The Library

[BarbStAubrey]

hahah Joanne sounds like feast or famine -

I'm remembering back when we had to pay to belong to the library and for many of us it was not possible to fit into the budget so that it was less expensive to borrow books from the local Drug Store where there was a bookcase about 6 feet wide and 5 foot high - it was a dime a book for 2 weeks and a nickle for everyday over the 2 weeks if you returned it late. I still used the drug store book borrowing system after the children were 4 and 5 and we thought it best to include the cost of the library in our budget - it was on old beautifully kept mansion with the upstairs devoted to children and downstairs in the old front parlor was the reading room with the other rooms full of stacks - kitchen was a separate building out back that was used to store lawn chairs etc - at the end of each summer there was an evening of book reading and all the children who came all summer and who signed up to read so many books, each recited a poem- even the preschoolers - everyone wore Sunday Best and served from the old kitchen was punch and small cakes. All very lovely however with all the books there were few of the latest published and that is where the Drug Store book borrowing was the answer - remembering borrowing the books written by Thomas B. Costain from the Drug store and they were huge 500 page books so it was non-stop reading so as not to pay a late fee.   

[BarbStAubrey]

Wow - Okaaa - did you know because I sure did not know that 'Gouverneur' Morris, one of our nation’s Founding Fathers, wrote the preamble to the U.S. Constitution in 1787 and is credited with adding the word “United” to “States” to create the name we have today.

He also experienced two incidents in his life that left him disabled: a kettle of boiling water burned and permanently impaired his right arm as a teenager, and a carriage accident later on led to the eventual amputation of his left leg below the knee.

Jennifer W. Reiss, an attorney and doctoral student studying history, told The Washington Post, 'upon reading Morris’ diary entries “from a disability perspective,” she concluded that his experiences with disability informed his views — namely his staunch opposition to slavery and empathy for women and the poor.

“He had a different lived experience than [other Founding Fathers] because of his embodiment,” said Reiss, who has a form of cerebral palsy, “and I think we should be able to read some of the things he’s done with that in mind.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/07/30/we-the-people-constitution-gouverneur-morris-disability-pride-month/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNjkwODYyNDAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNjkyMjQ0Nzk5LCJpYXQiOjE2OTA4NjI0MDAsImp0aSI6IjM2ZTM3Mzk1LTRiYmItNDBhNi1hYWU1LTA5NjAzNmQzNTY1ZCIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9oaXN0b3J5LzIwMjMvMDcvMzAvd2UtdGhlLXBlb3BsZS1jb25zdGl0dXRpb24tZ291dmVybmV1ci1tb3JyaXMtZGlzYWJpbGl0eS1wcmlkZS1tb250aC8ifQ.jD2qV-ngTaORSUG6uZZEd2SBli6LayXWrjb3AO1TVkc

[ginny]

 I did not know any of that! Interesting. It's amazing how little I do know about some things, it seems to grow with the years rather than shrink. hahahaa

I came in with another discovery, actually. I'm still reading all the books I was above, and enjoying them all as well. Some of them need to be taken in small doses but I am very pleased with all the reading I've been doing, it's a lot more than I usually do.

But the book that has surprised me the most is this one: Caesar as Man of Letters by Frank E. Adcock.  Does that name ring a bell with anybody? It's hard to find a modern article about Caesar which doesn't reference Adcock. But I finally thought to look up this ADCOCK and see what all the shouting was about.

In the 50's and 60's all you heard about in classics was Adcock Adcock Adcock. Greatly respected, on the Cambridge faculty for 30 years. Sir Frank, and why?

Because I just found out (and it's not in his book, I had to look  him up) he was one of the codebreakers at Bletchley in WWII !!  AND he was one of the early ones in WWI, whose  names were a top secret.

I HAVE read much of their brilliance.

Well you'd think with all that his book would be out of  the range of a normal reader?  It's really one of the clearest best written things I've read and it explains ALL the little issues with reading Caesar. It's ONLY 115 pages and I read half of it in one day, having finally learned not to do so much underlining and put little stars so I can print it out. It is EXCELLENT for understanding Caesar if that's your interest. Super book.

What's everybody reading?

[Frybabe]

I just started The Hydrogen Sonata by Iain M. Banks which is part of his Culture series. It promises to be very interesting. So far, it seems rather surreal.

Speaking of surreal, my newest audiobook acquisition is Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. It is a bit hard to describe, but it appears to be kind of like someone's surreal dream or hallucination. Well, at least to me after listening to the excerpt. It is likely to be a while to I get to it. Here is a review. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/sep/17/piranesi-by-susanna-clarke-review-an-elegant-study-in-solitude

My current audiobook remains Persian Fire by Tom Holland.  Interesting, but going slowly.

I started another Scifi series by G. S. Jennsen after reading some related short stories. So far, I have finished the first three books of the Amaranthe series.  I have also been catching up on a couple of SciFi series that I like but got behind on.

For those who are interested, Kenneth Harl, who you may be familiar with through his Great Courses lectures, has just had his first (?) book released. It is titled Empires of the Steppes: A History of the Nomadic Tribes Who Shaped Civilization. Another book for my TBR list.

