Although my husband, Dale, has the hearing aids of the future, sometimes things get fuzzy, and what he hears is not what I said. Sometimes that’s selective and I end up annoyed, but other times he genuinely mishears, and it’s actually pretty funny.
I mentioned the other day that Barney Frank died. I didn’t mention he was in the House of Representatives. I just said his name and that it was cool he was openly gay when that was not common among prominent people. Dale said, “Seriously? Barney Fife was gay?”
Well, seriously, we are still laughing over that one.
Dale’s meniscus turned out fine, but the MRI revealed other issues with his knee, including a partial ACL tear. We are purposely avoiding medical discussions until we see the orthopedic team. Dr. Google is on vacation.
In other news, I completed two sewing projects. The first one was an old pair of pants that I turned into shorts. Not very exciting, but I really like them. The stitches are a bit erratic, but you can’t really tell unless you look closely.
My second project is kind of cool. I took one of Dale’s old shirts and cut off the sleeves. I also cut a bunch of the length to make it sort of cropped. With the dropped armholes, it can be worn at a shirt with a tank or something underneath. Or it can be worn as a vest. The stitches on this one aren’t exactly straight, either, but they are better than the first time around.
I enjoyed playing around with something that was already made, but I think my next project will be something from scratch. Something easy. I’m still remarkably unskilled with the sewing machine!
On another artistic front, I was getting very frustrated with my woodburning. I couldn’t get a solid line to burn and figured my tool was messed up. Dale hates AI, so he would shoot me if he knew, but I described the problem to the bot. The bot suspected my tips needed replacing, and sure enough, that solved the problem. So, I’m back in the woodburning business.
Creating art is one of the simple things that keeps me from going completely nuts during these bizarre times. And I will leave that up to you to decide if I’m referring to our personal lives or the country overall.
So completely appropriate for where we are……
Really creative shirt in today’s shorter style. Very cool. I think they call that upcycling and that’s a thing. Au courant!
As someone who sometimes “misinterprets” a phrase or a word because my hearing has deteriorated, I laughed out loud at Dale’s comment. I have some older state of the art hearing aids but I only wear them if I’m going to be in a gathering with a lot of people and I know that I won’t hear the person at the long end of the table. I’m not very social and my one on one encounters don’t seem to need them. Very helpful for watching some British shows with soft spoken women though. If I wear them, I don’t need to turn up the TV.
I’m looking forward to seeing continued projects with your sewing machine.
OK, that was as funny as could be. Now I’ll be laughing for a couple of days, too.
Also RIP, Barney Frank. I went to college in Boston and wrote an article for the school paper about an appearance he made when he was running for the Massachusetts state House of Representatives and not even in the US congress yet. Boy, that went fast.
Surreal.
He doesn’t even use the high-tech features of his aids. He watches soft-spoken British historians, so I think you two are on the same page.
But what a great memory!
When I was at the ortho doctor getting my final check-up, there was a very old guy who struggled to get up out of his chair. He got up, looked around and said, “Wow! When did that happen?”
I don’t know whether to be pleased for you that the bot solved your woodworking problem (I am – genuinely), or grumpy that it was an AI that solved the issue. I’m still stuck in that place between knowing that many people are finding AI genuinely useful, and being determined that I will not give in to it. Mind you, it can’t be as complicated a scenario as friends of mine. One is a writer, writing coach and indie publisher, while her partner is a coach – a coach who is currently training people in how to make the best use of AI, something which her writing partner abhors.
Anyway… delighted to hear you’re back to your artworks and enjoying the sewing.
I’m starting to have a problem with it ethically as well, but AI, I can’t quit you.