About Town

I had my quarterly doctor’s appointment today at 11:30 am. While sitting in the waiting room, I noticed a woman sitting across from me. Yep, I thought she might make a good cartoon, and she did. I also looked out the large window and saw two women getting out of their vehicle to come inside, another two. And finally as I sat in one of the examination rooms, I took another photo. Seems like some things seem more real when I have the AI cartoon them.


After I left the doctor, I headed over to Valero to get some gas.


Then on to downtown Fayetteville and toward the Market House. It now has a shiny new copper roof.


Now where can I find some work vehicles to take pictures of? Oh yes, Fayetteville.


And I stopped in to get a couple of egg rolls for lunch.


Itโ€™s a traditional decorative Chinese motif figure โ€” the kind commonly printed on wax paper, pastry wrappers, take-out liners, lanterns, or festival packaging.

Sheโ€™s basically a stylized classical Chinese maiden (or celestial lady), sometimes loosely interpreted as a court lady, a dancer, a musician, a moon-festival style fairy or a generic โ€œimmortal maidenโ€ from Chinese art.

These designs come from traditional ink-line illustrations inspired by Tang / Song dynasty art styles. Theyโ€™re meant to evoke elegance and culture โ€” not a specific person.

When I created the colored 3D version, the system had to interpret the line art. The pose (sitting on clouds, moon, flowing ribbons, flute) strongly resembles the Chinese moon goddess Changโ€™e, so the generator leaned toward that mythology aesthetic โ€” but your original wrapper drawing itself doesnโ€™t name or uniquely depict her.

Lactalis and the Big Cheese

Lactalis is a French multinational dairy company founded in 1933 by Andrรฉ Besnier in Laval, France. It has grown into one of the worldโ€™s largest dairy producers, making a wide range of products including milk, butter, yogurt, and many well-known cheeses such as Prรฉsident, Galbani, and Parmalat. The company operates in dozens of countries and supplies dairy products to consumers and food industries worldwide, with a strong focus on traditional cheese-making alongside large-scale global production.

I had never heard of the company, Lactalis until I bought a slice of their “Brie de Paris” at Whole Foods yesterday. I actually at some of the cheese for lunch, while sitting in my car in the Whole Foods Parking Lot, just off of Wade Avenue in Raleigh. After I selected the cheese, I went over to their olive bar and selected some Castelvetrano olives, some Dolce “K” Sweet mix, and some pickled peppers. I then rolled my cart around to their bread section and bought a “French Demi Baguette.” I took this up the the register, paid for it with my credit card and took my bag of grocery items out to my car. *I then tried the cheese, and the bread and the olives & peppers for an impromptu lunch in the parking lot. *Not the first time I’ve done this, and with the right selection just as enjoyable as any meal in a restaurant.

A French demi-baguette is simply a half-size baguette. In French, demi means โ€œhalf,โ€ so bakeries use the term for a shorter version of the classic long baguette.


This morning I went into IGA to buy some pork rinds but as I walked around I noticed some Easter items on the shelves. I took a couple of pictures of some toy ducks, had the AI change them into cartoons, and then had the AI place them in a bathtub with water. Could you not have fun with this and your child or children? On the way back home, I passed by a local church and took a picture of it. I then told the AI to put a flooded street in front of the church and have the two duck floating near the car.


And another thought… Why not have your child take pictures of First Responder vehicles, cartoon them and then create a story.

Or, take pictures of delivery trucks at a grocery store and then maybe picture of the products on the store shelves inside and make a story about how groceries actually work.

Pig’s Feet


NOTE [02/17/26]: According the the STELO Event for eating pig’s feet, there was almost no rise in blood sugar. But that doesn’t mean that these high fat items are healthy. [end NOTE]

Pig’s Feet (Instant Pot Mini Version)

Tender but still holds shape (good for eating as pieces)

High Pressure: 55โ€“60 minutes
Natural Release: 20 minutes (minimum)

Very soft / fall-apart (best for soups, beans, or stewed greens โ€” probably what youโ€™ll like)

High Pressure: 75โ€“90 minutes
Natural Release: full natural release (donโ€™t quick release)


Basic Method

  1. Clean and rinse feet well
    (Optional but recommended: pour boiling water over them for 2โ€“3 minutes and rinse โ€” removes funkiness)
  2. Put in pot:
  • 2โ€“3 pigโ€™s feet (Mini capacity)
  • 1 to 1ยฝ cups water (minimum liquid requirement)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • onion (you like onion ๐Ÿ™‚)
  • garlic
  • splash vinegar (helps break down collagen)
  1. Cook using times above.

