Random Thoughts Showing 2,851-2,900 of 17,689

[Simona]

Last time I rearranged my books was when I changed the use of some rooms (I have books in every room of the house). I did a thorough work, boxed the books by genre - sometimes author - brought boxes up and down the stairway, ate kilos of dust, strained my back (I own more or less 4000 books).
I really hope I'll NEVER do this work again!

[Simona]

Dawn wrote: "How about #13?? That's me definitely. :)"

Hah! That's why I bring my Kindle on vacation!....well, #13 is my returning trolley..

[Jane]

#23, #24, and #25 are me for sure!!!
I sometimes wish the characters I've liked so much and care so much about in a certain time period, by Author A, could appear in the same book with others in the same time period, that I've also cared about, in a book by Author B. :)

[Darcy]

Makes my 2000 seem insignificant.

[Dawn]

Darcy wrote: "Makes my 2000 seem insignificant."

Ditto, and here I thought 2000 was pretty impressive. :)

[Jane]

My goodness, I don't own even 100!

[Simona]

Well, I'm 47, and I steadily bought books for all the last 30 years. And I own my mother's books now - all my Hemingway, Sagan, Simenon, Cesbron, Dumas etc are from her.

[Dawn]

Jane wrote: "My goodness, I don't own even 100!"

You really better start working on that Jane. 100 is not enough. :)

[Bobby]

So many books....so little time.

[Simona]

I expect this figure to inflate dangerously, Jane, if you keep on with this group :)

[Jane]

I only keep the ones I know I will reread in future. Any others I give away to friends or to the library.

[Dawn]

But what about all the ones you collect to read later?? There must be more than 100 books on your TBR :)

[Simona]

Jane wrote: "I only keep the ones I know I will reread in future. Any others I give away to friends or to the library."

I guess I am greedy. I give away only books I didn't like. I want to be able to reread THEM ALL. (my preciousss....)

[Dawn]

Greedy, greedy Simona! I would never be like that.... ;)

[Dawn]

Bobby wrote: "So many books....so little time."

Wait, aren't you gonna retire soon?? Doesn't that mean lots of time? ;)

[Darcy]

Someone could tap into this. You know, travel the world and read from our libraries. Though, they might find a particular section is very familiar from one to the next.

[Bobby]

Dawn wrote: "Bobby wrote: "So many books....so little time."

Wait, aren't you gonna retire soon?? Doesn't that mean lots of time? ;)"

The fact that I'm close to retiring means I'm at an age that puts me that much closer to "so little time". Of course, that'll give me time to read enough to stay close to you.

[Jane]

@ Simona, you may be right. I may be finding more and more that I find that I'd like to reread. Until I joined this group I hadn't found many to add to my collection. I give away the ones I've read once--and feel once is enough, or ones that I didn't like.
@ Dawn, No, there aren't that many on my TBR. I try to have fewer then read them soon. One thing I love about retirement is my time is my own and there's more time to read.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Stuart wrote: "I was unsure where to post this, so please excuse the lapse if I'm in the wrong place.

This is all hypothetical right now. If I were to begin a blog where I reviewed current and new releases of ti..."

Hey Stu,
Here's my ten cents worth. :-)
As you may have seen I run do a blog in conjunction with this group. I wanted it to stand on its own as well so that people who don't know about this group or Goodreads might find it and find it interesting...and then in turn....find us here.
I find that if you want to do a blog for others it can be time consuming. If you just want to do a blog for yourself and don't care if anyone is following or reading it, then it isn't time consuming.

