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RTDNTOTO 🐻 Random Thoughts Deserving No Thread Of Their Own 20 (2025)

dandy_warhol said:
I read 61 books this year. I don't think I am going to finish anymore by the end of the year.
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I think I am slightly below that, at fifty something. My list is on an Excel spreadsheet at home. (I started BOB in 1980, finally computerized it in 2014, and have been going back and adding past years to it as I have time.) My record is just shy of 100, but that was back when I was commuting to work 45 minutes each way on a bus.

I am currently about 1/3 of the way through a book, and I don't count it until I've finished it, so whatever my total now is what it will remain.

Fun fact: whenever I do finish a book, I can't start another until the "second midnight." Meaning, if I were to finish a book today, I can't start another until 12:01 a.m. Thursday. However, I can resume any books I may have previously started and set down for whatever reason. The rationale is that it gives me time to work through magazines, newspapers, and the like that have built up. That 24-48 hour period is all it takes to make headway on that.

I have a ridiculous number of rules for myself, most of which govern either reading or eating.

Jim
 
Reading rule:
For every two books that I buy, I must get rid of three from my collection. If my wife overrides a disposal ("Hey, I haven't read this yet!,") the book remains in the collection, but still counts as a disposal. Even if said book has been overridden several times.

Reading rule:
When traveling to a conference, do not take any books related to the subject of said conference. (e.g., don't take books about planning to a planning conference.)

Reading rule:
When I finish a magazine, I fold the upper corner back over itself before tossing it into the recycle bin, to assure myself I have finished it.

Reading rule:
A previously-read book may be re-read, but only in years ending in "4," and only if at least five years have elapsed since the last reading of said book.

(There are dozens more.)
 
The other day the Alan Parsons Project came up on my sons play list in the car "Eye in the Sky". I said "I didn't realize I'd ever shown you this song" and he was like "Nah, you didn't. I heard it at Walmart. Shit's dope."

I've never been more sure that he is ready for adulthood.
 
dandy_warhol said:
My parents have wood siding on their house. This doesn't mix well with woodpeckers and squirrels.
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we had a metal ladder in our backyard for a while one summer and this woodpecker wouldn't stop going to town on this thing and it was so loud - so I happened to know an ornithologist and I asked him wtf and he said that during mating season, the pecking on the tree is a mating call so this woodpecker was making a booty call with a little pizzazz - so there you have it
 
Peak number of books in my childhood house at one point: 103,468 (Maximum number of cats at any one time: 17)

Total number when my father passed: 61,819 (3 cats)

Total number I kept when my mom cleaned it out: 20 (0 cats, but one of the cats is still alive and lives with my brother in law)

Total I still have of those: 6

= = =

Total books I had when I got married: 9,817
Total we had when we moved into our current house: 6,411
Total we have now: 4,896 (I suspect this is still in the 90th percentile, at least, of American households.)
 
dandy_warhol said:
My parents have wood siding on their house.
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Heh heh...she said 'wood' heh heh

1767122651068.png
 
Mentioning books - for Christmas I received the following

The Butterfly Thief by Walter Marsh
Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall
A Biography of a Mountain - The Making and Meaning of Mount Rushmore by Matthew Davis
How to Lose a War at Sea - Foolish Plans and Great Naval Blunders by Bill Fawcett
 
luckless pedestrian said:
so, it's Tuesday, right?
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I reckon.

Without realizing it, I upheld my Tuesday tradition of getting "lonche" from the Mexican food place next to City Hall. Usually get a big lunch before Council meetings on tueaday, but nothing is scheduled tonight. Still, asada burrito for Z.

With no council tonight, my goal is to get bathrooms cleaned and beds made at my apartment for my sons' arrival tomorrow... but alas, we will see how inspired I am when I get home.
 
