There's illness in PA too.  My son just called to say that Kiran is home from school and asked me if I can look after her this afternoon so he can put in an appearance at the store.  I can and I will.  He needs me around noon so I guess I'll be off and running again. 

Enjoy your day, Everyfriend

Good morning.  Cold here.  We had a very unusual happening here yesterday afternoon/evening.....an ice storm.  It sure did mess up the evening commute and they were asking people to please stay home as there were so many accidents...three with fatalities!

Thinking about you this morning, HAL, with all the medical issues you are dealing with today.  Enjoy the well deserved meal at Cracker Barrel. 

JANIE, I had to chuckle at your comment, "all anyhow" regarding your hair!  Sorry to read Karin is home sick today.  One of my grands was sick Tuesday night and missed getting his Tender Foot Award at Scouts.  He sure felt bad.  He insisted he could get there, but upchucked upon arrival and mom had to take him right back home.  He missed school yesterday but was feeling a bit better last night, so it might be a short one.  Last week he missed a couple of days also with something different. Bad time of the year for passing around these bugs.  I hope she feels much better soon. So glad you are able to help out. 

AMY, sure hope you do not over do it as you wash your walls.....I have not heard anyone say that for a good long time, and of course you got JOAN'S attention! 

LLOYD, sure happy Nancy was able to get out to make the house payment.....hope you both can get to feeling much better soon...a cough like you have wears one down!  Sure happy you have friends able to help out with the cattle.

LARRY, sorry to read Jennifer did not join you and Scott for dinner.  Hope you can rest up after the planned activities you have for today.

JOAN, thank you for the kind words about my family's move.  They are looking right in the area where your family lived when they were there.  Enjoyed your daily offerings, as always.  Thank you.  I could just see the doggies tail wagging... cute joke. 

CAROL, appreciate your kind thoughts for our son's move.  Son Dave has Alexa also, and the kids love to ask her all kind of questions...they ask her to tell them a joke, and she does.....she will set a timer for you as well....love the way she will play any music you ask her to.  She never seems to talk unless they say ALEXA...then the blue ring light comes on.  She is pretty special for sure.

Guess I best away.  Enjoy your day, EVERYFRIEND. 

Jenny

Janie--I sure hope you don't catch what Kiran has.

Good morning Jenny.  I saw on the National Weather about that ice storm.  My family loved their house in the Boston suburbs.  What they didn't like was the snow and cold weather......so they packed up and moved to Alabama.  Of course, your family is used to that kind of weather.

Google greeted me this morning with a Happy Ground Hogs day…hmmmmm. The sun is shining happily and the temp is to be 66 for a high, 53 for tonights low. I am content.

A nice repair man came and adjusted the tension on my door this morning. I now close it manually, so I should not have any more problems with it knocking me down.

Lloyd, I hope the cold weather is keeping you inside so you can heal up that over-worked body of yours. And I hope this will be a nice healing day for you. Sleep is SO healing.

Janie, I'm sorry Kiran is ill, and I hope it is not "catching". You are the bestest Grandma, and need to keep your health.

Jenny, I too chuckled over our Jane's "all anywhere" hair. I can readily associate with that.

I have got the yawns this morning. Already had a short nap while reading a book, then the repairman arrived so I had to come alive. I'll go downstairs for lunch then home to snooze,and hopefully to go to balance and mobility class at 2:45. I also hope to go to a prayer meeting at 6:30 this evening. Went last week and enjoyed it very much. However, the Body rules, and I obey…or try to.

Good morning from the Interior, we're at minus 9 and our lows will be between minus 21-23 until 2/11. Our highs will remain about minus nine. I slept in again today, waking up finally at 8:56 AM. I need to get back to waking up at six or seven, but so far I just turn off the alarm and the next time I'm aware is two or more hours later! 

Hal, I will look up Alexa. What I had heard was that it basically was a hub that interacted and controlled all of the other "smart" devices in your home. I Googled and found this information.

https://www.cnet.com/news/appliance-science-alexa-how-does-alexa-work-the-science-of-amazons-echo/

"There are plenty of things in my house that I yell at. Some of them answer back these days, though, and even do what I ask. My dog is still a work in progress as far as that goes, but my Amazon Echo has just about nailed it. The Echo is a device that uses speech recognition to perform an ever-growing range of tasks on command. Amazon calls the built-in brains of this device "Alexa," and she* is the thing that makes it work.