To expound on that...
If you run a blog that has followers and that you want people to read and want to follow, I was told by a few different people that you should blog about 3 times a week otherwise it isn't worth people's time following. If the blog isn't refreshing with new blogs every few days it doesn't look like an active blog. And I have noticed this out in the blogosphere. The more frequent the blog posts on a blog the more people want to subscribe to it, whether that be via email or 'following' etc..
To do 3 posts a week, that pretty much means a blog post every second day. That is mentally draining and the blog starts to run your life, so I don't do three most months.
I try to do at least two blog posts a week, sometimes three. It depends on how busy I am, but I will always have in the very least 1 blog post a week. I will never skip a week. If it is a month where I have done an author interview, it is less because I leave the author interview up for about a week. (Meaning, I don't blog for a week so the interview is in the fore and people don't have to hunt to find it)

Now if you just want to do a blog for yourself and don't really care if people follow, then you can blog post as much as you want whenever you want. If it is just for you then just blog your reviews whenever you feel like it. Have a few months off. Blog again. If you are doing it for yourself and not for others, then it doesn't matter.

The blogosphere is littered with dead and dying Blogs. People seem to get all pumped up to do a blog and then after a few months or so they lose their enthusiasm and rarely if ever post. I can understand. When you are putting a lot of work into something and the Blog doesn't get a lot of visitors that can be disheartening.

If yu want to mix all your genres up on one blog, this is a good example. This is a friend's blog. (Also a member of this group although he doesn't speak often). He solicits ebooks from self pub on Goodreads, but he also reads a lot of other stuff too. http://lazybookreviewer.blogspot.com.au/

[Chris]

Simona wrote: "Dawn wrote: "25 Signs You’re Addicted To Books

http://www.buzzfeed.com/summeranne/si...

So many of these applied to me I thought I should share with all the other ..."

8,9,13, 18, and 19 are my favourites but not the only ones that apply.

[Dawn]

Independent bookstore's making a comeback:

http://www.philly.com/philly/business...

[Jane]

Here's an article from Christian Science Monitor on indie bookstores:

http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/chapte...

[Bobby]

Dawn wrote: "Independent bookstore's making a comeback:

http://www.philly.com/philly/business..."

Great piece, Dawn. Wife and I sitting here seriously thinking about the idea of opening a bilingual (Spanish and English) bookstore anywhere the big chains have died.

[Dawn]

And lots of the big chain stores have died in the States so there should be plenty of room for you. Bilingual also sounds like a great idea, lots of Spanish everywhere I go in the States, I'm sure it would be popular.
And the amount you read should give you a great knowledge of the books in your store. :)

[Anne]

Hi everybody-My computer is down and I am using my friend Val's. I paid $120 6 wks ago to fix it, and it froze up Sunday again. I have to find someone else as I will not use him again. Drat!So it may be a few days
before it gets fixed. I will try and keep in touch here.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Hi Anne,
Hope it gets fixed soon. I know money is tough and buying a new one is not an option. Fingers crossed the repairs aren't too costly for you.

[Simona]

Bobby wrote: " Wife and I sitting here seriously thinking about the idea of opening a bilingual (Spanish and English) bookstore anywhere the big chains have died"

Wow Bobby, that's a good idea. I'd love to find a bookstore owner/fellow reader. Not going to open in Italy, are you?

[Simona]

Anne wrote: "Hi everybody-My computer is down and I am using my friend Val's. I paid $120 6 wks ago to fix it, and it froze up Sunday again. I have to find someone else as I will not use him again. Drat!So it m..."

So sorry Anne for your ordeal. Be careful having your old PC fixed, anyway: they get obsolete really quickly, expecially if you actually use it everyday. You risk to waste a good deal of money. In Italy some stores sell (not too much)used ones at a good price, and they are warranted for a period of time. Have you this kind of opportunity to consider?

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Bobby wrote: "Dawn wrote: "Independent bookstore's making a comeback:

http://www.philly.com/philly/business..."

Great piece, Dawn. Wife and I sitting here seriously thinking about th..."

Sounds like a good semi-retirement plan. :)

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Simona wrote: "Be careful having your old PC fixed, anyway: they get obsolete really quickly, expecially if you actually use it everyday. You risk to waste a good deal of money....."