[BarbStAubrey]

Empires of the Steppes: A History of the Nomadic Tribes Who Shaped Civilization looks interesting Frybabe - Evidently that part of the world had far more influence on western civilization then we were ever taught in school or since - Not really acknowledged except by the few academics in the know... although I notice Prime videos has several titles about that part of the world a thousand years ago or so...

I'm still sorting out all the tribal control of what we now call Europe - the emphasis has always been on Greek and Roman history with all the rest just the tribes or barbarians but certainly spoke of as lessor than - well if in time they took over the lands of Rome their culture and history must have value and probably more of an influence on northern Europe than Roman history and now there is this suggesting the tribes who controlled the Steppes which I think is Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova and on the Asian side western Mongolia and Manchuria - Growing up one of most favorite books was by Katy Seredy - The Good Master and the Singing Tree that take place on the Steppes during the idyllic time just before and the second book during WWII

Remembering those books had me look up other children's books that have become classics - found a nice web site that lists top 10 from each decade in the 20th century and bundled together the top 10 from the nineteenth century - I loved reading what we call children's books - I can see how reading fantasy is the adult version but rather than a fantasy I really enjoyed children's books and think I need to get back to reading some - there are still a few I never did read -

Yep, I want to escape - tired of getting worked up about the news of the day and the changes our communities are experiencing with more growth and more traffic and more differences - here of late it has become over kill and adding my move to this new area it really is overkill - yep, that is it - read a few children's books and find the fun and joy in life again. Tired of solving yet one more problem or deciding how I am going to think or react to a change I did not see coming. 

[BarbStAubrey]

We don't have a special site for information about money and investing but found this and wonder if any of you have watched these short videos and what did you think

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUeUJf2MyJw&list=PLj6cRzO6b2iBpVB7-8mRbzHjFFNtrAqwT&index=1

[Tomereader1]

Barb, haven't watched the videos yet, but since you bring up the subject of money, I have been wracking my brain for a two-word phrase, used primarily in business, but also was popular in managing home finances, its meaning is to "cut back severely on expenditures", and I cannot get this out of my head.  You were a business woman and I'll bet you can come up with the two-word phrase for me.   Anyone else here who can help, I'd appreciate it before my head explodes from trying to remember this.  I'm getting to where some words and phrases just don't come to me when I'm writing or having a conversation.  "Anyone else a member of that club"? LOL

[BarbStAubrey]

Oh Lordy that is a tough one - the words I can think of are: penny hoarder, frugal, Biblical Stewardship, Financial Success, Balanced Budget,  Risk Management, Asset Allocation, Passive Income, A Year of Less, No Spend Challenge, Debt Free, Live with Less, Wealth Management, Money Mindset, zero-sum budget, Minimize spending, Impulse buying, Credit Risk, Financial Independence, austerity measures, deficit spending, economize, curtail spending, in arrears, liabilities exceed assets. 

Joanne I may not have come up with the words you are looking for but maybe these will help your thinker to catch and hold the phrase that is alluding you.

I was shocked only this week to see my grocery bill - looked up, since I save grocery bills paying with my credit card I save them in an online folder - Anyhow I had a similar, except for one item, shopping list last January and found the current shopping bill to be well over a third but not quite half again as much as these same groceries cost me in January.

Yep, it is time to look at ways to severely cut back - for instance for me I love the Bolthouse juices - aware now they are a luxury - I'm also aware I am buying too much food and throwing some away because it is going bad - I'm only recently conscious of the fact I am eating less - my tummy rebels if I fill it with three full meals a day - one meal a day works and the other two are tiny -  for instance I'm great with a half a sandwich and either a cookie or fresh fruit for either my afternoon meal or night meal - actually do better with the full meal in the early afternoon and this half sandwich later in the evening.

Found this web site that I think I'm going to use it as a guide - I've also a couple of books on my kindle that I need to resurrect - I am shocked at how much inflation is eating up my monthly budget. Cost of water increased substantially - ah so - no sense getting in a tither - I've lived tight several times in my life and so here we go again... this site had a few thoughts new to me and not on the typical cut back frugal living list.

https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/cut-monthly-expenses/

Is anyone else aware their monthly expenses have increased or you've got a tip that has helped you stretch dollars.

[Frybabe]

Barb, I don't think I've seen any of those videos. I spent a long time in my life, though, with penny pinching and making do. What truly annoys and disappoints me now is that after finally having a little extra to spend on repairs and upgrades, etc., the darn inflation kicked in big-time. Yes, I do worry a bit about outliving my retirement income. Again!

My latest whine is that the grocery prices have gone up so much. After only seeing some things increase slightly for a while, all of a sudden last week the grocery product prices have increased not five to ten cents at a time on a few items but a whopping fifty cents to, in one case, a dollar. I can't wait to see what the next big leap in cat food and litter will be. Shan is on a prescription diet which I feed to Oscar too. While Oscar is not technically on a prescription diet, I have to say that not only does it save me a big hassle keeping the two separated at feeding time, but it has done Oscar a world of good. Oscar has lost a little weight and become more energetic and alert than he has been in several years. The vet is fine with it.

