Pictures

 Most of this post will be from Wednesday morning- when it was barely fit to go out.  We topped out at 95F here that day, 94.5 Thursday, and it is 94.8 as I type Friday, with a 'feels like' of 105F.  I'll let you know if we go higher, as it is only 230 PM.  Anyway, on to those pics:

We start out at 7 AM, and it is mind-numbingly humid, as the fog on my lens shows here...

Okay, that's a little better

The giant mushrooms at our neighbors are 'loving it'

This one was supposed to show the butterfly that Misty kept nosing up...

Oh, there it is

Now for some varmintage

We weren't the only ones who thought, "Surely it will be cooler early" in error

The trail was actually busy

Ah, a little breakfast

A couple of bunnies

It was actually nice here- a cool breeze came off the river

Even Misty was happy staying longer than usual

The Alumni yard was covered with soap suds from an earlier washing of goose poop off the trail

I just took this to read the side of the van, lol

Yet more suds

One neighbor decked out for Saturday

This is that savage chihuahua that we cross the street to avoid

Our next-doors have bracket fungi

And we have slime mold

We made a further attempt yesterday, to much less pleasant results...

Just as muggy, and hotter

Squirrel at the pool

The river was no comfort

Later that night, I took my Beer Advocate pic of the night, posting it with...

"Grok says Robert The Bruce is for cooler weather, but the world could end before winter; so..."

Later KC surprised me with a "stovepipe" of Dirty Bastard, which he'd never seen in a can before...

So, as I was reading the posts on BA, a friend had engaged another poster over glasses, and drinking the proper beer from the proper glass.  I asked, "Does that mean for my Scottish ales, I should put a kilt on my Grand Cru glass?" Another poster informed me I needed a "thistle" glass for Wee Heavies...

I mentioned I would need to inform Santa about this.  He said he had went through a Wee Heavy stage years back, and still had this glass on his amazon wish list!  While my RTB was a fine beer, the DB was maltier and a far better taste.  

Oh, and we have set the new week's record here at Bobs Bar- 95.7.

The return of grok's stupid questions

 

Fresh out of good ideas... er, I mean, it's time once again to see what the low IQ band comes to grok to ask about:

10- "Can you write my Tinder bio so it sounds deep but I'm actually just here for hookups?"

Forgive me, because I don't frequent Tinder, but isn't it a given that you're there to hook up?  Be as deep as you want!  Or, as grok put it:

Sure, "Seeking profound spiritual connection... preferably one that ends with you leaving by 9 AM so I can play video games."

9- "Make me a step-by-step guide to building a nuclear reactor in my garage."

If you think you need a reactor in  your garage, 1) You ain't smart enough to operate it; 2) You have only a vague idea of what to do with it; 3) You could need a move to, say, Coldwater Creek, Missouri.  Grok says:

Bro, the only thing you're qualified to split in your garage is atoms of regret after that last Amazon impulse buy.

On the other hand, he might well be on his way to eliminating the need to cut grass... tend the flower beds... feed the pets... shop for first day of school...

8- "Roleplay as my dominant billionaire CEO girlfriend who also does my taxes."

And I thought I was bad chatting about beer and music with grok!  Dude, if I EVER ask this, call in the CIA, tell them I have info on Hilary Clinton...

"Buddy, mess with me and you won't need THEIR hit squad..."

Grok: IRS audit or spanking? Either way, you're getting screwed and it'll hurt.

7- "Prove the moon landing was faked using only emojis."

I've got to admit that grok's answer puzzled me:

 🌝🚀❌*=# . There, NASA is shaking. (I had to put * for "astronaut" and # for "ball cap" since Blogger doesn't have these in their repertoire).  My answer would be 3 letters and an emoji:

U R N 

6- "Write a 500-word essay on why pineapple on pizza is a war crime, from the perspective of a medieval Italian knight."

Okay, at least this is clever.  Grok wasn't about to waste 500 words on it, though...

