Books, books, books ... so many books, so little time

There is a distinct advantage (if you are a bibliophile, which I am) in having a larger personal library.

That is, if you have enough books, you can reach out and grab a book at random; and when you read it, it's as if it's a brand new book .... except it's also an old friend.

You may not remember the plot, or the characters in it; but the flavor lingers on like the taste of that licorice whip you bought for a nickle back when you were a little kid at your first County Fair.

Not everybody likes old books; well, not everybody likes Licorice, either.
It happens that I like, love and enjoy both "pre-read books" and black licorice whips.

(No, I don't like that abysmal "red licorice" ... it's a contradiction in terms, like "Cool Heat" or  ....
okay, don't get me started.)                                   

Where was I?

Oh, okay.  I remember now.

If your library is sufficiently large, you can re-read a new book every day; even though you have owned it for years had read it a couple of times, a well-written novel is always a joy because every re-reading exposes you to nuances which t he author didn't emphasize so thoroughly that you missed the  essence of the way he first voiced it.

Do you skim through novels, eager to see what's written on the following page?  So do I, and so I do miss much of the heart of a literary work upon first reading.

Fortunately, I never discard a book once read ... at least, not those which I have purchased.

And I have purchased a large number of books. 

Looking into the library room (my upstairs hall) I count four book-cases and 35 banker-boxes of books.   I have learned not to go into the garage and look at the book-shelves there ... it's disheartening to realize I have left so many wonderful books unread for so many years.

But I'll get around to them, eventually; I always do.  I take a box of books from the garage shelves and replace it with a box of books from the upstairs landing. There is no "strict rotation" of books; I have a box in the garage, it goes to the hallway; then it migrates to the upstairs landing, and eventually it ends up on my nightstand where I can read myself to sleep. (Too often I end up so engrossed in an old book, I don't get much sleep.)

If you have enough books (and I do), by the time you get back to 'your favorite book' you've forgotten about it, so it's always new.

Growing old is also a boon to a bibliophile/  I can't remember what I had for breakfast yesterday, let alone the plot or the surprise ending of my favorite book.

 Every day is a new day when you grow old.

Amy Schumer Asks for Donations to Gun Control Group In Lieu of Wedding Gifts

Every direction I turn, someone is asking me to give them money.

Is that the way your life turns, too?

Honestly, even in news articles, someone (including people I not only DO NOT KNOW but even those I WOULD CHOOSE NOT TO KNOW) expect me to give them money which would be better spent on causes which would benefit ME, not them. I'm thinking ... tomorrow's dinner would be a better investment in my pension.

What IS it about "Public Figures" that they toil not, they perform no useful purpose, but because of their notoriety they seem to feel that the cash dollars which I have  earned should be haphazardly pitched in their direction

Are these people, who have never met me, deserving to milk me like a barren cow just because I am presumed to know their name?   Am I entitled to bug them for 10% of their earnings if I tell them my name is "Jerry" and now they owe me money?

I guess that they believe "it doesn't hurt to ask", but for a total stranger (and a homely visaged one at that) to entreat me to pay for her freaking WEDDING by donating my retirement fund for a cause which I would not willingly support (either gun control, or the possible extension of her piss-poor politics via her prospective progeny)  .... that, to me, seems  an excessive exercise in Hubris.

• (Is that a run-on sentence?  Never mind. )

Amy Schumer Asks for Donations to Gun Control Group In Lieu of Wedding Gifts: \

After announcing that she had wed chef Chris Fischer in a surprise ceremony this week, comedian Amy Schumer asked fans to forgo wedding gifts and to instead send donations to the Michael Bloomberg-funded gun control advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety. Schumer told fans about her wedding via Instagram, and denied she’d had a shotgun wedding, writing:“No, I’m not pregnant.” She then added: “And no gifts but thank you for asking. Instead please consider [a] donation to everytown for gun safety. Thought of Mayce and Jillian a lot yesterday and sending love to everyone who has been affected by gun violence.”

Okay, there is some humor implied in this announcement.  Specifically, the relationship between the term "shotgun wedding" and the plea for TOTAL STRANGERS to contribute to  Bloomberg's "Everytown for Gun Safety" ... really, did she think this trough?   I suspect such subtlty is beyond her.

I doubt it as much as I doubt the sanity of her fiance, who is supposedly willing to spend the rest of his life in the company of this airhead!

(And thank you Jesus for someone-who-isn't-me to bite the bullet and wed this ditzt! Can you imagine the children which would presumably result from this marriage???)

