Teaser Tuesday: July 1914

School starts this Friday; I’m about as ready as I’ll ever be . . . apart from some last minute cleaning I’ll do on Thursday.

Before then, though, the Wheel of Time has turned to

Teaser TuesdayJust in case you don’t know, Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! All you have to do is grab the book you’re currently reading, open to a random page and share a few sentences from that page. But make sure you don’t share any spoilers!*

*I wish I could take credit for this introduction, but I shamelessly stole it from Heather over at bitsnbooks. To help me make amends, you should go check out her blog.

This week I’m reading July 1914: Countdown to War by Sam McMeekin.

The Truly Random Number Generator sends us to page 77:

The failure of Britain's key policymakers to pay 
mind to the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand 
was understandable.  It did not bode well, however, 
for their ability to master events in case the 
Sarajevo outrage snowballed into a real crisis.

July 1914 cover

In Retrospect

I awarded The Greatest Knight four stars. The story was intriguing, but I felt too much of it was derivative.

I gave Food: A Love Story five stars. I had to read this when K wasn’t around, otherwise I kept disturbing her with my gut-busting laughs.

 

What have you been reading?

 

 

Have a suggestion for a poem, photograph, or future post?

Drop a note in the prompt box!

 

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Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

Monday Morning Grievance: Self-Checkout Lines

It’s Monday and I haven’t had my coffee.

Monday Morning Grievances Logo 1

The other day I bought groceries and – as usual – used the self-checkout lane.

I like the self-checkout lane:

It’s quick.

It’s easy.

It means I don’t have to talk to a cashier.

There are those who don’t know how to use the checkout lane:

The gentleman whose entire order consists of one banana and can’t figure out how to ring it up.

Rather than ask for help, he mumbles curses at the machine and new-fangled technology in general.

The woman buying an entire grocery cart of produce without a clue of how to ring it in and – to top it off – can’t remember what type of produce she actually has in her cart.

She stands there comparing what she has in the bag to all the pictures.

It might not be so bad if she didn’t start over for each new item.

The couple buying several bottles of wine and cases of beer.

They have a clerk there to punch in the authorization code for each item.

You know what, it’d be faster to go through regular checkout, people.

There, they’d only have to punch it in once.

At least, that’s the way it normally works.

Heaven forbid your coupon doesn’t scan properly or a sale item doesn’t ring up right.

I know those 16 gig thumb drives are on sale for $3 a pop, but at a price that ridiculously low, did you really think there’d be no problems? Especially when you’re buying them from a grocery store?!

Sigh. Maybe I’d be better off using regular checkout myself.

But then I’d have to talk to the cashier.

I think I’ll stay right here, thank you very much.

Just do better next time, all right?

 

 

What annoys you?

 

 

Have a suggestion for a poem, photograph, or future post?

Drop a note in the prompt box!

 

Don’t forget to follow me on:

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

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Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

Wicked Word Wednesday Winners (1)

Wicked Word Wednesday Results

The first-ever Wicked Word Wednesday fared better than expected with three participants.

As there was some confusion with how to post and participate in general, it was impossible to determine a winner this week. I had planned to decide the winner by number of likes, but it’s not possible to “like” a pingback.

So, I arbitrarily picked a winner by putting all the names in a hat (each person got one entry per “like” on their own blog) and chose a name out of a mug.

And the winner is . . .

Maria aka Schattenengel

Kelli and Meg, feel free to use the second-place badge (or honorable mention, whichever you prefer).

Get Your Badges Here

Everyone, thanks for participating and spreading the word. See you Wednesday!

Sunday Snapshots

I accomplished two things this week:

First, I helped fix the drainage at the school:

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Second, I salvaged some old books from the dumpster:

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Oh, and K’s plans got moved to this week. You know what that means:

For the record, I also got Wal-Mart brand Ginger Ale like I said I would last weekend.

What about the milkshake? For a whole 40¢ more, I bought this carton of ice cream! w00t!

Hey, before you go, would you mind giving me your opinion?

What Did You Do This Week?

 

Have a suggestion for a poem, photograph, or future post?

Drop a note in the prompt box!