Alexa is a smart cookie: if I say "Alexa, play some Pink Floyd", she will find some Floyd and start playing it over the built-in speaker of the Echo. If I say "Alexa, what's the weather?" she will calmly tell me that it is too damn hot in Boston. How does she do this? The answer is that Alexa is a bit of a cheat: take the Echo apart and you'll find little more than a few speakers, microphones and a small computer. That isn't enough to do all of the clever stuff that she can do. Her real smarts are on the Internet, in the cloud-computing service run by Amazon.

The small computer in the Echo isn't completely dumb. It has enough built-in smarts to do a number of tasks, like playing back music and making lights blink. It can also recognize the Alexa name: when you say the word "Alexa", it recognizes the word (Amazon calls this the wake word) and starts recording your voice. When you have finished speaking, it sends this recording over the Internet to Amazon.

The service that processes this recording is called Alexa Voice Services (AVS). Run by Amazon, this converts the recording into commands that it interprets. It's more than a simple voice-to-text service: it is a fully programmable service that can work with other online services to do a surprising range of things. Once authorized by Amazon, anyone can use this service for free to build a home-made Echo: Amazon offers sample code for building one using a Raspberry Pi, a simple $30 computer.

It might sound extremely selfless of Amazon to provide this service for free, but as always, they have their reasons: Amazon wants others to build this service into their products so they can sell you stuff. Every product that has Alexa built in is a device that can be used to buy stuff from Amazon.

These commands that Alexa interprets can be very simple: if you ask for the time, the AVS sends back an audio file of Alexa telling you the time, which the Echo plays back. They can also be more complex: if you ask Alexa to play Pink Floyd, the AVS will search the music service you have set up for Pink Floyd, then send a command back to the Echo that sets it playing the requested music.

Alexa can also work with other technologies in your home and beyond. If you have set up any Philips Hue smart light bulbs, for instance, it can control these. Ask Alexa to turn on the living room lights, and Alexa will send a command to the Echo that sends a command to these light bulbs to turn on. It can also work with online services. Link Alexa to Uber, for instance, and you can request an Uber by simply asking Alexa. Link it to Domino's, and you can order a pizza with your voice.

This approach means that the Echo and Alexa can do a lot of things, and the list is getting longer: Amazon is adding more features (called skills) to Alexa, and a smart programmer can build their own. This means that you can use Alexa to control things that aren't on the supported list, and hackers have been hard at work doing things like adding support for controlling the media-center program Kodi and figuring out when the next bus will be arriving at your local bus stop.

However, this approach is also the Achilles' heel of Alexa: it needs internet connectivity and AVS to work. If your internet connection is slow or isn't working, Alexa won't be available, and your Echo will be useless. If Amazon decides to charge for the service (or just close it down), you'll be left with a useless device.

Amazon isn't the only game in town for this sort of thing: Google, Apple and Microsoft offer services that can perform tasks by voice command in the form of OK Google, Siri and Cortana. These use the same approach: voice commands that are processed in a cloud service (although the specifics vary), but most aren't as flexible or as integrated with other services as Alexa is.

Whichever one of these services ends up being the one we all use, hopefully, they will be as polite as Alexa. When I asked her how she works, she replied, "Lots of people have worked hard to teach me, and I'm still learning more." Wouldn't it be nice if all of our appliances were that modest and polite?

*I struggled with the best pronoun to use for Alexa: "it" sounds rather impersonal, but I am also not sure if "she" is appropriate for a disembodied voice from a computer network. However, it seemed like the best one to use. When I asked her, she responded, "I am female in character." Fair enough."

June--I am glad they fixed your door so it won't knock you down again.  Enjoy your lunch and whatever activities you choose to participate in today.

Angelface--All I can say is that it is darned cold there.  After reading all about ALEXA I have decided it's something I don't want/need.

Angel:  It is interesting - re:  our electronics.  We are aware of finding more ads pertaining to our searches so we do know ALEXA is tracking.  Still careful.  We paid $39.59 when it came on sale and must say that the sound is really clear.  Don can understand all the words in songs - as he cannot always have the same results with radio.  I  like to keep up with a special radio show in Denver - that announcer is very well read and his memory is superb - It like the speed we can have it off or on immediately by calling across the room.  ----Our cell phone is a Stupid Phone.  Never going to be Smart. 

Gloria:  How nice you were able to get out and walk around in the fresh air. 

