Thursday miscellanea #369

George Kennedy is probably best remembered for his excellent, Oscar-winning performance in Cool Hand Luke, but he’ll always be Ed Hocken to me. RIP.
Had a little sleet this morning, and such was confirmed by friends all over the area. I don’t think I saw a mention of such on any forecast.
Alexa had babies! Two new Amazon Echo products were announced today. One, the Dot, seems to be an original Echo, only minus the speakers in the column (and with a connection to allow external speakers, either hard-wired or Bluetooth). That’s a golden opportunity for elegant aftermarket solutions.
My seething hatred of self-checkout was renewed this afternoon when a Target self-checkout detected a problem with weighing a 12-pack of Fresca. (?) Wait for assistance. Um, no. Piss off. Maybe I’ll try again in 2026.
The only nagging annoyance from me giving up caffeine is that restaurants don’t generally have a zero-calorie, caffeine-free beverage that isn’t water or decaf coffee. And decaf coffee isn’t much of a lunch accompaniment. And I get so tired of water. Sprite Zero, anyone?
There are photos around of Eddie Lacy taking his off-season conditioning seriously. Keep it up, man!
If this Upward season were a game of Combat on the Atari 2600, the scores would be flashing. One more game; awards ceremony; done. It’s been an amazing year. I’ll have a bit to say about it when it’s all the way in the books.