I work in AI Transformation, which means I spend a considerable amount of my professional life thinking about how AI can help people work differently.
But outside of work?
Well. That's a whole different situation.
I am a serial hobbyist.
I develop an interest in something,
research it extensively,
purchase the necessary equipment,
and occasionally even finish the project.
Fortunately, I now have an AI assistant willing to accompany me down every rabbit hole.
Here's what we got into during one particularly ambitious October week.
We became landscape designers.
I have decided my house needs to look like an English cottage.
In Mississippi.
Where it was 86 degrees that week.
We researched approximately 900 flowering plants,
designed arrangements for planters I'm still building,
and discussed whether I could reasonably expect mums to survive until Thanksgiving.
At one point, I found myself calculating the cost per day of a $14 mum based on how long it might live before the frost killed it.
Because apparently, I now perform financial analysis on chrysanthemums.
We went to Hobby Lobby.
This was a mistake.
I went in for a few fall decorations and left with $250 worth of artificial foliage, assorted decorative objects, and a newfound appreciation for the cargo capacity of an Acura MDX.
Everything was 40% off, so obviously I saved a tremendous amount of money.
A woman approached me at checkout and asked if I bought that much fall decor every year.
I told her I'd moved into my house a year ago and hadn't had the energy to decorate last fall.
Then I told her my AI assistant had helped me shop.
She and the cashier looked at me like I'd just introduced them to my imaginary friend.
In fairness, I had been sending photographs of autumn decor to a computer for approximately an hour.
We entered the construction industry.
I've been building wooden planters,
which naturally led me to conclude that I should also build furniture.
We researched benches, coffee tables, lumber dimensions, and whether I could construct a chunky cedar table using leftover 4x4s.
My scaffolding arrived Saturday.
I now own scaffolding.
I am a 52-year-old woman with a full-time job, three Labrador retrievers, and scaffolding.
I don't know how this happened.
We also conducted an extensive cosmetic investigation.
Sunday morning, I started wondering whether I actually needed to wear makeup.
This led to an unnecessarily thorough examination of…
mascara,
lipstick,
eyebrows,
facial contrast,
and whether people would be able to locate my eyeballs without eyeliner.
There were photographs.
There were multiple rounds of testing.
At one point, I concluded that certain makeup combinations made me look more tired than wearing no makeup at all.
I eventually went to church barefaced.
BAREFACED!!!
And ten minutes late.
Because I was making a bow for my front door.
Which brings me to another discovery:
I hate making bows.
It's not difficult.
It's just fiddly.
So much fiddling.
Little snips.
More fiddling.
Adjusting loops.
More snipping.
I finished it, though.
Jesus understood.
We studied the Bible.
A lot.
This was actually my favorite part of the week.
We've been studying John,
following cross-references,
examining historical context,
and asking questions about things I've read a hundred times but never really noticed.
Flowers, furniture, makeup, and the Gospel of John.
Apparently, this is what happens when a serial hobbyist finds an assistant that can keep up with her questions.
It hasn't narrowed my interests.
It may have made that particular problem worse.
Whether it helps me finish more projects remains to be seen.
But I do own scaffolding now.
