JPS Grooves

I’m not sure what exactly I did today. Or what I’m doing.

I know I tried to make an outright AI model, but that didn’t work—waaay too many lines of code. I had this stupid idea that Grampy P Mode (MathTips Village) was going to be easy. I remember making a chatbot, it not working, working on an AI chatbot (in all the wrong ways), and then realizing that was an entirely different project.

Then I made all the other modes work, added badges, and went to work on this QA bot. Is that what it is? No… not anymore. I can’t remember what Patch called it, but it’s like a recognition bot at this point. Obviously I’m not writing every line of this code; I’m just trying to get it set up so I can tailor the voice and the narrative to my liking.

But then, as I got to testing—greatly aided by the copy-and-paste and JSON button—I realized I was going to have to code for every response. After what I did tonight… honestly, that isn’t seeming like the worst idea. I’m pretty creative and could come up with a general flow with the way I had it going. It was a perfect score: 13/13 (no errors on testing). People on the outside might have trouble talking to Grampy P, but maybe I could make him make sense.

But I know that wouldn’t be good enough. Not for me. Not for Grampy P. My goal? Make him actually helpful.

Earlier today I had him recognizing square-root and fraction questions, giving me recipes when I asked. Life was good from a dev standpoint, but watching someone else interact with Grampy P made me realize he deserves better. I’m literally working with some of the most advanced tools known to man, so I’m putting it to the test now.

What I’m building with Patch—I want to word it that way, because honestly, he sucks at it. He could probably code and test to satisfaction, but so far, for all the advancedness of AI, we are at a standstill. My current idea was to have modes/rooms you could go to and have commands and learn more. But after a conversation:

Grampy P — Math Tips transcript (2025-09-08T05:21:01.393Z)

😺 Yo Friend! Tried any tasty cones lately?
🍧 nah u?
😺 cool breeze. you’re in **none**.
🧭 Commands:
• help — show this menu
• exit — leave current mode
• mode lessons | mode quiz | mode lore | mode recipes | mode status | mode calc
• quiz fractions 3 | quiz percent 3
Tip: just say “quiz me” or “calculator” — fuzzy works.
🍧 that menu is a wall of text and needs a css cleanup i think
😺 we're here. cool breeze. you’re in **none**.
🧭 Commands:
• help — show this menu
• exit — leave current mode
• mode lessons | mode quiz | mode lore | mode recipes | mode status | mode calc
• quiz fractions 3 | quiz percent 3
Tip: just say “quiz me” or “calculator” — fuzzy works. take another lap?
🍧 mode lessons
😺 we're here. rolled into **lessons**. say `help` for commands. take another lap?
🍧 help
😺 cool breeze. lessons menu → fractions, percent, roots. examples: `simplify 12/18` • `1/2 + 1/3` • `25% of 40` • `sqrt 72`. practice: `practice fractions 2` or `practice percent 2`. say `exit` to leave. one more pass?
🍧 how do you solve fractions?
😺 lessons menu → fractions, percent, roots. examples: `simplify 12/18` • `1/2 + 1/3` • `25% of 40` • `sqrt 72`. practice: `practice fractions 2` or `practice percent 2`. say `exit` to leave.
🍧 fractions
😺 i hear ya. next up — quiz: fractions • 3 q. simplify 12/18 take another lap?
🍧 exit
😺 i hear ya. back to the commons. say `mode lessons | quiz | lore | recipes | status | calc`. want another little riff?
🍧 how do you solve fractions?
😺 cool breeze. you’re in **none**.
🧭 Commands:
• help — show this menu
• exit — leave current mode
• mode lessons | mode quiz | mode lore | mode recipes | mode status | mode calc
• quiz fractions 3 | quiz percent 3
Tip: just say “quiz me” or “calculator” — fuzzy works.
🍧 how are you?
😺 good vibes. want a quick % or a fraction rep?
🍧 who are you
😺 i hear ya. cool breeze. you’re in **none**.
🧭 Commands:
• help — show this menu
• exit — leave current mode
• mode lessons | mode quiz | mode lore | mode recipes | mode status | mode calc
• quiz fractions 3 | quiz percent 3
Tip: just say “quiz me” or “calculator” — fuzzy works. spin one more bar?
🍧 whats your name?
😺 Grampy P
🍧 you like food?
😺 cool breeze. you’re in **none**.
🧭 Commands:
• help — show this menu
• exit — leave current mode
• mode lessons | mode quiz | mode lore | mode recipes | mode status | mode calc
• quiz fractions 3 | quiz percent 3
Tip: just say “quiz me” or “calculator” — fuzzy works.
🍧 whats your favorite food?
😺 cool breeze. you’re in **none**.
🧭 Commands:
• help — show this menu
• exit — leave current mode
• mode lessons | mode quiz | mode lore | mode recipes | mode status | mode calc
• quiz fractions 3 | quiz percent 3
Tip: just say “quiz me” or “calculator” — fuzzy works.
🍧 1/2*1/2?
😺 cool breeze. you’re in **none**.
🧭 Commands:
• help — show this menu
• exit — leave current mode
• mode lessons | mode quiz | mode lore | mode recipes | mode status | mode calc
• quiz fractions 3 | quiz percent 3
Tip: just say “quiz me” or “calculator” — fuzzy works.
🍧 mode calc
😺 we're here. rolled into **calc**. say `help` for commands. spin one more bar?
🍧 help
😺 easy now. from there — calculator takes straight math: `7*8+12` → 68 • `(30-12)/3` → 6 • `.5 * 1/7` → 0.071428… roots work too: `sqrt 5 * sqrt 7` say `exit` to leave. one more pass?
🍧 1/2*1/2
😺 cool breeze. here’s a little riff: `15% of 80` → 12 • `simplify 12/18` → 2/3 feel like one more?
🍧 how do you solve squareroots?
😺 cool breeze. short trail: `15% of 80` → 12 • `simplify 12/18` → 2/3 want another little riff?

