Echoes of a family’s journey across time and borders.
I’ve been wanting to blog about this for a while. This will probably be a long one—and it might even turn into a series of posts around a central theme.
My mother—more than me, but me too—has always wondered about her mother’s family.
A Childhood Cut Short
My grandmother was born in Poland in 1926, before World War II. She was just 13, almost 14, when Germany invaded. According to my mother, my grandmother was at school in Kraków when the invasion happened. She was taken away from her parents, older brother, and sister. The last time she ever saw them was before going to school that day.
I just learned this part while preparing for this post: my grandmother was taken to a concentration camp and was “in line for a shower.” She was seen by a German officer, who pulled her out of the line. She was forced to serve as an au pair—but in truth, she was a slave.
My mother told me that, surprisingly, my grandmother was treated well by the German and his family and was almost certainly saved from death by that officer. My grandmother never knew why she was chosen out of everyone in line.
We all know what “going into the showers” meant. But I don’t think it was just fate that saved her—I believe it was divine intervention. If not for that moment, how would my mother be here today—and, by extension, my brother, sister, and me?
God has a plan for all of us, and He always makes sure His plans are carried out.
I’ve made more progress on my blog poster program. I’m doing a few minor changes and adding new features before moving on to another service/platform. The images haven’t changed since my last post, so there are no new ones this time.
I added a Kudos button to my Write.as custom domain, michaelmitchell.blog. It’s powered by Tinylytics. I’ll probably be adding more features soon and doing some digital gardening along the way.
🎬 Alien: Earth – Season 1, Episodes 1-7
⭐⭐⭐⭐
May contain spoilers
The show and its cast are excellent. Although it began somewhat slowly with necessary background information, it proved worthwhile. I eagerly anticipate the next episode and season. 🎬
DVD:
🎬 Grantchester – Season 10, Episodes 1-8
⭐⭐⭐⭐
May contain spoilers
I consistently enjoy this series. The British excel at producing TV series and entertainment, often surpassing American productions, which tend to be more inconsistent. This series improves with each season and never seems to run out of creative ideas. While I will be disappointed when Season 11 concludes the series, I acknowledge that all shows must eventually end. 🎬
🚨 AI voice cloning + robocall scams are rising—don’t fall for fake loan calls!
For nearly a month now, I've been getting a phone call almost every day from numbers all over the U.S., numbers I don't recognize at all. I've only answered twice: the first time it was a female voice, and the second time a male voice. Both were obviously AI-generated, pitching some kind of personal loan.
From pay toilets to high-tech pods—two eras of public convenience.
This has been on my mind lately. I was listening to the Planet Money Podcast and caught an episode about why it’s so hard to find a public toilet. It made me think of London. I’ve never been, but I watch a YouTube channel called London City Walks, which often films around Horse Guards Parade. The host strolls through the area, narrates what he sees, and points out that this busy tourist spot barely has any public toilets, except a few in the Underground.
🎬 Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – Season 3, Episodes 5-10 (Season Finale) ⭐⭐⭐
May contain spoilers!
This season was a mixed bag. I believe this series has great potential, but I question the structure and plot of some episodes this season. For instance, the season finale should have been a two-parter, episodes 8 and 9, with episode 10 serving as a proper season close-out. Alternatively, if they wanted to maintain its current position, they could have extended the season to 12 episodes, making this story arc a two-parter, episodes 10 and 11, then having a proper close-out as episode 12 as a look back over the season and what to look forward to.
I struggle to understand this new streaming series format of producing only 8 or 10 episodes for the entire year, a point I have raised and complained about in past posts.
TV series, when they were broadcast over the air or on cable, typically produced 20 to 24 episodes that aired from September through May, followed by summer reruns. The new streaming era, however, is characterized by shorter seasons with a year or more between new seasons.
Returning to the season finale, it felt rushed and anticlimactic. So a mixed bag this year. Hoping Season 4 will be better and more true to the series as it hopefully concludes handing off to Star Trek The Original Series. 🎬
The assassination of Charlie Kirk today is a tragic reminder that political violence is never the solution. It only creates deeper divides and encourages an “us versus them” mentality that is actively harming our society. The proper place to resolve political differences is at the ballot box and through civil debate.
This destructive rhetoric and division is not new. It has been encouraged for years and has been festering over time. The current environment reinforces a dangerous dynamic that threatens our democratic institutions. I have said this before, and I will say it again: politics is just one aspect of life, but its current state is consuming our nation. Politicians on both sides have not helped by trying to one-up the other party in order to stay in power, and it is a disservice to the public they serve.
I am working on something wonderful in Python 🐍. It’s a slow process, but I’m making progress 🚀. At this rate, it won’t be ready until the end of the year 📅. I don’t want to reveal it until it’s finished and working 🔒.
My week has been hectic with work and being off Camzyos for over a week now.“Why are you off your Camzyos? I thought it was helping.”Yes, it has helped. I have felt better. I am not energized and still fatigued, but I have been able to do things without feeling like I was going to pass out from exertion. The specialty pharmacy would not fill the prescription without every box checked. My doctor’s office also failed to upload my latest ECHO. The pharmacy never contacted me, simply put the prescription on hold, and left me in the dark. I had to reach out myself to find out what was happening. On Friday the medicine finally shipped. Will I get it today? Who knows. I was told Thursday, then Friday.
Quiet golden-hour read with tea and tech in tow.