It's Wednesday morning. This is a daily grateful. I'm Michael Croce, and usually I record these things the night before. But last night, I was exhausted.
Physically and emotionally exhausted. I went to bed. I didn't record. I had to write an article for the Tampa Bay Technology Center.
I got that done. Really good article too. By the way, I checked my email this morning and people are liking it already. But, what?
I did not record a podcast last night. So here's what we're going to do. It is now Wednesday morning at 7.36 AM. I've been up since 5.45 AM.
I had to go pick my son up from work, which was good. He didn't have the house. He had me moving a little bit. I have this thing about AI programs.
Do you like them? I kind of do. I have my favorite. Now a lot of people use Chatsheet.
That's good. I'm an early adapter. I was right there in the beginning when it started and loving it. But now I tend to go more towards Bard.
What do I use these things? Bard by the way is Google's version of Chatsheet. And I kind of like it better. I don't know why.
I just kind of do. Can't describe it. I'm going to do something like McDonald's over Burger King or some people like Burger King over McDonald's. It's just what you like, I guess.
I don't know. Do I use it for the podcast? Yes, I do, but not a lot. I use it more for writing.
I get ideas for writing off of it more than I do for the podcast. But I do pop things on there for the podcast once in a while, but I find myself using very little of it. But today we're going to try something different. I opened up both of them and I asked them both the same questions.
And this all started because I went and got breakfast. We got breakfast on the way home this morning at McDonald's. Now, when we used to before the pandemic, go to McDonald's. Here's what we ordered for breakfast.
Zach ordered a bacon egg and cheese. I'm sorry, a sausage egg and cheese, a McGriddle meal with a hash browns and a large-dye Coke. A large-dye Coke said, remember that? All sides drinks were 99 cents.
That was that way for a long time till the pandemic. He would order that. I would order the bacon, egg, and cheese, McGriddle meal and a large-dye Coke. Cost us $10 and some change for the two of us.
Reasonable. And that's going through the drive-through. Nobody's waiting on it. We're not going in and sitting down.
Going through the drive-through. Now, if we went to Denny's for about the same meal, we would, you know, because we have people waiting on us and we're sitting at their tables, it would cost more. Generally, about $16 or $16. We never did that.
$10 and some change. After the pandemic, I don't know why. I don't know how all the prices seem to go up. Can I tell you who I was?
By the way, if I didn't die, Michael Croce, this is the daily grateful. I don't remember if I did. If I did, you're hearing it twice. And we're going to talk about seven things to be grateful for when prices keep going up because this morning, we had that same meal and it was $21 and some change.
Same exact order that we got prior to the pandemic for $10 and change. Now it's $21 and some change. Everything is much more expensive. I mean, kind of outrageously expensive.
And I just read an article in particular about McDonald's. It used to be a bargain place to get food. That's what they, you know, when they first came out years ago, remember they had 15-cent hamburgers? You don't remember that.
You're not as old as me. But, you know, they're no longer going for that market. They don't want to serve that income group anymore. They want to serve the middle class to the upper class and they're doing it and they're still making, they're making an incredible profit now since they've more than doubled their prices.
So I typed into bard and chat GPT. Seven things to be grateful for when the prices keep going up. I want to see what they had to say. I haven't looked at it yet.
Let's look at it together. First, I had seven things. I went on bard and it said stability and opportunity. You have a stable job or income.
Consider yourself fortunate. Yeah, blah, blah, blah, blah. What does chat GPT say? Basic needs, affordability.
Even when prices are increasing, expressing gratitude for still being able to afford basic needs such as food, shelter and clothing can foster a sense of perspective. Yes, I will agree. Chat GPT gets number one. Let's go back to bard.
Their number two is personal growth. Challenging times can foster resilience, resourcefulness and creativity. Blah, blah, blah, blah. I usually like bard better.
Let's run over to chat GPT and see what they say. Financial stability. Being grateful for having a stable source of income or financial support during times of rising prices can provide a sense of security. Yeah.
Okay, that's good. I'm liking that. Well, how can I like bard better? But on this question, I'm liking chat GPT better.
Something to be grateful for. I guess I don't know. Number three on bard strong relationships. Having the supportive loved ones can make navigating any difficulty easier.
Express gratitude for their presence and strengthen your connections through shared experiences. Okay, I'm got it. You got it bard. I'm happy with that.
Recently, my son and his girlfriend moved in with me. My son came home. I remember when my son was young and we lived together and I raised him after the divorce. And he said to me when he was like 12, he said, Dad, I want to live with you forever.
Even when I get married, I want to bring my wife here and live with you. I just thought that was the key to singing. Kind of coming true now. But strong relationships and we have this strong relationship.
Let's go over to chat GPT. And they're saying the same thing, I guess, not this same thing, but they're saying resourcefulness and adaptability, expressing gratitude for one's ability to adapt and find creative solutions. Let me tell you the creative solutions that a lot of people are doing. I'm getting back to the McDonald's thing.
The creative thing that people are doing, you know what McDonald's biggest competitor is now? The kitchen and people's houses. I can whip together a breakfast for us with the eggs and the bacon or the sausage and the biscuits and all of that for a hell of a lot cheaper. I can make a cheeseburger, a hell of a lot cheaper in my kitchen and it's going to taste better than I can from buying it at McDonald's.
So yeah, resourcefulness and adaptability. Chat GPT wins this round. Okay, number four, health back on Bard again. Health and well-being.
If you're healthy, you have a valuable foundation to build on blah, blah, blah, blah. Okay, yeah. Real creative. Bard coming up with that one.
Four on chat GPT is community support, gratitude for a supportive community, whether it's friends, family, local networks that can provide emotional and practical assistance during times of economic strain. I'm going to go with that one. All right, chat GPT. I'm going with that.
I belong to the Tampa Bay Technology Center and we are doing all kinds of things to help people with their technology for no money. We offer free computer repair for our members. That's kind of cool. And I, you know, so that's, and I'm finding that happening with a lot of groups.
I have a good friend who's involved with an Alzheimer's group and these people, the families especially are strapped for money and this organization is helping everybody figure out ways to make it work. So I'm going to go with that. Chat GPT gets this one. Let's go to number six, simple pleasures.
Well this is on Bard, simple pleasures. Focus on the joys that don't come with a price tag. Yeah. It's good at that.
My daughter's good at that. My daughter's got three kids. They go to the park just about every day and they go to a different park just about every day after school. And this is good.
It's, you know, they get exercise, they get to play. It's pretty good. Yeah. And let's see what they say over here on chat GPT health and well being gratitude for good health and being a miseconomic uncertainties can serve as a reminder that of what truly matters.
Yeah, that's pretty good. I'll go with that. And number seven on Bard. You know, this is turning out halfway interesting.
I think maybe not. I'm not boring you to tears. Bard says learning and adapting. Like fluctuations are part of life.
So you have to adapt blah, blah, blah, blah. Okay, that's good. And over on chat GPT, they say opportunities for growth and learning. Even during economic turbulence, there may be many opportunities for personal growth and professional growth.
And I guess that's the way it is all the time, you know, I guess. All right. That was an exciting podcast. It was all right.
It was kind of fun for me. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you learned something. Hope you're learning how to make bacon, egg and cheese biscuits at your house.
I'm going to start that. I'm going to start for me to do today, set up a system, do right, and get up in the morning and make a simple breakfast. Here, save a bunch of money. Tastes better.
Yeah. I liked that. Everything else around here we cook or breakfast isn't one of those things. We need to start doing that.
$21 and some change yet. Burger doodle is too much. All right, have a great day, everybody. We'll see you tomorrow.