Friday Randomness
Will I have enough content for a post? Will I go overboard with stupid memes? Time will tell. Know what? I’ll make it a Friday 5.
This week I was given a new laptop for work, which should be a simple thing, but my team uses some tools that are specific to us and are finicky, and my files weren’t transferring over to my new laptop well. So I spent a lot of time with a lovely IT guy in our Chicago office. We got to chatting a bit, as one does while waiting for processes to run, and I told him that it was raining and I was loving listening to it through my open window. He mentioned that he loves to go to sleep to the sound of rain (ME TOO) and that he is now hooked on a vibrating eye mask to help him sleep. What? He said that they have another, fancier one, heated and massage, that is supposed to help with headaches. Do I want one? Not really, but it would be fun to try.
Did you hear the disturbing news from Consumer Reports that many protein powders contain unsafe levels of lead? I’m not sure what goes into protein powder, so I don’t know where lead would come in. I don’t use any protein powders, just a collagen powder, but I know lots of people do use them to up their protein intake. Check your products!
My morning routine begins with a cup of tea and Wordle, then moves on to Octordle, then on to Connections and Strands. What is Octordle? It is 8 Wordles together. There are 5 different Octordle games, and the screenshot above is from the Sequence version. You have to guess the first word before you are given any hints for the second word, etcetera. What does it say about me that DROOL came to mind before DROLL? Not ideal. After I finish those, I go on to the exercise portion of my day, then I go for a walk, then I work. There is a lot of luxury to working from home and having an adult child, and being responsible for no one but myself in those early mornings.
Do you check your comment spam folder? I do, ever since one of my blog reader’s comments kept being pushed there. This one made me laugh. The praise is ingratiating, but the fact that they love my prose but think I need more pictures is funny, since the post is a Wordless Wednesday.
Speaking of pictures, look, I took pictures of some photos I found while sorting for my album project. Aren’t you impressed by my professionalism? Pictures are: Me and Genevieve, probably 2003 or 2004. Maya and my BFF’s two sons, taken on the same day. Maya showing me her jeans, or perhaps her butt. And me and some darling friends at my 40th birthday party almost 20 years ago. Would have been a great picture if my eyes were open and Janet weren’t moistening her lips and looking the wrong way. But Katie and Gretchen look amazing. They are my friends that I met in Stockton at our community college. Janet now lives in Texas, Katie tragically died from cancer a couple of years ago, and Gretchen is in Sonoma. We look so young! I always feel short with these friends.
OK, that was a lot of randomness. Looking at the meme at the top of this post, what old person traits do you have? Have you tried a vibrating sleep mask? Have you checked your protein powder for lead?
37 Comments
StephLove
My first thought was I don’t use protein powder, but then I remembered I do have a bag in the back of the pantry from when I was writing smoothie recipes for the company that made it. So I checked the CR article and it’s not among the brands they tested. 2/3 is alarming, though.
J
2/3 is really alarming! And I wonder about those they didn’t test? Does that mean they are safe? Likely not.
coco
I’ve read that report and freaks me out! once i finish mine (which is recommended to consume ocassionaly), i’ll switch to another brand.
I am an old soul since teens, almost never go out to party, sleep early, no alcohol. I’m surprised that I grew up not feeling peer pressure to do any of these.
Margaret
I saw that about protein powders; I never use them but I’m sure many do! We play many of the same games; some days I don’t have the mental energy for Octordle. I also do WhereTaken World and US (geography games) and a couple crossword puzzles. Lovely photos! I take pictures of pictures too. I’ve found that my iPhone camera cleans up many of those old photos.
J
I think if I bothered to do a good job of it, my iPhone camera would have been fine. But these have reflections and shadows and are laughable.
J
That’s great that you didn’t feel peer pressure to be different than you are. My daughter did, a bit, but she just left those friends by the wayside. It hurt sometimes, though.
Nicole MacPherson
I have all those old person traits!
Old photos crack me up, there are always some with eyes closed or looking the wrong way, etc.
I don’t often check my spam folder but after this I did – and there were some perfectly normal comments from actual people that ended up there! Whoops!
J
I will admit that I was surprised to find comments from friends in there! Usually it’s because they include a link or two, but sometimes I can’t figure out why.
nance
Jared hits the gym daily and uses protein powder. I sent him the CR link just now, thank you. I mentioned the research to him a few days ago when I saw him and he’d heard nothing about it.
My morning routine also includes word games to help me keep sharp (and because I love them). I’m addicted to NYT’s Wordle, Connections, Mini crossword puzzle, and Spelling Bee where I look only for the anagram, not as many words as I can make with the letters given (that takes too long).
J
I don’t think the protein powder thing got a lot of press, which is strange. I heard about it on NPR.
NGS
I also have all those old person traits. Also, for reasons I cannot understand because I am old, my phone storage is taken up by “apps” and I don’t know what that means and now I literally cannot download another app because there’s no room on my phone and since am am An Old, it means I cannot figure out how to delete other apps and clear up space. My phone is currently useless until I figure this out, but I have no time to figure this out, so…
Basically, this is a rant about my cell phone.
J
Preach sister! I am so sick of having to have an app for every damned thing.
AC
Plain ole Wordle is enough of that sort of game for me. I like Waffle and OneWordSearch (found on the Waffle site). And Sudoku.
