What’s on your mind?

[Clix Pix]

I have (more-or-less) adapted to reading newspapers online, and I tell myself, hey, now I don't have a bunch of actual papers to throw out/recycle each week the way I did when I still subscribed to the print versions..... I do find that, though, yes, I tend to skim through the online versions and don't really read everything and probably, most likely, due to that miss out on some articles and stories that I would have seen and in which I really would have been interested if I'd been reading the print version.

Books....now that's a different story! I have had iPhones and iPads for years and have downloaded a few books on them and have tried to read them that way, but, sorry, the experience just is NOT the same, and I still much prefer to have an actual hardcover or softcover/paperback print book in my hands to read.... In normal times I am a frequent patron at my local branch of my county's public library system, and in fact right now still have a pile of now-long-since-read books to return when eventually they reopen. In the meantime I've been reading various books that I'd purchased over time for one reason or another but then hadn't gotten around to actually picking up and enjoying. Eventually they will be donated to the library, too. When I run out of these, which won't be too much longer, Amazon will keep me happy with offering and selling me new reading material as long as is necessary. I just really do not like reading books on my iOS devices, much as I love the iPhone and iPad for everything else.

 

[D.T.]

For Mom's Day I bought the wife a hardback, printed copy of a book she wanted - her preference over digital

However, like I've mentioned, we love using the Notes app for our grocery list, it's better in several ways. All our news and information sources, any kind of recurring publications, etc., are all digital as well.

 

[Clix Pix]

When it comes to significant purchases, Paypal refunds have always been a bit more complicated for me than debit or credit cards.

I'd also say do not buy any tech from Amazon; if you have to return it opened, you're looking at least 3.5 weeks for a refund.

Hope everyone here is well.

So far I have had good luck with ordering external SSDs or HDDs from Amazon, both prior to and during this pandemic period, but I agree that ordering something like a computer or an iPad or iPhone would be a bit more risky. Ditto for ordering a camera or lens.

In my years of being an Amazon customer, I've only had to return items or request a refund twice. The first time was when they sent me the wrong product and the second time was when the product was in a glass jar and the jar shattered due to Amazon's apparent casualness in preparing the item for packaging/shipping. No issues either time with getting a refund. The first time I sent back the item and the second time, well, since it was not exactly returnable, no need to do so, and I got credited back to my account without any hassles.

 

[D.T.]

I'd also say do not buy any tech from Amazon; if you have to return it opened, you're looking at least 3.5 weeks for a refund.

I must really depend on the vendor, specific item and/or your account, I've purchased some tech from Amazon (I mean, we order a ton of everything), and I get a refund when the return package gets scanned (same day), or like 24 hours at worst case.

Oh I also meant to say, we always take an Amazon credit, so that might be a notable accelerator to getting a refund (for us, Amazon credit == cash).

 

[0388631]

I must really depend on the vendor, specific item and/or your account, I've purchased some tech from Amazon (I mean, we order a ton of everything), and I get a refund when the return package gets scanned (same day), or like 24 hours at worst case.

Oh I also meant to say, we always take an Amazon credit, so that might be a notable accelerator to getting a refund (for us, Amazon credit == cash).

I always buy from Amazon.com as the seller. Never had issues with credit or getting money back. Less than 12 hours a ticket for us.

 

[Gutwrench]

This pretty much sums up my work week so far.

 

[Clix Pix]

I always buy from Amazon.com as the seller. Never had issues with credit or getting money back. Less than 12 hours a ticket for us.

Yes, making sure that Amazon.com is the seller and the shipper/deliverer is key. One takes real risks when ordering from Amazon Marketplace, and although of course some sellers are perfectly reliable and responsible, others may not be so much so.

 

[0388631]

Yes, making sure that Amazon.com is the seller and the shipper/deliverer is key. One takes real risks when ordering from Amazon Marketplace, and although of course some sellers are perfectly reliable and responsible, others may not be so much so.

Sold by X and shipped by Amazon isn't bad either. Sold and shipped by X is bad, though. In any case, Amazon has them by the balls. I've had CSAs offer completely ridiculous solutions to tiny problems and I always have to make sure they understand I don't want their offer. "Take this $50 credit for this slightly damaged box item not worth $15." No thanks.

 

[kazmac]

All of the eternal refunds have been when I bought direct from Amazon. I do not want that much in Amazon credit, but glad to see they work for other people.

