Wikipedia is my downfall. My interest in learning is my downfall. Case in point: I started to read the latest John Sandford murder mystery a few days ago. Usually his stories are based in and around the Twin Cities since that is where he’s from. This book, though, follows his protagonist to Washington, D.C. I get distracted by something the author mentions regarding D.C., and there I go, down the … [Read more...]
Half Price Books – sale
October 6, 2018 By
So, after leaving the state fair grounds this afternoon, I said to myself, “Self: we have a huge opportunity and if we do not take it, we’ll most likely regret it.” So, that’s how I ended up at Cosettas this afternoon, getting myself some take-out, after leaving the “Half Price Books” book sale. Since I’m not up in the downtown Saint Paul area as often as I was a few yrs ago when I was taking … [Read more...]
Random thoughts, state fair booksale, ServiceNow
October 6, 2018 By
Facebook asks, “What’s on your mind”, at 5:30am this morning? Insomnia - maybe. Acid reflux - nope, not this “morning”. Tinnitus - definitely a yep. Take your pick. My pal Rick went to the State Fair Grounds yesterday for “Half Price Books” book sale. All books were $2 or less. He picked up twelve books for $20. Guess I’m going to get my butt over there this morning and see if I can pick up a … [Read more...]
Bob Woodward’s latest book
September 12, 2018 By
Apparently I didn’t order Bob Woodward’s latest book early enough. Ordered it via Amazon on Saturday, expecting it would be delivered on Tues (the day it was due to be released) or Wed. Got an email from them yesterday, saying it would be delivered sometime between sept 25, and Oct 9th. I hear they printed an unprecedented million copies due to the demand. Very unlike Amazon to give such a wide … [Read more...]
“A Simple Favor”
July 26, 2018 By
I’m 2/3s into this new murder mystery book (supposedly like “gone girl”, or “girl on the train”). I’ve seen Gone Girl, and read the book, and enjoyed both. Got home tonight after reading this new murder mystery on the bus, and decided I needed to watch “girl on the train”. O.m.g., I’m half way into it, and it is excruciating slow. Emily Blount’s character looks so out of it. The new murder … [Read more...]
Books/movies – watch movie, read book or via versa?
July 25, 2018 By
True story time. I “found” a new sample book on my kindle the other day. Obviously I downloaded it myself, but don’t remember when nor why, since I didn’t recognize the title. Started to read the sample, got to the end of it and felt the book was worth spending ten bucks on it, and bought the full version about a week ago. Went back to the kindle store and learned a new movie is coming out … [Read more...]
Books and ethical quandary
August 11, 2016 By
A couple of weeks ago, BFF Rick and I were talking about the books we've been reading. I'm not sure if he reads at many as I do, but I respect his opinion on books. He indicated he had really enjoyed "Killing Lincoln" by Bill O'Reilly. I have just a little bit of animosity toward this fellow (read:idiot). I refuse to watch his show or even listen to him (or Rush L.) But, I did get myself a … [Read more...]
Model Railroading books and eBay
May 31, 2016 By
Some backgound first: I'm a collector of vintage Model Railroading books. By "vintage", I mean books published from the early/mid 1930's to the hobby's height of popularity in the mid/late 1950's. That is not to say, I don't collect "newer" MRR books than that since I also collect MRR books from the the 60s, 70's, 80s, etc. The vintage MRR books though, are written in eloquent prose style … [Read more...]
Reading Stephen King’s “11/22/1963”
May 12, 2016 By
As most (if not all) of you know, I'm a huge book reader, have been since at least sixth grade. In high school, I started reading Stephen King and really enjoyed his stuff, and read several of his thousand page novels during that time. Eventually my tastes changed (having stopped reading Mr. King), and started reading mysteries, and other stuff, but also started reading Tom Clancy's 1,000 page … [Read more...]
Book collecting
February 26, 2016 By
Apparently, without my knowledge, someone took this hidden video when I was a teenager. … [Read more...]
Re-Reading “The Girl…Dragon Tattoo”, part 2
October 24, 2015 By
Hmm, an update to my Stieg Larsson ("The girl with the dragon tattoo") book reading. If you remember, I had already read the first two books around 4-5 yrs ago. Got a bit burned out after reading them back to back, and never went back to the final book of the trilogy. This was where I was about a month or so ago with my original post on this topic. Since then, I've now re-read book 2 ("The girl … [Read more...]
Excitement over new book: “Split Second”
October 18, 2015 By
You know you must be reading a good book when, at the end of Chapter three, you almost shout out "Omg," (actually I didn't shout, and it wasn't omg, but it was quite a loud "Wow!, Wow!"). Cannot remember why I chose this book as one to download as a Kindle sample (several weeks ago), but the third chapter has just succeeded in reeling me in. "Split second", Author is Douglas E. Richards. [upon … [Read more...]
BusinessWeek devotes double issue to “computer programming”
July 1, 2015 By
Not my quote: “It’s no longer acceptable to be ignorant about the ways it <BSW: "software"> works,” he said. “If everybody brought the same ignorance about software to medicine, it would be insane, we would be mocked.” “Software is a completely different discipline and we wanted to help to demystify it for the world that doesn’t think that way. What if you explain code in the same way you … [Read more...]
Book: The Martian
June 23, 2015 By
The Martian quotes I can’t wait till I have grandchildren. “When I was younger, I had to walk to the rim of a crater. Uphill! In an EVA suit! On Mars, ya little shit! Ya hear me? Mars! Lol. After I board <something>, before talking to NASA, I will take control of a craft in international waters without permission. That makes me a pirate! A space pirate! Lol Message reads: ‘Houston, be … [Read more...]
Web Page Updated: Library / Model Railroading Books!
November 11, 2013 By
Check out this webpage of mine - I've just updated it with a list of duplicate MRR books that I'm trying to "get rid of" - either by sharing with my fellow MRR's, selling on e-bay or donating to the Kalmbach Library (NMRA). Contact me if you have any interest in owning one or more of these vintage MRR books. Includes Famed authors such as Edward Beal and Louis Hertz. … [Read more...]