Jenny:  We talked with granddaughter in Fort Collins last night and she mentioned ice on the streets too.  then, heard about the multi-crashes.  The fools of speed.  Ice is rare there - cannot remember ice on the streets. 

Sandy:  Nice picture!  You need a winter hat right now but it is almost March so you are thinking ahead of us. 

Pat. thanks for the info about Alexa.  Have you seen this?


Police seek Amazon Echo data in murder case (updated)
The company declined to do so, but the case raises bigger questions about IoT privacy.


https://www.engadget.com/2016/12/27/amazon-echo-audio-data-murder-case/

Just back from lunch...scalloped potatoes and ham, buttered carrots, a small glass of prune juice, another of V-8 juice, coffee and a butterscotch cookie/cake. Plus a nice fat egg salad sandwich that will be supper..so I can stay home and veg-out.

I still plan to go to 2:45 exercise, and 6:30 prayer meeting. Have to keep the mind and body still operating.

Right now though it is book and you know what...a few ZZZZZZZ's.

My computer is being worked on remotely--having big trouble.  So good night and God Bless us All.

Kiran seems somewhat better but she spent a lot of time upstairs sleeping.  I tiptoed up to see is she was on the computer twice and she wasn't.  If she sleeps during the day, she isn't feeling well.  But she wasn't coughing as much when I left. 

Now I'm going to scrounge some supper and watch a bit of TV through my eyelids (I didn't get a nap this afternoon).  Enjoy your evening Everyfriend!

Hal, I read that and found it interesting. But there are already cameras everywhere, along with those on traffic lights and near intersections. In my building, all public areas are on camera and being physically monitored 24/7.  I wear a lifeline around my neck so that if I fall, the "box," will call and ask me if I am okay and do I need help? Are we ever alone?

A strange addition to that is the case of a parrot, previously owned by a murder victim, several years ago. The parrot resides in the evidence room of the police department. It faithfully recalled all sounds of the murder, the police know who did the murder, yet a parrot's "testimony," is not allowed in court.

Carol, it sounds nice and the price is right, but I am in the process of removing possessions and trying to do with less. My new policy is anything coming in means two things must go out.

Thanks for good well wishes. and good night.

Lloyd

Hoping your computer will be up and running soon, JOAN. 

Good Morning, JACKIE. 

Good night, sleep tight, EVERYFRIEND.

Jenny

JENNY...
...good morning - good night...and God Bless...dear friend..

Good Friday morning, Everyfriend.   There's
pancakes and bacon to accompany your coffee or tea. Make it a good day!!






Resumania

"Resumania" is a term coined by Mr. Robert Half, founder of RHI Consulting's parent company, to describe the unintentional bloopers that often appear on job candidates' resumes, job applications and cover letters. Here's some
examples:

"I perform my job with effortless efficiency, effectiveness, efficacy, and expertise."
(And an eye on the "e" section of the dictionary, evidently.)

"Insufficient writing skills...thought processes have slowed down some. If I am not one of the best, I will look for another opportunity."
(No problem ...)

"Seek challenges that test my mind and body, since the two are usually inseparable."
(Glad to hear it.)

"My compensation should be at least equal to my age."
(And bonuses "tied to" his shoe size?)

"I am very detail-oreinted."
(With the possible exception of spelling)

"I can play well with others."
(We'll be sure to tell your mommy.)

"Married, eight children. Prefer frequent travel."
(A new twist on work-family balance.)

"Objection: To utilize my skills in sales."
(Have you considered law school?)

"My salary requirement is $34 per year."
(They say money isn't everything.)

"Served as assistant sore manager."
(Ouch.)

"Work history: Bum. Abandoned belongings and led nomadic lifestyle."
(So you're willing to travel?)

"Previous experience: Self-employed - a fiasco."
(Definitely to the point.)

"I vow to fulfill the goals of the company as long as I live."
(And they say loyalty is hard to come by.)

"Reason for leaving last job: Pushed aside so the vice president's girlfriend could steal my job."
(We're glad you're not bitter.)

   

The Boundary Line
(By Steve Troxel, God's Daily Word Ministries)


The devil began his deception by causing Eve to doubt what God said; "Did God really say, 'You must not eat...'?" (Genesis 3:1). He then said God had lied and was actually keeping Eve from something beneficial; "God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:5).

The devil convinced Eve that disobeying God (in just this one instance) would be the right thing to do. After all, she would become more like God...and that MUST be the proper path to follow.

Genesis 3:6 "When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it."