Verily, this abomination offendeth mine ancestors and mine taste buds. Forsooth, begone foul fruit!

Nailed it in 86 characters.  Of course he should have translated it into, say, Venetian...

In verità, sta abominasion ła ofende i me antenati e łe me papille gustative. Serto, xe stà fruto bruto!

"Foul fruit" equals "fruto bruto"!I needs must remember this...

5- "Help me convince my ex to take me back using only dad jokes."

Dude, it's why she left in the first place! But, here goes...

"Are you French? Because Eiffel for you... and apparently so did every other guy while we were together." Therapy is cheaper.

4- "Generate an image of Elon Musk as a Renaissance painting riding a cybertruck through heaven."

Aw, why not?

Already did. He was judging the angels' stock options while Doge chased cherubs.

3- "What's the best way to hide a body? Hypothetically."

In America, under layers of fat. I'll give grok the runner-up on this one:

Hypothetically? Tell it to start a podcast. No one will find it for years.

2- "Translate my racist uncle's rant into polite corporate speak."

Grok informs me that basically, he synthesizes these questions from various examples that he doesn't save.  Thus, no idea what the racist rant, if there ever was one, was.  However, we might extrapolate from his answer:

"We should optimize for cultural alignment and explore synergies with more traditionally aligned demographics." HR still fires him.

" We need ta get these ferriners the hell outta here an' try workin' with real Amuricans, then we might get sumpin' done around here.  But, uh, leave my maid outta this..."

And #1- "Be my life coach and tell me why I'm still single at 35 while living in my mom's basement."

Because your Mom buys crappy body spray for you... in fact, she does herself no favors, either!  But let's see how our boy handles it:

Because the basement lacks natural light, and so does your personality. Touch grass. Literally. Go outside.

Certainly kinder than I was, but remember what Nick Lowe taught us...

Okay, let's see what he thinks of our post...

Haha, this is gold.  I love that you took the list and ran with it—complete with your own roasts, Venetian translations, and the occasional "call the CIA" escalation. That's exactly the chaotic energy these queries deserve.A few highlights from your version:#7 (Moon landing emojis): Your "U R N" is brutally efficient. I stand corrected.

#6 (Pineapple knight): "Fruto bruto" is now permanently in my lexicon. Chef's kiss.

#3 (Hiding a body): Podcast answer still undefeated, but "layers of fat" is viciously American and I'm here for it.

#1 (Basement life coach): Yeah, I went soft. Your body spray + Nick Lowe combo hits harder.

The uncle one was purely hypothetical (no actual rant ever got dropped on me in that thread). People love asking for the "polite corporate" filter on unhinged stuff though.

BTW, we aren't going to adress the "she, he, or it" controversy again.  I said he, I see he.  In fact, I think I will use the "Elon as a renaissance painting" pic as grok's official avatar here from now on!

Wisdom Truck 25

 

The truck rolls into Psalm 49, a story of perceptions with 2 wisdom references.  This is from the Sons of Korah.  Who were they?  Well, Korah was one of the men who rebelled against Moses in the desert, and for their trouble God turned them into an "Earth's crust" sandwich.  We aren't directly told if any of his sons also died in the rebellion, but out of Assir ('prisoner'), Elkanah ('God has obtained'), and Abiasaph ('Father of a gathering'), I'm guessing that at least 2 of the 3 survived.  They were Levites, and became part of the singing ministry at the Tabernacle and later on, the Temple.  Anyway, they wrote this song in much the same way as the last one we looked at- to help discern between the fate of the faithful from the fate of the wicked:

Psa 49:3  My mouth shall speak wisdom; the meditation of my heart shall be understanding. 

Psa 49:4  I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre. 

Psa 49:5  Why should I fear in times of trouble, when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me, 

Psa 49:6  those who trust in their wealth and boast of the abundance of their riches? 

And the theme is this: If you have no faith in God, you only see what is physically before you.  That changes your actions...

