My Life According To

I had nothing on my mind to write this morning. Luckily, The Britchy One just posted answers to book related questions. I wasn’t tagged, but I’m going to answer them anyway.

Have you ever re-gifted a book that you’ve been gifted?

No. Generally, when I get books as gifts they are books that people know I want. Usually the latest Stephen King. I would never regift those unless I somehow received two of the same one.

Have you ever claimed to have read a book when you haven’t?

No. I may have thought I read a book and then realized I never actually did. That type of thing happens when you get old. Otherwise, I see no reason to pretend I’ve read a book I haven’t actually read. I’ not that desperate to impress people.

Have you ever borrowed a book and not returned it?

Yes. I still have my brother’s copy of The Punch by John Feinstein. I still have never even read it. It’s particularly bad because he doesn’t really read books, so stealing one book he actually read and liked is a terrible thing. I don’t feel guilty at all.

Have you ever read a series out of order?

Only by accident. I am very much a “you must read a series on order” person. What kind of monster reads a series out of order? I would never associate with someone like that.

Have you ever spoiled a book for someone?

Not without permission. I don’t think? It’s possible I have. I’m old. I can’t remember. Maybe? I wouldn’t do it on purpose.

Have you ever skipped a chapter or a section of a book?

Skipped? No. Skimmed? Multiple times. Sometimes that’s the only way to finish a book you have to finish no matter how bad it is(book club/school). If you don’t want me to skim portions of your book, write better books(says the guy who can’t write).

Have you ever bad- mouthed a book you actually liked?

What kind of question is that? That makes no sense. Why would someone do that?

That’s it. The end. I don’t think I did a great job of answering the questions. If you made it this far, I am sorry for wasting your time.

Tater out.

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Places Not to Have a Conversation

It’s Monday. I woke up before 6 and couldn’t go back to sleep. Let’s see if 2 cups of coffee and breakfast have given me the ability to write a coherent post(I’m pretending that a coherent post is ever possible for me). So, here we go. Some places to stop having conversations.

Really the only one that really matters to me – In front of a communal coffee pot. I’m really happy that you are happy to see your friend at church/conference/meeting. I’m glad that you have a lot to say to each other. Please don’t say it in front of the coffee pot. Get your coffee and move to another area to have the conversation. People are trying to get coffee and it could be dangerous to get in their way. The also applies to the same place, but in front of the food.
On your cell phone in the middle of a public library – I really think this applies to most public places, but the library is the worst. A short, quiet call can be tolerated, but no one, in any public place, needs to hear your loud phone call. Take it outside or call them back later.
In church during the singing – I guess for a lot of people, the music portion of worship isn’t considered worship. It’s just the warm up act for the main event, the sermon. I’ve been to many worship services at churches and conferences and have found that many people feel that the music part of worship is time to have a conversation with their friend. Not only are you missing out on an important part of worship, you are also being rude to the people who have worked hard to lead the music.
During a movie, at a theater and at home. The theater is worse because you are bothering complete strangers. If you need to talk during a movie, please wait for the DVD. No one wants to pay to see a movie and have to listen to morons around them instead of the movie. I also get annoyed when my family talks during movies(and TV shows) at home. I’ve finally started pausing what we are watching when they start talking because they tend to have conversations during important dialogue. They also sometimes randomly leave the room in the middle. It’s weird.
Any place that might block traffic – Both cars and foot traffic. The middle of a parking lot, the entrance to a parking lot, the middle of the hall at a conference, in a doorway, at the top or bottom of the stairs. Any place where someone’s movement is impeded by you. Have some awareness of what is around you. Move to the side and let people pass.
Really any place that will annoy me.

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Nazis Are Bad. Full Stop.

I promise I won’t constantly annoy everyone with revlogs, but with the rally in DC today and the anniversary of Charlottesville I thought I would remind everyone of my hot take that Nazis are bad.

The World's Common Tater

It really doesn’t seem that this should be a hard thing to say. Nazis are bad. The KKK is bad. White supremacy is bad. Hate is bad. Running someone over with a car is bad. Full stop. No buts. No need to add anything. Unfortunately, I see way too many people who feel the need to add a but.