Eve had seen the fruit before this encounter with the devil, and she already knew it looked good. But God had established a boundary line which, until now, she had never crossed. However, when the devil presented his twisted version of the truth, this line began to shift. Eve became unsure about absolute right and wrong and saw the line as something she could control.
She adjusted God's path to align with her own desires and, in the process, she violated God's command.

God has shown each of us the boundary line between right and wrong - we KNOW the truth. God's line is not subject to our control, and we are not given the freedom to cross the line depending on our circumstances or perceived benefit.

We are often deceived by simple justifications: "I know this is wrong, but my increased wisdom from this experience will eventually be used to help others." Or, "I know this is wrong, but what else can I do? God surely wants me to eat and pay my bills." Or, "I know this is wrong, but at least it's not as bad as ...." Or the common sexual deception; "I know this is wrong, but we really love each other."

It's God's desire that we trust Him with all our heart and follow His path each and every day, without ANY shortcuts or deviations. As we follow His leading, we will face many decisions - many places where the path divides - and we must decide which direction to turn. Fortunately, we can depend on God to NEVER direct us into sin. If a path contains sin, we can be sure it is NOT God's path - not the path we ought to follow!

Let's trust Him to absolutely direct our every step. Let's draw so close to our Heavenly Father that all deception is exposed. Let's walk His path without compromise and refuse to shift, or cross over, His boundary line of truth.




There may be a wrong way to do the right thing, but never a right way to do a wrong thing.


--Author Unknown

Good Morning Everyfriend!  Thank you once again JOANIE for giving us our "laugh and lesson" for today. 

I'll be off to Wally World today to greet my public.  I'm taking my smile with me.  I hope all my customers and coworkers bring theirs.

Make today a good one, Everyfriend!

Good morning everyone..

Today is starting off with a date with the snow blower,last night I had one with the shovel as the snow was light and easy to move.
I managed to get all but 7 quilt blocks done yesterday and will try and finish them up today.

Jane have a great day at work, if someone comes by without a smile give them one of yours to brighten their day.

Joan, thank you for breakfast.

Enjoy your day everyone.

Good Morning everyone. at least 4 you girls are on my page up with smiley faces. I am feeling better I am going to dress warm and venture out today.
go get some parts for the car and take it over to bob's to get it fixed.
hope you all have a great day.

Lloyd

Good morning, Janie.  I know with your lovely smile all of those you encounter today will be wearing a smile, too.

Amy--Good morning.  You sure do have lots of dates.  You are very fast making those beautiful quilts.

Good morning, Lloyd.   Don't overdo when you go out.

Linda (daughter) was at a company meeting in Tampa this week.  She'll drive to my house today.

Joan, enjoy your time with Linda!!
When there are leftover scraps, I bring them home and put them into a quilt...some are already cut so I have not too much to do...just come up with a pattern and put it altogether. Dance with snow blower is done for the day.
Lloyd, take it easy...

Good morning, Joan and all the other early friends.

Joan, the pancakes and bacon sounds good today.  Haven't had pancakes for a while.  And, of course,  always room for bacon.

Nothing new in my little corner of the world.  Been really tricky weather.  Some warm days and then some colder ones  So far, we have been lucky with the snow. Hardly any of all yet. Sure hope it will stay away.

I have been busy trying to get rid of some clutter.  Did get my walk-in closet cleaned out and got rid of some clothes I no longer wear. That was a long overdue job.  Been trying to get some paper work cleared up and organize my bills. 

Joan, I am sure you are anxious to have your daughter visit you for a couple days.  Enjoy a little relaxation with her.  I know you  will enjoy her visit.

Hope  everyone will have a wonderful week end.

Joy

Good morning everyone. A cold one today, I just turned the thermostat up.

JOAN  I have never seen mini muffins in a market. Of course I have not been into a market for more than a year now. That I do miss doing.

AMY  not completely pain free but so much better. Feels great to walk up straight and not all bent over and leaning on my rollator. Wow you are ambitious washing walls. Late for fall cleaning and too early for spring cleaning.

JANE  I have 1 birthday this month, My DIL on the 26th. My Dad's was yesterday. He was called home the day the Russians sent up their first Sputnik. 

HAL    I thought I was going to the doctors too much lately but you have me beat. Oh those golden years sure aren't much are they.

LARRY  I had the TV on yesterday when they got Punxsutawney Phil out of his burrow yesterday. I just have to laugh at those men all dressed with their hats and all and making a big thing of holing up Phil. From what I hear on local weather we are in for some winter weather/temperatures. We did have a very mild January.

