Back to fitness.

I know that a lot of people look unfavourably at AI (or what's currently being described as AI: large language models, or LLMs). I admit that there are issues that I have with it, too. My job is increasingly at risk due to AI and I think it's entirely likely that I will be made redundant within the next five years as a direct result.

And don't get me started on AI-produced "art".

But it can have its uses if you know how to utilise it. That's half the battle. Creating a good prompt can yield incredible results, but writing a good prompt is a skill in itself.

For example, I could ask Google about chronic back pain.  Which would give me thousands of results.

Or I could write a comprehensive prompt, which is what I did. I described my pain, how long I've had it, the fact that I've not yet had a GP diagnosis, my own suspicions about my sedentary lifestyle being a factor and it give me a result.

To be fair, it did advise going to see a GP as one of its first comments, but it also suggested that my theory about my inactivity could be a factor. I then asked if there were exercises that I could do to help ease or remove the pain and it updated its response with a 6 - 8 week plan. I then added that I had some basic exercise equipment and listed it to see if that would change things, and the LLM made slight adjustments to add the equipment after a few weeks.

And finally, I asked it to create a collated collection of its responses with detail descriptions of the exercises in a printable format for offline reference. And it did that, too.

I still have to contact my GP, and it's still hugely advisable to double-check what an LLM tells you (as should be the case for any internet search, especially medical) but a lot of the basic exercises are the same as those in my Yoga programme. A cursory search looks like there's nothing massively incorrect in what the LLM has given me, so that's something to get on with, I think.

FFS.

Remember a few weeks back I complained about my sister's communication? Well, last night, around 11 PM, I got a text message.

Was I available to paint a fence? My Dad's fence, specifically.

As you may know if you read my last post, I had plans to today: carpet shopping. I also had plans to do some gardening and some cleaning.

I could  have said "no", but the work needs done for reasons I don't really want to get into on this blog. But 24 hours notice is awful.

I didn't reply until this morning. Not that my sister would have noticed as she barely carries her phone with her and even then she's awful at keeping it charged.

Anyway, I hurriedly did the cleaning this morning, or some of it at least, and will head over to my Dad's after lunch to paint the fence. It at least looks like a nice day outside.

Oh dear.

I have a confession, dear Reader. I didn't go carpet shopping per my plan that I shared yesterday. My plan was originally to walk to the carpet shop (probably about 2 miles from my house), grab a coffee on the way and just take it easy. However, the weather wasn't as reported, with frequent heavy showers. I could have gotten the bus most of the way there, but I really had my heart set on the stroll.

I contented myself with some further research about pricing, I did some basic measurements about how much carpet I'd need etc. and what I am prepared to budget. I am arguably better prepared to go to the shop than I was at this time yesterday. If the weather improves, I'll go tomorrow.

I also need to pull up the old carpet. I want to do that ASAP so I can prepare the floors - fix some creaky floorboards etc. That might be a job for an evening next week, 

Magic carpet ride.

I ended up taking tomorrow off work. I say "taking it off work", but the reality is that I've done my hours by 4 PM this afternoon, padded out with some time accrued from a few weekends ago. I'm looking forward to it.

The plan is to get a lie-in, a quick shower and then off to the local carpet shop to see about (finally) replacing the awful-looking 1970s carpet on my hall and landing.

I've already narrowed it down to a few, from online browsing, so it's just a matter of seeing them in person, arranging measurement and then fitting. I'm hoping that won't take any more than a few hours. I could be back in the house by lunchtime. 

Nooooo!

We haven't had a work event in over two months. I messaged Ideas Girl who's part of the organising committee and she shared that their budget had been slashed. That's disappointing. They've really cut our social budget over the past few years, but yet almost demand we go into the office "to chat and network with our colleagues".

We just can't do it on a Friday evening with a couple of drinks.

She also admitted that the annual summer party is likely to be a victim of the budget cut. I don't really blame them - it was expensive and, in my opinion, there was a lot of waste. However, a trimmed down summer party could be doable. I suggested this to IG, though I know she single-handedly arranges the summer party, so I was light on the observation about the waste. She liked the idea and said she's see what she could do. It'd be less like a summer party of old and more like a more posh version of our monthly event, and I'm all for that. 

All I really did at the summer parties was drink and chat to the likes of Quiet Girl. And that's what I do at the monthly events.

Urgh.

Remember that 4 AM start from this morning? Well, I have another one tomorrow. FFS.

The good news is that I should be able to take Friday off. 

Urgh.

Did I say that I had a 4 AM start this morning? On a Bank Holiday? It sucks, right? Well, if that's not bad enough, then I have another early start tomorrow. At this rate, I'll be finished by Thursday. I bet the weather's rubbish at the weekend.

Missed opportunity.

I forgot to mention that KfW2 left a voicenote yesterday after I'd told her that I wanted to take her out for food and drinks to celebrate her birthday (which was months ago). She said that yesterday would have been perfect as her kids had gone away for the day for a football competition.

But then she also admitted that she didn't get out of bed until near 1 PM. If we had arranged to meet, out time would have been really short - a couple of hours, max. But at least she was entertaining the idea, and she didn't mention making it a shared celebration, which is what she's done for the past few times we've done this.

She doesn't get that I want to treat her, because it is her birthday. It used to be our thing - we'd not buy each other presents or anything, but we'd treat each other to lunch or dinner. It also meant, that if we did separate events, I'd get to see her twice. In recent years, that's become much more difficult. This year has been different. We've seen each other about four times already, and I'd like that to continue even if I've not seen her since the end of February.

Chat Watch (con't)

After last night's post, I woke this morning to see a few notification in the chat. Apparently the chat creator forgot all about it. AM's husband and QC1 have both posted, but no-one's actually suggested anything.

And also, after last night's post, I think I will have to call the dentist. There's no pain, but there is a noticeable hot/cold reaction when drinking. So I think I'd like to see the dentist quicker than my scheduled appointment. 

Chat Watch

So, it's been like 36 hours since I was added to a chat with AM, QC1 etc. and still no-one's said anything. This is weird, right? This isn't just me?

And in other news, not chat-related, I might have to visit the dentist. I think a bit of tooth or a bit of filling has fallen off. There's no pain, but it will need looked at. I do have a scheduled appointment at the end of the month, so if there are no issues, I can hold off until then. if not, then I'll have to see if I can see my dentist before then. 

Let's see...

Digging deeper into the AM group chat has revealed that it wasn't created by AM or her husband but by a mutual friend. Still, no-one's said anything in the chat since I was added. It's all the usual ones: AM, her hubby, QC1, her hubby, a friend of AM's from university and an unknown number.

I'm not going to say anything. I'll just let it play out. AM's only really arranged one thing that I can remember and even then she got all angry and petty because she went to a restaurant where I didn't like the food.

That annoyed me, because I'd spent years making arrangements only for her to cry off at the last minute or demand adjustments to pre-arranged plans.

So, yeah, I'm being passive on this one. Again.