Four Wins

A Friday Hodgepodge

Whenever possible, I list three wins at the end of each day. Here are a few from a recent review of my planner.

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1. Next to making phone calls, setting up online accounts is probably the second most likely silly thing I am to procrastinate doing.

Yesterday evening, I finally got around to setting up a ChatGPT account and messing around with AI. I tried a couple of low-stakes questions: What is a creative way to use leftover pulled pork? was one of those. I didn't have ingredients on hand for its taco idea, but I'll use it some other time.

I also vibe-coded a simple bookmarklet idea I came up with some time ago, but couldn't pull off since I don't know javascript. It worked, and the AI even came up with some possible improvements. I'd thought of one of these, but thought it couldn't do that thing. Another is one I hadn't thought of at all, but will probably end up using. I'll have a nifty way to take notes on web pages on the fly after another iteration.

AI has its limitations, of course, but I am floored by its potential already, and am not too worried about making up for lost time.

Before choosing ChatGPT, I did some research and found this review of "The Best AI Chatbots of 2026" quite helpful.

2. Here's a short list of nagging minor problems I solved quickly one day when I realized I should default to check Amazon rather than look for it while I'm on errands:

• a decent drain stopper for the kitchen sink,
• an okay pair of casual shoes that aren't tennis shoes and won't show minor scuffs,
• serving-saver lids (!), and
• a new outside doormat for our front door.

Rabble-rouser populists constantly whine about how Amazon and the like are "killing off" brick-and-mortar retailers, but all of the above items are things that used to be pretty easy to find and now ... aren't.

I stopped several times over three or four months at the place I usually bought similar shoes without finding anything that would work. I won't be going back there for that again.

SHOES are one of those things that one would expect to be easier to shop for in person, given that trying them on is often a make-or-break proposition. But nowadays? I guess a few rounds of trying-on and mailing back would have been quicker, had what I bought not fit so well on the first attempt.

3. For ages and despite my occasionally asking him what he might like in his school lunch -- since he hates the whole cafeteria menu -- I have packed the same collection of things he might eat if he's hungry in my picky-eater son's lunch ahead of school.

Probably goaded by a growth spurt, he finally initiated working with me to come up with things he'd like.

It's actually easier to make his lunches now, and I usually am not throwing out food at the end of the day.

Good on him for taking an active role in solving a problem for both of us!

4. I'm enjoying the fact that we now have family card night many weekends. The kids like hearts, spades, and poker, and are pretty decent at the first two.

-- CAV