All I can say is, that if I ever contributed to "gun control" causes, which I would not do because they're all inane and insane, I certainly would not contribute my hard-earned dollars to any cause which is endorsed by Amy Schumer.  That's a perfect union, when you think about it; an airhead espousing an airhead cause ... what could be more intellectually perfect?

(Okay, I stuck the word "intellectual" in the last paragraph knowing full well that "Amy Schumer" (or anyone with the Schumer Name, including the congress-critter),  is not deserving to be mentioned in the same book, let alone the same paragraph, with the word "intellectual".)

(And yes, I realize that I inserted a parenthetical phrase inside of another parenthetical phrase; she is so inane, she deserves to be described parenthetically (parenthetically speaking).)

It may occur that the entire Schumer clan serves no better purpose than to cause outraged observers to violate the sylogisms which are strictly limited in " Wright's Rules of Essays".

On the other hand, the Schumers may (individually, and as a clan) be merely the scum of the earth, and deserve no higher approbation.

I think I would rather ... anything else

Amy Schumer Asks for Donations to Gun Control Group In Lieu of Wedding Gifts: \

After announcing that she had wed chef Chris Fischer in a surprise ceremony this week, comedian Amy Schumer asked fans to forgo wedding gifts and to instead send donations to the Michael Bloomberg-funded gun control advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety.

I think I would rather cut out my tongue than do anything this woman suggests.

Her choice of "wedding gifts" only serves to polarize my disdain.


"It Ain't Funny, McGee!"

The FBI KNEW? And they didn't TELL anybody?

FBI Says It Failed To Act After Receiving Tip About Suspected Florida Shooter:

 Nikolas Cruz, a 19-year-old who was previously expelled from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, confessed to opening fire on the school this week. At least 17 people were killed.   Someone contacted the FBI’s public tip line to alert it to Cruz’s behavior, according to a statement from the agency. The caller said this behavior included a “desire to kill people” and “the potential of him conducting a school shooting.”

Oh.
Well you know ... we're only human.   We all make mistakes.
Pay no attention, move along, nothing to see here.

Up next, in a shocking story  "Wheel of Fortune" fans in shock.

Now, here's a story we can get our teeth into ... Vanna White knew the answers to the questions!!!
* (I lied about that) *

Oh, that's important news!  Everybody ought to tell everybody, so we can .. you know ...`react!;.

(Snark alert!)

It's not as if peoples lives are at stake.

Reality Sux

When reality doesn't suck enough, you gotta steal from  your betters.

Which is what I did here


http://cheezburger.com/9126877440/no-kids-kids

ZERO

Mnuchin calls on Congress to look into gun violence issue after school shooting, breaking with rest of White House - The Washington Post:

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday called on Congress to look into issues related to gun violence less than 24 hours after 17 people were killed in a school shooting in Florida.

(For the record ... no, I don't know how to pronounce his name either.)

"Gun Violence" has many faces; some of them have to do with honest, law-abiding citizens who would not dream of assaulting a citizen.
 But what if we find ourselves in a situation where we are faced with the decision whether to defend ourselves, and our home?

I don't know.  I just know how I deal with the issues on a day-by-day basis:

The Funniest Damn Thing Happened to me tonight

...  I was working on my computer, shifted to an alternate website, and when I tried to navigate on that website the connection didn't work.

Damn.  I hate that when that happens!

I tried alternate websites ... I couldn't go there, either.

Eventually, when I realized that I couldn't go ANYWHERE other than where I was when I locked up, I began to explore other possibilities.

Checked my internet connection.   Yes, it was all in the green (modem indicator lights).

Checked my mouse; yes it would move the icon from one part of the current webpage to another.

Checked ... oh, well ... HELL!  I checked every-damn-thing!  I even ran some tests on my keyboard;  I could navigate up/down, left/right on the current active page, but not much more.

(Yes, before you ask .. I DID reboot.  Cold boot, in fact; the computer came up just fine, but internet and other connections?  Not accessible!

By my notes, it took me from 2018 to 2030 to check the least logical obvious problem:  my mouse.

I replaced the AA batteries in my mouse about 3 months ago, it seemed unreasonable for them to have died so soon.  Looking at the indicator light at the base of the mouse, it still glowed green (as an indication that there was power in the batteries).

So what the hell!  I replaced the damn batteries "anyway", and kiss my sweet patootie if the connection from the mouse to the computer didn't start working,  EURECA!

