Random 5 for May 4, 2025 – Siri, life passages, decisions, project, corrections

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New front door. Needs flowers in the containers.

Trying to be cool and missing the mark! — I bought an iPhone a few months ago. It was my first iPhone and I was dazzled. Compared to the entry level android smart phones I’ve had; this was and is amazing. It does everything but windows! I changed Siri to a soothing Irish male voice. I can check if the garage and front door are locked. I can verbally order from Starbucks or so I thought. After successfully ordering on the phone for a while, last week it put the order through to the wrong store. When I got to the counter and there was no record of my order, I checked my phone. Yep, there it was, sitting on the counter at a different store 15 minutes away. The kind barista made a new one. I didn’t try it again until Saturday and I was careful. When Mr. Irish (I call him Finn) stated the store, it was the correct one. Then at the end of his message, he said it was ready at the other one. At least this time I could go to the store where my coffee was. Finn and I are taking a break. I can order manually through my app and that works just fine but there was something very cool about asking Finn to do it. Getting it wrong – so not cool!

Life “ain’t” easy! – A dear friend had to make a huge decision this week. It was health related. It reminded me of decisions I had to make and life adjustments that happened as a result. Life is a series of passages, and you never fully appreciate the stage you are in. When you are young, you want to be older. When you are older, you try to pass for younger. As a kid you want to be an adult. Then you find out that being an adult isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. We need to enjoy exactly where we are because tomorrow may be very different and not the way we pictured it.

Decisions, decisions – I whacked my head a week or two ago. I still have scabs from the gash. That’s not the problem. I also have headaches. At the time I didn’t get it checked. Other than a lot of blood, it didn’t seem serious, yet the headaches still occur. I hate going to the doctor. It’s not just the appointment which is annoying but the testing that he will require. Lots of waiting around.  Despite being retired, I resent waiting for anything these days. My days are numbered (yours are too!) and I don’t want to waste any of it waiting around.

New front door – We had to replace our front door. The old one was cockeyed in the frame which allowed a lot of cold air to come in over the winter. The beloved husband could not fix it. It took four months in the installation queue, but it was worth it. Two cats supervised the installation and the other remained under the bed barking (meowing?) orders.

An apology – I’ve received comments from a reader that complimented me with an edge. They enjoy my writing even with all the grammatical and punctuation errors. Hmmm…I apologize to you, my readers. Spellcheck does my punctuation. It’s not as good at catching grammar errors and obviously neither am I. When I percolate a piece (write it and review it a few days before publishing), I’m sure it’s better. It’s not about not knowing the correct form. My fingers and brain work at different speeds and my fingers do their own thing. My Sunday and Friday pieces are off-the-cuff comments immediately published, but I’ll try to do my best. This is my brain workout so I’m not allowing AI to write for me.

So how was your week?

79 thoughts on “Random 5 for May 4, 2025 – Siri, life passages, decisions, project, corrections”

  1. Pingback: Random 5 for May 11, 2025 – Mother’s Day, technology, head trauma, healing, hospitals | Views and Mews by Coffee Kat

  2. OMG, a friend was driving us somewhere a little while ago and had what I’m pretty sure is the same soothing male Irish voice giving her driving instructions. It was hilarious! We had a lot of fun with that.
    And I think your writing is terrific! Always fun and thought-provoking 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

  4. What? A reader commented that they enjoyed your writing despite the grammar and spelling errors? Why would someone include the second part?? Good grief! BTW – I was an English major, a HS English teacher, I’m a huge grammar and spelling nerd (who knows how to keep my comments to myself), and I have never noticed grammar or spelling errors in your post. ❤

    Liked by 2 people

  5. I adore your new front door. Stylish in a timeless way. Great choice.

    I bought a new iPhone last week and am overwhelmed by it. I’d love to say Agatha [her name] is my new BFF but it’s going to take time for us to get used to each other.

