AI Fixed My Water Heater (and Other True Stories)
How Deepseek saved us $13k on plumbing, Grief bridged divides in Gaza, Ikea became a cultural adventure, and why Muffins aren't all that essential. Plus: The eeriness of watching "Her" (2013) in 2025
In this issue:
New on MappyEverAfter: Rt 66 - Texas-shaped Surprises
AI Shenanigans: How DeepSeek R1 Saved our Water Heater (and $13k)
Experiment: Surviving a Year of Radical Honesty
Travel: Why Visiting Ikea Counts as Cultural Exploration
Health: Why is Protein Essential and Muffins are not?
Money: Neil Patel - AI Gold Rush for Non-Techies
Watch: "Her" (2013) in 2025
Read: Grief Bridges Palestine and Israel in Colum McCann’s ‘Apeirogon’
Mind Hack: What is Forgiveness?
Just because: Learn through Pictures
Note: I will always tell you if I’m getting any referral bonuses and how much they are.
In this Mappy Monday, there are links to the books Big Ideas, Little Pictures and Apeirogon. If you click through and make a purchase (or buy anything else while you're at it), I'll earn a few cents from Amazon—consider it a tip for all the times I've made you chuckle or cringe 🥰
New on my MappyEverAfter website: Route 66 Backwards, Part 3: Texas Waffles & Cadillacs
Texas wasn’t part of the plan. I mean, technically, yes, we were following Route 66 east, and yes, Texas exists along that route, but we hadn’t expected to linger. We figured we’d zip through the 178 miles of the Texas panhandle in one day, wave at a cowboy, eat a steak the size of Mark’s head, and move on. But Texas had other plans.
AI Shenanigans: How DeepSeek R1 Saved our Water Heater (and $13k)
Deepseek R1 launched, and yeah, it’s kind of a big deal. But you know what really felt revolutionary in our household? A hot bath!
Turns out, the two are surprisingly connected.
Our water heater went on strike. All the plumbers claimed that it definitely needs to be replaced. The estimates ranged from "ouch" ($2500) to "are you KIDDING me?” ($13.000).
We tried our best to fix it ourselves, but no luck. I even turned my hopeful eye to AI, but every chatbot I consulted hit me with the plumbing equivalent of "have you tried turning it off and on again?"
Then I noticed the new “R1 mode” on Perplexity.ai, one of my favorite chatbots. I gave it a photo of the sulking water heater, explained what we’ve done so far, shared the plumbers’ dire predictions, and asked for help.
Deepseek R1 is not just another chatbot; it’s a reasoning model and unlike its Western counterparts, it's also trained on thousands of years of Eastern wisdom. It can analyze and solve problems, and as opposed to Open AI, it’s actually open-source.
R1 did, indeed, reason, its whole thinking process showing on the screen. It ran through a few scenarios and gave me a solution: "Replace this part and reset the dial like the guy in this video is doing." I did what it said, and—bam! Problem solved and money saved!
And there I was, soaking in my victory (and a hot bath), thinking about how sometimes the real AI revolution isn't about passing Turing tests but about fixing your damn water heater.
If you want to learn more, here’s a nice little trapdoor to Deepseek rabbit hole.
Experiment: Surviving a Year of Radical Honesty
It’s been a year since I started my Radical Honesty experiment. I'm not going to lie (ha!), it's been like trying to do yoga in quicksand.
I've become a master of selective truth-telling. If you call me to meet you in 10 minutes at a train station that takes me 9 minutes to get to, my "How about you come to my place instead?" strategically omits the silent rage at yet another last-minute mission you sprang on me. And my "I'm busy" sometimes means that I'm sprawled on the couch, deep in hour four of some Netflix show. Technically, I’m not lying. I am busy, just not the way you’d think.
The other side of the coin? Turns out unfiltered honesty can be a bit of a wrecking ball. Hubby suggested that maybe, just maybe, I could think of a compliment sandwich before I demolish someone's idea or a gift.
So, here's the truth: hitting the sweet spot between honesty and tact is harder than getting your dog to respect personal boundaries. Until I figure it out, fair warning: don't ask me questions you don’t really want answers to.
Travel: Why Visiting Ikea Counts as Cultural Exploration
You're halfway across the world, exploring a new city, and suddenly, you spot it – the familiar blue and yellow.
