WTF-Beta

@steve-miller - been super busy so haven't had time to read this thread and to post another comment till now....great thread, pics, and stories of your adventures. You and Ron are lucky to have each other to share this great road trip.

Yea, the duration of immunity on Zostavax, the original one, isn't great.

I had shingles in my 40s (caused by trauma - I smacked my head into the corner of a cabinet) and it wasn't that bad, but I know it can be awful for people. The chances I'll get it again are pretty slim (2 - 10%).

Mr wtg started to get shingles a few years ago. I recognized what it was right away and he got on antivirals immediately. It never progressed beyond a tiny red welt on his neck.

My doc is also cool with my skipping the Shingrix.

@jon-nyc said:

Does anyone remember where they were when they heard about it?

Door County. With Mr wtg and my friend Pat.

A friend called to tell us that Diana had been in an accident. We turned on the TV and there was tons of coverage. We were still watching when they announced her death.

Oddly, Pat was visiting at our house when Queen Elizabeth II died in 2022; we watched the funeral together.

The royals might want to take note of Pat's travel schedule that includes a stop at the wtg house.

ent

It seems to be one of those clobber-you-over-the-head vaccines. From reports I've read, though, it may have benefits beyond just keeping you from getting shingles down the road, so maybe keep that in mind and the current misery will at least seem worthwhile.

Same as @shirokuro here.

Pancho

cops

Hector “Alessandro” Negrete got the phone call nine months after he moved to Guadalajara, Mexico, hoping for a fresh start without the onerous weight of uncertainty and fear he carried in Los Angeles.

“Hey, you have something that says, ‘invoice to border patrol,’” Negrete recalls his former roommate telling him around 8 p.m. that night as he was meal-prepping after the gym. He consulted with his lawyer, and his roommate tore the envelope open.

“Vecino, what is this?” his roommate asked, calling him “neighbor” in Spanish.

Inside was a seven-digit number. He owed the Department of Homeland Security $1.8 million, the paper read.

“What the hell?” Negrete said he first thought. Perplexed, he initially believed the letter was fraudulent. He got on a FaceTime call with his roommate to process the shock.

His second thought: “Oh my God, I’m gonna lose my money. I’m gonna lose my job.”

The letter sent to his old address where he still files US taxes said he must pay a $1,820,352 civil penalty for his failure to comply with a 2009 deportation order, according to a copy of the notice reviewed by CNN.

https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/01/us/dhs-deportation-order-fine-immigration

So @steve-miller ... Have to admit I prefer front loading washers to top loaders, though it's been a long time since I've owned a top loader. Yea, there can be issues with the stinky washer problem with front loaders but they are so much gentler on clothes than the top loading models. SQ makes a front loader but of course it has electronic rather than mechanical controls.

eta: The clothes spin out better in front loaders, too. Dries faster.

Thoughts?

Interesting.

I'm not usually an early adopter of new models of anything. I'd prefer to see some real world data on performance and reliability. Have to admit I'd probably opt for the SQ even if the Maytag is cheaper if I needed a new washer in the nearish future.

impasse

On a related note...

Since AI chatbots exploded in popularity and Google started offering AI-generated answers, people who research foreign influence campaigns have expressed concern that some governments may poison AI-generated answers with false narratives. But an experiment NPR conducted with NewsGuard, a company that monitors online falsehoods and issues ratings about the reliability of online news sources, found that popular AI chatbots mostly pushed back against false narratives spread by foreign states. AI summaries that are increasingly found at the top of search engine results didn't perform as well. But overall, they still pushed back against state-spread falsehoods a majority of the time.

NPR also looked at how often AI-generated answers may have uncritically exposed users to false information compared to traditional search results.

The experiment found that AI chatbots outperformed search engines, while AI summaries underperformed. The results suggest that compared with traditional web search links, using AI chatbots with web search access is a "good way for users to start to investigate these issues," said Mike Caulfield, a digital literacy expert at the University of Washington, Bothell, who has tested AI tools for search extensively. NPR's experiment revealed that AI summaries at the top of search engine results may warrant more caution, depending on the product.

https://www.npr.org/2026/08/30/nx-s1-5876436/chatbots-search-propaganda

@steve-miller - got a link to the Maytag units? I'm seeing a "commercial grade" and also a "commercial". People are grousing about the circuit board going on the home commercial grade models. Five year warranty (I think parts only, and maybe just a subset of parts). Repairs/parts availability complaints.