Back to books. I didn't finish The Hydrogen Sonata. It was just to convoluted for my brain. There are other books in the Culture series that I enjoyed much more, like Consider Plebes, Use of Weapons, and Matter. I have yet to read Excession or Surface Detail. I have just started Adrian Goldsworthy's novel, The City, set on the eastern Roman frontier. I am only on the first chapter which is not particularly holding my attention. Yesterday I did go and by Kenneth Harl's book and another called Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall. Marshall is a British journalist who specializes in foreign affairs and international diplomacy. This book is part of his politics of place series. At some point soon I intend on getting his newest release, The Future of Geography - How Power and Politics in Space will Change our World.

[jane]

Barbara....I, too, have found I'm only eating 2 meals a day.  After finally getting off steroids, I lost 40 needed pounds and feel so much better and can wear clothes I couldn't a year ago.  So, for me, I eat breakfast....an English muffin and a chai tea and then a late "lunch" and maybe some fruit later on.  I sleep better, too.  We each have to find what works for our own bodies.

jane

[Tomereader1]

Barb, FryBabe & Jane:  Sounds like the "times" have cloned us older lassies!  My meals sound so much like each of yours.  My breakfast is Coffee, usually a fruit bar, but alternating with freshly made smoothies!  I buy the berries when they are on Sale, freeze them in plastic containers, and bingo, a healthy meal.  I have this small version of the Magic Bullet, and it makes a nice 12/14 ounce smoothie. 1/2 cup crushed ice, half a small container of yogurt with fruit on the bottom, how many ever blueberries/raspberries/strawberries/frozen banana, then fill the container with Almond Milk.  Sometimes I do a slice of buttered toast along with it.  In this hot weather, I've been substituting this for lunch, and it helps keep me cool without sodas or iced tea.
I'm also a "half-sandwich" gal!  Fried egg, slice of 7 grain bread (or white bread if it's fresh--Mrs. Bairds), sometimes peanut butter & marmalade with glass of cold milk.  Last nite I had a slice of Kroger's Private Selection Deli sliced ham with slice of Sargento cheese (pepper jack) on butter bread.  Some nights, just a quick scrambled egg with salsa. 
I have noticed I buy a lot of things that go bad in the refrigerator, which makes me very angry, as these veggies are not cheap, even though I usually get only one zucchini, one or two yellow squash.  I do get on sale tomatoes, Romas, and I eat those all up:  sliced on the egg sandwich, etc.

I am a great fan of the Boltlhouse Juices, especially the Protein Almond Butter/Banana.  I only buy when they offer a two-fer: Buy one, get one free; or just 2/$5.  Don't mind spending that, because if I were a Starbucks nut,  a "hit" would cost a lot more!  LOL!

And, yes.  I use my Kroger Loyalty Card and charge my groceries, get some $ off gasoline.  I have noticed the monthly bill is a lot higher than it was last year, or even earlier this year.  You remember, stores had shortages of a lot of things, then gradually the items would come in, and we'd watch the price tag move up, 10 cents, 20 cents and now some item I buy regularly was $.50 higher.  (I didn't buy it)  I'm feeling bad about griping like this, but this inflation really hits us Seniors hard, especially those on fixed incomes, which most of us are.

Barb, I think I was looking for "AUSTERITY PROGRAM" or pretty close.  Austerity for sure.   Thanks.

Everyone, have a good day !  I'm sure you will, if you don't go to the grocery store!!! LOL

[Tomereader1]

Oh, I forgot my twice-a-week, haute cuisine meal:  Real oatmeal with either raisins or cranberries!  Love it!

[BarbStAubrey]

Well I sure feel better knowing you've all had similar reactions to eating less and to the higher prices - we will each handle it differently but just acknowledging aloud the change is such a relief I can actually feel my shoulders drop - Ah yes, love real oatmeal with raisins Joanne- never tried it with cranberries - need to try that - I don't use milk I cook it in water and use lots of honey to make it the right consistency. Try to find and use local honey which then I've given myself a natural 'shot' if you would to handle local allergiens.

frybabe I only saw on Amazon Prisoners of Geography and thought what an interesting concept - I'm still mulling remembering the summer before the Pandemic my daughter and I went on a road trip to visit relatives who live back east and to visit a few places where I lived as a child to find such enormous change in mostly the culture - the most recognizable places were the cemeteries where my grandparents were buried and so for me it was like visiting new places - my mind went further to the awareness that we are really the sum total of our life experience and we use our memory including the memory of what and how we learned all affected by where we lived or the culture of our surroundings that we bring with us as part of our make up and after that trip I realize what is memory of me no longer exists except in name only - still struggling to sort out who I am.

I'm thinking we're more memory than current influences and yet, what makes up my memory is no longer in existence not just because of change in technology and other inventions like medicine but the very make up of the areas where I lived is very culturally changed so that I hardly recognized these places - Because of road construction even streets I knew disappeared and so now the concept of Geography a part of our identity I'm really questioning who am I...

Easy to see why some as they age sink into themselves and poking their head out their front door is overwhelming so that they surround themselves with nostalgia expecting life to be as their memory says it should be.   

