Funny Friend’s Retirement Story

Today (Friday) was a good friend’s last day at work. She retired from a VP level at a large corporate tech company after working for them for many years.

Like most folks that go into retirement, I have seen her struggle a bit with the idea of retirement and her own definition of it and how things will change for her as she has been a loyal and passionate “corporate employee” for her entire working life, and this is FOR SURE a new phase in her life. Since making the decision, her workload over the past few months have moved from fully booked busy meeting packed days into trying to figure out what to do after walking up at 6am and having nothing in the calendar… Today she had a number of “fair well and best of luck parties” zoom meetings where lots of stories and well wishes were shared.

So tonight, we held an impromptu neighbor’s dinner’s gathering, and we thought, why not give her a card and celebrate this momentous occasion!

It was too late to bake something, so I went to Sprouts and look for a cake, but the only thing they had was a Cinnamon and Walnuts Bunt Cake. Befour I bought it, I thought to myself how could I possibly make that fit the occasion? Can I make up a story about it? Like most of my decision in life, I said – why not, let’s do it and figure it out later.

As I was leaving the market, I thought maybe we can ask ChatGPT if Cinnamon and Walnuts have some significant meaning as it comes to

On my drive back to the house 8 minutes away, I opened my iPhone ChatGPT app and turned on ChatGPT voice. I asked the question and after a couple of revision it came back with this story:

Listen to the Story!

Lori had just retired and was feeling a mix of excitement and uncertainty. To celebrate, her friends gathered and after dinner gifted her a homemade cinnamon and walnut bundt cake. Lori shared with the table, and as they all enjoyed the cake, Lori felt a warmth and happiness. The taste of the cinnamon brought comfort to everyone, and the walnuts added a special touch.

Cinnamon weaves golden threads of comfort through every dish, a scent that conjures cozy hearths and sweet dreams while walnuts are known as a hidden treasure of the forest and their earthy crunch unlocking ancient wisdom and nourishing the mind with every bite

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Lori felt more energized and positive as it was a simple reminder from her friends that retirement was a time to savor life’s moments, enjoy good food, and cherish the company of loved ones.

Voila! — Got the connection and the story to tell! Literally, the process took less than 5 minutes completely via voice interface. Absolutely amazing what you can do these days.! ( as an aside, this blog post was probably 20 minutes, and the card was another 20 minutes! )

The unique and special card (from doodlingjorge.com of course!) we presented, and that we all signed follows:

Technology aside, A special day and moment for sure! — Congrats Lori!!