A nice thing yesterday, dreamt that I was outside and a blue jay landed on the sidewalk in front of me and started cawing in a calm way. I fed it peanuts and it came closer, remaining calm. I put my hand out and it hopped into my hand. It bobbed its head, cawed one more time and flew away.

I wish my reality was that sweet and peaceful.

Just glad mom and I are okay.

I hope everyone has a good day.

 

[S.B.G]

I'm learning how to stab myself in the eye repeatedly with a fork. Mine is less painful

I choose to learn Vim and LaTeX. I choose to learn Vim and LaTeX in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of my energies and skills, because that challenge is one that I am willing to accept, one I am unwilling to postpone, and one which I intend to win, and the others, too.

 

[D.T.]

Evening bike rides with the little G have been super fun, we've been getting to see some amazing sunsets, this is the intracoastal side of our neighborhood, posted one of these in the photos thread, but I think this one is even better, just the right timing where the sun was amplified by the clouds, just before starting to disappear behind the horizon ...

 

[D.T.]

@Zenithal In the car thread you asked about golf on that map I posted, I said, yep, home of The Player Championship at TPC (like Ron Burgundy, it's kind of a big deal ... ) Anyway, across the intracoastal, more or less right under the sun, is a small municipal airport - just to the left of the sun, you can see the control tower - quite a few big name golfers fly into it for The Players, right around tournament week, you start seeing the Gulfstreams (Hawker, Citations, whatever) coming in pretty regularly.

 

[yaxomoxay]

As odd as it is, those old enough to know the world before “digital” will understand, that there is something more than tangible to consuming an article from the traditional newspaper. The sight, the smell, the feeling and the words themselves all combine to an elaborate experience the analog human can appreciate. Together, that experience and those tangible associations coalesce to help us take in and absorb the news in a fashion that we can not only remember better, but feel good about it too.

This. This x1000. Without denying the many advantages of reading the PDF paper on my iPad Pro, it's just not the same.
I also have many memories linked to newspapers; my family consumed newspapers like there was no tomorrow. I still remember that every morning the owner of the neighborhood's newsstand delivered Il Corriere Della Sera, La Repubblica, La Gazzetta Dello Sport, Il Sole 24 Ore (Italian version of the FT), The Financial Times, and - depending on what happened in the world - the Herald Tribune (@Scepticalscribe remember this? I was very sorry when the NYT decided to rename it), and the Wall Street Journal. I still remember my parents reading the paper at the breakfast table, and my oldest brother (an avid news geek who was even worse than I am now!) reading La Gazzetta Dello Sport - a daily sport newspaper - in its pink paper. I remember reading La Gazzetta Dello Sport as soon as he was done with it, just to then skim over the more serious papers.
I also remember going at 3AM on Sundays hunting - with my brother - for freshly printed papers, just because we wanted to, often ending up back home (falling asleep reading then news virtually before the nation even woke up), or having a Cappuccino with Croissant. To this day, I find very few things more charming that being in a café (even starbucks if necessary), reading a physical newspaper.

(Side Note: there is nothing, and I mean nothing, that will teach you political argumentation as showing up at 4AM in one of the few open cafes in the city, surrounded by people that have nothing else to do other than discuss politics while drinking early AM cappuccinos/espressos, possibly after they had their last grappa. I still remember how merciless they were, no matter your age; if you made a political comment - often a derivative from an initial conversation about soccer - you were up for a long, tense, brutal, yet interesting and never violent discussion on the latest political events, from the first Gulf War, to the latest increase in taxes. One single slip, and they would destroy your point of view. I also vividly remember the blue collar workers, possibly off their shift, discussing as if they were university professors, making wild and interesting claims of historical nature, all pointing to this or that newspaper article as the basis of their arguments. It's in places like those where you learned the art of defending your own positions.)

Yep, the physicality of newspapers built many memories for me. I am sure that digital newspapers will build memories for lots of people, but those will not be my memories, if you know what I mean.