Talk about memory - been reading Allan Gurganus' Local Souls - serious 1950s happenings to a young teen, whose life experiences in this novel were fought against and changed in the 70s and 80s however, were still like DNA, the memory's look at life with expected outcomes as if still the 1950s - In the meantime life goes on and she struggles with incomplete 1950s happenings so that she is split between her current reality that is centered around family and further education in Russian literature and her secret life - all told as if a sitcom with they typical ironic humor and banter of a sitcom - in one breath the story line brings up the pain of being a women in the 50s but balancing is this humorous, self effacing inner dialogue that you don't want to miss - like waiting each week for the next episode or a favorite sitcom. 

Yep, a child born and whisked away without even knowing its sex when she is age 15 - Pregnant by a family friend as they both console each other over the awful decapitation of her father in the lake by the blades of the motor of this best friend's boat. Father and 'killer' were as close as brothers since early childhood - the wife/mother goes off the deep end drinking and isolating and so they turn to each other - over time one thing leads to the other and when the school gym teacher notices all hell breaks loose -

He, a Doctor, escape to Maine with his family and the girl, as was typical in the '50s and '60s is sent to a home for unwed mothers - this one os located in Virginia even though the pregnancy is no secret because of how the mother goes berserk shouting the information so the entire school could hear when told by the school principle and nurse her daughter's condition. Since daughter and mother were a loved and important part of this small town everyone simply went silent rather than condemning using small town lines of communication. The girl grows, marries a research physician whom she met in High School after the birth - she has two daughters and struggles to be present - They've moved to D.C. and a day at the beach opens memories followed by her enrolling for another degree this time in Russian Literature - learns from a fellow student about computers and searches to find information where she is met with closed doors but a flash premonition that came on that day at the beach settles her and opens her to becoming a true close mother to her two girls who are not aware of her background -

That is where I left off and I'm anxious to find out 'what happens next' - Probably not many of us left who lived as young women and young married women during those years - girls were the cause of everything sexual, even rape and babies born unwanted or out of wedlock were hidden and women continued to act normal supposed to be happy as the saying was, living in a golden cage which when women complained they could not open a bank account without a man from the family's accompanying her and being a co-signer or buy anything that cost more than a hundred dollars without a man present and she was expected to be both pure but a sex siren for a husband so that if he strayed she was blamed because she did not play her role - on and on as a woman in the gilded cage. It was not till the mid 70s before a women could open her own bank account, buy a vehicle but not yet buy real estate and the beginning stages of realizing sex crimes were not fostered by the woman and of course homes for unwed mothers closed their doors. I remember my son from the age of 17 till he was 20 could open a bank account but I could not. Talk about memories leaving a pallor - I need to shake myself out of all that... shoot - I guess reading this story I'm hoping she makes something work that breaks the system or thumbs her nose and gets what she needs and wants... we shall see...

[Tomereader1]

Barb, I cook my oatmeal in water also.  I use the dried cranberries that come in a clear poly bag (Kroger Store). Anyway, I usually put the raisins or cranberries in the saucepan with the measured water, let them soak all night and add the oatmeal the next morning.  One half-pat of butter or margarine.  I use my flavored coffee creamer (just a dab, Italian Sweet Cream) in place of milk.  The creamer is sweet enough without adding sugar, and I don't think I'd like the honey in my oatmeal.  I usually make what the box calls for two servings, and it makes enough that I can eat half, and put the other half in a tight seal storage container for the next mornings breakfast.  Sometimes a slice of dry toast and a glass of orange juice with my coffee.  Excellent!

Have you been having Any rain down there where you live?  It's been back in the 100+ with no precipitation, and the last few days, no breeze.  My daughter texted me and she said "Your grass is dead, unless you water your lawn, don't call the lawn guy to mow just yet". ( I have a Ring doorbell, and she's hooked into it, so she can see my yard/driveway, and sometimes jumps me if I go out in the yard at night or early morning) Every lawn on my block is dead, and my friend/neighbor who has a sprinkler system, her lawn is dead too.  We have strict watering regulations here.  My days are Thursday & Sunday, but no watering between 10:00 AM and 6:00 PM on ANY day.  You can use a hose-end sprinkler to water your flower beds (at the appropriate times).

It's getting close to my bedtime, and I missed my nap today, so the eyelids are heavy.

Have a good night and sleep well.

[BarbStAubrey]

Nope on the rain - the earth here is clay and now as hard as a rock - we need rain but not looking forward to it because until there is enough falling over time to finally penetrate the soil it will simply rush off and we will be dealing with flooding - no saving the lawn but it should come back - may loose a few bushes - my concern is the trees - had not been watering them and my septic gray water system is messed up so they are not even receiving the normal watering from the septic sprinklers - if it is not too late I can get my soaker hose going around a couple of the trees but like you we are rationed - folks are saying to get a soaker hose round our slab or it my crack - still not as bad yet as 2011 - lost count how many triple digit days - I think it is in the 40s - trying to remember what year in Austin we had 70 triple digit days and I bet they had more here what ever year that was since Austin is next to the Hill Country and a tad cooler and for sure a whole lot less humid. Actually I'm resigned - at this point in my life what ever will be will be so there is no sense in getting in a stew over it... I really should though get some bags of mulch to use as sandbags - by getting the mulch at least even wet I can use it where as sand has no use for me.