    Your writing and punctuation and grammar are fine. It’s not like writing blog posts is the same as drafting legal docs or submitting a PhD dissertation for approval. It’s supposed to be light—and a way to keep your brain clicking.

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  6. Your front door is gorgeous! And yes, go to the dr even tho you probably will need some tests or a scan done. Head injuries can be serious without you knowing, so go & get it checked out!!

    Pauleen Driscoll

    Liked by 1 person

  7. Handsome new door, and get out your wallet to fill those planters. Annuals around here are single plants going for $3.99 or $4.99 each. Life definitely is not easy and gets more so as we age. Good luck with your appointment. Hope all is well. I had to reschedule a dental appointment, and she offered me one nine months in the future. I thought I heard her wrong, so I repeated it, but that’s exactly what she said. I try to adhere to decent spelling and grammar, but we can all hit the wrong key. I’ve never seen anything in your posts that even grabbed my attention.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Petunia plants here are $6.99. I’m going to try a farm stand in the country. They have better prices. For those planters I usually buy a hanging plant of begonias, clip the hangers and pop them in. Not really cheaper but at least bigger plants. I’m going to try to make a doc apt this am. Wish me luck.

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  8. I’m too old to care about proper grammar on blogs. They’re not research submitted articles to professional periodicals. Life is too short. And I hate doctors too, but go get that checked out. You don’t want life to be shorter than it has to be!!

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    • It’s the discomfort that is making me check it out. I have a busy week yet I have to fit in more apts. Yeah, I’m too old for a lot of things including getting upset.

      Liked by 1 person

  9. congrats to the new door and congrats for being an iphone owner… may it bring joy to you for a long time… I still stick with google and android, thats complicated enough for an ole bat like me LOL

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  11. Waiting is a pain, but head injuries can be serious so please make that appointment. I like the new door.

    Liked by 1 person

  14. I’ve never used Siri to order from Starbucks, but you’ve got me curious. I might have to try that! I have placed mobile orders for pickup and accidentally sent them to the wrong location more than once. Let’s just say I’ve learned to double or even triple check the pickup spot now!

    And you’re right, hitting your head is no joke. I once had a workplace accident where I hit my head, and it bled like crazy. Management sent me to the doctor for a full evaluation to rule out a concussion. Thankfully, no serious damage just a few staples in my scalp and a good story for later. Maybe I’ll write a blog post about it someday!

    As for blog writing, I completely agree no one expects perfection when we’re pulling stories straight out of our heads and putting them online. There’s a big difference between writing a quick post about life’s little adventures and crafting something like a doctoral thesis or the next Lord of the Rings!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Hmm…could I turn my blog into a “Lord of the Rings?” Nope, I’m way too boring. I’ve done that too with the mobile app so I double check the location. With Siri I was positive he said the right location but sent it to the wrong store. Fortunately Starbucks is good about that.

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  15. That’s funny about the phone and Finn – thankfully Starbucks was accommodating.

    You are still way more high tech than me (as you know from our prior TV and cellphone comments). The only thing I would complain about your posts is you make me feel like a dinosaur with my ancient devices. 🙂 That was nervy in my opinion. I draft my posts in Word as they are so long. After I got Windows 11 and a more modern version of Word, CoPilot always wants to assist in my grammar. So, to appease CoPilot Editor, I run the Grammar check – what – 27 things you don’t like? This is my style and I’m keeping it! It is a post, not a &^%# term paper!

    Over the years, several times I would open the kitchen cupboard door above the counter-top, then bend to get something in the lower cupboard(s) – bad move as I have cracked my head several times on the top cupboard door. I saw start, but no gashes. I hope the doc says it is nothing of consequence, just a bad bruise that you can’t see.

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    • I haven’t used CoPilot either. When I run spellcheck, I’ll consider the suggestion. Sometimes I will change it and sometimes I won’t. I feel like a dinosaur. Everything takes me so much longer but I keep on plugging away hoping that it will get easier.

