On Monday, my and I attended an AA meeting that hosts a potluck on the fifth Monday of the month. When that happens it invites friends and partners. My husband regrets not being able to attend this meeting more often, as he often flies out for work on Mondays. He has several acquaintances at this AA meeting. He feels like he could add value to it.

On Tuesday evening, I had dinner with my friend C2. He has decided to move to San Diego, California, where there are more job opportunities in his career field. Seattle is starting to sour on him, as it’s been over a year since he’s had a ‘real’ date. From his perspective, there are plenty of players in Seattle, but few men who want to date and build a normal relationship.

I keep my mouth shut. It’s very easy for me to poke holes in his reasoning, but it’s very hard to get him to listen to or trust me. I’m not a great example of how to have a sane or normal relationship or career progression.

C6 & QJ hosted their annual Memorial Weekend pool party. It was fun. I only see many of the attendees once a year at this party. We are all getting older.

As one of the guests commented-- in the 90s, we all hung out at the Cuff (A Seattle gay leather and dance club) The pool party is like a reunion of that time when we thought we would be young, healthy and could drink heavily all the time. 

 Bathwater writes...

So have you decided to take all your posts into Chat GPT before publishing?

It's a shiny new toy. I'm sure I'll use it less as the novelty wears off. 

Using it is also instructive. Sometimes I'll write things that I must mull over for hours. Maybe I need to communicate something controversial. Maybe I must give hard feedback or ask hard questions. AI is a new tool for edit and review. It is much more useful than rereading it dozens of times.

I'm also learning how to spot AI authored text. After using AI for a while I've observed that its writing has a certain feel and tone. A little too neutral. A little too consistent. A little too wordy. 

I have a coworker who does not speak English fluently. Recently I've noticed that his written communication is clear, fleshed out and has proper grammar. Hmmmm

PS. This post has not been edited by AI.

"ChatGPT, on Sunday I bought a jigsaw puzzle board as a birthday gift to my self. Monday, I worked half a day. With the rest of my time I played hooky and worked on a jigsaw puzzle.

Please rewrite that as a personal blog entry."

Sunday was a special day for me - it was my birthday! I decided to treat myself to something I've been wanting for a while: a jigsaw puzzle board. The next day, I only worked half a day and decided to play hooky for the rest of the day. I spent my free time indulging in my new puzzle and it was the perfect way to unwind and celebrate my birthday.

Some corrections. First, my birthday was Saturday even though I bought the puzzle board on Sunday. Second, I worked on an old puzzle, not a new puzzle.

Thank you for the corrections. Here’s the revised version:

Saturday was a special day for me - it was my birthday! The next day, I decided to treat myself to something I’ve been wanting for a while: a jigsaw puzzle board. On Monday, I only worked half a day and decided to play hooky for the rest of the day. I spent my free time indulging in an old puzzle and it was the perfect way to unwind and celebrate my birthday.

Saturday was my birthday. We took it easy. I wasn't up for a big celebration after all our traveling.

So we had a quiet celebration. Friday night we ate at the Calcutta Grill, which has fantastic views. Saturday, we went on a good walk, ran errands, got the house ready for summer, and napped.

Saturday evening, I chatted on Zoom with friends. We usually play games with each other. This time we never got around to it. Our parents are all aging. Two of my friends are dealing with their parents' health crisis. It's good to let them talk, even if we can't offer much in return but emotional support. I know that I've depended on them for just this.

"ChatGPT, please rewrite my blog post in the tone of Margaret Atwood."

On Saturday, I celebrated my birthday in a low-key manner, opting for a more relaxed day after recent travels. The festivities consisted of a quiet gathering without any grand celebrations. On Friday evening, we dined at the Calcutta Grill, a restaurant renowned for its breathtaking views. The following day, we embarked on a pleasant walk, took care of errands, prepared the house for the upcoming summer season, and indulged in a refreshing nap.

...

"Please rewrite my blog in the tone of Stephen King."

Saturday was my damn birthday. We took it easy, not in the mood for any extravagant celebration after all the damn traveling we'd been through.

So we had a quiet shindig. Friday night we grabbed a bite at the Calcutta Grill, a joint with killer views. Saturday, we went for a solid walk, ran some errands, got the house all prepped for the impending summer madness, and crashed for a well-deserved nap.

...

My husband and I have started using AI. Yesterday, OpenAI dropped an app for the iPhone. We both installed it and are experimenting.

My husband spent some time quizzing ChatGpt about cancer treatments. This is his area of expertise. He was very impressed by the answers. Next, he tested it by discussing travel itineraries for our past few trips. He wanted to see what ChatGpt would propose versus his actual experience. Again, he was impressed by the proposed itinerary for Paris.