JNA said:
Mentioning books - for Christmas I received the following

The Butterfly Thief by Walter Marsh
Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall
A Biography of a Mountain - The Making and Meaning of Mount Rushmore by Matthew Davis
How to Lose a War at Sea - Foolish Plans and Great Naval Blunders by Bill Fawcett
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Prisoners of Geography is a great one!
 
JNA said:
Mentioning books - for Christmas I received the following

The Butterfly Thief by Walter Marsh
Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall
A Biography of a Mountain - The Making and Meaning of Mount Rushmore by Matthew Davis
How to Lose a War at Sea - Foolish Plans and Great Naval Blunders by Bill Fawcett
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Funny, I don't even remember writing that book. :rofl:
 
dandy_warhol said:
Is it too late in the season to watch It's a Wonderful Life? We didn't get a chance to watch it before the holiday.
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dandy_warhol said:
Which week?
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It's the week after Christmas and before New Year's, which is, coincidentally, the answer to your other question: it is both too late to watch It's a Wonderful Life, but also variances are available if you can show that a hardship of some geographic or physical nature prevented you from watching it during an appropriate week. The hardship cannot result from the built environment, cannot be financial in nature, and cannot be the result of you're own actions as the potential viewer of said cinema. Applications are due by 5:00 p.m. today. Good luck to you, Madam. :)
 
ursus said:
It's the week after Christmas and before New Year's, which is, coincidentally, the answer to your other question: it is both too late to watch It's a Wonderful Life, but also variances are available if you can show that a hardship of some geographic or physical nature prevented you from watching it during an appropriate week. The hardship cannot result from the built environment, cannot be financial in nature, and cannot be the result of you're own actions as the potential viewer of said cinema. Applications are due by 5:00 p.m. today. Good luck to you, Madam. :)
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Did I file that last week? I pay taxes, ya know.
 
I have a quirk. When a friend departs from a visif to my house, the thought of their dirty glasses grosses me out. I have to wash their glasses right away. While I wouldn't drink our of a glass a family member just used, I'm not compelled to wash those.
 
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kms said:
I have a quirk. When a friend departs from a visif to my house, the thought of their dirty glasses grosses me out. I have to wash their glasses right away. While I wouldn't drink our of a glass a family member just used, I'm not compelled to wash those.
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Sounds like you need a stock of Red Solo cups. Solves that problem!
 
mendelman said:
30 Rock Lemon GIF

@luckless pedestrian
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Bingo, m-boy! @luckless pedestrian never disappoints with the Liz Lemon set-ups..... :) My kids think I have a kind of turret's (sp?) syndrome where I am compelled to make almost non-stop pop culture references that most people miss or just find annoying.....apparently, you share my affliction! Justice for pop-culture turret's sufferers!! Justice!
 
ursus said:
Bingo, m-boy! @luckless pedestrian never disappoints with the Liz Lemon set-ups..... :) My kids think I have a kind of turret's (sp?) syndrome where I am compelled to make almost non-stop pop culture references that most people miss or just find annoying.....apparently, you share my affliction! Justice for pop-culture turret's sufferers!! Justice!
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Tourette.

Do You Understand English GIF
 
Just talking to a coworker about how when I was a kid/teen and was grounded (i.e., had to stay inside), I was still allowed to go to school, the park, errands, library, bookstore, and any previously-scheduled events. I got to thinking: those things, and work, are the only reasons I leave the house now. I guess I am still grounded. 😊

What the parents should have done, but never did, would have been to talk reading away from me. THAT would have hurt and been the one thing that would have sucked/had an effect. They took away everything BUT that, it seemed, at some point. They would take away things I didn’t care about or was indifferent toward (like TV), but never reading
 
I got my KitchenAid mixer in 1986. I can't imagine how many rotations it's made, but until I lived by myself, I used it at least once a week, more before I went back to work. As contractors say, "you have to use that iron so it can pay for itself". This mixer paid for itself many times over.

Don't use yours to make mashed potatoes. It's too powerful. Use a potato ricer instead.
 
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