Recently we celebrated Thanksgiving Day—actually we should thank the Lord for His goodness, provision and protection every day.

My husband had to leave very early for work, as he was in charge of the festivities planned for the Homeless.  After fixing a hearty breakfast for us, I took the dog for a little jaunt and came in to concentrate on the rest of the day. My son’s wife, Katie, was coming later and we planned to make pies together.

In advance, I wanted to find a recipe for a gluten free pie crust so we could make our son-in-law a gluten free pie.  So, I asked my Google Home to locate the recipe and she found  “Gluten Free Pie Crust by King Arthur’s Baking”. So, I asked for ingredients first. Google read the first ingredient aloud and when I said “next” it said, “nothing’s playing right now.”  This often happens to me when I try to get recipes from Google.  So, I asked for the same recipe again, and the same thing happened.  After the fifth try, I told Google she was not being helpful at all.  She asked me if I wanted to give feedback about my recent experience.  I gave my feedback about this issue.  Then I unplugged my Google Home for 60 seconds.  This is what I usually do when it has issues like this.  I plugged it in again thinking I would get the rest of my recipe.  It found the recipe and read the part of the first instruction aloud but stopped in the middle of the sentence.  It did that three times after I patiently found the recipe again each time and asked for baking instructions.

Do you ever find a similar thing happening to you?  As use of “AI” becomes more widespread, how much will we long for that human voice, the smile of the person serving us, an opportunity to reciprocate, leaving all of us with a warm, happy feeling?

 I’m excited to share with you that Encounter is now on two times weekly, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 2:00 p.m. on KSIV AM1320 and FM 91.5 and 95.9.

In case you miss the show live in the St. Louis area, listen anytime from anywhere: https://bottradionetwork.com/ministry/encounter-ksiv/

Friend me on Facebook or LinkedIn to receive our latest show promos and share the news about Encounter with your friends.

If you have a story that you would like to share, contact me here and you might just become my next guest!

As our praise team was practicing patriotic songs for this Sunday’s service, I reflected on the powerful words of God Bless America: 

“God bless America, land that I love
Stand beside her and guide her
Through the night with the light from above

From the mountains to the prairies
To the oceans white with foam
God bless America, my home sweet home
God bless America, my home sweet home”

Even in the midst of so much turmoil, we need to remember to thank the Lord for those who went before us and sacrificed, to pave the way for the freedoms we have today.  We pray that today’s leaders would not make decisions based on their own gain, but for our country’s good.

Today is the first Monday I am going to try to blog.  I intend to also post two of my radio shows weekly too that aired recently on KSIV, AM1320 FM95.9 in the greater St. Louis area. So many wonderful stories out there to cover. By subscribing at my web site, judyredlich.com, you can get an email notice each time something new arrives on my website.

Today is Memorial Day.  We commemorate those that serve and have served us in the  Armed Forces.  Let’s also include those who are first responders serving on the front lines to keep us safe.

My Dad was a Sergeant in the U.S. Army in World War II.  He received a purple heart for his bravery and quick thinking to protect others in his charge.  Think a moment about those you know who either served, or serve today and let’s thank the Lord for them.  

This week I will be posting two shows featuring heros in the military.  Watch for them. Check them out and share with others.  

Another aside about Memorial Day… Prior to 1971, my Birthday, May 30, always fell on Memorial Day.  Friends at school were always envious because I was always off on my Birthday.  It made me feel so honored to be born on such a special day.  But in 1971, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, designating Memorial Day as the last Monday in May.

Have a good week.  Follow me on face book; send me an email if you’d like at [email protected]

This weekend I got a tub of old goodies out of the garage and set my sights on the dozens of floppy disks I found inside. Yes, floppy disks. For you millennials reading who have no clue what I’m talking about, floppy disks are 3 and a half inch square disks that hold 1.2 meg of data. They were used in the 90’s and preceded the CD (compact disk). For those of you in Generation Z who might be reading and wondering what a CD is… just Google it.

After pulling out my (seldom) handy external floppy disk drive, there were a few great “finds.” One was a paper my daughter had written in 2002, and the other a the book I started in 1996… 21 years ago. Wow! How had I forgotten all about it? And why hadn’t I finished it? My sister, Donna, edited it and gave me additional suggestions for improvement. Those two files made the cut, the rest didn’t.

Who knew I’d find those two gems when uncovering the box of junk in the garage. I felt a sense of accomplishment. Who knows, maybe this book might actually end up getting finished.

What are some old treasures you have laying around? I have phonograph records (in 3 sizes), reel to reel tapes, floppy disks, cassette tapes, mini disks, beta tapes, VCR tapes, CD’s, flash drives, floppy drives, etc… not to further date myself.

What criteria do you use in deciding what to save and what to discard? Leave a comment. Let me know your thoughts! Your creative strategy could help liberate those of us who “save” thinking our kids will appreciate all we leave behind. In reality, how many commercial sized dumpsters are rented to haul away one’s “fine treasures” when they are gone, leaving their kids too overwhelmed to sift through them?

Tonight a friend came over to update my LinkedIn summary. I tried using my screen reader, Jaws for Windows, but just couldn’t get everything in the right places. So my heroic friend, who designs sites for a living, began entering the data for me–with Jaws turned on. It took us an hour to do a fifteen minute project. She said “This site Is so flaky, no wonder you don’t update or post new things here.” It seems every time we conquer the quirks of this site, they change it. I Do know how to accept new friends on LinkedIn, but don’t know how to reply to any messages up there for me. So, if you are one of my LinkedIn friends, just email me at [email protected] instead. I’d love to hear from you. Contact me, too, if you’d like to be part of a petition drive aimed at sites who don’t have accessibility as one of their priorities.