I have to agree there. I have found with myself and everyone I know that has started having computer problems, that once they start freezing and playing up they are exhausted and ready to retire.
I know finding the money to buy a new one is an issue though. So you are in a sticky situation. Buy new, keep repairing old. You are caught between a rock and a hard place.

[Bryn]

My little bastard of a laptop has frozen since I got it from the store. Thank God for my 'refurbished' spare, made the way they used to make them (perhaps) and that I got so cheap -- in future I'll just buy from that refurbisher in Victoria, I think.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

My first laptop was a dog. It was my first ever laptop and I bought entry level. New, small capacity and cheap around 2007. It was useless. After the first 12 months it barely worked. It was just too small (capacity) to run modern programs. Before that we went through a couple different desktops, refurbished, they never lasted either.

My current laptop has not missed a beat. I got it about 3 years ago and I have never had a problem, *touch wood*.
Still, I would like a new one. With a touchscreen. Not having a touchscreen on my laptop drives me nuts as I am so used to it now that I also use a Tablet.

[Darcy]

Terri wrote: "Still, I would like a new one. With a touchscreen. Not having a touchscreen on my laptop drives me nuts as I am so used to it now that I also use a Tablet.
"

I've done touching my laptop screen wondering why the tab doesn't change, or the start menu doesn't pop up. I have an iTouch, rather than a tablet though.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

I catch myself all the time. Especially when I want to magnify something. On my tablet I reverse pinch the screen and enlarge....can't do that on a laptop without touchscreen. :)
I also tap links or icons sometimes on my laptop to look at something. The realise, oh, this is my laptop not my Tablet..:\

[Bobby]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.ne...

Just finished 3 miler in Atlanta.

[Darcy]

Well done you, Bobby!

[Leland]

Terri wrote: "My first laptop was a dog. It was my first ever laptop and I bought entry level. New, small capacity and cheap around 2007. It was useless. After the first 12 months it barely worked. It was just t..."

At first I thought you were talking about an actual dog. My dog continuously tries to burrow under my laptop to get at my lap.

[Bobby]

Terri wrote: "My first laptop was a dog. It was my first ever laptop and I bought entry level. New, small capacity and cheap around 2007. It was useless. After the first 12 months it barely worked. It was just t..."

Your "laptop was a dog" that makes it a lapdog.

[Simona]

And being a lapdog, his normal behaviour is hostile and grumpy... :)

[Bobby]

Simona wrote: "And being a lapdog, his normal behaviour is hostile and grumpy... :)"

...but, hopefully, virus-free.

[Leland]

Man Bobby. Everytime I see your profile photo I want a beer. I'm still at work and they might frown on that sort of thing. LOL

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Bobby wrote: "https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.ne...

Just finished 3 miler in Atlanta."

Whoot! Well done!

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

lapdog, virus free, hositile and grumpy....:] LOL.

[M.k.]

Mate, I've gotta sympathise with you. I can handle it when a car dies or my golf clubs won't work - but I hate it when the computer goes into meltdown. As my leader's slave, typist, researcher, etcetera, I get to wander around with a hangdog expression on my face with nothing to do.
Mike Hume for Marilyn MK Hume.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

haha. yes, nothing can ruin our week quite like a computer meltdown.
*Crossing Fingers* that I never have to deal with another in my life....

[Anne]

Bobby wrote: "Terri wrote: "My first laptop was a dog. It was my first ever laptop and I bought entry level. New, small capacity and cheap around 2007. It was useless. After the first 12 months it barely worked...."

My first comp. was a regular one and was a Gateway. It was Ok. The 2nd one was also a regular one and still works, an Acer. The laptop I have now is an HP. I bought it because it was well recommended as a moderate priced one on Consumer Reports. since the whole problem with it seems to be the mouse battery, I guess it is Ok so far.

[Chris]

M.k. wrote: "Mate, I've gotta sympathise with you. I can handle it when a car dies or my golf clubs won't work - but I hate it when the computer goes into meltdown. As my leader's slave, typist, researcher, e..."

