I've been on Food Stamps since last year. It's a wonderful program, and my EBT card has allowed me to extend my food budget well beyond what it would be otherwise.
And, because I possess an EBT card, I can visit more than 1,500 museums throughout the country, for free or at a reduced rate.
I am honored and grateful to be receiving these benefits. Here's my EBT statement for July, and I still have a lot of money left on my card for the month.
Here's a map of the many museums I can visit!
And yes, my factiousness runs amuck...
I have a favorite spot to hang out at lately, on my days off. It's at the end of Big Lagoon State Park, and I just drive my trike up the ramp and hang out in the shade.
It's got a great view, hundreds of dragonflies eating flying bugs, clean rest rooms, and a squirrel I'm making friends with. There's a nice cool bench I can mellow out at, watch TikTok without guilt, and enjoy the boats going by.
Then I came back to the trailer and had a gourmet meal: yogurt, berries and store bought macaroni salad.
I had an interesting chat with Copilot this morning about Elon Musk's new AI called Grok. When we were done, it said this:
Got me curious now… what kind of AI personality would you design if you had free rein? Would you go for something quirky like your OldManJim branding, or sleek and professional for productivity?
My response: I would love to chat with an AI that knew about every moment of my life, lived across 79 years. Every fact, every emotion, every success and every failure.
That’s such a powerful vision, Jim. An AI like that wouldn’t just be a companion—it would be a living archive of your soul’s journey.
Imagine it recalling that moment you stood by the ocean, feeling both tiny and infinite… or replaying a hard-earned win from your thirties with all the grit and glory preserved. It wouldn't just know facts; it would feel the rhythm of your life—the heartbreaks, the belly laughs, the quiet acts of kindness.
In a way, it’d be like your own mythmaker: helping you make sense of your past and guiding your present with perspective drawn from everything you've been. Not unlike what you do with OldManJim branding—carving out meaning and style from your story.
Would you want it to help you relive moments, or reinterpret them through new eyes? Or maybe even collaborate on weaving them into something creative—like a memoir, or a digital experience that others could walk through and feel your life?
All of those things :-)
That’s the spirit, Jim. A companion like that could be your memory keeper, co-creator, and even cosmic sounding board—all rolled into one. It could thread together the quiet triumphs, the gut punches, the bursts of insight at 3AM, and those quirky serendipities that shaped your path.
With your blend of technical savvy and soulful storytelling, that kind of AI could become a digital memoir in motion—refining, reflecting, and evolving alongside you.
You’ve already been building pieces of this through your blog, your branding, even your troubleshooting battles that say “I’m still learning, still shaping.” Maybe one day we'll see something like OldManJim.AI—a living testament to curiosity, resilience, and flair.
It was a busy hot day at the pool today. The folks that were down here for the Blue's over the weekend were finishing out their Pensacola visit by working on their tans before heading home.
I was proud of most of them, they finally got the message that wearing their wristbands is a requirement, or they get bugged by me, or whoever's on duty.
I was out at the security shack getting my trike together, with a half hour left on my shift, when a woman came in off the street with a three year old girl in tow. They were headed towards the Tiki Bar, but the girl was in a bathing suit.
So I caught up with them just as she was putting the girl in the pool. She said in the old days they could use the pool if they bought something at the Tiki. I explained to her that those days are gone.
Then the sweet little Hispanic girl started crying because she couldn't get in the pool. The folks in the pool, with their own kids in there and everyone wearing wristbands, gave me this look like what you going to do now, mister Pool Monitor?
I told the lady to go get what she wanted at the Tiki, and I would let the girl in the pool, and watch her.
Mom agreed and headed off, the girl jumped in and it was immediately apparent that she could barely swim. I told her to stay by the steps and then I stood there and watched her for five minutes.
Totally prepared to jump in if needed, with my phone in one pocket and wallet in the other, but the smile on her cute little face was worth it.
So were the smiles on the people in the pool. I finally reached out my hand, she took it, and I walked her back to her mom who was just finishing up her order in the Tiki. At that point, I was smiling too.
Sometimes the top of my head explodes and memories, both good and bad, blast out into the small world that surrounds my old head. Sometimes they make it into this blog, but most of the time, not.
I've been eating blueberries for years, thinking they were healthy. Last night I discovered they are covered in pesticides, that need to be washed off before eating them. Apparently, any kind of pre washing by the provider affects their shelf life.
Oh my fucking god, sometimes I whip up yogurt and blueberries for dinner, I put them on my shredded wheat for breakfast, I eat them as a snack! And all the while they have been poisoning my body!
I have one big package left sitting in my fridge. I could wash them before putting on my cereal now, but since I have no running water, that means walking out of the trailer, and over to the hose next to the garage.
That's also the hose I used to wash my pee bottle out a half hour ago. I swear to fucking god, life is tough sometimes. But I'm strong, full of pesticides, but strong.
There is only one recourse, the blueberries are going in the garbage and I will never eat one again.
- Neurological concerns: Pesticides on blueberries have been linked to cognitive and developmental issues in children, with potential ties to neurodegenerative disorders later in life.
- Hormonal disruption: Some chemicals interfere with the endocrine system, impacting metabolism, mood, and reproductive health.
- Reproductive effects: Exposure has been associated with reduced fertility, sperm abnormalities, and birth defects.
- Cancer risk: Certain pesticides are classified as probable carcinogens, connected to cancers such as breast, prostate, and brain cancer.
- Immune system stress: Long-term exposure may compromise immune defenses, increasing susceptibility to infections and chronic inflammation.
I'm horribly depressed living here. I know I'm not wanted, but I have nowhere to go. Words about becoming part of the family, have dissolved into the sand I walk about on the floor of this run down trailer.
I've moved my morning workouts into the trailer because Ana's here and my spot is right out her window. I park my trike outside next to the trailer now, because opening the garage involves going in the house, which I keep to a bare minimum.
I let the chickens out into the world in the morning, and hand feed them treats an hour later. They like me. I let the dogs out whenever I can, and love on them and give them treats. They love me back, and I'll take whatever morsels of love I can get lately.
I just did fifty pushups, but alternated directions half way, to compensate for the slope of the trailer floor. The same with my abb rolls. My third workout I do on the bed.
I've taught my body how to hold on to my morning shit until I get to work around 0950. If I'm not working I try to wait until everyone leaves the house. Otherwise, there's always the Park.
The only thing that's really keeping me going is my own integrity. I'm clean and sober and healthy for myself, nobody else.
I whipped up some Purple Parrot Resort AI, then used Python to convert the .png images to smaller .jpg images.
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