Episode 96 of Podyallup is for Friday, October 9, 2026. The French Canadians have apparently invaded Puyallup, Costco continues to test my patience, and Oktoberfest Northwest brings German food and festivities to the Washington State Fairgrounds.

The French Canadian invasion of Puyallup

Puyallup has fallen to the Québécois. Their primary objective appears to be the Classic Coaster at the Washington State Fair, although their larger plans for the city remain unclear.

This entirely fictional emergency leads to some questionable French, a few Batman impressions, and a discussion of the many ways to say roller coaster in different languages.

A trip to South Hill Costco

A quick trip to the South Hill Costco turns into a few minor frustrations. A container of salsa has a broken safety seal, requiring a return trip, and shoppers continue to leave their carts in the middle of busy aisles.

I also begin to suspect that I may now belong to the older generation of Costco shoppers I've been complaining about.

Using AI agents for bookkeeping

I've been experimenting with Paperclip, a system for organizing AI agents and assigning them different tasks.

One experiment involves automating bookkeeping for my small business. Instead of manually entering transactions from bank and credit card statements, an AI agent can help prepare the entries for my bookkeeping software.

The goal is to make monthly bookkeeping faster, less expensive, and easier to maintain. I'm also considering using a similar approach for our household budget.

AI can be useful for repetitive work, but it still requires supervision. Knowing what you want and checking the results remain important, especially when the system is making decisions about your finances.

Teaching at Pierce College

Fall quarter continues at Pierce College, where I'm teaching Spanish and English as a Second Language.

My ESL class meets for just 50 minutes at a time, which I find to be an effective length for language instruction. Students can remain engaged throughout the session and often leave wanting more.

The longer Spanish class blocks present a different challenge. Maintaining attention and energy over an extended period requires more careful planning.

School pickup is still a problem

School drop-off has been relatively manageable, but afternoon pickup continues to be a major frustration.

Parking restrictions on nearby private roads have made the situation more difficult for parents. Families sometimes need to arrive nearly an hour before dismissal to secure a place to wait.

There has to be a better logistical solution. Chick-fil-A manages to move large numbers of cars through its drive-through efficiently. Surely schools can learn something from that approach.

Local dental and eye care

I recently visited Dr. Aaron Smith on Canyon Road for a dental appointment and Karnowski Eye Care on Meridian for an eye exam.

Both visits went well, although the cost of prescription glasses remains surprising. I ordered my new glasses online through Zenni Optical for substantially less than the price of a pair purchased directly from an optometrist.

Lectoru Memory

My daily Spanish memory game is now called Lectoru Memory.

Players read a Spanish sentence, hold it in memory, and then attempt to type it correctly after the sentence disappears.

The game is free to play at lectoru.com/memory.

South Puget Sound League football

Puyallup and Sumner remain undefeated in league football play at 2-0. Puyallup is also 5-0 overall and sits atop the early standings.

Emerald Ridge is 1-1 in league play, with Rogers and Curtis farther down the standings.

The league website also provides an opportunity to question some confusing statistics, particularly point differentials that include half points.

Current standings and schedules are available at spsl.org.

Oktoberfest Northwest

Oktoberfest Northwest arrives at the Washington State Fairgrounds October 9-11, bringing German food, beer, music, and festivities to Puyallup.

The food menu includes bratwurst, schnitzel, pretzel bites, German flatbread, and several other specialties. Some sound considerably more appealing than others, particularly when pickle soup enters the conversation.

Event details are available at thefair.com.

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