Nazis are bad…but this all started because removing Confederate statues is bad.

Nazis are bad but…what about the counter-protesters.

Nazis are bad but…the police should have protected them

Nazis are bad but…what about Black Lives Matter?

Running someone over is bad but…they shouldn’t have been blocking the road.

No. Stop. If you feel the need to add a but at the end of a sentence denouncing hate there is something wrong and the something wrong is you. Those buts are basically you saying you are OK with Nazis marching in the…

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Everybody Talks Too Much

Revisiting this one as I sit and listen to someone talk on their phone in a public place with no regard for who they might be disturbing.

The World's Common Tater

I really don’t understand why so many people are always talking on their cell phone. I spend a lot of time on my phone, but I’m looking at Facebook, Twitter, email, etc and if I’m talking to someone(a very rare occurrence) it is via text, email or Facebook Messenger. I also feel the need to spend less time doing this. Facebook and Twitter are generally either boring or irritating, I don’t get any fun emails and no one texts me. Why am I spending time on the phone? It’s an addiction. I think I should sue Apple.(see my post on Apple Addiction here). One thing I rarely do is actually talk on the phone.

I didn’t even like talking on the phone when talking was the only thing you could do on the phone. Any of my friends and family who have ever talked to me on the phone…

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My Week in Books, TV and Movies(8/10)

I’ve gone from a week of a lot of reading to a week of a struggle to read. TV and real life has had more time devoted to sports than to shows and movies. I still have some stuff to talk about.

Books – I am still working my way through You by Caroline Kepnes. It is not a book that compels me to read. It’s not a bad book, but it is a book filled with terrible people. Usually, that doesn’t bother me, but I think the book would be better if I cared about the person being stalked. I don’t know of Kepnes made her so unlikable on purpose. if so, it was an interesting choice. I was just about to give up on it when I saw that there will be a TV show based on it on Lifetime next month. Now I feel like I should finish. We’ll see where I am at the end of the weekend.

Movies – I watched two movies this week. The first as Annihilation. I have not read the book, so I can’t speak to how it is compared to it. I did enjoy it. It was weird and I will admit to being drowsy during a good portion of it(this is the story of my movie life), but I would recommend it as long as you are OK with weird. The second movie was the Netflix original Like Father with Kristen Bell and Kelsey Grammar. Nothing groundbreaking, but it was an enjoyable comedy about a woman who is left at the altar and then goes on her Honeymoon cruise with her estranged father. It helped that I love both Bell and Grammar. I would recommend it.

Television – We finally watched the Kevin Costner show Yellowstone that I’ve been recording this summer. Costner plays the wealthy owner of a ranch battling both the new leader of the Indian reservation and business leaders and politicians trying to build housing near and on his ranch. It is a very good show, though my wife hates it because there have been a couple of scenes of animals being harmed. It does have a very “nighttime soap opera” feel to it, but I’m hooked.

On Deck – I’m excited to have the new Simon Rich book and plan to start it as soon as I finish or give up on You. We will be watching Death Wish with Bruce Willis tonight and possibly a Wrinkle in Time. We have a lot of Yellowstone to watch, so there might not be new TV next week.

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I Think I Might Be Magic

I think I might be magic. Unfortunately, my magic is limited and I have issues with directing it.

We joke at work about figuring out a way to close early so we can go home. Earlier this summer I mentioned that the AC going out would be a good reason for us to gome home. Not long after that, another branch in the system closed because of AC issues. Last week, I mentioned that maybe all the storms in our area would knock out our power and we could go home. Less than an hour later, another branch in the system closed early due to a power outage. I started joking that I obviously had powers, but I was having trouble directing them to the proper place. I promised my coworkers I would work on channeling the magic to the correct location.

Yesterday I worked the 1-9 shift. While I was at home, I thought about how nice it would be to get a call that I didn’t have to go to work(I really need to retire). When I arrived at work I told my coworkers that I had worked on channeling my powers in the proper direction while I was at home. Not long after that there was an announcement on Facebook that the library close to my house(in a different system) was closing due to a power outage. It’s obvious that I am causing these outages. I just need to figure out how to use this power to benefit me.

Disclaimer: I really don’t believe I am magic.

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