J
I like waffle too!
Diane
Sometimes I look at old photos and just marvel at the absolute crap shoot they were. Before we all had phones on our cameras, you just hoped for the best and it was kind of magical when pictures turned out well. Now you can instantly see what things are and take and re-take and re-take.
Do you think just plain being annoyed is an old person trait? Although some of the older people I know are the most zen people I know. Or maybe you can still be annoyed, but you realize that you just have to go with it?
J
I’m pretty sure there are better pictures somewhere of us at this party, but not 100% sure, because I couldn’t find any others at all. Sigh. Maybe on our computer, we maybe had a digital camera by then? Clearly this was a film camera.
Suzanne
The way I clicked on that eye mask with a quickness!!!!
Let’s see. I have many old person traits, including the whole “not everything needs an app” belief. I also feel like I should only require one remote to turn on my TV, but we require three. I also think that I should be able to easily find a customer service phone number on a website rather than having to go through a bunch of prompts and an AI assistant first.
Those photos are great. I love the one of you with your friends. I’m sorry you lost one of them, and so young.
J
Thank you Suzanne, Katie was amazing and is so dearly missed. SIGH.
I agree with all of your old person traits. The TV thing is ridiculous. I think ours is smart enough, we only need 2…one handles the TV, the sound bar, and the DVD player, the other handles the Apple TV. For awhile there we needed 3.
ernie
My old person trait is that I barely know how to use my phone. I have to ask the checker at the grocery store to help me find the in store coupons. I liked it better when we could just shop and get deals and now they need to know all about me. I feel like letting them in on a not so secret bit of info on me: I feed a lot of people and I buy a lot of food here, but stop with the scan this code to get the coupon. Grrr.
I don’t play any word games and I have leisurely mornings on Fridays when I don’t work (except I usually have to drive Rae to school – today she got a ride), and leisurly mornings are a thing I look forward to when I retire from my babysitting gig. I wonder if by then I might be babysitting for grandkids though? It’ll be a good problem to have.
J
Yes, I have the app for Safeway and CVS, but now my little independent grocery store wants me to download an app and it’s maddening.
San
Aww, love the photos . I am sorry your friend passed away so young. Even if your eyes are closed, it’s a great photo and a wonderful memory.
Haha, I LOLed at the old person trait is that I think NOT everything needs to be delivered in video format. GAH!
J
AGREED!
Jenny
Egads! I do use a protein powder- I’ll check that out.
Old person trait… haha. I have too many to count. I’m sure my son could list a few dozen for me though! When he’s home I’m constantly asking for his help with my phone- ‘Why is it doing this? How can I get rid of this thing?” He takes my phone, taps in a few mysterious areas, and voila! All problems are solved.
J
I thought of you with the protein powder. Disturbing to be sure.
I relate with ALL of those old person traits!
Tobia | craftaliciousme
I love the randomness.
Random picture that take you back to otherwise forgotten mments are great.
A messaging sleeping maks… I would try it. But wouldn’t spend money on it. a
J
I thought of you and your headaches with the sleep mask, but yes, they are expensive, and what if it didn’t help? That would be a big waste of money.
Gina
Costco! I hate that they always open the app on my phone. I hate that app, it is so bad.
These are all great photos, and I am so sorry for the loss of your beautiful friend.
My husband of course uses protein powder, but the report made him cut down. I think for his brand they said 2-3 times a week was still safe.
Ok, I LOVE Wordle and Connections and have never heard of Octordle! Off to form a new habit! 🙂
J
I refuse to add the Costco app, I just use my card. The woman at customer service looked at me like I had two heads when I said I didn’t want to add it to my phone.
Steve
I love the old person traits! I can identify with too many of them!
J
I identify with ALL of them. All.
Daria
My old person trait is that I think the phone should be attached to the wall. Also, the email should be opened on the desktop.
Wonderful to see the pictures from years past. My 40th birthday… oh that was in May of 2921, so still kind of during the pandemic, and me and my four friends went into an Airbnb in Poconos and spent the long weekend. My husband’s gift. My son was just over a year, my daughter was three so both hand-fulls. This was the first time I tried pot and I was so sick the day later. Didn’t sit well with me lol but a great weekend overall.
J
Well a weekend with your friends sounds like an AMAZING gift, but the pot experience, not so much. I’ve tried it a few times over the years (though not in decades) and it never sat well with me.
Melissa
I have all the old person’s traits in your meme. I just bought a sleep mask that has built-in noise-cancelling headphones for when I travel, but I haven’t used it yet. It was not that expensive, though.
J
That sounds really useful for air travel!
Stephany
I have never heard of vibrating eye masks, but I would love to get a Bluetooth one. Since I listen to ASMR videos to go to sleep, it would be nice to be able to put on the mask and hear all the tingly sounds right next to my ears! But I’m unsure how it would work with my CPAP. Womp.
I tried Octordle a while ago, and it got very overwhelming! I’m impressed that you are going it!
Also, my old person trait is the first one in the meme. STOP TRYING TO OPEN IN AN APP.
Steve
It should be doable. I have a bluetooth mask I use to fall asleep listening to music or youtube videos and it doesn’t get in the way of my cpap.
Sarah
Well, shit. Now I want that sleep mask.