Jeanne-ology: Ask Alexa.

Hi Everyone - it's Thursday, which means that I was the captain of the PJP ship and Jeanne enjoyed a day off.  Here is a recap of her day and I promise you, it wasn't just your average day off.  Enjoy! - Rebecca

Well, today is Thursday and I stayed home and didn't go in to the pie shop.  My husband needed help with our crown molding project and I was ready!  I love working with wood, especially the texture of wood and the aroma of wood.  I was EXCITED.  (Rebecca editing to add:  I can promise you that I will never miss a day at PJP because I was excited to cut crown molding.  The other day, Jeanne needed to leave early so she could go buy a protractor for this project.  I'm going to take a hard pass on anything that requires a protractor because 7th grade math was enough for me.)

My husband Plum doesn't usually feel his pulse until he has had a couple cups of coffee and listened to the news.  About mid-morning he said he was ready to start working.  Then he had a phone call from his daughter, which took another 45 minutes.  About the time he finished the conversation, we had a neighbor dog show up and the running and barking started.  Fearing there was going to be a fight, we put Dixie in her cage and left our older dog, Sister, on the screened in porch to quiet things down.  Barking erupted again and the neighbor dog ran her head through the screen door trying to get more physical with her conversation with Sister.  What a hullabaloo! After what seemed likes hours, the neighbor dog went home and calm was restored on our dirty, screen torn patio.  (Rebecca editing to add:  This is basically every morning at her house.)

After all that mess, my husband suggested I cook breakfast because it would help me calm down. Whaaat!  He ate a dozen cookies and three avocados for breakfast, how could he be hungry?  He reasoned that climbing up and down on ladders and measuring and cutting boards would make us weak from hunger.  Really!  That said, an hour and half later, I was finishing cleaning up the kitchen from making a big breakfast.  Then I asked him...are you ready now to work on the molding?  He said he needed to let his stomach settle down...he ate too much and felt like there was a bowling ball in his stomach.  (Rebecca editing to add:  cookies and avocados?  Huh.)

I didn't mention the crown molding project for the rest of the day.  I retreated to surf the internet.   I've learned to love Amazon!  It's is so easy to overspend and have a quick and free delivery.  However, I have spent too much this month and decided just to browse Amazon departments.  Did you know they have a Echo and Alexa department?  (Rebecca editing to add:  I feel like our UPS guy hates us even more every time he drives all the way out to the country to deliver to us.  He had to come down my long driveway today to drop off a bottle of my favorite dry shampoo, and I can't even say I feel bad because I was anxiously awaiting it's arrival.)

.I didn't realize that Alexa can teach you skills!  She can help you around the house and help you create your own skills.  Who knew?  Before reading any further, my daydreaming skills kicked in. Maybe she could tell our dogs to shut up!  Maybe Alexa could answer telemarketing calls and bark into the phone loud enough to prevent any call backs.  Could Alexa possibly be a life coach for my husband, reminding him of the time?  Something like, it is now ten a.m., you have five hours remaining to finish the crown molding project.  That would be great, but he would probably put up with Alexa maybe an hour and she would no longer exist!  (Rebecca editing to add:  I think what she is saying is that she needs a personal assistant.  Though, hard to find one that barks in the phone, serves avocados for breakfast, and keeps everyone on a schedule.)

Maybe we should put Alexa in the pie shop. She could help train the new employees.  Something like,  "Be sure to clean up your mess before starting another pie", "Please scrape your bowl, no use in throwing any filling away down the sink", "You can achieve better time management by washing dishes while you wait for the butter to melt in the microwave".  (Rebecca editing to add:  So, basically a robot version of Jeanne?)

Alexa could teach us all new skills.  Alexa could tell me where I left my glasses, why my keys are not in my purse and help be remember customer names. I envy Rebecca that she knows so much about our customers. The names of their pets, where they work, any health problems, and so on. What amazes me is that if Rebecca sees a customer coming to the shop she will tell me what pie they will be wanting. Do you think Alexa taught her these skills?  (Rebecca editing to add:  Nope, I'm just weird that way.  But yes to the glasses and keys skills.  YES, PLEASE.)