I wonder if the "commercial grade" is more of a marketing pitch.

Also wondering about Maytag in general. Wasn't it bought out by Whirlpool?

Our Maytag gas dryer is going on 30 years and has never needed a repair. That's never gonna happen again...

@Mik would a stair lift work? Curved staircase gets pricey but a straight shot up 12 stairs was a little over $4000 for a Bruno unit.

From my Canadian physiotherapist this week, for anyone looking for a basic workout:

I want to be strong at 93. But I don't want to spend the next 60 years in the gym.

My goal isn't to spend my life working out. It's to exercise enough that I can spend my life living.

Playing with my kids. Travelling. Playing sports. Staying strong, mobile and independent well into my 80s and 90s.

So today, I thought I'd share something a little different:

My exact workout routine right now.

And it might be a lot less than you'd expect.

Here's what my week looks like:
​

MONDAY — Chest + Back​
→ Bench Press or Push-Ups
→ Bent-Over Rows

​

Bench Press + Bent Over Rows

TUESDAY — Legs + Shoulders​
→ Weighted Squats
→ Shoulder Press

Squats + Shoulder Press

WEDNESDAY — Arms​
→ Bicep Curls
→ Tricep Pushdowns

Bicep Curl + Tricep Push-Downs

THURSDAY — Accessory Muscles​
→ Calf Raises
→ Shrugs

Heel Raises + Shrugs

FRIDAY — Upper Body​
→ Bench Press or Bent-Over Rows

​

SATURDAY — Lower Body​
→ Deadlift or Squat
​

SUNDAY — Rest

And throughout the week, I sprinkle in:

10–20 minute brisk walks after lunch when I can.

🧘 5 minutes of stretching and mobility before bed.

That's it.

No two-hour gym sessions.

No complicated workouts with 12 different exercises.

Most days, my strength workout is literally one or two exercises.

The bigger point
Now, is this the "perfect" workout routine?

Of course not.

There are things I could add. More cardio. More balance training. More mobility. More exercises.

But I've learned something over the years:

The best workout routine isn't the one that looks perfect on paper.

It's the one that fits into your actual life.

Especially in this season of my life, with two young kids, work, family and everything else going on, this is what works for me.

And because it's simple, I can actually stay consistent with it.

That's what I want you to take away from this email.

You don't need to build your life around exercise.

Build an exercise routine that supports the life you want to live.

Stay strong
​

@chas

For a man, maybe "sahib"?

@Mik said:

I've been trying to convince Janet to install a small laundry unit in our walk in closet. It's right on the wall that has the waste and water lines. Easy peasy and we don't need nearly the closet space we used to when working.

Thought about doing the same thing in a closet in a spare bedroom that is set up as an office that we basically don't use anymore. There are those dryers that vent moisture into the drain rather than to the outside.

Two story house here plus basement. Our laundry setup is currently in the basement. Installing a washer and dryer on the second floor would save trips up/down the stairs but doesn't eliminate them altogether. Of course I wouldn't have to carry the clean laundry up two flights, though now I bring small armloads up to the first floor and hang them in the front hall closet until I head up to 2. And I wouldn't be likely to hang out on the second floor while things washed and dried.

Part of me thinks that hiring someone to come in and do laundry for us once a week if I can't do it myself might be the way to go rather than investing in a second setup upstairs. Dunno.

Portable dryers:

https://www.thespruce.com/best-portable-dryers-5224945

@Bernard

OMG, I hadn't even thought of that. Guess the administration isn't long on geography. First the Strait of Hormuz and now this....

His head would explode if they threatened to raise fees for using the canal...(insert devil emoji here)

https://www.uncommongoods.com/product/garden-ghosts-set-of-3