What youโ€™ll notice

After about 80 minutes, they become:

  • silky
  • sticky lips texture
  • skin almost gelatin
  • tendons edible

Thatโ€™s the sweet spot for adding to:

  • black-eyed peas
  • turnip greens
  • collards
  • cabbage stews


I tried adding black eyed peas to the Instant Pot after cooking the Pig’s Feet about 40 minutes. The peas were not quite tender enough, but that wasn’t the real problem. The pig’s feet did not flavor the beans well enough to justify using them as seasoning meat. I cooked the beans another 15 minutes or so and they came out tender but the meaty flavor just wasn’t there. DON’T use pig’s feet for seasoning black eyed peas. You can eat pig’s feet with a seasoned side of black eyed peas, and maybe some green beans & red potatoes.

Lunch @ Longhorn – Goldsboro, North Carolina


I wanted to get out of Fayetteville on Friday 13th, so I decided to drive up Hwy. 13 and go to Goldsboro for lunch at the Longhorn Steakhouse Restaurant. This is a favorite lunch time trip and I have done it many times.

My favorite meal at lunch is their Cheeseburger Special. It is a good sized burger, and I order a bowl or cup of their Shrimp-Lobster Chowder.

I also love their appetizer bread with butter. In the past I’ve eaten the whole loaf, but normally do not eat any of the burger bun.

Because I’ve visited this location quite a few times, in the past I’ve gotten into the habit of bringing two additional items to make my meal more pleasing: a couple of slices of Sweet “Vidalia” Onion and a few Mt. Olive Bread & Butter Pickles. Often the few onions on the burger are not as tasty and a little thinly cut, so the thick slices of onion I bring have great flavor and add positively to the meal. — The burger comes with dill pickle slices and although I like dill pickles, I really like sweet pickles with this burger. I forgot to bring the pickles this time, but had bagged a couple of thick slices of onion.

Once I’ve emptied the sandwich baggie, I’ve found it perfect for carrying out the half of appetizer bread that I don’t eat.

So my order to the waitress is: Your Cheeseburger Special medium-well, with all the fixin’s, and American Cheese, and a bowl of your Shrimp-Lobster Chowder, and ketchup. — And yes, I want your appetizer bread with butter. “I love the butter.”

Quite often the Chowder is warm, but not hot. Today was the exception. It was very hot and that was very appreciated. *And my slices of onion had much better flavor than those that came with the burger.


After lunch I normally have a couple of places I like to visit.

I like to stop at the Wayne County Public Library to read a magazine or two. Their chairs are comfortable, and quite often I close my eyes, and may even sleep briefly.

The other place I like to visit is a road that dead-ends beside the Seymour-Johnson AFB runway. There are farm fields on either side of the road, and a low fence runs along the length of the runway to prevent persons from entering the Base. This is a great location for watching the fighter jets and tanker planes take off and land.

When I arrived, I first went into Berkley Mall and found where their public restrooms were located and used one. They have clean facilities, although you can tell there is some age to them.

I did see that a previously empty store location was now BURLINGTON.

I walked back over to the Longhorn, and as I walked in the front door, there was no one at the register but I saw that there were about 3 small groups of people ahead of me. Two standing, and 3 others on a bench with another of their group standing talking to them.

The couple that were standing were just odd enough for me to think about taking their picture and having AI to make cartoon characters out of them. The man had a full beard but before I could get my phone out and take a picture of both of them, they had been taken to their seats.

But, since I had my camera almost ready, I snapped a quick photo of a couple that were leaving. In the actual photo, the woman’s face was blurred, and I don’t think anyone was smiling. Also the young black man that was at the register had a Curly High-Top Fade with highlights. *I just used AI to come up with the correct terminology to describe his hair. But, the AI generated a cleaner version of him. I showed him his cartoon version and he noted that it had changed his hair.

Once I saw the first cartoon and was pleased, I decided to take other photos during the meal and have the AI generate cartoon versions of each. *I think it turned out great. I added a couple of non-visit images for explanation, and one from a previous visit, but that showed my seating view.

Note that I am wearing a mask. I started doing this about a month ago when I had begun to hear the warnings about how bad this year’s flu was. Also another year where they say something like, “this year’s vaccine isn’t covering the popular strain this year.”

I’ve also temporarily stopped having a lunch salad from IGA or Harris Teeter because these communal feed troughs are where the flu (previously COVID) could be easily spread. I don’t want the flu!


Colorized


And my Groundhog Day humor:

Barney the Squirrel found a couple of frozen nuts on the ground after the Groundhog Day Celebration. Yes, it was THAT cold!

That’s what is so funny. It’s so innocent until it’s not, and then it’s hilarious.




THE STATUE OF LIBERTY TAKING A BREAK FROM HER WELCOMING DUTIES.


THE STATUE OF LIBERTY TAKING A BREAK
FROM HER WELCOMING DUTIES.

โ€œGive me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!โ€

Funny. I just remembered what we had forgotten.



I wanted to be sure you could read this because I am committed to this idea.

You can tattoo that on your heart. Your arm is optional.