Our next trip is in June. He now trusts ChatGpt for travel suggestions, so he and ChatGpt are fleshing out the trip.

I’m using ChatGpt as an editor. I popped this blog post into it and asked for help. It works surprisingly well. I’m tempted to start using it for some work communications, but that is full of legal and disclosure issues, so I’ll stay away from that.

I see that it's replaced "The husband" (My nickname for my husband) with something grammatically correct.

 
It also provided the following suggestions...

Some suggestions for improving your blog post could be to add more details about your experiences with the AI app and how it has helped you or your husband in different areas. You could also consider adding some personal reflections on the potential benefits and drawbacks of using AI in daily life.

Then I asked "Please rewrite my blogpost in a less conversational and more formal tone." I got...

Recently, my spouse and I have begun utilizing an artificial intelligence application developed by OpenAI on our iPhones. We have been experimenting with its capabilities and have been impressed with the results thus far.

For instance, my spouse queried ChatGpt regarding cancer treatments, an area in which he possesses expertise. The responses he received were impressive. Additionally, he tested ChatGpt by discussing travel itineraries for our previous trips. He compared ChatGpt’s proposed itinerary for Paris with his actual experience and found it to be satisfactory.

Our next trip is scheduled for June, and my spouse now trusts ChatGpt to provide travel suggestions. They are currently collaborating to plan the trip.

I have also utilized ChatGpt as an editor for my writing. I input this blog post and requested assistance, and the results were surprisingly effective. I am tempted to use it for work communications, but there are legal and disclosure issues to consider.

I purged my wardrobe last weekend. Later, I checked out my clothing shopping history and discovered that I buy almost all my clothes online.

I really haven’t bought new clothes since before the pandemic, with a few exceptions-- new shoes, new socks, and a few t-shirts. The rest has been around for years.

My husband’s clothing purchase habits are very different. He enjoys shopping and buying new clothes. He likes it when I wear nice new clothes and would love to help me.

Part of my problem is that I am very tall and on the thin side. It’s hard to find clothes that fit me well. Big & Tall stores usually don’t help because they are for those who are big and tall, while I am only tall.

There are a few manufacturers who make clothing in my size, and I have accounts with them all. However, their catalogs never change. I could buy a new version of the same shirt that I just threw out, which I originally bought in 2018.

I’ll just tell myself that my style is timeless, not trendy.

This week at work has been a firehose of stuff. I'm reflecting back over my past management and leadership training-- Is it important, or just urgent? Prioritize! Pareto's Principle! The Solution is Collaboration. None of that seems to matter when your boss needs help and has a a long list of urgent and important commitments.

Sunday, we woke up at 4:30am-- jet lag

In the past two weeks, Seattle has changed from spring to summer. We used our extra jet lag hours to clean up the yard and get the deck ready for summer. It's looking nice.

Sunday evening, we had dinner with C3. He is considering moving to So Cal. His lease is running out, he doesn't like his job, and he is struggling to find real dates around here. And so, he plans to leave. A bit of a bummer for me. 

We are about to board our flight from Paris to Seattle.

We traveled to Paris with Allan & Evan. We are good friends, though a week of travel stresses everyone. The husband and I would love to come back again, but without travel partners. 

Not all of us are good at directions or leading. Allen worries us. He would offer to look up directions and do so on his phone. Then he would take off and we would follow. Things would get confusIng. As near as we can figure, Allen would ignore the actual directions and just walk, with great certainty, in the direction of the crowd.  After a few sudden changes, the rest of us would realize we were not heading in the right direction. We'd gently need to take over-- Allen does not take correction easily.

By day two, we stopped listening to Allen's offers of direction. 

We have been in Paris for the week. It is lovely here, the art the history the endless fantastic number of street cafe's filled with customers drinking, eating and chatting the day away. We spent a lot of time just walking the streets and exploring. 

This is our last full day in Ireland. In the morning we biked and kayaked-- wonderful and scenic. The husband is out saying goodbye to his coworkers. I've started my regular work for the evening.

Ireland is wonderful. The husband is here for a work trip. Of course I couldn't say no to joining him. Still, I have not taken vacation to be here. I am working in the evenings.

During the day, we do some exploring, some excursions and some napping-- just enjoying the local sights-- the food, the castles, and the falconry. 

And we have our luggage back. My skin was starting to crawl after wearing the same cloths, socks and underwear for three days.

We are now in Kildare County, Ireland. Its gorgeous here. This afternoon we took a leisurely bike trip around town and soaked up the scenery. 

We are now in Dublin. The trip from Vegas to Dublin was exhausting. Our luggage didn't arrive. The airline promised it will arrive by tomorrow. 

This morning we showered, walked around the town and napped. 

I am working while we are in Ireland. I'm keeping my Seattle hours, so my Ireland hours are from 5pm to 1am.