the job that I'm going to be "applying" for. I was supposed to have already turned in the job advertisement I'm going to use, I just found out, so I went on Monster.com and found some web designing position for Travelocity.com. I like to use computer based subjects for my papers because its easier to bullshit since my prof doesn't know anything about the internet, I've gathered. My last memo proposal about creating a new layout for the company website got me an 82 cause she couldn't tell that 80% of what I said didn't even make any sense. Ah the perks of random jargon. Hopefully I can churn this out in about 30 minutes and be in bed by 2am. I have class tomorrow at 8, and then at 9:10. Then I have an Intel Training course from 12:40 to 2:40. Then I'm meeting with Bob to teach him more about making a website (the prof I'm working for now). Then I have like an hour or two to chill before open lab hours start for ENTC249 (the class that consumes my life). On the plus side though, I've reassessed our progress and decided that my team is ahead of schedule. Thats a first and it feels good. I hate to be an asshole, but every time I hear another team bitching about not having something done, it makes me feel really really good ... provided we have ours working. Oh well, I suppose I've stalled long enough, time to start working.

On a side note, everyone click here to send Steve a shoutout. Today is his 20th birthday, and I just know he'd love to have some well wishes from loyal Sidesho-Viewers. Thanks!