meet at doc's...

meet at doc's...

                                             

  Meet us at Doc B's, Dave, my oldest brother told me on the phone as I was driving east on I-465 in Indianapolis.  Carl and Ken will be there too.  It's in front of Keystone at the Crossing, he added.  

  Well, I 'm trying to navigate this nightmare on 465, I responded.  Give me 30 minutes, maybe longer.  

  Since leaving my Encore Performance in Indianapolis at the end of the 2016 school year, my trips north and south on I-65 from Louisville to Indy and back to Kentucky have turned from weekly treks to occasional family visits.  However, there is one constant: I never fail to find myself in a traffic nightmare.  

  But, on this day, a near miracle happened.  I arrived at the restaurant on time! 

  I found my three brothers seated at a table for four overlooking a patio type venue.  I took the empty seat.  They had ordered a couple appetizers and both looked tempting, but, a nibble or two of the sodium laden goodies was all I allowed myself.  

  A server appeared and took my request for iced tea, unsweetened. 

  Brother Dave was busy recalling memories whose foundations were grounded in our childhood.  

  The four of us have reached ages where what I call the Dubious Recall Reliability Factor is plus or minus 25% to 50%.  It depends upon who is spinning the tale.  Dave probably has the highest accuracy rate and his recall is amazing.  I am at the bottom of the spectrum (50%) and Carl and Ken somewhere in between. 

  This is roughly our conversation.

  Do you guys remember going to the mink farm? Dave asked. 

  The Mink Farm?   What brought that up? I wondered. 

  Who knows?  It just popped into my head driving out here, Dave answered. 

  I remember the smell was horrible, Ken answered.  

  Weren't the cages elevated on wooden legs and stood about four feet high? I said.

  Yeah, I remember that, Carl affirmed.  The whole place was mud and who knows what else and we had to walk on these small stepping stones.  I must've been 9 or 10 years old.    

  All these years later and we still don't know why dad wanted to go to a mink farm.  Did he know the guy who owned it?  Ken asked no one in particular.  

  Who knows, Dave said.  I think he was a friend of another guy and dad knew that guy.  Somehow, we wound up driving to a mink farm on a Sunday afternoon.  It was right here in Indiana.  

  That's right up there with the egg farm out in Greenfield, I said.  Those were weekly trips weren't they? 

  Naaw, once a month I think.  The mink farm was a lot farther out, Dave estimated.  The egg farm was closer, but, back then I thought we were driving to Ohio.  Man, I hated going out there.  

  The server placed my drink in front of me and asked us if we were ready to order.  We asked for a few more minutes.

  What do you guys recommend? I inquired of the three of them as I perused the menu.  By the way, have any of you guys ever had a car FOB fail to unlock the car?  

  Just change the battery, Carl said.  

  I did that, I countered,  Still didn't work.

  Man, what ever happened to a key that you put in the ignition and just drive away? Dave said wistfully.  Now, if I hit the wrong button, lights go off, a siren starts wailing....jeez, I just want to start the thing up.

  The wings, Carl said.  They are really good.

  What?  I looked at him.

  You asked what was good on the menu, Carl retorted.  Lots of things, but, the wings are roasted and they are good.  

  Wait until AI is in full swing, Ken predicted.  You will just sit in your seat and the car will drive its own self.

  Not me, Dave forecast.  I'm not having a car like that.  I'll just keep the one I've got.  Man, give me the old days.  

   It won't be long before driving a car will be as outdated as walking into a store to buy a watch that you wind up, Ken surmised. 

  At our ages, we probably don't have to worry about self driving cars come to think of it, I commented. 

  While we are talking old school stuff, think about this, Carl suggested.  College bowl games just ended.  Who can tell me how many games were played? Remember when there were just four games?    

  Yeah, Dave chimed in. Sugar, Orange, Cotton, and, Rose Bowl.  I can't name all the games today.

  That's all ancient history, Ken judged.  You have to put all that in perspective and live in today's world. 

   Well, I can't get past gender reassignment in today's world, Dave claimed.  What does that even mean?

   Got me, Carl said dismissively.  When was the last time you had a discussion with anybody about Chain of Thought Prompting, or, AI Code Assistant? 

  Are you even talking in real time here? Dave asked unbelieving.  

  Do you guys remember the time I shot myself with a BB gun? Ken asked randomly.

  Yeah, I remember, Carl recalled.  Didn't you come close to damaging your eyes or one of them?.

  Sure did.  Remember how dad had outlawed BB guns?  That was one of my finer moments with him, Ken laughed.  I had to explain to him how the lens broke in my glasses and I needed new glasses.

  Wasn't that around the same time you came home from school and told dad the music teacher said you should play the violin?  Carl inquired. 

  Yes, somewhere around there, I'm not sure of the time frame, Ken said.  Fourth or fifth grade, I think.

  How'd that turn out? Dave asked knowingly.

  You never saw me with a violin, did you?  Ken retorted.   

  How about this past election, gents?  I wanted to know,

  I wish it had been between Eisenhower and Stevenson, Dave said wistfully.

  Eisenhower and Stevenson?  Carl said incredulous.  Man, that was the middle of last century!.  

  You are talking about the days when we had hand cranks to raise or lower a car window, I retorted.  I don't want to go backwards.  We've got to look through the windshield.  

  You've got all those phrases down pat from that store you worked part time in the mall, Dave observed  Don't look through the rear view mirror, look straight ahead.  It is all about attitude...what was the name of that place?

  Succesories, I supplied.  

  I couldn't live my life like a motivational platitude, Dave opined.  Besides, it is comforting to think about the past.  

  What do you guys think of this Meta deal?  Ken wanted to know.  

  The Mets!  Dave exclaimed. Now you are talking my language!  They need better pitching that's one thing for sure.  I wish they could bring back Tom Seaver.

  The Mets!  Ken exclaimed.  Tom Seaver is 70 years old!  Not the Mets, I was referring to Zuckerberg's.... oh, never mind.

  Good call, Carl suggested.  

  The server approached our table.

  This is a good time to order, he added.      

  Coming up:  another oddities, observations & ?'s; New Year's Resolutions, and; another POS.

  And, finally.  I found this story at Good News Network.org.

  A high school in East London where teachers have convinced students to delete social media accounts and hand in their phones is seeing test scores soar.

  Cumberland Community Schools is ranked among the most consistently improving schools in the UK.  The percentage of students who achieved a GPA of 3.0 or better in their English and math exams is well above the national average.  It seems to be the result of an initiative that started in 2023 during final exam time when teachers convinced students to give up TikTok, Snapchat, and, Instagram.  

  This year, out of 300 students, 160 agreed to delete the social media platforms. Many of the 160 agreed to turn in their phones during exam times too.  

  HUH?  What's up with that?