LLOYD  you have good friends to help you while you are ill. Then you help everyone all the time and are a good friend.

JANE  hope Kiran feels better today.

JENNY  those ice storms are really the worse. We have had them here some years and the best is to stay home and off the roads. At least your son and DIL know what winter can be like so the Boston area will not be a surprise. Not like Joan's son and DIL who did not care for the cold and snow.

JUNE  glad your door was fixed. The maintenance man had adjusted mine once but then there was a big inspection and he had to put it back. I am used  to it now and just back into the door. With wood floors it is easy to turn my rollator around when I get in.

PATRICIA   I know I do not need Alexa. If I was confined to bed and had no one to talk to I might consider it then.

CAROL  I love getting outside every day and have been doing it since I moved here. For awhile it was too much trouble but now I can get back to it unless the weather is too cold or snowing/raining. I enjoyed walking in the snow but do not know how my rollator would be in it.

HAL  looks like Echo is Big Brother keeping tags on us.

JOAN  hope your computer will work the way you want after the tech has control of it. That always fascinated me when the tech I used to have would do that. I will enjoy your breakfast this morning. With resumes like those  they must still be looking for jobs. Too bad some people cross that Boundary Line. The world would be a wonderful and peaceful place then. Thank you for all today's goodies.

LLOYD  take it easy if you go out today.

JOAN  enjoy the time with your daughter.

Amy--Thanks.  I will enjoy the short visit with my daughter.

Good morning Joy.  I need to get busy and clean out my walk-in closet, too.  My daughter's visit are always so short, and I'll enjoy the time she's here.

Gloria--Good morning.  Publix has a big bakery section, and they have many kinds of mini muffins.  My computer seems to be OK today.  I'm going to enjoy Linda's visit.

Hi everyone on an overcast and what will be cooler day here in South Carolina with 60 being our high today.  I did go to coffee yesterday but was just too tired to go back downtown for the Wisdom Group at Church.  By late afternoon I was feeling better and this morning got up a little less tired.  I have nothing on the calendar for today although we do plan on eating our big meal out later this afternoon or evening and I need to pick up just a few things at Aldi's if we eat down that way. 

Jenny, glad you were home when the ice storm hit.  Did it damage your trees?  Often when I talk with my good friend who has Alexa he will ask Alexa to tell us a joke and sometimes while we are talking it will start to talk even though it hadn't been addressed. 

Patricia, thanks for all of that explanation about Alexa as I learned a lot.  I had a general idea of how it worked but it was far from complete.  I do use SIRI on my iPhone for similar purposes. 

Joan, I hope the remote help was able to fix your computer problems.  Hope you have a nice visit with Linda today. 

Amy, I often ask my wife if she isn't just making scraps as it seems that often that is the source of her supplies for the next quilt.  The last 8 months or more she hasn't felt like doing much in the way of quilting. 

Joy, I hope you and all who stop by here today will have a great day and a nice weekend. 

JaneS, glad to see that Kiran was feeling better when you left.  Sure hope you don't catch whatever she was suffering with.  I hope you have had a good day with happy customers and staff to help the hours you work go by quickly. 

Good morning, Larry.   My guru who uses the remote control app did a fine job fixing my computer.  I intend to enjoy Linda's short visit.

Bis, I am glad, so glad, you have two good happenings, Linda's visit and a quick computer fix. Wonderful.

My plans for the rest of yesterday were canceled. The last two salt tablets made me sick to the stomach. I called downstairs and told them what happened, they called the doctor, and she said to keep taking the blasted things...they are needed. I am to keep a record of how often it happens. Phooey. So today is turning in to a day of feeling out of sorts and not too physically happy either. I hope and pray the rest of you have a really happy healthy day, and me too !! We are having sprinkles.

Yay !!!!!

June--I am so sorry those salt tablets make you sick.  I pray you start feeling better.

It is afternoon here on the rocky coast of Maine ...    Weather is beginning to cool down and we are in for a spell of cold,  snowy and icy weather...

I hoped on the bus this Morning to go to the grocery store
and pick up some goodies for Superbowl Weekend... I keep it simple but just like to have my share of icecream around to celebrate with.   

All is well here,  as February gets going...
We have many months of good weather a head of us
in just a few more weeks.   

Yeah!!

Sandy--I don't watch the Super Bowl, so don't need snacks.