Susan Beckett

Gifts! Gifts! Gifts! People sure love getting and giving them year round don’t they?! And it seems at Christmas, it gets ramped up to full speed ahead! So, besides baking every cookie known to man, fully decorating your home - inside & out - sending cards to people you rarely see, and attending all sorts of holiday events - you now find yourself shopping your head off for scores of people. But what to buy?? The million dollar question for sure.

Can you remember back to a time when you found money laying on the ground in a parking lot - maybe just a dime or a quarter? I don’t know about you, but when that happens, I always feel like I’ve hit the jackpot. Have you ever been gifted with something for no reason - not your birthday, anniversary, or Christmas - you didn’t deserve or earn it - the favor just happened, totally unexpected?

No stinking thinkin' allowed anymore or a brainy robot may take your place, or so "they" think. Artificial intelligence - AI - is slowly infiltrating every aspect of our lives, everything from business to education and entertainment - even into our homes. In fact, even though AI has made life easier and more efficient in some ways, there are still the occasional unforeseen blunders that are often pretty humorous. People aren't perfect, but, apparently, neither are robots!

We’ve all seen them - those hilarious T-shirts people wear with funny slogans - I always go away thinking how clever and creative they are. Here are just a few that have recently caught my eye: “Sorry I‘m late - I didn’t want to come.” “Sometimes I talk to myself and we both laugh.” “A fun thing to do in the morning is not talk to me.” “Patience at 1%.” And one I often wear: “To save time let’s assume I know everything!” It’s also my husbands favorite when we are out together. Not!!

I’m sure at one time or another we have all gotten turned around and headed out in the wrong direction. We were once with friends, en route to Death Valley, when the GPS system instructed us to turn into the desert for a shortcut. An hour later we were backtracking to find the real road again. That GPS definitely needed a brain check!