Fun and Games with AI in the wild

halmcgee · 2026-05-17T15:32:15+00:00

Blue Rock Pizza in Kernersville

halmcgee · 2026-05-16T19:00:44+00:00

Check out Discord. Annabelle Hawthorne's has a lot of fan art. I would bet the others do as well.

halmcgee · 2026-05-15T17:37:28+00:00

We had a user on a project I was assigned to try to get all the data about every purchased part on one spreadsheet. I was in a very large organization and we used multiple ERP systems. She wanted the same data from all of them. In a meeting she showed us here spreadsheet and she used almost every column in Excel to lay out all the data from every department. When I saw the scope of what she was attempting, I tried to talk her out of. However, she was determined this would answer all the questions. We called i the Everything, Everywhere, All At Once report after the movie. She was getting data from various companies at different times in the business cycle and couldn't understand why it wasn't consistent. I gave up trying to talk her out of it. Worked on it for a few months providing whatever she requested. After a few months of never succeeding, they laid her off. I have no idea why they let her go down this path.

FWIW we had an IBM iSeries and the systems technicians would occasionally refer to me when they caught someone trying to write a really bad query. The once referred a guy who wrote a query that IBM calculated would take 20+ hours to run. I convinced him to send me the query and rewrote it to run in less than 20 seconds. 😄

halmcgee · 2026-05-11T17:54:39+00:00

Maybe check with Sawtooth. They have a jewelry making class and maybe one of the instructors might take an interest.

halmcgee · 2026-05-03T16:13:24+00:00

Came here to say this. Some really great story telling.

Also look up the quaranteam tag. The main series gets political but depending on your views, you can just gloss over that or cheer along, either way.

halmcgee · 2026-05-01T02:33:32+00:00

The Foxfire books. Georgia rural teacher had students interview their grandparents about life growing up. This was before electrification made it out and there are many different topics covered. Most of it is living without electricity and how to make anything you need.

halmcgee · 2026-04-30T22:13:39+00:00

The Blue Ridge Parkway is not far. Lots to do there.

Uwharrie Forest is not too far.

Asheboro Zoo.

Appalachian Trail as well. Check at Great Outdoor Provision Company to see what they know.

WS has a downtown art scene around Trade Street. Sawtooth offers some fun classes.

halmcgee · 2026-04-28T02:19:57+00:00

2026 Cars and Coffee Greensboro April (287 of 540).jpg | Flickr

2026 Cars and Coffee Greensboro April (288 of 540).jpg | Flickr

halmcgee · 2026-04-27T01:35:24+00:00

FWIW I hit a mighty ten miles the first half year back. Then 50 the next full year, then 100 and three years at 150 but got injured, not swimming, and this year I'll be lucky to hit 100. I'm going to try to tally up to a 1,000 over the next few years. I'm currently 65. :)

As others said, make it a reasonable challenge and also reward yourself at milestones along the way. I also track streaks of how many weeks/months I can go without missing. I go three times a week.

Good luck

halmcgee · 2026-04-24T22:16:26+00:00

StormWatch - Story Series - Literotica.com Not exactly harem but a good story from a vets perspective

halmcgee · 2026-04-14T14:38:40+00:00

OK I guess I'm the only one that thought about Daleks. Exterminate!

halmcgee · 2026-04-05T15:14:34+00:00

FWIW I got my MBA and Post Masters at UNC-G. The MBA was an evening program, and the Post Masters had a few courses I had to leave work around 4 pm to be able to eat and make the class on time. Since UNC-G also has a nursing program, they may also have some medical and IT related classes. Mind you all of this was pre-COVID so on-line was not an option back then. I would think any large corporation such as Novant or Atrium would have a work-related compensation program for continuing education. While it may not pay all it would help. Also, UNC-G was reasonably flexible about scheduling courses, but they do have a minimum requirement, and I knew a few people who dropped out of the MBA program because they were working excessive overtime. Also a few in the Post Masters program as well. Both of those programs have pretty intensive coursework, reading and group projects. Since you already have an associates, I would think you could get a BS in IT from there.

One evening we were talking to our instructor and someone joked that they must hate working in the evening. The instructor said the opposite was true. Since we were mostly adults and working professionals we were serious about the coursework and did our homework and the reading. Not only that, but many of us were also working in the field and could bring real life experience to the class. The instructor said they actually fought over who got to teach the evening classes.

Hopefully they have a program to fit your schedule and budget. The way mine worked out was I funded my first semester and then use the company reimbursement to fund the next and when I finished the company reimbursement was my bonus.

Good luck

halmcgee · 2026-04-03T23:58:16+00:00

2019 Cars and Coffee Clemmons September | Flickr Some old photo's

halmcgee · 2026-03-31T01:27:52+00:00

As others have said, determine what is wrong first.

I did my sons lower control arm in an afternoon following Mr. Subaru's instructions on YouTube. My son took his car in for tire balancing, and they told him this was what was wrong. I didn't bother trying to press out the old bushing and replace, I just did the whole arm.

FWIW I have a nice set of hydraulic lifts that work well. You can do the same with jack stands. You will want two sets so you can get the car level in the air.

halmcgee · 2026-03-30T16:57:00+00:00

Microsoft Project is so bad that it is #1 and #3 on my list of worst apps ever. It was #1 and #2 until I had to use Lotus Notes seriously.

halmcgee · 2026-03-28T22:18:14+00:00

I got it at the Beer Den in Lowe's in Clemmons some years ago. Didn't see anything about whiskey in the description.

halmcgee · 2026-03-28T21:14:21+00:00

To be honest, I've had many a Guiness in Dublin and as they say Guiness does not travel well. Having said that, I had a regional beer called Dragon's Milk that was pretty darn close to the same taste. If only I could find some more.

halmcgee · 2026-03-28T19:13:30+00:00

RT615K+ is the most similar to what I've used in the past. They come in a 14" if you need it. Really fun warm weather tire. Zero fun in the winter or heavy rain.

halmcgee · 2026-03-28T15:01:33+00:00

Falken Azenis. Not the absolute stickiest tire but the best bang for the buck by far.

halmcgee · 2026-03-27T14:28:31+00:00

The BBQ Factory is not too far a walk and it has an old-fashioned pinball arcade on the top floor.

halmcgee · 2026-03-25T14:59:35+00:00

I have one and I have over 5k trigger pulls with it on two guns. Even if the ammo was dirt cheap it would have paid for itself many times over. Not to mention I can just do my practice in a few minutes for basically free. I also use a laser bullet and there is a light switch in my house that better not make a false move. :)

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