Today started pretty normally. After my Wednesday Zoom, I got right back to work on my enormous photo projects. I went through a whole box of photos and found some great ones to scan. I also found plenty to throw away.
I had some notes to write and then mail at the post office, where I discovered they don’t typically carry postcard stamps. I had wanted to buy a sheet, and they only had three individual stamps. So I came home and ordered them online.
When I went to the kitchen to blend my compost, I discovered that we didn’t have water. I went outside to see if the guys knew anything, and all they knew was that the fire hydrant at the end of the street was pouring out water. Jasper had barely finished washing the box trailer, which was the job I’d given him, before the water ran out.
Our neighbors called the city and were told our water would be off indefinitely while they worked on something. It was off all afternoon. Suddenly you realize how much you use water. I wash my hands constantly when working in the kitchen—but today, I couldn’t. So frustrating.
I had a sudden butter emergency and had to go out to the store to buy more. Then I came back and made cookie dough, but I couldn’t even rinse anything out.
I actually drank sparkling water from a can this afternoon instead of tea, because I wanted to make sure there’d be enough water for our evening teatime.
The water came back on right at suppertime—but it was brown and dirty. We had to run it quite a bit before it cleared up. But hey, we had water! Which meant I could finally soak my feet.
I’ve done more photo work this evening. I am getting pretty annoyed with ChatGPT. Here are the kinds of family photos it has refused to work on so far:
—a kid with a bow and arrow (a child in proximity to a weapon!)
—a kid with a sheathed knife on his belt (see above)
—a kid holding a toasting fork with a flaming marshmallow on it (a child in proximity to an open flame!)
—a toddler wearing a diaper (nudity!)
—a fully-clothed toddler in a playpen (sexual content????)
—and this one of me and Flynn after the car accident which I mentioned yesterday:
The objection is the depiction of violence. I agree that hitting a tree in a Suburban is pretty violent. This was several days after the accident—maybe you can see how bruised my cheeks and jaw are. Flynn had stitches in his forehead and a black eye because his seatbelt wasn’t tight enough.
So anyway, some photos are just going to have to stay fuzzy or a little discolored I guess. As the days have gone by, I’ve become less and less happy with the AI’s attempts at enhancing old photos, although there have been some major wins. Like this great one of Walter and Spencer:
Joy Spark: Getting our water back this evening!
Wednesday Word of the Day
pantophagous—eating or requiring a variety of foods. I used to be a pantophagous person, but I have since had to eliminate many of the foods I once enjoyed.