 

[Expos of 1969]

This. This x1000. Without denying the many advantages of reading the PDF paper on my iPad Pro, it's just not the same.
I also have many memories linked to newspapers; my family consumed newspapers like there was no tomorrow. I still remember that every morning the owner of the neighborhood's newsstand delivered Il Corriere Della Sera, La Repubblica, La Gazzetta Dello Sport, Il Sole 24 Ore (Italian version of the FT), The Financial Times, and - depending on what happened in the world - the Herald Tribune (@Scepticalscribe remember this? I was very sorry when the NYT decided to rename it), and the Wall Street Journal. I still remember my parents reading the paper at the breakfast table, and my oldest brother (an avid news geek who was even worse than I am now!) reading La Gazzetta Dello Sport - a daily sport newspaper - in its pink paper. I remember reading La Gazzetta Dello Sport as soon as he was done with it, just to then skim over the more serious papers.
I also remember going at 3AM on Sundays hunting - with my brother - for freshly printed papers, just because we wanted to, often ending up back home (falling asleep reading then news virtually before the nation even woke up), or having a Cappuccino with Croissant. To this day, I find very few things more charming that being in a café (even starbucks if necessary), reading a physical newspaper.

(Side Note: there is nothing, and I mean nothing, that will teach you political argumentation as showing up at 4AM in one of the few open cafes in the city, surrounded by people that have nothing else to do other than discuss politics while drinking early AM cappuccinos/espressos, possibly after they had their last grappa. I still remember how merciless they were, no matter your age; if you made a political comment - often a derivative from an initial conversation about soccer - you were up for a long, tense, brutal, yet interesting and never violent discussion on the latest political events, from the first Gulf War, to the latest increase in taxes. One single slip, and they would destroy your point of view. I also vividly remember the blue collar workers, possibly off their shift, discussing as if they were university professors, making wild and interesting claims of historical nature, all pointing to this or that newspaper article as the basis of their arguments. It's in places like those where you learned the art of defending your own positions.)

Yep, the physicality of newspapers built many memories for me. I am sure that digital newspapers will build memories for lots of people, but those will not be my memories, if you know what I mean.

Wonderful recollection of your youth. Ah, the Herald Tribune....when I was backpacking through Europe post university in 1982 the HT was my only link to what was happening around the world. As I was on a limited budget I rarely purchased it but often perused it at a local newsstand. It kept me in touch with my favourite sports teams and provided useful information such as whether there was trouble in the country I would be going to next etc.

I miss the days of lying on a sofa with an actual hardcopy of a good newspaper.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

This. This x1000. Without denying the many advantages of reading the PDF paper on my iPad Pro, it's just not the same.
I also have many memories linked to newspapers; my family consumed newspapers like there was no tomorrow. I still remember that every morning the owner of the neighborhood's newsstand delivered Il Corriere Della Sera, La Repubblica, La Gazzetta Dello Sport, Il Sole 24 Ore (Italian version of the FT), The Financial Times, and - depending on what happened in the world - the Herald Tribune (@Scepticalscribe remember this? I was very sorry when the NYT decided to rename it), and the Wall Street Journal. I still remember my parents reading the paper at the breakfast table, and my oldest brother (an avid news geek who was even worse than I am now!) reading La Gazzetta Dello Sport - a daily sport newspaper - in its pink paper. I remember reading La Gazzetta Dello Sport as soon as he was done with it, just to then skim over the more serious papers.
I also remember going at 3AM on Sundays hunting - with my brother - for freshly printed papers, just because we wanted to, often ending up back home (falling asleep reading then news virtually before the nation even woke up), or having a Cappuccino with Croissant. To this day, I find very few things more charming that being in a café (even starbucks if necessary), reading a physical newspaper.

(Side Note: there is nothing, and I mean nothing, that will teach you political argumentation as showing up at 4AM in one of the few open cafes in the city, surrounded by people that have nothing else to do other than discuss politics while drinking early AM cappuccinos/espressos, possibly after they had their last grappa. I still remember how merciless they were, no matter your age; if you made a political comment - often a derivative from an initial conversation about soccer - you were up for a long, tense, brutal, yet interesting and never violent discussion on the latest political events, from the first Gulf War, to the latest increase in taxes. One single slip, and they would destroy your point of view. I also vividly remember the blue collar workers, possibly off their shift, discussing as if they were university professors, making wild and interesting claims of historical nature, all pointing to this or that newspaper article as the basis of their arguments. It's in places like those where you learned the art of defending your own positions.)

Yep, the physicality of newspapers built many memories for me. I am sure that digital newspapers will build memories for lots of people, but those will not be my memories, if you know what I mean.

Terrific post.

And yes, I do remember the Herald Tribune.

Like you, I grew up with access to good newspapers on a daily basis, - both of my parents read them, and - while we were still at school (before university), they encouraged us to read them, discuss them, debate them, to articulate and express and defend a point of view, and to think about what we were reading.