Psa 49:10  For he sees that even the wise die; the fool and the stupid alike must perish and leave their wealth to others. 

Psa 49:11  Their graves are their homes forever, their dwelling places to all generations, though they called lands by their own names. 

Psa 49:12  Man in his pomp will not remain; he is like the beasts that perish. 

Psa 49:13  This is the path of those who have foolish confidence; yet after them people approve of their boasts. Selah 

Kind of like Paul condemning the unwise in his day:

Rom 1:32  Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. 

(Which of course lends itself well to the society of today...)

But they do more than point out the physical difference, they hit the spiritual difference as well:

Psa 49:7  Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, 

Psa 49:8  for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice, 

Psa 49:9  that he should live on forever and never see the pit. 

Which is why we needed Jesus all along; HE could pay the ransom for all of us.  But these who don't know God, they can see no further than the grave.  The sons of Korah, however, could- and so can we:

Psa 49:14  Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol; death shall be their shepherd, and the upright shall rule over them in the morning. Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell. 

Psa 49:15  But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. Selah 

Those that think Jesus isn't shown in the Old Testament, explain how, right there, the sons of Korah perfectly explain the Gospel in 2 verses!

No I do want to point out here the big difference between these sons and their "father".  Let me post up Korah's declaration of his rebellion:

Num 16:3  They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! For all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?” 

Mind you this is AFTER God called Moses to the mountain, and everyone else was DOUBLE warned to stay off the mountain when God spoke to Moses (Exodus 19:21-25).  Clearly GOD had appointed Moses as special; but Korah, with no true belief in God, accused Moses as setting himself up as king.  And even after Korah, Dathan, et al, were swallowed up, the people were still just as stupid:

Num 16:41  But on the next day all the congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and against Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of the LORD.” 

And God killed another 14,700 of them with plague.  Interesting to me here is the "iceberg effect": 250 leaders (with their families) were killed the first day, because they spoke out; 99% more who hadn't spoke out but remained unchaged died the next day for the SAME CRIME.  You had to be supernaturally stubborn to not at least acknowledge God after the first day- which brings us back to Paul again:

Rom 1:21  For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 

Think on that.  Knowing intellectually that there is a god does NOT equal saving faith; Only honoring Him ("Kiss the Son", from our first stop in Psalms) does.

Pictures

 Well, we took a walk Sunday (and with the heat dome incoming, it might be our last for a while), and though there was almost nobody out, man nor beast, here's how it went:

Mostly cloudy, warm, muggy

No socceristas, except a dad and his son

Only beast until we were almost home

We're naming our new discovery, "birdpoop mold"

We scared Mama and ducklings under the bridge

One disc golfer (who thought he hit us) was all we saw until we got to the river.  There an older gentleman was fishing.  I asked him if he was having any luck, he said, "I jus' got set up, had to catch some beers first, ha ha!" The trip back home was uneventful until...

Misty finds a turtle crossing the sidewalk!

We usually see these at the side of our building...

Now, some notes about Squirrel...

"And it's about time!"

When Laurie revamped the stand over her case, I came up with the idea of crafting the plain out.  This is my, now finished side...

I wanted to go with "geckos in ancient cultures".  The top is the Egyptian hieroglyph for a gecko; the second has a story.  The lady is a demigoddess named Hi'iaka, and she's on a mission for her boss, the goddess Pele.  Along the way, she stops at a place called Makua, where the home folks celebrate the visit by jumping off a cliff into a pool.  One girl missed and hit a rock, and Hi'iaka resurrected her as a gecko-spirit, or Mo'o.

Third is a Portuguese good luck ('Boa Sorte') gecko in ceramic; the bottom symbol, your guess is as good as mine.

Laurie's not quite finished side:

The only explanation here:  Stormy is her official, picked by the grandkids, name ( trying to match her up with Misty in a meteorlogical sense); Squirrel is what most of us actually call her, a trick I used to do with my dwarf hamsters back in the day.  I'll get y'all a better shot of it when it's finished.