I know, it sounds crazy. You traveled thousands of miles to experience something different, right? But trust me on this one. Sipping mulled wine at a twinkling rooftop Christmas market of the Vienna store, digging into Tom Yum chicken in Bangkok, or a leg of lamb at Ikea Sydney will give you surprising glimpses into local culture.
Health: Why is Protein Essential and Muffins are not?
Why is protein a big deal?
Your body is made of meat and bones, and it screams for essential amino acids from protein. While a muffin might be essential for a lovely Sunday morning, it’s not crucial for, you know, living.
What is the RDA?
For adults, the official US Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) is 0.8 grams of protein per kg of body weight per day (that would be 50 grams for a 140 -pound person). However, the RDA doesn’t represent an ideal intake. Instead, it is the minimum amount you should get to prevent malnutrition.
What’s an optimal amount of protein?
While your mileage may vary, studies (1) say that most adults should get between 1.6 and 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of healthy body weight daily (that's 0.7 to 1 gram per pound). For a 140-pound person, this means eating about 98 to 140 grams of protein each day.
Animal proteins like meat, eggs, dairy, and whey are easy for your body to absorb and give you all the important amino acids. If you choose plant-based proteins, eat more of them and mix different types to get the same benefits (2, 3)
When I want a quick top-up (with less calories than in meat or eggs), I take whey isolate, the unflavored version, to avoid additives and sweeteners. I’m a minimalist: scoop, shake with water, and drink.
Whey isolate vs whey concentrate
Isolate is superior to concentrate because it’s had most of its lactose and fats removed, so it’s a purer, easier to digest protein.
If you want to geek out further, Examine.com has this great writeup on protein amounts, kinds, and benefits for everyone from athletes, pregnant and lactating women, to babies.
Money: Neil Patel - AI Profits for Non-Techies
Think you're too tech-challenged to profit from AI? Neil Patel may prove you wrong with a few ways to ride the AI wave – no coding required.
Watch: Her (2013) in 2025
I just finished (re)watching "Her," Spike Jonze's 2013 film with Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson. It has always stuck with me, and seeing it again, 12 years later, the romance between Theodore and his OS, Samantha, suddenly feels less like sci-fi and more like… halfway there! The gap between fiction and reality is definitely shrinking.
While chatbots aren't exactly pouring their digital hearts out (yet!), I have to say, sometimes talking to AI is a lot more interesting than small talk with some humans.
When I told Claude.ai about it, it immediately started fishing for compliments.
Read: Grief Bridges Palestine and Israel in Colum McCann’s ‘Apeirogon’
Apeirogon is a shape with an infinite number of sides, like a father's heart splintered into countless pieces.
It’s even more relevant now than when hubby picked it as his favorite book of 2022.
Colum McCann takes you through the real-life stories of two men - Rami, an Israeli, and Bassam, a Palestinian. Both lost their young daughters to violence: Rami's 13-year-old daughter Smadar was killed by a Palestinian suicide bomber in 1997, and Bassam's 10-year-old daughter Abir was shot by an Israeli border guard in 2007.
The book has 1001 short chapters. The weight of a child's backpack found at a bombing site. The fuzzy sodium lights in the morning fog. The birth of friendship between two men who should have been enemies.
McCann's words make you feel, deep in your bones, that behind every headline there are humans just like you and me.
The audiobook is beautifully read by the author. Here he is, reading a short section from the middle of the book.
As of February 2025, Rami Elhanan and Bassam Aramin continue to promote peace and explain that standing against violence is not antisemitic.
They are also active at the Parents Circle Families Forum, a joint Israeli-Palestinian organization of over 700 families, all of whom have lost an immediate family member to the ongoing violence.
Mind Hack: Forgiveness
To forgive is to give up the desire to hurt you for hurting me.
Just Because: Learn through Pictures
I love Jono Hey’s Sketchplanations. Whether you're a visual learner or just love a good doodle, it's a delightful way to see ideas explained.
If you prefer leafing through real-life pages, here is the best of, in a book form: Big Ideas, Little Pictures: Explaining the world one sketch at a time. It would also make a lovely gift! Thanks, Mike, for recommending it.
So, there you have it. I’ve reached the dreaded “Near email length limit” notification again. Until next time, fare thee well!
Be Mappy,
Mags