Whenever my parents went away on their annual holidays, the housekeeping money was budgeted to include the purchase of the daily newspaper.

Later, when I became a postgrad and was teaching, I used to buy them myself, and always loved sitting in a corner of the university coffee shop, with a coffee and my paper. Anyone who wished to join me was always welcome, but the ensuing conversation tended to be dictated by whatever was in the newspapers, what the really good writers had penned that week.

Chatting over a coffee, newspaper spread out over a table, commenting on what a favourite writer has penned this week, qualitatively, is just not the same as spitting out a 240 character comment on Twitter (even when you like the piece and admire the writer and their mastery of prose and politics).

 

[circatee]

This only started happening about 4 years ago, AFTER a hip & mouth operation. Long story.
Alas, when it has attacked me, I have used Motrin. But, seems this week it has taken longer to ease.

I will try the Cranberry route. Thanks

I feel for you. I had that 21 years ago and it was mostly in one big toe/foot. Could barely put a sock on. They say cranberry juice helps. Drink it, don't soak your feet in it

 

[yaxomoxay]

Wonderful recollection of your youth. Ah, the Herald Tribune....when I was backpacking through Europe post university in 1982 the HT was my only link to what was happening around the world. As I was on a limited budget I rarely purchased it but often perused it at a local newsstand. It kept me in touch with my favourite sports teams and provided useful information such as whether there was trouble in the country I would be going to next etc.

Wonderful memories! It's incredible how physicality can spawn memories, and can even help us relieve moments that are long gone by. Perusing a newspaper at a newsstand - or in a café - is not the same as looking at the latest headline on the iPhone. Again, nothing wrong with reading news on the iPhone itself, but it's no memory because at the end of the day it's uneventful.

I miss the days of lying on a sofa with an actual hardcopy of a good newspaper.

As of the moment, I receive one physical weekly paper in the mail. It's in the form of a newspaper and not of a magazine so I have the pleasure of reading the paper as I want to at least once a week (or twice if it takes me a bit more to read the weekly). I will re-subscribe to the physical copies of the WSJ and my local papers as soon as I can (copies that I always bring to work and share with everyone as I place them in the break room).

 

[Expos of 1969]

This only started happening about 4 years ago, AFTER a hip & mouth operation. Long story.
Alas, when it has attacked me, I have used Motrin. But, seems this week it has taken longer to ease.

I will try the Cranberry route. Thanks

Good luck. If you are going to get gout every so often for reasons unknown, may as well have a few binges on red meat and wine to introduce a modicum of pleasure into the equation

 

[yaxomoxay]

Terrific post.

And yes, I do remember the Herald Tribune.

Like you, I grew up with access to good newspapers on a daily basis, - both of my parents read them, and - while we were still at school (before university), they encouraged us to read them, discuss, them, debate them, to articulate and express and defend a point of view, and to think about what we were reading.

Whenever my parents went away on their annual holidays, the housekeeping money was budgeted to include the purchase of the daily newspaper.

Later, when I became a postgrad and was teaching, I used to buy them myself, and always loved sitting in a corner of the university coffee shop, with a coffee and my paper. Anyone who wished to join me was always welcome, but the ensuing conversation tended to be dictated by whatever was in the newspapers, what the really good writers had penned that week.

Chatting over a coffee, newspaper spread out over a table, commenting on what a favourite writer has penned this week, qualitatively, is just not the same as spitting out a 240 character comment on Twitter (even when you like the piece and admire the writer and their mastery of prose and politics).

Wonderful... just wonderful.
Your last paragraph really hits the point, and I often wonder how the 24/7 schedule even for written news is changing our thinking in general.

 

[D.T.]

Whew!

In and out of my supply run pretty quickly this morning (took off shortly after my previous post). Very quiet, just a handful of cars, had my wipes (I carry a couple in with me), mask, like 5-6 people shopping, easy to go down completely vacant aisles, plenty of everything including a large meat selection. They even had TP, but we're plenty stocked up.

It's just a couple of miles south of us, but still a nice little drive, weather is amazing (top was of course down )

 

[LizKat]

I choose to learn Vim and LaTeX. I choose to learn Vim and LaTeX in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of my energies and skills, because that challenge is one that I am willing to accept, one I am unwilling to postpone, and one which I intend to win, and the others, too.

I'm totally impressed. If you have time left over, I have this spare room upstairs that I'm decluttering,,,, yeah decluttering one thing at a time when I even remember that that project's on my to-do list. So far that's been about four or five times a year, for about a decade.