[Frybabe]

Before I go out to mow the lawn today, I thought I would drop in and mention an audio book I am listening to. It is called A Long Time Until Now by Michael Z. Williamson. This is the fourth time I tried to start the book, but until now was unable to get past the first two chapters. To me, it seems more like an anthropology/ancient culture lecture plus survival how-to series than a SciFi story. The story involves soldiers in Afghanistan who unwittingly drive through some kind of time warp and end up in the paleolithic age. Other groups, including a neolithic tribe and Roman soldiers also got trapped in the time warp. They all must learn to interact with each other, learn enough skills to communicate, build a camp/fort, learn local plants and animals that are dangerous while learning how to gather/cultivate plants, hunt animals or herd and pen animals, well you get the idea. All the while the soldiers are trying not to use much of their advanced tech in front of the less advanced groups. Aside from that the story also deals with issues of sex, treatment of illness and injuries without advanced meds and methods, and of course, different religious beliefs and customs. I am about three-quarters of the way through now, and another group has shown up. This group is from the future. So now, the soldiers are no longer the most advanced of the various groups and have to adjust to that circumstance.

[BarbStAubrey]

Goodness frybabe sounds more like our US soldiers going to the middle east and attempting to mingle off base with the locals especially those in the mountains and countryside

Well the lawns here are shot so no mowing except burned up hay like grass that my only hope is as in the past - it will come back - did train water on the trunk of a tree yesterday for hours and hours - my water bill will  be beyond belief however by last night the tree visibly looked better rather than looking like it was going to shrivel up and die in 24 hours - thought it better than trying to get water deep enough in the ground - and all in all cheaper using water then having to get someone in here to take down a dead tree and then replace it with a tree I will never see as a large tree - thank goodness, with the triple digit temps clouds have moved in so it was not a bright sunny furnace yesterday nor so far today - till it rains we are thankful for small blessings and this hazy cloud cover is definitely a blessing.   

My reading has become completely confused and muddled - reading along nicely Local Souls and the boy born out of wedlock when the girl named Fearless was only 15 find her when he is 20 - the chapter where this happens is the most riveting and the writing is astonishing - each second is described till as the shock and avalanche of feelings slows and the writing describes in minutes till finally in hunks of 5 and then 10 minute happenings - unbelievable - never read anything like it - upshot she has him move in - both her daughters evidently bond because next thing you know she and all three of her children are back in the small town where she was impregnated at age 15 and the husband a well known and respected research Doctor divorced her - based on dates this had to have been the 1970s - she has a degree in Russian Lit but gets a job that pays well enough so she is living nicely with these three children which yes, could have been done by the mid 70s - thank goodness her mother's home is still in the town and they move in because although legal in the very late 60s on her own she still could not have purchased a house - I became a Real Estate agent in 1980 and it was still another 2 years before women could get a mortgage - they were considered too risky and that is how they got around the law.

Well all that - the chapters are long so the entire book is only 3 chapters - started the next chapter and this story line is so totally different I am lost - is this another family in the community or another time when one of these daughters is an adult - my sense is the time period is at least late 80s and could be late 90s because being a smart girl as this 3 year old daughter appears to be - is OK and it is the mother's actually trauma being a woman from earlier times that appears to be the crux of the story - nothing about the book tells me these will all the separate stories - I'm so confused without any information what is going on that I set the book aside and started another - I've started Lights On The Sea - about an older couple who lived isolated on a hill top and were about to leave the house when a storm takes them and the house out to sea - from the write up they have been for years and years mourning the death of their daughter and losing their house is the start of a new life where they finally come to terms with their loss. And so that says to me they do not perish during this storm.   

[ginny]

The weather has been unreal, hasn't it? All over the US. And the world.   Every day there's a new catastrophe. I hope things will simmer down for a while, so much loss to so many people.

I came in to say I have finished Andy and Don, and found it a wonderful biography of the lifelong friendship of Andy Griffith and Don Knotts of Mayberry fame. It's wonderful if the reader enjoyed the old series (which is still playing on TV).  As I mentioned earlier the author was the brother in law of  Don Knotts but he also is a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter and writes extremely well. The list of people he interviewed for the book is incredible.  I enjoyed it. Neither of them were as I had pictured them, so I learned a lot of interesting things.

Still reading a collection of Agatha Christie stories daily, one or two. She says in the introduction that she thinks that these 13 stories are the epitome and the best example of Miss Marple. I found that interesting as well.

Still reading the Adcock and the new scholarly book by Garcea on De Analogia, very complicated book, the latter is.  The organization is strange, but it's certainly thorough.

I don't know how those of you with BING stand it. I simply canNOT bear it, and if my own computer doesn't come back soon I may be raving here. It does try SO hard to fill in my sentences ( they brag it's using AI)  FOR me but since it has no idea what I want to say there's a lot of backfilling and mistakes and I HATE it.

