I delivered “Meals on Wheels” this past week and for two days this coming week. There is no meal on Monday, January 16 due to Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Friday evening MMCRU played Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn at Marcus. The Pep Band was short some players so (Marcus and Cherokee instructors knew each other) Cherokee sent over some of their band to help out. For those from Cherokee, it could mean more put on their (Silver) cord.
This past week has been nothing but ice, more snow on top of it, and then more ice. There really isn’t a safe place to walk. The curbs are packed with this mess. In front of Jeff’s Foods, the curbs have been cleared but across the street from the store, there is an accident waiting to happen. Water comes down from that alley and leaves ice where cars park as people from the car are shopping at Jeff’s.
It was a rather quick City Council meeting on Monday. The Council stayed after the regular meeting for a Budget meeting.
Did you read where an attorney, Stanley Sacks, 100 years old in Norfolk, Virginia is still practicing law? That makes him the longest-serving attorney in that state at any point since the Virginia State Bar began keeping records in 1938. He says “You have to have the genes to be able to do it, and I’m lucky with that. I still have my judgment, and I’m sharp as I ever was, maybe more!” He does not plan on retiring. He credits the club sports he played in high school and all the running he did when he was a younger man—for helping his circulation and keeping him spry. He began skiing at age 53 and did that for years. (And, he has never been a coffee drinker, has a beer at night before dinner or the occasional scotch and water.)
Every state has official symbols, some more than others. Texas has the most, with at least 70, ranging from the Texas toad to the Nymphaea “Texas Dawn” (state waterlily). The official candy of Pennsylvania could become the Hershey’s Kiss since the Hershey chocolate company was founded there and today employs about 9,000 people in the state. New Jersey has the blueberry as a state fruit. State muffin in Minnesota is blueberry muffin while the apple muffin is state muffin of New York, and corn muffin is state muffin in Massachusetts.
Maine claims blueberry as the state berry and designated blueberry pie, also. Alabama and Kentucky have blackberry; Idaho the huckleberry; and Louisiana, North Carolina and Oklahoma have the strawberry. Massachusetts and Wisconsin promote the cranberry and Massachusetts also designates cranberry juice.
State symbols trace back to the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair according to StateSymbolsUSA.org. which keeps track of state flowers, birds, animals and other symbols. That world fair featured flowers from each state. It started with flowers, then birds, and then to trees. Each state has one of each of those symbols. From there it went on to a particular animal, or insect, or food that is prevalent in a state.
A free tool has been around for just over a month but is already raising tough questions about its usage in education, the tech industry and a host of professions. What is this new tool? It is called ChatGPT and is part of a broader set of technologies developed by the San Francisco-based startup OpenAI, which has a close relationship with Microsoft. (Are you confused?!) It is part of a new generation of AI systems that can converse, generate readable text on demand and even produce novel images and video based on what they’ve learned from a vast database of digital books, online writings and other media. In other words, it is a GHOST WRITER! An example was an essay about the cause of the American Civil War. It can churn out a persuasive term paper in a matter of seconds. Officials from New York City schools started blocking the impressive but controversial writing tool that can generate paragraphs of human-like text. ChatGPT offered the warning: “As a general rule, it is not appropriate to use ChatGPT or any other automated writing tool for school papers, as it is considered cheating and does not benefit the student in the long run.” (It could be a quick way of getting a term paper done.)
The New York City education department said that it’s restricting access on school networks and devices because it’s worried about the negative impacts on student learning, as well as concerns regarding the safety and accuracy of content. However, there is no stopping a student from accessing ChatGPT from a personal phone or computer at home. While this tool may be able to provide quick and easy answers to questions, it doesn’t build critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, which are essential for academic and lifelong success. (What next will modern technology come up with—legal or illegal?)
The former Le Mars Flower Shop in Le Mars has been turned into “Friendship Tea House” and is open for tea parties by reservation only. It can accommodate family gatherings, bridal and baby showers, dress up parties for kids, business meetings, holiday parties, and play dates with grandma.
Bob and Barb Frick own this new business. Barb serves homemade finger sandwiches, soups, deviled eggs, scones with Devonshire cream, cheesecake and more. These are served on fine china along with pots of loose leaf tea—black, oolong, green, white and caffeine-free herbal teas in a variety of flavors. Available on request is coffee.
Frick has more than 150 fancy hats and wrap brightly colored feathered boas to put around necks for those who are having a “dress-up party”. Frick says about her business, “Tea parties are about lifting the spirit, lifting your soul through the sisterhood of girlfriends just talking about life. I want to create an atmosphere where they feel valued and loved.”
Saturday I went to the basement bathroom to do my hair. I did not look at the exercise place little Butterball (Teddy) is. When I was done, I started up the stairs and said over my shoulder, “I’ll be back to get you.” To my surprise, it ran up the stairs before I reached the top. When I went down to bring up its litter box, I was shocked. It had moved the cover that left just enough space to come out of! Bethany doesn’t believe this, but it did happen! It came up to my cat that was having her nap and my cat just got up and left to find another place where she wouldn’t be disturbed.
I only have two blankets left to get to their owners—one for Becky’s girl and the other one for Erica’s boy. Three of them went to Cameron and Gina’s on Wednesday night. I asked Gina to send a picture of the three to see who got which one. The baby got Winnie the Pooh flying kites with friends, the Mickey Mouse one went to the next oldest boy, and the one with Winnie the Pooh and friends in the Park went to the oldest boy. They seemed to be thrilled with their blanket!
We were supposed to go to Gina’s on Wednesday to celebrate Nathan’s birthday that was Tuesday. We couldn’t make it on Wednesday as it was Bethany’s birthday and we had something planned for her. She would have liked to have gone bowling but Marcus Bowl was closed! We do miss that place.
I have four after Christmas cards to send out yet. The cards don’t have holiday greetings on them so they can be sent any time of the year.
At the City Council meeting the other night, we heard of a water leak at the Royal Apartments (formerly low housing). The only shut off was at the street. Do you know where the shut offs are at your house? We have one by each of the toilets as well as one general one in the basement that we hope we never have to use!
Remember in your thoughts and prayers those who have lost family/friends to death, have had their lives changed because of this, have health problems some of which are terminal, are struggling to make ends meet even though they have a job, and be with those who are trying to shorten the distance between family/friends by building a bridge instead of a wall. Count your blessings.
I will leave you with this quote from Carl Jung (1875-1961) Swiss psychologist: “We cannot change anything until we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses.”