Hi M.k. Correct this non-golfer if I'm wrong, but when golf clubs don't work isn't it that the golfer is doing something wrong?

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

HI Anne,
I am a big fan of Acer. For me, right now, I don't think i would buy anything else. My laptop is one, my husband and I both have Acer Tablets and when my parents needed a new computer I shopped around for them and got them (with their money..:)..) a gorgeous Acer All-in-One Desktop (All in one are the ones where there is no Tower, the Hard drive and all components are in the side of the Computer Screen). It is working beautifully for them.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

You know how you all see me sharing the drama sometimes when things go wrong on the farm. I have this new born calf that was born without an instinct to suckle. It is not a rare thing, believe it or not. Sometimes for some reason, a calf can be born and misses some basic instinct to find the milk/udder and open it's mouth and suckle.
Well we have one of those at the moment. Last three days has been an emotionally draining experience. trying to get this cow in (and she wants to kill us and is very protective, so it is no easy feat getting her into the confinement of the yards).
Then trying to train this calf to suckle with a fake teat on a bottle and then trying to get him to transfer that learned behaviour to his mother's teats.
Not happening. This afternoon he seemed to have given up and wanted to die. but we forced him to drink and hopefully he will start feeling more alive soon. Alive enough to put his new learned suckling behaviour to use on his mother....meanwhile...we have to get the mother in everyday, which is super dangerous. She is not a happy mum. :\

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

This is exciting..or at least, potentially exciting. They may have found Amelia Earhart's Plane.

(I'll also post it in the appropriate era thread so anyone interested in this history will see the images etc..)

Amelia Earhart's missing plane could be visible in sonar image captured off remote Pacific island

by: Sarah Millar
From: News Limited Network
May 31, 2013 1:23PM
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/te...



THE mystery behind the disappearance of pioneer aviator Amelia Earhart may be a step closer to being solved after researchers discovered what they think is a piece of wreckage from her plane.

The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) says a grainy sonar image of the edge of an uninhabited Pacific island could show a piece of Earhart's plane.

TIGHAR says the sonar image shows an anomaly at 600 feet in the waters off Nikumaroro Island in the Republic of Kiribati. The island is about 560km from Earhart's target destination, Howland Island.

Earhart, 39, had been on a round-the-world flight following the path of the equator in her Lockheed Electra when she disappeared on July 2, 1937.

TIGHAR executive director Ric Gillespie told Discovery News: "What initially got our attention is that there is no other sonar return like it in the entire body of data collected," Ric Gillespie, executive director of TIGHAR, told Discovery News.

"It is truly an anomaly, and when you're looking for man-made objects against a natural background, anomalies are good."

TIGHAR researchers say the sonar image shows a "small debris field of objects in relatively shallow water - 61 metres" which forensic imaging specialist Jeff Glickman "feels 100 per cent certain ... are man-made".

The image shows "a strong return from a narrow object roughly 22 feet (6.7m) long oriented southwest/northeast on the slope near the base of an underwater cliff", Discovery News reports.

"It gives the impression of being an object that struck the slope at the base of the second cliff at a depth of 187 metres, then skidded in a southerly direction for about 40 metres before coming to rest," TIGHAR's research notes say.

The sonar images were captured during a July 2012 expedition during which the crew used an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) equipped with a multi-beam sonar to scan the area around the island.

The purpose of the research trip was test the theory that Earhart landed her plane on the reef at Nikumaroro Island and that it was washed off the edge, broken up and then sank.

The expedition was plagued by delays and technical issues and the anomaly in the sonar image was only spotted earlier this year.

TIGHAR has been searching for the remains of Earhart's plane for years. The project is funded through public donations.

Earhart at the controls of an aircraft in Essonne, France circa 1930.

Earhart was the first female pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic, receiving the US Distinguished Flying Cross for setting the record.

Several conspiracy theories surround her disappearance, including that she was captured by the Japanese and held as a spy, and that she completed her flight, changed her name and lived in New Jersey.