On my mind: I tend to get around only to the to-do list items that I find appealing (not necessarily easy). But your post might give me a nudge... I just have to find some way to regard that decluttered room as valuable and appealing to me, instead of keeping on thinking it's just a chore. Sometimes I can get too focused on process, at the expense of remembering there was a point to the journey.

At this point I don't even care if I lie to myself to get that room decluttered. Maybe tell myself when it's done I can get a 2nd piano or a seriously NYC Szechuan Chinese takeout supper or something. Anything...

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I have only just learned today (yes, you never stop learning on the progress of the procession of your journey through life) that the measurement "a cup" as written in recipes emanating from the US, doesn't mean what we, in Europe, think of as "a cup".

Browsing recipes, (and my brothers and I share recipes - our conversations almost always cover both food and politics, usually history, and sometimes music and theatre - what you grow up with continues to have and hold a strong influence on your personal and cultural preferences, whether you choose to embrace them or reject them), when reading stuff such as meticulously measured and precisely described ingredients ("1 onion, diced, two minced cloves of garlic", or "two teaspoons of smoked, sweet, Spanish paprika....."), I used to always marvel at what I had thought was the surprisingly casual command that you use "a cup" of, say, cream, or yogurt.

And, I used to ask myself: "What cup?" does it matter? Tea cup, coffee cup? Is there a difference between these "cups"? Given that there is a difference between a teaspoon and a dessertspoon, and between a half litre, and 100mls, I wondered whether a "cup" was as gloriously imprecise as reading it from a European perspective suggests.

And then a chef, writing coronavirus lock-down recipes and recommendations, and cheats, tips, and cautions, cautioned that "in American recipes, an American cup is not what you think it is," and I thought to myself, uh-oh.

 

[AngerDanger]

Can anybody truly Solve Love Problem?

 

[Apple fanboy]

Can anybody truly Solve Love Problem?

If you find the right person there aren’t love problems. Just love.

 

[LizKat]

I have only just learned today (yes, you never stop learning on the progress of the procession of your journey through life) that the measurement "a cup" as written in recipes emanating from the US, doesn't mean what we, in Europe, think of as "a cup".

Browsing recipes, (and my brothers and I share recipes - our conversations almost always cover both food and politics, usually history, and sometimes music and theatre - what you grow up continues to have and hold a strong influence on your personal and cultural preferences, whether you choose to embrace them or reject them), when reading stuff such as meticulously measured and precisely described ingredients ("1 onion, diced, two cloves of garlic", or two teaspoons of Spanish paprika....."), I used to always marvel at what I had thought was the surprisingly casual command that you use "a cup" of, say, cream, or yogurt.

And, I used to ask myself: "What cup?" does it matter? Is there a difference between these "cups"? Given that there is a difference between a teaspoon and a dessertspoon, and between a half litre, and 100mls, I wondered whether a "cup" was as gloriously imprecise as reading it from a European perspective suggests.

And then a chef, writing coronavirus lock-down recipes and recommendations, and cheats, tips, and cautions, cautioned that "in American recipes, an American cup is not what you think it is," and I thought to myself, uh-oh.

Not only that, in the USA at least, "a cup" by liquid volume (8 ounces) is not the same a dry measure of 1 cup. The latter's physical measures usually have a flat top edge so one can fill the container and "level it off" with a knife to be precise, and the measures are often sold as a group of four, with 1/4, 1/3, 1/2 and 1 cup volumes. The liquid measures are usually glass or plastic, made to hold either 1 or 2 cups, and have markings for the ounces and lines to indicate what's 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 etc on one side of the container, and on the other 1/3 cup, 2/3 etc.

Liquid & Dry Measurement Conversion Chart

Liquid measures for cooking conversion chart, US measurements to metric to weights. Handy chart for converting and cooking recipes.

recipeland.com

Really for baking it's better to work with weights of the stuff so to switch to metric system... but in the USA unless we're professionals, most of us probably just suffer along with what happens using dry measures by volume.

Confession: "Close enough to good..." works some of the time anyway. I'm not much of a baker and have learned over the years how much by volume of stuff like uncooked rice to scoop into one of a set of little rice bowls that are usually stacked on my kitchen table anyway when I start to prepare some recipe. No wonder my nextgen kin's recipes don't come out quite like they expect when they're partway through the school of "watch one, do one, teach one".