I tried to delete it. It won't delete. I used  Foxfire and BING insisted on also appearing to the result that I have exactly one inch of print visible, lots of huge ads and THREE  tool bars at the top. Am going NUTS!!!!!

Other than that, what's everybody reading?

[BarbStAubrey]

Well my Paul called later afternoon Tuesday and said pack up so he could pick me up - the painters were to be at the house before 6: in the morning - they were and also the new gutter with guard to hold pack the tons of pine needles that fall was installed while the painters were here and Paul repaired my sprinkler system and put up small retaining curbs that we hope will stop vehicles from backing up or pulling off the road and in the process destroying sprinkler heads - all that and then today when the painters were finishing up Paul got the 4 bookcases stabilized against the walls - they all cleaned the wood floor so it is shining and put over 90% back of everything that was moved to make it easier for them to paint - I'm in seventh heaven -

I did not accomplish anything while staying at Paul's - just as well because my body had a chance to rest and now it is full steam ahead finally getting everything in its place in this house - the only big job left is the remodeling of the bathroom oh yes, and painting the trim on the house which is red - not my favorite - prefer either a dark sage or forest green - decided not to paint the wood cabinets in the kitchen - as soon as I would paint them this white or a color on kitchen cabinets will turn out to be a fad plus the oak cabinets are really quite wonderful - they were handmade so not the cheap look of manufactured wood - the wood look is growing on me and paired with light beige and shades of blue it works.

I have not felt this free and elated to get things done since I started this whole concept of moving almost 2 years ago - there was always someone needed in the process that delayed things and me - now except for that Bathroom it is full steam ahead - The paint colors turned out much lighter than I imagined but just perfect - the very lt beige looks almost white and in areas it looks like a very light grey of all things - amazing how color changes with the changes in the light and the one room i did taupe turned out just perfect - Laundry room walls repaired and painted - on and on - if feel like a kid the night before Christmas - I need to get to bed so I can start tomorrow but so excited I cannot settle down to go to bed - Yesterday it was over 109 and today only 105  but the heat will still be with us for another week - I wish it would build up over the Coast enough to cause a rain burst - but now that Paul has the sprinklers fixed I can at least get water on everything without dragging hoses however, best of all I've all this inside lovely work to do tra la... what goes where and getting shelves full of books - seventh heaven...

[ginny]

 
And  a  BIG BUCKET of awards to Paul!!!!! Well done, young man!!!!

YAY!

[PatH]

Hooray for Paul, and also for Barb.  It feels so good to get a bunch of tasks like that done.

[Frybabe]

Sounds wonderful, Barb. Except for that heat, of course.

We have had several heat related things happen on the East Coast lately. Aside from shark attacks and sightings farther along the coast than usual, we had a report of a first ever sighting in Pennsylvania of a limpkin, a tropical wetlands bird. https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/limpkin Also, rare cases of tropical diseases are cropping up more frequently. The latest I saw is that for the first time in at least 40 years, someone in Maryland, who hasn't traveled anywhere, contracted malaria. News reports are saying that it is the strain responsible for 95% of deaths worldwide. Right here, we are dealing with several local hot spots of West Nile Disease carrying mosquitoes. More and more I am seeing reports of alligator sightings and rescues in PA. The most recent I've seen is near Pittsburgh. The last closest sighting that I know of from around here was in 2021 in the Susquehanna River near Wrightsville. Alligators don't survive winters here, or so they say. Since we have been having warmer winters and there are always power plants along rivers that discharge heated water into the river, I can see a few doing just that.

One of my audiobook borrows is expiring soon so I am listening to it now. An Empire of Ice: Scott, Shackleton, and the Heroic Age of Antarctic Science by Edward J. Larson does focus more on the scientific endeavors of these explorers but not as in depth as I expected. Call it science very light. Also, I am reading the first of Rick Partlow's Psi Wars series and a science fiction short story anthology titled Engineering Infinity which is edited by Jonathan Strahan.

[BarbStAubrey]

Rare Super Moon tomorrow night - next one is in 2037

https://earthsky.org/tonight/full-blue-moon-near-saturn-supermoon-august-30-31-2023/

[PatH]

It was patchily cloudy here, but I still got a good look at the moon and Saturn when they popped above the clouds.  it was very big, and beautifully round.  Saturn wasn't as bright as I hoped, but as bright as one could expect in a downtown spot.

My biggest news is that my youngest daughter Suzi took me down to Los Angeles so that JoanK and I could celebrate our 90th birthday together.  We hadn't seen each other in person since Covid started, and it was really great.  The whole crew was there.  Joan's son and daughter-in-law live with her, and her daughter lives nearby.  The grandsons were all there too, now all 6 feet tall with beards, finished school, and finding their places in the world.  Exhausting, but a lot of fun.

[ginny]

Happy 90th Birthday, Pat!!! And Joan!!!


Good heavens! What a wonderful milestone. And two of you! You don’t look a day over 50.  Happy happy birthday!