 

Don’t forget to follow me on:

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

Caveat Emptor

Let’s start with a tangentially related comic:

Calvin and Hobbes Subsidized Lemonade Stand

New to Uncensored Saturdays? Please read the disclaimer.

Otherwise, feel free to jump right to today’s tirade.

Disclaimer:

Saturdays here on Running in My Head are what I call “Uncensored Saturdays” in that I write what I really feel about a particular subject with no regard for tact or certain types of political correctness.

You may not like my point of view.

You may find what I have to say offensive.

And that’s fine.

However, I hope they won’t make you feel less of me or cause you to stop reading my blog on the “creative” days.

See something you don’t like, disagree with, or think I’ve got totally wrong?

Great! Leave a comment; let’s start a discussion.

I consider myself both educated and open-minded. I know why I believe what I do, yet I’m not so stuck-in-the-mud to consider other opinions or the fact I might be wrong.

Ten years ago, I was an authoritarian-leaning Republican; now I’m a centrist independent leaning mainly conservative or libertarian depending on the issue.

That change didn’t come about on its own, it came about because I was willing to listen to others with opposing views.

I’d like to think I still have that open mind.

I only ask you keep the conversation civil.

With that in mind, here we go:

I have a love-hate relationship with regulation.

I love to hate it.

As always, I must amend my statement:

I realize some regulation is necessary for the good of society as a whole.

But taken as a whole, regulation is oppressive and unnecessary.

Specifically, regulation of consumers in an economic model.

Too many government agencies pretend to know what’s best for us and act like parents at the grocery store:

No, you can’t have that candy bar; it’s bad for you.

or rather

No, you can’t buy those contact lenses because you haven’t had an eye exam in a year.

or better

Things have been going well for you. You know what? You’d better pay another $100 or so to make sure things keep going well, because it’d be a shame if something should happen.

Technically, the FDA doesn’t regulate the consumer of contact lenses.

Instead, they’ve made it illegal for companies in the United States to sell contact lenses without verifying a recent (less than a year old) prescription.

Therefore, they’ve also restricted consumer access to a need in the name of so-called “safety”.

It’s little more than extortion. Really, a yearly checkup for contact lenses?

I’d like to see the proof that failing to take such action results in health problems.

Especially since the optometrist lobby apparently lent a large helping hand to that particular piece of legislation.

Thankfully, it’s not yet illegal to buy contacts from certain reputable foreign countries without a prescription; although some companies are changing that policy.

In this age of information-on-demand, the old Latin adage should suffice:

Caveat Emptor

Let the buyer beware.

Note: I personally have never worn contact lenses.

However, this shouldn’t prohibit me from railing against stupid laws.

As my speech teacher once said:

Stand Up. Speak Up. Shut Up.

Since I’ve run out of steam and have nothing more to say, I’ll turn it over to you in the comments.

 

Have a suggestion for a poem, photograph, or future post?

Drop a note in the prompt box!

 

Don’t forget to follow me on:

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

Old Books Deserve New Life

Intro to Scientific German 1935

Normally, I’d be writing a post based on a submission from the prompt box or something I’ve read on another awesome blog.

This is not a normal day.

You see, I was gifted a box or two stuffed with old books.

Old, wonderful books.

Old, wonderful, fantastic books.

Books that have outlived their usefulness.

Books without sentimental or intrinsic value.

Books that deserve better than an unceremonious trip to the dump.

So I ask, what can I do with these books?

The internet tells me I should make some sort of box or wall art.

A few sites suggested covering walls or furniture with “favorite pages”.

Trust me, I wouldn’t be disassembling my favorite books.

I’m not exactly creative when it comes to crafting or the visual arts.

I can see things in my head; my hands won’t cooperate.

However, I used to think that about writing; I’d like to think I’ve honed some skills over the past few years.

I need a nice, easy, simple project using old books or the pages of old books.

What would you suggest?

 

In case you’re wondering:

No, I will not be using Introduction to Scientific German.

First of all, it was a gift from my brother.

Second of all, it’s much too nice to cut apart.

 

 

Have a suggestion for a poem, photograph, or future post?

Drop a note in the prompt box!

 

Don’t forget to follow me on:

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

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