TheSaint

Well, since AI has now taken over the last job I actually enjoy doing, I can finally move on to full-time drinking.

I'm not one to pay for TV, since I don't really watch much TV. So the only streaming service we really have at this point is Amazon, just because we do use Amazon Prime for shipping. But today I have finally been tempted to sign on to Apple TV+. Not to watch For All Mankind. Not to watch Ted Lasso. Not to watch Severance. But to watch The Greatest Beer Run Ever. That is right up my alley.

This. We did it in one day, open to close, and I felt like I was jogging the whole time.

That whole gallery is cray-cray. (Please excuse the potato phone camera.) If you have the opportunity to visit the USAF Museum, take it.

At the USAF museum in Dayton you can just walk right up to the damn thing. Most aircraft are held together with rivets. it's just not as noticeable on other aircraft because they're painted. The skin on the X-15 is mostly bare Inconel.

My oldest got his learner's permit this last week. Took him out for his first lesson yesterday. Made me reflect on the fact that I really enjoy driving. When we go on road trips I default to driving, not out of any sense that I have to, but because I want to. I just really enjoy it.

Just put a turkey in the oven. Sunday dinner is turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, and steamed asparagus.

I signed my discharge papers thirty years ago last month. Time flies...

But, you see, that is the root issue. Not that AI is self-aware and is evil. But that AI is not self-aware, but that it will become so good at emulating human responses that people will assume that it is self-aware, that it has a moral framework, and act accordingly. Weinersmith hits the nail on the head. And before you say, "That will never happen, there is no way people could be that stupid!" let me remind you that the recent past has made Veep look less like a comedy and more like a documentary. I would also take the opportunity to again post Bob Zubrin's excellent post on why AI in the hands of tyrannical leaders could lead to unimaginable atrocities. The Real Robot Threat

Did you hear the one about the AI who couldn't prove that it wasn't a robot, so it hired a human to do it for it? The really creepy thing there was that when the AI was confronted about the subterfuge, it lied.

Write up a bug report.

The forecast on my phone app says it will snow here again on Wednesday night. On the weather app on my son's phone (different provider) it says it's going to start snowing on Tuesday and keep snowing all the way through Saturday. My guess is that it will fall somewhere in between.

True story: When my father enlisted in the Army in 1939, he told them that he had no middle name. Because he had no middle name, his parents never gave him one. The sergeant at the enlistment center looked at him and said, "You can't enlist without a middle name. Your middle name is Winfred." And that's what went down on his enlistment paperwork, and it followed him all the way through his enlistment. So much so that on his gravestone, which was paid for by the DoD, he has a middle initial of W.

My oldest is always going on about Pi Day. Every time we have pie he will mention it at least once. Amusingly, today I had to remind him.

Funny. I started working from home back in March of 2020, been home with my homeschooled kids almost full time since then, especially since I became the stay-at-home dad six months ago. After three years at home with them almost continually, I can honestly say that, after my wife, I can't think of three people I would rather spend time with than them.

Today was range day, went out with one of my buddies. A couple of months ago I acquired an extra steel target gong from a guy who was getting rid of a bunch of shooting gear, so my oldest and I went out and established a 300-yard gong spot at our shooting spot. The good news is that we have a 300-yard gong now. The bad news is that somebody has to hump all three gongs out to 100, 200, and 300 yards now to set them up, and then bring them back in when we're done. And my buddy has a bad back. I'm pooped. Had a good time though.

What year, make and model? How many miles? When was the last time you replaced the spark plugs and wires?

Chaim Topol, the Israeli actor made world famous for playing Tevye in the stage and film versions of Fiddler on the Roof passed away this morning. If you've never had the opportunity to see Fiddler, I highly recommend you do so.

I haven't bought it yet. It's mostly #1. After my mom passed away in January I've had a lot of time consumed with cleaning up all the mess that left behind. And some other personal projects have come up. And, in the vein of #3, after playing KSP for almost ten years now, I think I'm just kind of done with it. At least for a while. And KSP2 just seems like more of the same, without any mods to spruce it up, and a ton of bugs to make it frustrating. And you can add for me a #5: The recent news is starting to make it seem like Take-Two has KSP2 on the bubble. My personal rule is "Never spend more than $10 on a video game." Why would I dump $50 into an EA game that may never see 1.0? I have to admit: It is very pretty.

You know, Alamo (Can I call you Alamo? ) we're kinda in the same boat. In two weeks I have to drive back to California and sit through a "Celebration of Life" for my mom with her extended family. And they're all going to gush about what a wonderful person she was. And I'm just going to have to sit there with my mouth shut. Because none of her family knew her like I knew her. And she filled their ears with a ton of lies about who I am. So it's just going to be awkward. But, here is my challenge, Alamo. To you, and to me: Give them grace. Not because I (or you) are to blame. Not because they deserve it. But because at some point we have to decide to make it stop. Nobody else can. We don't forgive people for them, we forgive them for ourselves. In the 12-step programs they have a saying, "Holding a grudge is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die." I'm going to let it go. And I'm going to do that by forgiving them and talking to them. No conditions, no demands. Let the chips fall where they may.

"No one here gets out alive" -Jim Morrison

No. I refuse to 2.2b myself. I'm just gonna go have another drink.

I'm just going to laugh. And pour myself another shot of whiskey.