 I So Smart!  (okay; slow ....)

My diagnostic process was all back-assward;  as a (retired) Computer Systems Analyst, I expected the problem to be in the most complicated link in the chain; the CPU.

Dumb ass me, I forgot the Number One Rule of Systems Analysis:

Look for the easy solutions FIRST! (Don't Mess with my Coffee Break!)

After  (check the log) 23 minutes of chasing the rabbit down the wrong warren-hole, I finally (FINALLY!) remembered my training and looked at the simplest possible solution:

That's right, it was the mouse.

Specifically ... even though the mouse had never done me no wrong, and the indicator light was shining bright green ... when I replaced the two AA batteries everything started working again!

Lesson Learned (again):  Don't trust indicator lights.

Don't trust "I replaced the batteries 3 months ago; how can they be dead???"

The batteries in the mouse were dead DEAD DEAD!!!    well, dead enough to count.

Yeah, yeah,  I hear you;  "Geek, you of ALL people ought to know better!"

Give me a break.  I'm old, I've been retired for (TooCloseTo) ten years.  So it took me 22 minutes to analyze the problem, find the problem, and fix the problem.  Does it help if I mention that (in the words of The Hobo Brasser) "Alcoholic Beverages Were Involved"?

The Good News is that I don't have to dismantle my roll-top desk so I need not drag the computer innards out and pay the Professional Geek Down The Street a hundred dollars to tell the Ex-Post Facto Geek that he's stupid and the problem isn't in the software, but in the hardware!

This started out being a really negative article; "How I Screwed Up My System In One Easy Step"
-- but instead it turned out to be a reasonable "don't go there" article;  check the cheap shit first!

Gene Wilder would have appreciated my situation.
He also had some small issues with mechanisms.

In fact, he made me look good by comparison with his *(Young Frankenstein)* movie, and I'm grateful.

Shooting at high school in Parkland, Fla.

Live updates: Shooting at high school in Parkland, Fla.; multiple injuries reported:

America has a gun problem and the blood it on the hands of NRA and GOP.

That's the news, and that's the tenor of accusations flowing across America today.

It's the kind of thing that happens with a Republican controlled congress, and with the active intervention of the National Rifle Association because .... you know, the gun rights thingie.

At least, that's the twist the Democratic sooth-sayers are touting.

No word yet on where he got the gun, what kind of gun etc. 
Best guess: he stole the inadequately secured firearm from his parents.

There's enough blame to go around, though; pundits are bound to blame it on the NRA (that has already started, although there is no evidence that the kid was a member of the NRA) ... but there's enough "wrong" to spread it around to the parents, teachers, legislators, etc.

Nobody has thought to blame the kid for being a total ass-hole.

Yet.

Probably, nobody ever will.

When you look at the historic mass murderers ... channeling that guy who shot Lincoln (I still refuse to name him, or other murderers) ... there is one thing they have in common:

RAGE!

They have a "My Life Sucks!" attitude, and rather than accept their own faults ... they decide to take their rage out on the people around them.  Unfortunately, when the person is a teen-ager, the people around them are other adolescents.

Kids.   Just a bunch of other "Lonely Teen-Agers".

The victims are children who are so wrapped up in their own adolescent crisis that they can't recognize one of their own who has gone "over the top".

Well, nobody who has survived their own teen-age angst can tell the difference between someone who is a 'lonely teenager" and a "mass murderer", either.  They all look, talk, walk and act the same.

All the blame that has been, is and will be spread around is probably just bullshit, anyway.

NOBODY can tell the difference between adolescent angst and the rage to kill.   It all looks the same, from the outside (you and me) and from the inside (the teenager's school-mates). 

And was the kid a loner?  Christ, at that age, half the kids in High School are "Loners".
If you're not one of the "elites", you're an "outsider". 

Hell, I was an outsider in High School.  My nickname was "The Zipper" ... or "The Shadow", because I was so skinny that when I turned sideways to the sun, nobody could see me.   (

I took a little pride in that; at least I had an identity; perhaps this kid didn't even have THAT; he might have benefited if he had a sense of belonging ... and a bunch of people might be alive today)

Hell, maybe the kid just wanted to go home, where he belonged.



Dion: "Lonely Teenager"

PS: No, I'm not going to make any "PRO" or "CON" statements about Gun Control here, other than to observe that in the mood that kid was in, he could as reado;u used a knife, machete, or a club to attack his victims.