Yellow Jackets Personified, Insurance, and the Powhatan Confederacy
How to multi-task with ChatGPT and other insights
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I had to eliminate a friendship last week on Facebook. A mild-mannered poet, a woman I thought was adorable, jumped down my throat when I mentioned AI and ChatGPT. I once was unexpectedly attacked by a swarm of yellow jackets, and that's what this fierce tirade felt like. There was no conversation, just her beating me with her anti-AI bat, and I had to escape. How do you handle situations like this?
The first thing I did after this incident was return to ChatGPT and ask it about insurance rates for bundling house and car, because I needed to get out from under my current policies which were far too expensive for covering...nothing. I asked, "Can you give me tips on how to bundle house and car insurance?" and Chat returned some interesting points that I used in finding my new insurance company. I don't mean to sound like an ad, but I am saving over $500 per year on better insurance. And I'm comfortable with all the processes, which I never would be without checking first. Thanks, Chat!
I also heard from OpenSRS support (thank heavens I'm not in a hurry). I now have a functioning hyperdivergent.com email. And, they're working on adding the A and CNAME records to my dashboard as we speak.
I'm not one to sit around and twiddle my thumbs while I wait for help, so I began to develop content for my Virginia Genealogy site (not yet live). Genealogists, or family historians, sometimes don't factor in economics, weather, interactions with indigenous tribes, or other historically significant events when tracing their trees. But, as an historian, I know that every single day that passes in the lives of our ancestors is just as important to them as our days are to us.
In that vein, I'm working on the indigenous tribes that were located in Virginia and surrounds (especially West Virginia, as that state was part of Virginia until the American Civil War). Chat gave me a list, but as I was checking it and learning more from Native American maps, I saw that Chat didn't mention quite a few tribes. I felt let down, then remembered Chat is only as good as the questions you ask it.
I spent some time thinking about how to clarify my list while cleaning the kitchen, and I had an a-ha moment. I returned to ask Chat, "Which known tribes were part of the Powhatan Confederacy in Virginia during the 16th century?" As Chat spit out its answer, I was thrilled. Almost every Algonquin-speaking tribe along the eastern coast was part of that confederacy. Of course, I'll fact-check the list, but wow.
I think a lot of my stress comes from having to figure out things that Chat can do in less than two minutes. Stress almost gone...
This last week I also had to tow my car to the shop as the traction control service light came on, then the engine light came on steady as well. My guess is a sensor, but I'm not checking with Chat on that one. I'll allow the mechanic to tell me, THEN I'll check with Chat.
My last uncle, my father's brother, died this past week, too. My father, who died in 2020, once told his brother in front of me that if he went first, he would come back for Uncle Bill. A week before Bill died, he saw my father walking down the hallway of the care center he was in. I knew then, so news of his death did not surprise me. I hope they're all laughing about stealing the neighbors’ chickens and slopping hogs when they were kids as they’re up there in heaven, or whatever you might call it.
No links this week, but you can always follow me on Facebook. Oh, and wish me luck -- first ever cataract surgery tomorrow. Can you see why I need ChatGPT in my life? That and YouTube videos that show me how to replace a toilet ring.