😎

[BarbStAubrey]

Happy Birthday Pat and please remember me to Joan - welcome to the nonagenarians - and on top a Birthday gift from the heavens above - you saw the moon - tra la - and like you with so many lights I could not detect Saturn or even a star - but that moon was big and bright and you could see marks that must be the various elevations on the moon - first time in 57 years that I live surrounded by very tall trees, may of them pine so I could only see the moon much as a photo through the branches of trees - it was a toss up if it reminded me of a scary movie or a romantic piece of art. I understand we get another shot at it tonight with Saturn even closer to the moon

Hope this next year of your life is full of wonders Pat.

[Frybabe]

Happy Birthday Pat and Joan. I am so glad that you two could get together to celebrate this year. Sounds like everyone is doing well.

[Frybabe]

I've never seen these before. The YouTube channel is called Write Like. I just finished watching the one about Daphne De Maurier and plan on watching more.  https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Write+Like I have actually neither read nor watch movies of De Maurier's works, although I have thought on a few occasions that I would like to read Jamaica Inn. Regardless, I found the documentary festinating.

[Tomereader1]

More than likely, this is an AI based site, not Utube itself but the write+query+like.

[Frybabe]

I don't think so, Tomereader. The Daphne De Maurier documentary is an ARTE France production from 2016. The others are also old documentaries about various writers from a variety of different production companies. The one about Rauld Dahl, for instance, is an ITV production. The Zane Grey documentary, however, doesn't seem to have any production credits other than what is posted by the Write Like presenter, Paul. So, who knows. The Sir Walter Scot program is an Academy Media production copywrited 2021. The E. M. Forster program is a copywrite of Odyssey from 2019.  I think this Paul guy has just gone out and found various biographies about authors and posted them on his site. At any rate, I am enjoying them.

I am now into listening to When the Heavens Went on Sale by Ashlee Vance. It is about the companies Astra, Firefly, Planet Labs, and Rocket Lab and their founders who are, along with Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Richard Branson, revolutionizing the space industry.  Vance previously wrote a book about Elon Musk which I have not read. His background includes reporting, writing, and filmmaking.  He also hosts and writes the Emmy nominated podcast "Hello World".

I am also reading Imperial Smuggler, the second of a Sci-Fi the series The Decline and Fall of the Galactic Empire, written by Andrew Moriarty, that is just downright fun to read. It has a Firefly and Guardians of the Galaxy kind of humor to it. Moriarty also wrote the Accountant in Space series that I have been wanting to read. Should be fun, too.

[Tomereader1]

Is the server down, or is nobody posting here in several days?  All except for our Frybabe!!

[Tomereader1]

Maybe Rosh Hashana?

[BarbStAubrey]

I'm frantically trying to get more unpacked now that the house is finally painted - all except the kitchen and dining area is done - also my Daughter is coming for a week on Monday and her boys are coming in on Tuesday - haven't seen Ty in 5 years and Cade haven't seen in 3 years - so lots trying to do - and of course still missing things that I'm down now to no where else to look so things were not shipped and opened another box with a Terra Cotta angle broke that had to have been packed broken - these movers have really disappointed me and there is no place to unload the disappointment - it is hard - but anyhow getting closer and closer to having some organization and I'm really looking forward to my daughter's and the boys visit -  so no time for reading... although a couple of new books I'd like to read - with all I have I still like certain authors like Sebastian Barry - I'd like to read his new one, Old God's Time - he in my mind is one of the current best Irish writers - always enjoy reading anything written by an Irish writer - they sure have a way with words.

[ginny]

Tome, it's nice to be missed.

Life Happens. No time at the present.

Like Barbara, I have nothing to say, I'm not reading. We have to count on those of you who ARE reading to fill us in with interesting stuff to share and enjoy hearing about.


The Latin classes here, all 14 of them, start Thursday. The huge burden (and ALL of the technical stuff)  falls  on Jane, but there is much to do here and my computer has been in the shop, my main computer with 20 years of Latin on it,  and all the Fall prep for 14 classes here and the  4 in person classes gone. All gone. The computer guy's father just  died under horrendous circumstances and he's devastated,  he's had it 6 weeks, so I'm not making anybody else miserable, I'm doing the work all over myself.

 The laptop I'm using to type this is one I only use for presentations. It can't handle this. It's staggering.  There is NO time here to do much of anything but try to prepare and redo unbelievable tons of work. Can't upload images, can't size  them, can't do anything BECAUSE this laptop on its own without ANY permission from me upgraded to Windows 11, can't do a thing with it. But I'm learning.

It's a nightmare.  But I'm  the one always saying that all you need is a Latin book and a tree to sit under and that part of it, the recreating, is very peaceful and fulfilling. The rest will come. I miss reading, but I need to sleep at night, too.

Things ARE looking up though.

[Tomereader1]

Bless Your Heart, Ginny.  Your computer problems are mind-blowing.  Oh, how I hope you can get some computer assistance quickly.  My thoughts go out to your computer guy in his grief.

