Fix Your Algorithm

            

The company selling these is SaferingzUSA

             If I were to be honest then I would have to tell you that Google and Facebook are getting on my nerves.  A few weeks ago, I realized that the car seat I have for my young grandson is too small and so I googled some carseats, and went to the Wal-Mart website. The following day I bought one, installed it and now when I take my little grandson out, he'll be more comfortable and safe. Every day since then, on everything I do online I receive information on toddler car seats of every color and design imaginable.

                About five months ago, I was in the throes of writing my fifth book, a second novel. In one of the chapters, there is a wedding scene, and a honeymoon afterward. It's been a while since I've been on a honeymoon, and so I looked up online some of the rooms and what potential packages were available in the specific place that my characters had planned to go.  For five months now I have been deluged with ads for honeymoon packages, not only for the place I researched briefly, but for lots of other places as well. I have also been getting a fair smattering of ads for ethical diamond engagement rings, and even for conflict-free diamonds. Tell me, if your diamond is conflict free, will your marriage be? Is that the unspoken promise here?  I have also been deluged with ads for silicone wedding bands. Silicone wedding bands ? Really?  I am at a loss as to how to tell Google that not only am I not getting married, but no one in my household is either.

                 Recently, because two of my friends have rheumatoid arthritis and I am aware of much better treatment options now, I looked up the current protocols for treatment. I am a registered nurse and a couple of years ago I took a continuing education course on it. It wasn't at all a strange thing for me to be looking up one time only.  Now, I am deluged with coupons and information from drug companies trying to sell me on their drug for rheumatoid arthritis.  I am also receiving offers from major medical centers to be part of a study for experimental treatment.  I am getting so much mail on RA, I am beginning to think they know something I don't.

                I understand that algorithms used by Google, Facebook and other companies help to target the ads and information I receive, but for writers especially, this is excessive.  What happens if I look up thermite and seek a recipe for a book project ?  What happens if I do some research on an AR-15 because my character wants a quality weapon rather than an inferior substitute ?   What happens if I look up gonorrhea ?  Does a public health official arrive with a shot of Rocephin ?

               It might be good business to send information concerning hotel rooms to anyone looking at them, for up to a week.  It might be a good idea to send information on toddler car seats to parents and grandparents for a week after an inquiry has taken place.  There is no way I should be getting some of these ads when the book being researched is now completed, edited, getting its cover, and then is about to be released.  Google and Facebook, fix your algorithm !

How Time Passes

             If I were to be honest, I would have to tell you that I am absolutely in awe of how quickly time passes. I still remember Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw, who hold multiple Phds, and their discussions of life extension on the Merv Griffin Show when I was a teen. I followed some of their recommendations, and I must say, it has worked in terms of keeping me fairly healthy, energetic and youthful. It has not slowed the passage of time though.

            In the early 1980s, before I left NJ, I was a young RN and I made many friends at what is now the Robert Woods Johnson Medical Center, which is also the teaching hospital of Rutgers Medical School.  I had many friends who came from all over the world, both men and women who had come to do a fellowship or a residency. What I remember most is their senses of humor. So many of them were very funny and this kept me on my toes.

            This week I learned that one of my dear friends from those days has died. Without naming him, I would like to say he was one of the kindest people to both his patients and to all the staff. He loved nice cars and I remember well his Lotus Elite.  His obituary said that the love of his life had been his young grandchildren.

              How does this happen ?  Yes, I moved away, married, had five children, developed several careers, built a couple of farms, sent children to college and stood in awe as they graduated and built homes or businesses, but I have just gotten started. I have just cleared my schedule enough to be able to achieve some of the things I really want to do.

             How can it be that some of the kindest and funniest friends I have known have been called home already ?   Perhaps it is no longer time to be patient. Perhaps it's time to achieve the things we wish to, while we still can.  By the way, my friend, if you are reading my post from the great beyond, I have only one grandson, and I quite agree with you on how wonderful they are.