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      • Well now WordPress is bossy with suggestions, even for comments. I also look at what they suggest, but don’t necessarily change it. I always learned no comma before “and” so to keep it consistent I never use a comma there. And since I’ve been typing forever, I learned in 9th grade that it is two spaces after a period, which is no longer the case. So I get corrected/suggested on having two spaces. In fact, when I copy and paste my text to my actual post, WordPress changes the spacing from two to one space after a period. I prefer the white space as it’s not so cluttered.

        Well, you are way ahead of me with my Lively smart phone (f/k/a Jitterbug) and my flip phone that I carry with me all the time and my bullheadedness in refusing to port my landline to a smartphone to keep the number and not pay $85.00/month when I rarely use the landline. As for the TV stuff, it is enough to use Amazon for now … pick a video, play a video so a no-brainer for me. 🙂

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        • I never used a comma before “and” either but now I am corrected on that all the time. If what you are doing makes you happy, that’s all that counts. If you have to change at some point, you will adjust.

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          • We had to go by the “Strunk & White Elements of Style” grammar stylebook years ago when I had journalism classes. No Oxford Comma before “and” is how I learned it, but then I learned other things that stuck with me like don’t use the phrase “a dead body” – if it’s a “body” it’s already dead. I hear it all the time on the news and it takes me back to school all those years ago. We were also instructed that no one was called “elderly” until mid-80s; today it is 50s!

            We had an attorney at the first law firm where I worked and he corrected everyone’s grammar. This was before the phrase “Grammar Police” was a thing. He especially hated the misuse of “good” and “well” and if you used it incorrectly, no matter echelon you were at that firm, he would correct you. To this day, I find myself thinking about those two words. Everyday conversation and blogging do not require precise use of grammar.

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  16. Your front door looks absolutely perfect. I sat for a while admiring the six color combinations. Even the porch and the sidewalk contribute to the tasteful and attractive scheme.

    I haven’t noticed spelling and grammatical errors, at least not enough to remember, but your apology was gracious.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Thanks. We love the front porch now. It’s taken a while to get here but most of it is done. We may update the pavers but that’s for another time.

      Like

  17. I enjoy your news, Sassy Cat news, things you write about that make me feel like I am not alone with “stuff” that happens and your sense of funny. I’m not looking for grammar, punctuation or spelling errors… unless they are my own… I always see them. I hope your headaches are gone before you have to see your PC and get a test scheduled. I walked into a lamp post in an inside mall… why a lamp post in an inside mall?… and I saw stars and had headaches for weeks. Jerry’s brother is a chiropractor so I finally told him, he took X-rays and it turned out to be my neck!
    Enjoy your pretty new door, the Sassy Cats and the rest of your Sunday! Sunday is my favorite day of the week 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  18. I forgot to mention about head injuries. You should have gone to the hospital right away with a head injury like that.

    If it is a bad one you have what they call the golden hour, or the swelling will likely kill you. That is how Natasha Richardson died. Head injuries can seem minor, but actually be very serious. Lucky for me I have a thick skull, or so I am told sometimes.

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    • Other than the gash bleed, I didn’t think it was bad. I didn’t hit with full force. I did think of Natasha Richardson afterward. I’m going to check it out. At this point, if it was the head bump, I’d be dead. It could have been a slight concussion which can give you headaches for weeks. The headaches themselves aren’t severe (or I would have gone earlier). Mostly, annoying.

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  19. I have to turn of my phone if it is speaking and my kitty Taz is around. She starts biting me if I don’t. I haven’t decided if she doesn’t like the lousy British accent or not having my full attention. Cats are the best.

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  20. Yipes! I hope you are able to discover the reasons for your headaches. We are currently watching a series on Netflix that is set in a hospital. Of course, they are always diagnosing obscure, serious underlying causes for seemingly minor symptoms. I should probably not watch things like that. Usually I “think horses, not zebras” but it’s good to get it checked out.

