The Scariest Beast Ever Created

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“Many lesser troubles will appear in everyday private life. Simulated fake AI porn will likely be a big annoyance, since people like to pay attention to that. If you’re a gamer, AIs will be trained to cheat at your games. If you’re a schoolteacher, you’ll look askance at the kid at the back of the class who never raises his hand but turns in essays that read like Bertrand Russell. Fraudsters might fake the voices of your loved ones, and invent scams to demand money over the phone.”

— AI is the Scariest Beast Ever Created, Says Sci-Fi Writer Bruce Sterling

Wildlife: Deer

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Our resident chipmunk has been Riley’s Great White Whale and it’s been a lonely chase. Until now.

In a previous post I expressed some concern about the fate of momma deer. Hadn’t seen her in a while. This is her sauntering across the road in front of our house. And I believe she has started using the hiking trail.

 

Wildlife: Perhaps it was the deer sculpture

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Don’t know if it was the heat (triple digits) or the wildlife-friendly aura I project, but two fawns were relaxing in our front yard. Riley was climbing the walls so I finally had to let her out which sent the deer back into the woods.
I’ve been seeing the title guys without  mom and was getting concerned something had happened to her. But she was checking out my hiking trail this morning so all is well. Probably my imagination but this small family seems more and more comfortable around people.

Rope Saw

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The two dead limbs on the ash tree near out deck (and outside my office window) have been bugging me for years. But they’re too high to reach with my pole saw and I didn’t want to pay the tree guys to come in with their high-lift equipment. So I decided to try a gizmo called a rope saw.”

It’s like a chainsaw chain but with cutting teeth top and bottom. I finally got the thing over my limb but quickly got it stuck. It looked so easy in the videos but this might have been a case of operator error. I finally pulled a big rope over the limb, put the pickup in 4WD, and pulled the partially sawed limb down.

But it wasn’t pretty. I’m going to have another go at cleaning up the stub. To be continued.

Default Face

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I recently watched an episode of Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee during which Sarah Silverman explains the concept of your “default face.” This is what your face looks like when it is without expression.

Ms. Silverman says you can “change your life” by simply changing your default face. I believe she is correct. I first noticed this about a month ago when I hung a small mirror from the windscreen in the Jeep (to watch the angry motorists forced to go slow behind me). I am also able to see my own face and I immediately saw my default face. Not pretty.

But when I smile… voila! I take five (ten?) years off my face. It will take a while for this to become my default face because it takes a) awareness and b) some extra facial muscles that don’t get used that often.

UTV (utility task vehicle)

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I moved some brush this morning using my neighbor’s UTV (utility task vehicles), also known as a SxS (side-by-side). He has repeatedly offered the use of this thing but I resisted. I don’t much like borrowing tools and I felt like I needed the exercise I get from dragging brush up and down our hill. But was pretty hot this morning and the hill gets steeper every time I climb it so I borrowed his UTV. I didn’t have all that much brush and I wasn’t moving it that far. I can see why people are fond of these things.

Pickup truck?

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What makes a pickup truck… a pickup truck. What is its essence, if you will? A bed for “picking up” stuff? The Oxford Dictionary definition is: “a small truck with an enclosed cab and open back.” So, yeah, this is a pickup truck. But will it ever haul a load of cow manure or gravel or a greasy engine block? Will the owner ever climb into its luxurious cab in sweaty, dirty work clothes? Maybe.

But it just doesn’t say “pickup truck” to me. I’m not a farmer or rancher or anyone that needs a pickup truck. So I have no standing for this kind of snobbery. But a truck like the one above can cost $68,000 dollars. And it seems to be more about a comfortable ride for the driver (and passengers) than getting work done. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, as Jerry Seinfeld would say.

From my friend (and car aficionado) Phil: “nearly certain that’s a 2024 GMC 3500 Denali Ultimate. If so, $101-105,000 (with massaging seats!) if it’s just a regular Denali, it’s still a $95K+ truck… $68K might get you a used 2020, but not one of those.”

Another friend reports: “2015 GMC diesel/Denali still books at 50K!”