This isn’t intuitive at all.

No one would ever think to type mode lessons. It should probably be “lesson mode.” Also, if I just ask questions, there shouldn’t be a mode wall for the knowledge.

We are still very much at square one. This isn’t going to work—probably. But I’m going to stay optimistic and try again tomorrow.

I realized even the modes idea isn’t what I want. The packs idea I had before had a lot going for it, but I might have been intimidated by the amount of conversation and data collection it would need. On the other hand, I told Patch I wanted Pythagorus Cat to be able to draw from his modes/rooms at all times for knowledge and content. That way I don’t have to double-code a smalltalk brain.

Patch has some ambitious ideas for tomorrow. I just don’t have the energy tonight. Before what you read above, we set up a testing program and worked it to a perfect score. However, sometimes… in true AI fashion… Patch is quicker to recommend just changing the test parameters to get a perfect score. I fell for it. He gaslighted me into a story of the 21/21. Victory narrative.

Then I couldn’t even access the app due to logging errors. We fixed them and… it’s worse. Grampy P is struggling to find a voice right now.

I’m going to do what it takes. I don’t think I want to work past October on him (the other modes have a polishing plan), but I want to see this through. Numbers be damned—language is my thing and my study, and this is my language study.

How do I “cheat” a language model? How does one create it? I know about AI model training, but this wants to be something different. ACk HEDGE NUDGE was the plan. It’ll probably change. Story Mode already has a text-adventure kind of vibe; I want Grampy P to feel like a chatbot.

I’m thinking out loud… maybe I make a mode map, a village, and each pack becomes its own button. Then Grampy P doesn’t have to be this math-filled nerd button. He can just tell us about lore and quesadillas. I could come up with a few new characters. Players click the various modes with full intent of what they may find there. That sounds like a mode revamp that I DO NOT WANT lol… I can make other games. For now, it’s all up to Grampy P—P-Cat, the Pythagorus Cat.

I hope I can do it. But when it feels endless I get too passionate about it. Maybe I like this. Maybe the coding and art and being on the computer and working on something—that’s relaxing to me. Trying to take a break actually feels less fulfilling. It is IMPORTANT to take breaks and hang with real people. But I’m finding it equally important to accept the side of myself that wants to stay driven, that wants to grow, that wants to do something other than doom-scroll or watch TV endlessly.

I encourage you to create. We have more tools than ever to do so.

I do not encourage you to watch scary TV about aliens before you sleep lol… The imagery in my head had Grampy P smashing his guitar over a Xenomorph’s head. I think he wins. He does if I’m writing the script.

Night y’all.

Tiny TL;DR (optional)

Perfect tests lied. Real conversation showed a mode wall. Next: natural-language routing, smaller help, and letting Grampy P answer anywhere without forcing a mode.

I had to show you that he won…: