Hello again! It was an okay week for reading. Nothing really bonza or anything, but okay.
I have two unread ebooks left from earlier in the month. I guess it's time to start scanning the newsletters for free books again. No new hardcopies, but I have tons to keep me busy if I can't find any ebooks to wow me.
Books read:
20) Love & Order by Elsie Davis (2/23/20) - Romance*# - 5 stars. New to me and underappreciated. Picked this one up for free off the Robin Reads newsletter.
Review: "A
sweet little romance that hits all the right notes - kids, a dog,
cookies... with a hot hero and a lovable heroine. It's all good stuff
right there."
Note: Listed on Amazon in the Christian Romance category, but religion didn't come into this one at all, so I'm not sure how they hit that list. :shrug:
19) The Twisted Thing by Mickey Spillane (2/22/20) - Hard-boiled Crime - 5 stars. Mickey Spillane is my crack. I've had this one for years, so no clue what I paid for it or where I got it. I've got the unread Spillane on rationing, so I have a chance at not running out before I find more old paperbacks of his.
No review. It's Mickey. You either get him or you don't and nothing I say will change anyone's minds.
DNFs:
2/26/20 - suspense - free. The mystery was fairly interesting and there was a good amount of suspense, but when the author threw yet another plot twist at me, after a host of others that all seemed unrelated to the central plot, I'd had enough. Maybe they'll tie it all together in the last 40%, but I couldn't see how without a huge info-dump or a series of major cliffhangers. Kind of irritated it took me until 60% in to realize I'd been slapped around enough on this one.
2/22/20 - YA fantasy - free. Started out okay, but it tripped one of my pet peeves. Close book, move on.
Currently reading... Lord God Made Them All - the last of the James Herriot books. I'll be sad when it's over.
What have you been reading lately?
Saturday, February 29, 2020
Thursday, February 27, 2020
Thursday This n That
I saw someone on FB talking about fake meat - like BK's 'impossible' burger. Sorry, I don't do fake meat. And it's seems a bit hypocritical to me that BK is pushing their fake meat burgers as if meat is bad when meat is what made them rich. Just sayin'.
I dated a vegetarian once... as in one date. He took me to McDonalds. He ordered a Big Mac with no meat. It was just special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun. It was kind of sad looking without the two all-beef patties. I, on the other hand, thoroughly enjoyed my all meat quarter pounder. Too each their own. (And no, I didn't refuse him another date because he was a vegetarian, although that was reason enough... no future there... and not even because he took me to McD's as a date when I was old enough to know what a real date was... but because he kissed like a gagging goldfish. Ew.) I also had a really good friend once who was vegan. She couldn't eat meat. Couldn't even handle if chicken broth had been used in a dish. Except every once in a while, she had me sneak her a coney dog for lunch. I never understood that.
Today's bird of the day is a loon. I love loons. I rarely see one, but hearing them out at the lake makes me happy. They're only passing through, though. Loons aren't year-round visitors here. I guess that makes it extra special when I hear one.
I have thirteen pages left to edit, which I will get done today. You know, if those 13 pages don't end up being like 30. ;o)
Tonight, I'll be using my new Foreman grill for the first time. Burger night! Yay!
Does dry creamer ever go bad? Yeah, it's got a 'best by' date on it, but they put those on everything now whether they're necessary or not. Sometimes I think the date is simply on there to sell more stuff. I did toss a mostly full bottle of Western salad dressing yesterday. The date was in January and I had a really bad experience with past-date salad dressing. Lucky for us, we haven't had salad since last year.
The other day I saw a book advertised on FB that sounded really interesting, so I hopped on over to Amazon for further investigation. It had plenty of good reviews and like 4 really bad ones. Three of those were hammering it for being a conservative leaning novel, which the readers should've seen from looking at the blurb, so I assume they bought it in order to bitch about it. The 4th bad review was all about the really poor formatting and editing. I didn't end up getting the book, because it's not in the budget right now, but I hope by the time I have the funds, they've fixed the formatting/editing issues.
Last night, I saw someone lamenting in a book group about getting taken by an unethical 'paid review' service. He paid $100 for 3 reviews and the reviews were very badly written and didn't seem like they were for the books they were supposed to be for. He tried to get his money back and was told to basically suck it. First off, if you're trying to do business with someone who is, on their face, unethical in their business practices, you can't possibly expect them to be ethical with you. Second, the guy had better hope Amazon doesn't find out he's paying for reviews because then poorly written ones will be the least of his worries. I get that reviews are insanely hard to get, and the lure of paying a bunch of money to get reviews is a sweet song. But it's the siren, folks. Don't do it.
And that's all I've got right now. What's up with you?
I dated a vegetarian once... as in one date. He took me to McDonalds. He ordered a Big Mac with no meat. It was just special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun. It was kind of sad looking without the two all-beef patties. I, on the other hand, thoroughly enjoyed my all meat quarter pounder. Too each their own. (And no, I didn't refuse him another date because he was a vegetarian, although that was reason enough... no future there... and not even because he took me to McD's as a date when I was old enough to know what a real date was... but because he kissed like a gagging goldfish. Ew.) I also had a really good friend once who was vegan. She couldn't eat meat. Couldn't even handle if chicken broth had been used in a dish. Except every once in a while, she had me sneak her a coney dog for lunch. I never understood that.
Today's bird of the day is a loon. I love loons. I rarely see one, but hearing them out at the lake makes me happy. They're only passing through, though. Loons aren't year-round visitors here. I guess that makes it extra special when I hear one.
I have thirteen pages left to edit, which I will get done today. You know, if those 13 pages don't end up being like 30. ;o)
Tonight, I'll be using my new Foreman grill for the first time. Burger night! Yay!
Does dry creamer ever go bad? Yeah, it's got a 'best by' date on it, but they put those on everything now whether they're necessary or not. Sometimes I think the date is simply on there to sell more stuff. I did toss a mostly full bottle of Western salad dressing yesterday. The date was in January and I had a really bad experience with past-date salad dressing. Lucky for us, we haven't had salad since last year.
The other day I saw a book advertised on FB that sounded really interesting, so I hopped on over to Amazon for further investigation. It had plenty of good reviews and like 4 really bad ones. Three of those were hammering it for being a conservative leaning novel, which the readers should've seen from looking at the blurb, so I assume they bought it in order to bitch about it. The 4th bad review was all about the really poor formatting and editing. I didn't end up getting the book, because it's not in the budget right now, but I hope by the time I have the funds, they've fixed the formatting/editing issues.
Last night, I saw someone lamenting in a book group about getting taken by an unethical 'paid review' service. He paid $100 for 3 reviews and the reviews were very badly written and didn't seem like they were for the books they were supposed to be for. He tried to get his money back and was told to basically suck it. First off, if you're trying to do business with someone who is, on their face, unethical in their business practices, you can't possibly expect them to be ethical with you. Second, the guy had better hope Amazon doesn't find out he's paying for reviews because then poorly written ones will be the least of his worries. I get that reviews are insanely hard to get, and the lure of paying a bunch of money to get reviews is a sweet song. But it's the siren, folks. Don't do it.
And that's all I've got right now. What's up with you?
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
A Fishing Story (Or Fighting With the Weather Gods)
I haven't gone fishing much this year. The weather's been gross or it's too cold or whatever. Yesterday morning it looked perfect - mostly cloudy with occasional sun poking through the clouds and warm for February 24th - so off I went.
I got to the boat ramp where I like to fish about 9am. On any given day, I am alone at any of my favorite spots. There might be cars in the parking lot with boat trailers attached, but those guys are all out on the lake. I see them from time to time as they pull out of the lake and more arrive to put in, but still pretty full of solitude. Yesterday, the place was empty. Yay.
So, I get my gear out of the car, head for a good spot, put a worm on the hook, and cast out toward what we call The Point - where the creek enters the river. There's a little wind blowing toward the shore, so not optimum for a good long cast, which is what you really need to get past the rocks to deeper water where the fish are hanging out right now. No big deal. I simply moved over to The Ledges - rock formations along the river where the water is easily 8 feet deep right off the edges, dropping to 30 feet shortly thereafter. The Ledges also have awesome places to sit, which works for me.
Anyway, I was sitting in my favorite spot, trying some different things to no avail when it starts to sprinkle. No big deal Like I said, it was pretty warm. And I was dressed for a bit of sprinkle activity. I looked up at the sky and it seemed like this drizzle activity might be short.
Then it started to sprinkle more. I debated packing up and heading for the car. But it had been so long since I went fishing, and I REALLY needed to go fishing. I arranged my stuff so it would get the minimum amount of wetness and stood up so I would present the smallest space for rain to hit. Shortly thereafter, the drizzle stopped. Cool.
I wiped off the rock, put a towel down, and resumed my relaxed and casual enjoyment of fishing.
Then it started to sprinkle again. Eh, I was already a little wet, so I kept fishing. Then I heard a rush of sound from down the river. I stared off in the distance and sure enough, it was raining really hard about a half mile south of me. But the wind wasn't coming from that direction.
Except the wind I was feeling was not coming from the same direction as the upper level wind moving the clouds. In less than a minute, the rain started coming down in earnest. I shrugged and angled myself so my jacket would deflect most of the rain from my legs.
It started to rain a little harder, almost as if some demented god from my books was thoroughly against my fishing that day. I looked up at the sky and said 'Oh, come ON, I'm just trying to fish here.' No sooner were the words out of my mouth than those demented weather gods decided to show me who was in charge. The sky opened up and dumped a bucket. I quickly became drenched.
But I wasn't going to let the weather win. Screw you, I'm fishing here.
Then the spot where I was sitting, on the downslope of a rock DUH, became a tiny creek, soaking the only dry spot left on my person - my butt - thoroughly.
And I started laughing. And laughing. And laughing. If there was anyone on or near the lake at that point, I must've sounded like a crazy woman. Sitting on the river bank, rod in hand, in the rain. Laughing like a maniac.
Not long after, the rain let up. Since I wasn't getting any bites, I picked up my stuff and moved to the creek side. It started raining again over there, but I was already soaked, so it didn't matter. Unfortunately, the fish weren't biting over there either. Finally, I gave up and headed for home.
As I was driving west to loop east and get back to the house, I saw copious amounts of blue sky off in the distance. I could've turned back and resumed fishing. Except now I was cold and wet and I had to use the bathroom. Plus, once I'm on my way home, I might as well go home. I wasn't home twenty minutes when the sky was totally clear of clouds and crap.
I could've gone back out, but the urge was lost. And the fish weren't biting anyway. Better luck next time. When it's warmer. And a little drier. ;o)
I got to the boat ramp where I like to fish about 9am. On any given day, I am alone at any of my favorite spots. There might be cars in the parking lot with boat trailers attached, but those guys are all out on the lake. I see them from time to time as they pull out of the lake and more arrive to put in, but still pretty full of solitude. Yesterday, the place was empty. Yay.
So, I get my gear out of the car, head for a good spot, put a worm on the hook, and cast out toward what we call The Point - where the creek enters the river. There's a little wind blowing toward the shore, so not optimum for a good long cast, which is what you really need to get past the rocks to deeper water where the fish are hanging out right now. No big deal. I simply moved over to The Ledges - rock formations along the river where the water is easily 8 feet deep right off the edges, dropping to 30 feet shortly thereafter. The Ledges also have awesome places to sit, which works for me.
Anyway, I was sitting in my favorite spot, trying some different things to no avail when it starts to sprinkle. No big deal Like I said, it was pretty warm. And I was dressed for a bit of sprinkle activity. I looked up at the sky and it seemed like this drizzle activity might be short.
Then it started to sprinkle more. I debated packing up and heading for the car. But it had been so long since I went fishing, and I REALLY needed to go fishing. I arranged my stuff so it would get the minimum amount of wetness and stood up so I would present the smallest space for rain to hit. Shortly thereafter, the drizzle stopped. Cool.
I wiped off the rock, put a towel down, and resumed my relaxed and casual enjoyment of fishing.
Then it started to sprinkle again. Eh, I was already a little wet, so I kept fishing. Then I heard a rush of sound from down the river. I stared off in the distance and sure enough, it was raining really hard about a half mile south of me. But the wind wasn't coming from that direction.
Except the wind I was feeling was not coming from the same direction as the upper level wind moving the clouds. In less than a minute, the rain started coming down in earnest. I shrugged and angled myself so my jacket would deflect most of the rain from my legs.
It started to rain a little harder, almost as if some demented god from my books was thoroughly against my fishing that day. I looked up at the sky and said 'Oh, come ON, I'm just trying to fish here.' No sooner were the words out of my mouth than those demented weather gods decided to show me who was in charge. The sky opened up and dumped a bucket. I quickly became drenched.
But I wasn't going to let the weather win. Screw you, I'm fishing here.
Then the spot where I was sitting, on the downslope of a rock DUH, became a tiny creek, soaking the only dry spot left on my person - my butt - thoroughly.
And I started laughing. And laughing. And laughing. If there was anyone on or near the lake at that point, I must've sounded like a crazy woman. Sitting on the river bank, rod in hand, in the rain. Laughing like a maniac.
Not long after, the rain let up. Since I wasn't getting any bites, I picked up my stuff and moved to the creek side. It started raining again over there, but I was already soaked, so it didn't matter. Unfortunately, the fish weren't biting over there either. Finally, I gave up and headed for home.
As I was driving west to loop east and get back to the house, I saw copious amounts of blue sky off in the distance. I could've turned back and resumed fishing. Except now I was cold and wet and I had to use the bathroom. Plus, once I'm on my way home, I might as well go home. I wasn't home twenty minutes when the sky was totally clear of clouds and crap.
I could've gone back out, but the urge was lost. And the fish weren't biting anyway. Better luck next time. When it's warmer. And a little drier. ;o)
Sunday, February 23, 2020
Sunday Update - Week 8
Eight weeks into the new year. I'll admit my resolve fell down already, but I kicked my own butt and I'm back on track again. Mostly.
I haven't written any new words, but I'm editing along nicely again. I worked through about 90 pages of line by line edits. Almost made myself cry at one point - the story not the editing. Jeni's nieces and nephews are too damn cute to have had such a shitty dad. Anyway, I've got about 45 pages left to go and then a quick read through to make sure I didn't leave any huge errors.
I finished out the marketing for the Once Upon a Djinn series with 8 sales - 2 each - and no page reads yet. Oh well. I tried. Once I get some new books out into the world, maybe sales will improve.
My reading week was pretty good. I finished three and only DNF'd one, and I ended the week yesterday with an awesome Mickey Spillane. (Awesome Mickey Spillane is redundant.)
On the activity front, I did 4 out of 7 days - three days straight of the yard expansion project and then 3 days off with a mile or so walk yesterday and kneading rolls. Yeah, kneading counts as exercise when you do it for 8 minutes straight. I was burning calories like crazy there, folks. Upper body workout like you wouldn't believe. Anyway... I'm back at 179.0 again. Roller coaster time. Wee.
Speaking of rolls, I was trying a new recipe yesterday. Iranian Barbari rolls. It sounded easy. Umm... It was more effort than it was worth, so let's not talk about that, k? Earlier in the week I made oatmeal cookies, though, and that recipe always works. Yay. Today, I'm thinking maybe a chocolate cake is necessary. We'll see. I was going to make more applesauce bread, but Hubs has been eating the applesauce straight, so there isn't enough left for bread. Next time I hit the Wallyworld, I'm gonna buy an economy size vat of applesauce.
The yard expansion project is as finished as it's going to get until Spring. Hubs did the last of the clearing crap out on Wednesday. It looks pretty good. Barren, but good. Now green things can grow. There about 6-8 little trees - 3-5' tall - growing in the new yard area. Once those leaf-out, we'll see which ones get to stay and whether any of them can go. They might all stay. We'll see. The most satisfying part was getting the vines off all those trees. A couple poor sycamores were being killed by those damn vines. No more. Fingers crossed the sycamores recover. I like sycamores.
It's been too cold to go fishing, which is driving me nuts. I need to sit by the lake and drown worms for my sanity.
Alright, I've said more than enough for one Sunday. How are things with you?
I haven't written any new words, but I'm editing along nicely again. I worked through about 90 pages of line by line edits. Almost made myself cry at one point - the story not the editing. Jeni's nieces and nephews are too damn cute to have had such a shitty dad. Anyway, I've got about 45 pages left to go and then a quick read through to make sure I didn't leave any huge errors.
I finished out the marketing for the Once Upon a Djinn series with 8 sales - 2 each - and no page reads yet. Oh well. I tried. Once I get some new books out into the world, maybe sales will improve.
My reading week was pretty good. I finished three and only DNF'd one, and I ended the week yesterday with an awesome Mickey Spillane. (Awesome Mickey Spillane is redundant.)
On the activity front, I did 4 out of 7 days - three days straight of the yard expansion project and then 3 days off with a mile or so walk yesterday and kneading rolls. Yeah, kneading counts as exercise when you do it for 8 minutes straight. I was burning calories like crazy there, folks. Upper body workout like you wouldn't believe. Anyway... I'm back at 179.0 again. Roller coaster time. Wee.
Speaking of rolls, I was trying a new recipe yesterday. Iranian Barbari rolls. It sounded easy. Umm... It was more effort than it was worth, so let's not talk about that, k? Earlier in the week I made oatmeal cookies, though, and that recipe always works. Yay. Today, I'm thinking maybe a chocolate cake is necessary. We'll see. I was going to make more applesauce bread, but Hubs has been eating the applesauce straight, so there isn't enough left for bread. Next time I hit the Wallyworld, I'm gonna buy an economy size vat of applesauce.
The yard expansion project is as finished as it's going to get until Spring. Hubs did the last of the clearing crap out on Wednesday. It looks pretty good. Barren, but good. Now green things can grow. There about 6-8 little trees - 3-5' tall - growing in the new yard area. Once those leaf-out, we'll see which ones get to stay and whether any of them can go. They might all stay. We'll see. The most satisfying part was getting the vines off all those trees. A couple poor sycamores were being killed by those damn vines. No more. Fingers crossed the sycamores recover. I like sycamores.
It's been too cold to go fishing, which is driving me nuts. I need to sit by the lake and drown worms for my sanity.
Alright, I've said more than enough for one Sunday. How are things with you?
Saturday, February 22, 2020
Saturday Reading Wrap-up - 2/22/20
Hello again. Welcome to my Saturday Reading Wrap-up, where I talk about the books I've read or tried to read in the past week and what new things I've bought for the days ahead.
Not a bad week this week with some fun reads and only one dud.
I picked up 3 new ebooks this week - a YA adventure, a mystery, and a romantic suspense (already read that last one). No new hardcopies this week, for which my shelves thank me.
Books Read:
18) Death on the Danube by Jennifer Alderson (2/20/20) - Mystery*# - 4 stars. New to me and underappreciated. Got for free from the Reading Deals newsletter.
Review: "A fun little mystery with loads of interesting information about Budapest, if you're into travel and stuff."
Note: It was a bit too much travel stuff for me, so I flipped past it, but I think many readers would enjoy the details. And it wasn't as if the writer was throwing details in because she didn't want to waste research (we've all read those books). It was just more info than I was looking for at that time in a mystery.
17) Fighting for Elena by Silver James (2/19/20) - Romantic Suspense* - 5 stars. Not new to me and a new release so not much appreciation yet, but it'll get there. Paid full price - $3.99.
Review: "Wow. What an amazing story. I loved Pops and Elena - separately and together. And of course, I love Joy. And it was awesome having characters from Silver's other series swoop in to save the day. Cuz the Wolves are like that. =o)"
16) Never Date a Siren by Byrd Nash (2/15/20) - Paranormal*# - 5 stars. New to me and underappreciated. Picked up for free off the Book Barbarian newsletter.
Review: "Fun! I loved the world. I loved the premise. I loved the characters. I'm so glad I picked this book up."
DNFs:
2/16/20 - biography. 50c hardcover at the thrift store. I thought it would be interesting, but the writing was poor and the story didn't flow well. Plus, it sounded a bit preachy. I like to think if the subject had still been alive, he wouldn't have wanted his biography to come off that way. =o(
Currently reading... A plucked one of my unread Mickey Spillane 'Mike Hammer' paperbacks off the shelf. Love me some Mike Hammer.
What was on your reading list this week? Anything good? Got anything you're looking forward to?
Not a bad week this week with some fun reads and only one dud.
I picked up 3 new ebooks this week - a YA adventure, a mystery, and a romantic suspense (already read that last one). No new hardcopies this week, for which my shelves thank me.
Books Read:
18) Death on the Danube by Jennifer Alderson (2/20/20) - Mystery*# - 4 stars. New to me and underappreciated. Got for free from the Reading Deals newsletter.
Review: "A fun little mystery with loads of interesting information about Budapest, if you're into travel and stuff."
Note: It was a bit too much travel stuff for me, so I flipped past it, but I think many readers would enjoy the details. And it wasn't as if the writer was throwing details in because she didn't want to waste research (we've all read those books). It was just more info than I was looking for at that time in a mystery.
17) Fighting for Elena by Silver James (2/19/20) - Romantic Suspense* - 5 stars. Not new to me and a new release so not much appreciation yet, but it'll get there. Paid full price - $3.99.
Review: "Wow. What an amazing story. I loved Pops and Elena - separately and together. And of course, I love Joy. And it was awesome having characters from Silver's other series swoop in to save the day. Cuz the Wolves are like that. =o)"
16) Never Date a Siren by Byrd Nash (2/15/20) - Paranormal*# - 5 stars. New to me and underappreciated. Picked up for free off the Book Barbarian newsletter.
Review: "Fun! I loved the world. I loved the premise. I loved the characters. I'm so glad I picked this book up."
DNFs:
2/16/20 - biography. 50c hardcover at the thrift store. I thought it would be interesting, but the writing was poor and the story didn't flow well. Plus, it sounded a bit preachy. I like to think if the subject had still been alive, he wouldn't have wanted his biography to come off that way. =o(
Currently reading... A plucked one of my unread Mickey Spillane 'Mike Hammer' paperbacks off the shelf. Love me some Mike Hammer.
What was on your reading list this week? Anything good? Got anything you're looking forward to?
Thursday, February 20, 2020
Thursday This n That
I had a really great idea for the beginning of this post, but by the time I got over here, it was gone. This is the story of my life. LOL
Saturday, I ordered a new Foreman Grill and a pastry cutter from Amazon. My Foreman is getting too old to clean well enough to feel safe about cooking on it and I don't own a pastry cutter (silly, I know, considering how much baking I do). Anyway, Amazon tracking said the package would be delivered Thursday or Friday of this week. When I checked tracking on Wednesday, It said it would be delivered that day, but it wasn't showing 'out for delivery'. It was showing that it's here in the area - in Hollister, so about 75 minutes from here* - so I was thinking Thursday. Then Hubs reminded me it has to go through our local post office. That adds a day usually. So Friday. 48+ hours to get a package about 40 miles. Woohoo. (Update: My mistake... it actually arrived yesterday afternoon, but it came UPS, which explains why it was here on time.)
*Google maps says 52 minutes but I've never made that drive in less than an hour and a quarter. And people wonder why I don't visit Branson more often. (Well, distance plus it's all peopley there.)
Speaking of that, people are amazed about a lot of places around here I've never been to. Harrison, Rogers, Bentonville, Joplin... I've never even been in Springfield proper. Only to the airport, which is on the west side of the city, so I never have to actually cross into the real city to get to it. Cities... blerg. They're so peopley. I can't imagine the lure of being in a space with all those people. And don't get me started on traffic. Here there's a traffic glut if 5 cars are at the four way stop at the same time or if I have 3 cars behind me when I'm on the highway. (In cases of people behind me, I often pull off somewhere and let them pass just to get away from them.)
For the past 7 years, I've talked about going down to Beebe, AR to visit the graves of my great-great-great? grandparents (Mom's Dad's Dad's Mother's parents). I've also talked about visiting her great grandfather's (her Dad's Dad's Dad) grave over in Coffeyville, KS. They're each only about 125 miles from here, but I can't seem to muster the will for traveling anymore. And poor grandpa Frank is laying over in KS all by himself after a horrible accident where he was smushed between two trains. (The grisly part of genealogy is learning the gruesome ways our ancestors died.) His wife took the kids, remarried and moved down to OK where I lost track of her, but I know none of them are buried near Frank. =o(
My new Foreman Grill is the kind with removable cook plates for easier cleaning. They can be put in the dishwasher, but I'll wash them by hand so they last longer. All I know is when I did the pre-use wash, it was easy peasy. Cleaning the old one was a pain in the buns. I love the cautionary bits in the instructions - make sure plates are completely cooled before removing. Umm, duh.
And that's more than enough out of me today. What's up with you?
Saturday, I ordered a new Foreman Grill and a pastry cutter from Amazon. My Foreman is getting too old to clean well enough to feel safe about cooking on it and I don't own a pastry cutter (silly, I know, considering how much baking I do). Anyway, Amazon tracking said the package would be delivered Thursday or Friday of this week. When I checked tracking on Wednesday, It said it would be delivered that day, but it wasn't showing 'out for delivery'. It was showing that it's here in the area - in Hollister, so about 75 minutes from here* - so I was thinking Thursday. Then Hubs reminded me it has to go through our local post office. That adds a day usually. So Friday. 48+ hours to get a package about 40 miles. Woohoo. (Update: My mistake... it actually arrived yesterday afternoon, but it came UPS, which explains why it was here on time.)
*Google maps says 52 minutes but I've never made that drive in less than an hour and a quarter. And people wonder why I don't visit Branson more often. (Well, distance plus it's all peopley there.)
Speaking of that, people are amazed about a lot of places around here I've never been to. Harrison, Rogers, Bentonville, Joplin... I've never even been in Springfield proper. Only to the airport, which is on the west side of the city, so I never have to actually cross into the real city to get to it. Cities... blerg. They're so peopley. I can't imagine the lure of being in a space with all those people. And don't get me started on traffic. Here there's a traffic glut if 5 cars are at the four way stop at the same time or if I have 3 cars behind me when I'm on the highway. (In cases of people behind me, I often pull off somewhere and let them pass just to get away from them.)
For the past 7 years, I've talked about going down to Beebe, AR to visit the graves of my great-great-great? grandparents (Mom's Dad's Dad's Mother's parents). I've also talked about visiting her great grandfather's (her Dad's Dad's Dad) grave over in Coffeyville, KS. They're each only about 125 miles from here, but I can't seem to muster the will for traveling anymore. And poor grandpa Frank is laying over in KS all by himself after a horrible accident where he was smushed between two trains. (The grisly part of genealogy is learning the gruesome ways our ancestors died.) His wife took the kids, remarried and moved down to OK where I lost track of her, but I know none of them are buried near Frank. =o(
My new Foreman Grill is the kind with removable cook plates for easier cleaning. They can be put in the dishwasher, but I'll wash them by hand so they last longer. All I know is when I did the pre-use wash, it was easy peasy. Cleaning the old one was a pain in the buns. I love the cautionary bits in the instructions - make sure plates are completely cooled before removing. Umm, duh.
And that's more than enough out of me today. What's up with you?
Tuesday, February 18, 2020
I'm Too Old for This Crap
I wrote a big, long, ranty post the other day. It's still sitting in my drafts, but I think now that I will never post it. When I was young, I was willing to debate and argue and try to persuade people to see reason. Now? I'm too old.
I keep seeing stuff about looking at things from other viewpoints. I've seen a variety of other viewpoints ad nauseum, and I didn't like the view. And really, after spending a lot of time considering the viewpoints of others, I can spot where they're coming from a mile away. Why exactly would I want to see that again? Been there, done that.
Trying to convince others is tiresome. Oh, I give full points to those that are still out there fighting the good fight, trying to change things, but I am so tired of it. The chance of changing someone else's mind is so slim, especially these days, that I don't see the purpose of expending so much effort for so little reward.
Oh, there's always a chance I'll change my mind about something - if presented with facts and logic and reason that I can independently verify. The problem is there's so little of those things floating around in any argument contrary to what I know that the chance is super slim. These days it's all about feelings and assertions we're all supposed to just accept on faith. That's not how I work.
It's like this gal who used to live here. She was big on going around telling people stuff that just wasn't true. But believable because she spoke with such authority and she was older so it might seem like she knew what she was saying, you know, if you're someone who doesn't rely on facts and proof. And I spent some time refuting the things she said when someone else would bring it to my attention. (She stopped trying to talk to me, but I still heard about it.) Tiring stuff, but I hate lies and now that she's moved on, it's so much quieter here.
And then there's the 'news'. So much misinformation is being spread around under the guise of truth when it's not truth. And it's getting tough to know who's got the facts and who doesn't.
Anyway, these days I'm most likely to just walk away when someone starts spouting crap. In real life, it means ignoring them and not associating with them anymore. Online, it's unfollow, unfriend, block. Life is too short to spend my time trying to parse the good stuff they might have to offer from the bad stuff they are passing along like a venereal disease. I give a little more leeway to people I've known for a long time, but even then, when the crap piles high enough for me to continue to see the good in them, it's time to walk away. Which makes me kind of sad, but in the long run, my mental health is better for it. So's my blood pressure.
How about you? Still fighting the good fight or are you tired, too?
I keep seeing stuff about looking at things from other viewpoints. I've seen a variety of other viewpoints ad nauseum, and I didn't like the view. And really, after spending a lot of time considering the viewpoints of others, I can spot where they're coming from a mile away. Why exactly would I want to see that again? Been there, done that.
Trying to convince others is tiresome. Oh, I give full points to those that are still out there fighting the good fight, trying to change things, but I am so tired of it. The chance of changing someone else's mind is so slim, especially these days, that I don't see the purpose of expending so much effort for so little reward.
Oh, there's always a chance I'll change my mind about something - if presented with facts and logic and reason that I can independently verify. The problem is there's so little of those things floating around in any argument contrary to what I know that the chance is super slim. These days it's all about feelings and assertions we're all supposed to just accept on faith. That's not how I work.
It's like this gal who used to live here. She was big on going around telling people stuff that just wasn't true. But believable because she spoke with such authority and she was older so it might seem like she knew what she was saying, you know, if you're someone who doesn't rely on facts and proof. And I spent some time refuting the things she said when someone else would bring it to my attention. (She stopped trying to talk to me, but I still heard about it.) Tiring stuff, but I hate lies and now that she's moved on, it's so much quieter here.
And then there's the 'news'. So much misinformation is being spread around under the guise of truth when it's not truth. And it's getting tough to know who's got the facts and who doesn't.
Anyway, these days I'm most likely to just walk away when someone starts spouting crap. In real life, it means ignoring them and not associating with them anymore. Online, it's unfollow, unfriend, block. Life is too short to spend my time trying to parse the good stuff they might have to offer from the bad stuff they are passing along like a venereal disease. I give a little more leeway to people I've known for a long time, but even then, when the crap piles high enough for me to continue to see the good in them, it's time to walk away. Which makes me kind of sad, but in the long run, my mental health is better for it. So's my blood pressure.
How about you? Still fighting the good fight or are you tired, too?
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