Happy (a little late) New Year!!

As I start another year, I have decided not to make resolutions, but instead to set goals.  What is the difference between the two.  Well I never keep resolutions, but I do tend to keep goals...so my chances are better that way.

I'm taking part in the Goodreads 2017 Reading Challenge and have set my goal at 50 books for the year.

I've also set my crochet goals at 50 hats and 50 squares for Warm Up America.

So far I've finished one book (actually set of books):

I'll be keeping track of the book total on Goodreads, and the crochet totals here.

Another Kidney Stone!

Ah, another Kidney Stone snuck up on me a few weeks ago.  I ended up back at the ER of my favorite hospital (not)...although they do seem to be getting better.  Where it used to take several hours to be seen, you now are generally seen (after triage) in a matter of 15 minutes. 

The doctor in the ER was very nice and I had two nurses who treated me very, very well.  I couldn't have asked for better care.  Unfortunately that didn't carry over to every aspect of what happened, namely surgery.  Can I blame the hospital though for the way I was treated by my own doctor.  Most of the other personal were very nice.

I have about a month and a half to make a decision...whether to find another doctor or continue with the one I have now.  Everyone else seems to think it best to switch before the next "emergency" arises.  I thought so at first too, but now I'm not so sure.  Just how important are manners, temperament, and bedside manner in a doctor, or is surgical skill enough?

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I'll be interested in how this post comes out as it's the first I've written on my phone.

The End Of My Last Blackberry

I was cleaning out an old email address this evening and discovered this old blog post that I'd written about 5 years ago.  It was about my phone at the time...my last beloved Blackberry.  Have I ever mentioned that I'm a phone addict?  Well I am, and Blackberry was my first love.  I had 2 of them and I adored them.  This is the story of the end of my last Blackberry :(

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Circa 2012...

I love my Blackberry.  I know it's irrational to get too attached to a phone, after all we trade them in just about every year or two, but I seem to have developed a emotional connection with this one. Unfortunately it has hit the point where it's either become emotionally unstable or there's a ghost in the machine (a figure of speech ~ no I don't really believe in ghosts). 

It was bad enough when the weather app started going crazy, but then other stranger things started happening.  First it was the random vibrating for no apparent reason, then it started vibrating with an added high pitch squeal...oh and an extra added attraction the red light on the front would blink on and off while it was happening.  It was annoying...especially when it would happen during a phone call...but still I hung on hoping it was just a temper tantrum.  Then stranger things started happening.  The most upsetting was the apparently random way it had of making text notifications...and there were no texts there.  This got very annoying, especially when it was happening several times an hour.  

Oh, and it would only do it with two tones...the ones I used most of course, for my husband and my daughter.

The final straw came two days ago when the battery started to go.  I would charge it up and then make a call or go on Twitter for a few minutes and it would drain the battery.  A few times it just shot straight to the red/empty battery icon and made another high pitched noise.

So I went to the phone store yesterday to see what could be done. The very nice lady was mystified by all the strange goings on. I was hoping she'd say something like "ah..that's your battery" but alas no.  The new battery would fix my power problems but she couldn't say it would fix my other problems.  She also said that it would cost enough that it wouldn't be worthwhile doing it.  It also turns out that at the beginning of next month my son is due for an update, so it looks like I'm going to use his update (which works out great since I have one coming up in November and that's when the phone he's looking to upgrade to next comes out).  So now comes the big question....which one to chose.  

I've decided not to get another Blackberry (which I've loved as most of what I like to do with my phone involves typing), and I have an iPod Touch so I'm familiar with what an iPhone would be like...but I've been wanting to try an Android since they came out with those great commercials two-three years ago (yes...big sci-fi fan here)  So it's looking like I have three weeks to figure out which Droid I want.  

I spent the morning eliminating apps from my Blackberry hoping to help it hang in there for three weeks.  Yes, I'm feeling guilty seeing all my old pals leaving, and a feeling akin to cheating on my phone with looking forward to trading it in for something else.  But I'm sure I'll get over it.  Now to decide....which one to get? 

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Back to the present...

In the end I got an iPhone.  I did enjoy Siri and set it to have a British Male accent and refer to me as *Professor Song*, Doctor Who fans will understand. These days I'm finally on my second Android and adore my phone again.  I even have it set so I just double tap the screen and Google Now perks up and asks what I'd like.  I wish I could set it for a British male voice, but alas no.  Still, I'm back to loving my phone. 

   

A Very Long Time!

I look back on how long it's been since I last wrote a post and I'm amazed!  It's been a very long time...since last year!  I've been quite ill in the past year, and for many months had weekly trips for treatment to the hospital.  Amazingly I did get quite a bit of crocheting done in that time.  I also got some reading done.  

At the moment I'm reading the Left Behind series, something I've wanted to do for a long time.  I started at the beginning of the summer and I'm reading the 5th (of 12) books right now called 

"Apollyon".  The series has had it's ups and downs, but all in all it's been pretty good.

I also just got a new cover for my Kindle.  I like it very much.  It's hard cover with faux leather and the cover has a magnetic closure so it "wakes" the Kindle when you open it.  I know it sounds like a small thing, and it is, but still when you open and close it many times a day, it can make a difference.

Kindle or "Real Book" part 2

As I knew I would, I've been thinking of other reasons to chose Kindle (or your favorite eReader or App) over "real books".

It gives you privacy to read what you want without other people knowing.  It's not that I read anything I'm embarrassed about...it's just that what I read is none of your business, unless I chose to tell you what it is.  Come on...admit it....you like your privacy too.

You can read them in the dark!!  Assuming that you've gotten past the earlier readers which weren't lit, pretty much everything you read on these days is, whether it's a Kindle, your phone, your tablet, are lit.  The pages of a book do not light up.  There are book lights...I think I had the first model.  Clip that sucker to a hardcover book and WOW that thing was heavy.  It had a cord and you could either plug it in or attach the cord to a battery pack that held 2 C batteries.  Like I said...it was the first one produced.

Samples!!  What could be better then having samples of the books you are thinking of reading delivered to you to read at your leisure?  I doubt there is a reader anywhere that doesn't like to book shop.  To go into either a book store or library, to browse and look at books.  But, the ability to bring a part of that book home with you is wonderful.  It also gives you a much better idea of what the book is about, the writers style, etc...then just reading the blurb on the back or dust jacket.

Odd ball books, Singles, Pamphlets and Documents....  I love reading all sorts of strange things.  Most are in my main areas of interest and I'd like to keep them, but that can become very difficult and hard to manage in paper form.  Some aren't even available in paper form.  How much easier it is to have them on my Kindle in the collection that applies to their special interest.  
Also don't forget all those indie books that would never be published that wander around different sites that would never see the light of day in the "real book" world.  

I'm a reader, not a collector.  It seems to me that what I keep hearing most from those that love print books is that they love the "feel and smell" of the book, but more then that, they love to be able to look and see them on the shelf. As a matter of fact I watched a video of a woman this evening that started with her ticking off all the ways in which eBooks are superior to print books, and even admitting that it seemed like eBooks had won; but then she turned around to the book cases behind her and said that for her, print books were better because they were great to look at.  And I have no problem with that, to each their own. That however would make them superior for book collecting not book reading.

  

  

Paper books or eBooks (or To Kindle or not to Kindle)....

The question of eBooks vs paper books is a hot topic among book lovers.  I've seen it discussed in blog posts, articles, forums and seen it talked about in videos.  There are regular posts about it on Facebook (and Twitter, Pinterest and Tumblr). The usual things mentioned are things like the feel, smell and tactile sensation of print books, enjoyment in having them on shelves and being able to look at them.  There is also the joy of things like fancy bookmarks and other "go-withs".  And I have to admit that there was a time when I would have agreed with all of these.  But that time has passed.  I've found that with age I've become more practical, and this is one of those areas where I've become extremely practical.

I have other reasons though to love my Kindle (and the Kindle apps on my phone and tablet)

Dust: I am allergic to dust and to be honest, I got to the point where I was sick of having to take allergy meds every time I wanted to read a book that wasn't newly bought, or borrowed from the library.  If I'd had a maid dusting all my books every day that might not have been a factor...but it was.

Size of print: I'm getting older...there I said it.  I like to have control over the size of print, and no I don't want to have to read ever larger books to get that print.  Think "Gone With The Wind" in large print...that could break your arm!  No thanks I'll take my tiny little Kindle Paperwhite and enjoy every word in comfort.

Syncing between devices:  I'm sitting down in my favorite chair and my Kindle is sitting on my desk in another room.  Drat.  Oh wait, I have my phone with me.  I turn it on, sync it and there I am on the very same page I left off.  Happy reading smile!

I'm disabled: Hate to have to admit it, but using a cane is no longer a choice.  So that cuts down on what I can take with me from place to place, even within the house.  So what's easier, a cane, cup of coffee and my Kindle (phone or tablet) or cane, cup of coffee and stack of books...good luck on not spilling that coffee.

You suddenly find yourself going somewhere....  Probably hasn't happened to most people as many times as it has me, but you're suddenly on your way to the ER.  Not sure if you'll be staying at the hospital, or coming back home in 10 hours (we live in a place where the ER is always crowded).  Wouldn't it be nice to have some small device to take with you that had plenty of reading material (see, reading comfort)

Unlimited book space:  We all have a favorite chair, a desk, a space where we find ourselves reading more then others.  As much as we might like it, those places don't have unlimited space for books and the other thing we surround ourselves with.  Kindle does.

Simplicity: Those who know me know that I've become fond, if not obsessed, with simplicity.  I've divested myself of large quantities of my personal belongings in the last few years, and yes that has included almost all of my physical books.  I highly recommend it, it's extremely freeing, and it's largely been made possible (at least the book part) by my Kindle.

So those are my reason's (at least for today) for using and loving my Kindle.  If you also love your Kindle (or other eReader) that's great.  If you prefer paper books, then have a great time with them.  To each their own.

  

   

Will The Real Hobbit Please Stand Up.

Lately I've been reading, a lot.  Which of course is a good thing!  At the moment I'm re-reading The Hobbit to try and get the atrocious movie "The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies" out of my head.  Think of it as brainwashing...but in a good way.  Like giving your hair a good double shampoo...but on the inside.

I am a huge fan of JRR Tolkien.  I have loved his books, reading and re-reading them for years.  And when the first of the Lord Of The Ring movies came out I wasn't all that thrilled. But then a good friend, who's also a fan, saw "The Fellowship Of The Ring" and assured me it was true to the book and wonderful.  So I watched it.  It was good.  There were changes here and there, but quite a bit of the original language and flavor of the book was there.  So I enjoyed it. I felt though that as the next two movies came out things changed more and more.  Also I was not a fan of Jackson putting himself and his children in the movies as *cameos*.  Hard to keep up the allusion of watching fiction when you suddenly saw them all over Middle Earth.

All in all though I've come to like the movies.  I see them as completely separate from the books.  Even to the point of having different boards on Pinterest, one for the movies and one for Tolkien.

Then news came out of him making The Hobbit into a movie.  At first I was happy enough about it.  I figured it would be much like The Lord Of The Ring movies.  Slowly it came out that it wouldn't be one movie (which was a shock since The Hobbit is a shorter book then any of the other three parts of the Trilogy).  Then came the word that it would be three movies!!  And that there would be characters in it that weren't in the book.  By the time I actually saw the movies I was very disappointed to find that the three movies bore little resemblance to the book I loved. 

I didn't enjoy either the first or second installments of the movies and absolutely hated the third.  I'm sorry to say that we have actual physical copies of them.  I don't want them and don't expect to watch them again.  They are little blue disks that remind me all movies should be purchased in physical form only after you've watched them five times digitally, and can't live without them.