    As far as that backhanded compliment, like others, I don’t see many errors on your site. When I see something on anyone’s post, I prefer to extend grace… typos happen.

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  21. As a member of the grammar police, the spelling police AND the punctuation police squads, I can’t remember a time when something you wrote caught my eye for being an error in any of those categories! If I did, I would keep my mouth (fingers) quiet since I enjoy your posts for the content and don’t care if you occasionally show us that you aren’t perfect!

    I hope the headaches turn out to be nothing serious, but I agree that a trip to an Urgent Care facility might be a good call.

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  22. I’ve often thought maybe our front door was cockeyed….we have a bit of a breeze along one side. Life is truly a series of passages and since I have had the occasion to think my life was ending, I appreciate passages all the more. I’ll take them as they come. OUCH on the head bump but yes you should check it out – might be your doc can tell you right off the bat not to worry and the headaches will go away when they’re ready to but if there’s testing required – best to have it. I’ll be thinking about you. Grammatical or spelling errors are bound to happen when you write “on the fly” which I often do – I know my points are getting across and I’m hoping my friends forgive me for not being perfect – that’s just how I roll !!! HUGS…..

    Pam

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    • Hoping I won’t need a CAT scan. The test is nothing but the scheduling and sitting around waiting for your turn is annoying. Obviously it’s not a severe pain or I would have had it checked. Just annoying enough to wonder if it’s fatal!

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  23. I LOVE the new front door. it pops right off the screen. As far as your head does, can you zip on over to Urgent Care?

    They’ll take a fast X-ray and put your mind at rest. It’s humid, I’m sure there too, so your headaches could be due to that.

    Bette Davis wasn’t just whistlin’ Dixie when she said…old age ain’t for sissies. sigh

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  24. Wow, how condescending of your reader. No one can catch all their own typos. As for perfect grammar and punctuation, well, blogging is more like a stream of consciousness. It’s chatty. Conversational. Like dialogue, the most critical factor is establishing a unique voice–which may ignore conventional rules. I think you have definitely succeeded in that! When I’m editing and I start to get all nitpicky or old school about grammar, I remind myself that the English language is constantly evolving. Yesterday’s rules don’t always apply and new words are being added to the dictionary constantly. I guess some readers either don’t understand that or they just need to feel superior by putting other folks down.

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  25. No apology necessary from my perspective. I often spot grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors on blogs and elsewhere (including the New York Times). Your blog is not even close to making my Top Ten List of websites prone to typos. 😀

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    • It’s easier to spot in someone else’s writing than in your own. I don’t say anything when I find something unless it’s a technical error like saying 9/11 happened in June. Most mistakes I see are more about cutting and pasting. You can end up with extra articles (a, an, the) in the sentence from moving words around. Actually my comments are more likely to have errors. Sometimes my finger hits the reply button before my eyes have read the whole thing. Maybe my eye-brain-fingers coordination is my issue.

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  26. The new front door looks fabulous. Some plants will make it perfect. As for grammar and punctuation errors…life is too short to worry about it much, I hope your headaches disappear. They’re no fun. And I won’t let Siri near my iphone. Too much new technology and I haven’t begun to catch up with it. Falls in the life is too short category too.

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  27. Bummer about the headaches Kate. Hope you can get it checked out soonest.
    I enjoy your posts and love the cat antics. I hope that reader doesn’t follow me, my errors are frequent, as like you, I don’t use AI, just the spell check. Besides, anything like that adds to the charm of the post!

    Liked by 1 person

  28. The front door is beautiful! Your experience with Finn and Starbucks is exactly why I’m adamantly opposed to AI. Sure it can be cute (even though the artwork looks weirdly strange to me) but at my age, frustration with ‘things that don’t work as expected’ tend to send me into orbit. Enjoy those app orders! Have a great week, Kate. Hope the headaches begin to diminish soon. Sounds like you may have suffered a bit of a concussion. Sending healing thoughts.

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