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How the Metta Prayer and the Shower Juggle Are Alike
I’ve been practicing mindfulness meditation since 2014, when I became uncomfortably aware of how unpleasant I was becoming on the job and elsewhere. I called this “burnout.” The word still works as an explanation although it was and is sometimes still an excuse. I learned about the Lovingkindness meditation or the Metta Prayer during the…
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Iowa City Art in the Parks Lark 2023
The new sculptures are out in the parks and they are wonderful! We dashed out a couple days ago and logged a little over 3 miles on my step counter visiting them in several locations. The best way to get started is to read the Iowa City article, “Iowa City Sculptors Showcase.” You can get…
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Maybe an Iowa State Fair Contest Would Settle the Score in UFO Flap
I just saw the news story about the whistleblower David Grusch a couple days ago. Apparently, Mr. Grusch’s personal medical record was obtained through the state of Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and released to the public. He was one of three people who testified recently at the House Oversight Committee hearing on Unidentified…
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What Kind of Census Does This Make?
We finished our Census Bureau survey and it seems like we just did this not long ago. It’s taken every 10 years but it seems like we got this form a few years ago. They say it takes about 40 minutes to complete, but it sure felt like there were many more questions on it…
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The Dragon Breathes Fire Again
Sena and I saw a news video about a technology called “DAX” which uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) the other day which promises to reduce or even eliminate pajama time for physicians trying to get their clinical note dictations done during the day instead of taking them home for several more hours of work. The video…
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The Lesser-Known Quote by Wonko the Sane
A couple of days ago, Sena and I were playing cribbage and she thought she had a higher scoring hand than she actually did. She immediately realized it and scored it right. She commented that, at first, she thought she saw something she didn’t actually see. I quipped that “First you have to see it.”…
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New Mayos and New Braunschweiger Not Cutting the Mustard
Sena bought a new brand of Braunschweiger and a new mayo and we tried them yesterday. The new mayo was Blue Plate Mayo. Frick’s Braunschweiger was the new lunchmeat. So far, we’ve tried Field’s, Jones Dairy Farm, and Frick’s Braunschweiger. We’ve sampled Kewpie’s, Duke’s, and Blue Plate mayo. We both thought Blue Plate Mayo was…
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Tickle Tickle Tickle!
I saw an interesting article about how lab rats react to researchers tickling them. I had no idea rats had a funny bone. They’ll even chase your hand to get tickled. When they’re tickled, they make laughing noises that are just under the threshold of human hearing, but the sounds can be heard when converted…
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Tough TV Choices
I have a couple of choices for TV shows tonight. I could watch an X-Files rerun on the Comet network or the “season finale” of The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch. Sena and I have been watching the X-Files reruns the last few nights. We didn’t know it was on until Sena happened to catch a…
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We Are All Still Learning to Play Pong
I noticed an article the other day about Monash University in Australia getting funding for further research into growing brain cells onto silicon chips and teaching them how to play cribbage. Just kidding, the research is for teaching the modified brain cells tasks. They succeeded in teaching them goal-directed tasks like how to play the…