I, too, am having computer problems, but miniscule as compared to yours.  This computer is (I'm estimating) 11 years old, still running on Win 7 Home Pro.  It needs a good "dusting on the inside", but I can't lift the CPU(?) to take it outside and blow out all the accumulated dust.  Also, I think the dust has created a "fan" problem, as each time I start it up, it growls and moans for 3 to 4 minutes before it quiets down.  In the beginning I had to unplug the main power plug to get it to shut up.  I had one or two days of not receiving emails, and emails not going out.
I think that's reasonably okay right now.  I contacted my computer guy, who also builds them, and his estimate for a new one, rather basic, was about twice what I can buy one for.   Guess I'll shop around, seriously now, before this one goes Kerplunk.  I'm dedicated to HP, so access to new machines is not limited.
So hoping you can get your system repaired/replaced.
Technology is so wonderful...phhtth. (that's a noisy "raspberry")
Later, and FYI, I'm only reading mysteries on my Kindle for the most part, and nothing to write home (or elsewhere) about.

[Frybabe]

Sorry to hear about the computer problems. I am not having any at the moment, knock on wood.

Tomereader, did you consider just replacing the fan? I did that once upon a time, years ago. Mine stopped working. Pretty easy to fix on the desktop. The annoying thing about the desktop was all those darn screws. Yes, I am also very fond of HP. I have two desktops. One is no longer operational at the moment. i haven't had the energy or, more like, the interest in troubleshooting it. The power is there, but it won't boot, even with the backup drive, and can't get to the BIOS. So, did the drive die or was it the motherboard. My laptop is an HP.  This time, I bought an extended warranty. Probably unnecessary but considering my first laptop (an ASUS) was such a problem, especially when MicroS*** updated things, and it fell down behind my desk once and broken some of the casing protecting wires to the monitor, I decided not to take chances.
 

[Tomereader1]

The fan has been replaced once, but several yrs ago.  I don't know what else might be wrong.  I am able, once again to send and receive emails.  It boots up, but very slowly.  Of course there is a ton of junque on the hard drive, so no surprise there. 
Computer guy and I have emailed today to see what I want to do, and what CAN be done.  Like I may have said before, I do have a laptop that came with Windows 8.1 but it locked up (?) after several years store in closet, when I couldn't get all the Win Updates handled.  Compguy said he could put W10 on there if I wanted. (but I think he told me ages ago that the laptop didn't have capacity for W10.  Oh, decisions decisions.  I'm just not mentally up to this right now.  The laptop is a Toshiba, has beautiful touch screen, DVD drive, and I was just learning to navigate 8.1 when it locked up from all those updates.  Enough of my 'puter problems, hope you have an enjoyable day.

[Frybabe]

I just this morning dispatched my two borrowed books. The first was a SciFi anthology, one of Jonathan Straham's called Engineering Infinity. Most were good but with the possible exception of one, was not what I was expecting from a title like that. The other was Ashlee Vance's When the Heavens Went on Sale. I had to return it unfinished because I was running out of time with people waiting behind me. I will have to put myself back in line. Now I will have to browse through my TBR pile to see what grabs my interest now.

I've been watching the news about the manhunt going on in Chester County. The guy, after 13 days, finally broke into a house and stole a rifle and ammo. Law enforcement has been authorized to use deadly force if he resists arrest. Nothing else of note to report here.

[jane]

That convict on the loose in PA is scary.  They've had all sorts of pics of him, from home cameras, I guess, and yet, they can't find him.  I'm glad that I don't live anywhere close to that drama.  I'd have thought good police dogs could find and corner him, but not yet, apparently.

Nothing much going on here in Iowa....except the usual parade of political candidates from the GOP making their visits to the State.

Beautiful weather where a person can breathe, though the pollen counts are high. 

Stay healthy and safe,

jane

[BarbStAubrey]

My daughter came yesterday and one Grand coming this evening and the other was delayed and not coming till tomorrow - he was riding his bike home and someone opened their car door knocking him off his bike - his finger was badly broken and so after ER he had to go this morning when he was going to be on a plane here instead to a surgeon to repair the finger -

scary about the migrant now having firepower - did you see where Venezuela just opened their prisons and sent everyone to catch the busses in Central America to come to the US - strange world we are currently experiencing.

thought we were going to have rain with overcaste this morning but nope - sun is out - at least fall has arrived and Temps only in the 90s but the drought is the issue now affecting trees. Always something

Back to family - Paul did a wonderful shish-kabob for us last night with pineapple, all sorts of sliced peppers, onions, chicken and a separate pan with tiny potatoes and those small tomatoes and the best corn on the cob that he grills after boiling it shuck and all - then opening the shuck and using avacodo oil and his special mix of spices that he uses on his chicken - the tie the shuck back and but it in the boiling water for a minute and then on the grill - oh oh oh - so good - it is fun to see him enjoying grilling and trying new ways to cook - Sally now is relegated to making deserts and maybe a salad - fun and games with those two - Sally did fix us strawberry shortcakes - great meal

Again no reading till next week - waiting for me was a freebee from Amazon I downloaded - Earnest Hemingway, Men without Women - I never even heard of much less read. And I had just started a book on my pile that seems fitting today - hope it can give me some ideas how to make sense of morality today - Kenan Malik The Quest for a Moral Compass Global History of Ethics.