Category: GOOD NEIGHBORS
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Why Be Kind to Robots?
Rich is dancing on air this week, and it’s easy to understand why. After months of frustrating delays, countless hours online, endless more hours on the phone, and a mind-numbing five-hour paperwork marathon, he has completed a series of welcome purchases. In the words immortalized by the poet Byron, “On with the dance! let joy…
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Surprised by Joy
I’ve been back in the US four months now, and I’m still struggling with sticker shock. Going to the store for a small bag of groceries: $100. Movie tickets: $16. And gasoline: don’t get me started. Ordinarily, gas prices are like the old joke about the weather: everybody talks about it, but nobody does anything…
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Two Weeks Without a Car: Heaven or Hell?
Is it me, or has modern life become eerily similar to an Addams Family episode? Our days are a dizzying mix of horror (“AI Goes Rogue!”), slapstick comedy (“Raccoon Rescued from Mayonnaise Jar”), and mystery (“Where did I park my car?”). As for the Addamses themselves, they were always good company. “Bizarre as we appeared…
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Now That’s Something to Celebrate!
Congratulations! Simply by reading this, you are already pre-celebrating tomorrow’s often-overlooked but super-significant national holiday. Yes, August 5 is Blogger Day in America, and I, for one, am proud to be part of it. August 5 is also national Underwear Day. Coincidence? Or deliberate timing? Many bloggers brag about enjoying a profession (one of all…
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Destination: the Curiosity Center
The new Curiosity Center at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, where Rich and I visted old friends including Happy, the 70-foot Haplocanthosaurus delfsi dinosaur, and Balto, once America‘s most famous dog. “Oh my God!” I exclaimed. “What’s happened to Balto?” I was staring, slackjawed, at the sled dog that had earned worldwide acclaim in…
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“Rich, bring me the baseball bat.”
Of all the headlines that nearly made me spit out my morning coffee — and I think you’ll agree there have been plenty lately — the biggest jolt this week was learning that pigeons are being used to help train artificial intelligence. No, the birds are not helping us create homing robots (which would be…
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Look On the Bright Side
I like to think of this blog as the place I get to mix entertaining stories with a dash of travel advice, a few uplifting quotes, and a sprinkling of ideas about navigating these challenging times with grace and humor. But ever since I got back to California, I find myself wallowing in harrowing disaster…
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These two goats walk into a barn…
This week, shocking animal shenanigans left barnyard creatures reeling and caused humans to question their eyesight … and their sanity. “I thought I was crazy,” said farmer Joe Johnson. Kindhearted Joe and his wife, Bridget, live on a small Ohio farm and take in strays: aging livestock, abandoned horses, homeless dogs, feral cats, random chickens.…
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Hot Tips for Reversing Bad Luck
OK, this is it. I am pulling out all the stops. My latest household catastrophe — details on that in a moment — has forced me to invoke St. Romedio of Hohenwart, the patron saint of reversing bad luck. A thousand years ago, he was on his way to visit a friend when a bear…
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Notice Anything Different About My Blog Today?
“I don’t like to doze by the fire,” says Jo Marsh in Lousia May Alcott’s Little Women. “I like adventures, and I’m going to find some.” I was ten when I read those words, and I’ve been doing my best to live up to Jo’s philosophy ever since. Mostly, it’s been grand. However, as you’ve…