Some Blog Site

Some people have noted that certain icons on computers and phones don’t hold as much meaning anymore, or the original things aren’t around anymore. Such as the floppy disk icon for saving a file, when no one uses floppy disks anymore. In that spirit, here are some other things that becoming outdated.

• I heard someone use the phrase “don’t let your mouth write a check your body can’t cash”, meaning you’d better be able to backup what you say with what you’re able to do. But only old people use checks anymore. Three of my kids have checking accounts, but really they are debit card and Venmo accounts, as none of them ever got an actual checkbook with checks to write. I’m not sure modernizing the phrase would help though, it just doesn’t sound right – “don’t let your mouth send someone cash you don’t have, through an app”.
• I asked my kids the old joke just to see what they’d say: “How do you stop a rhinoceros from charging?”
  The old answer used to be “Take away his credit card”
  The new answer “Take away his USB cord”
  Honestly, I think the new answer is just as funny as the old one.
• This one is not a saying, but is in a similar situation. No one has to remember phone numbers anymore. Back in the day, you had to dial people’s numbers every time you called them, so after a few times of that you had it memorized. But now no one does that anymore. I couldn’t even tell you my kids’ phone numbers. They can tell you mine, because their elementary school made sure they knew their address and parent’s phone number. But I was heartened to realize that the skill of memorizing phone numbers has not gone away, it just changed from phone numbers to Wifi passwords. Between grandparents’ houses and aunts’ and uncles’ houses, they end up memorizing a variety of random numbers and letters. Even our own Wifi password they have memorized just because of the number of times they’ve had to tell other people it.

I had to call customer service last week (can’t cancel any services easily online, must give someone a chance to talk you out of it first) and thus spent some time on hold.

It was the standard stuff – a bit of music, then the music stops and gives you a rush of hope that you will be speaking to someone now, only to find out the music stopped so they could play you a recorded announcement, then the music resumes.

In this case, half the announcements were the line “Your call is important to us” and then something about the order in which they take the calls.

I got to wondering about the phrase “your call is important to us”. And I think that is the wrong priority for a company to have. I don’t want them to value my call, I’d rather have them value me. It’s like they’re causing trouble just so I have to call them, because my call is important to them.

I want a company that prioritizes my satisfaction as being important to them.

I want a company that prioritizes getting things right so that customers don’t have to call them.

I do not want a company that prioritizes my calling them as being important to them.

What I would rather hear is “we are sorry you had to call us”.

But the worst thing to hear is information about how I should be using their app or website instead of calling them. Dear companies, my calling you is the last resort. I have already tried your online services and they told me I can’t do whatever it is online and I must call. Or my thing is not an option. Or I got an error. All the people on the phone fall into either that category, or the category of not liking online things or computers in general and so they’d have to call you anyway to have you walk them through it. Don’t pretend that your call numbers will go down if you just tell people about your website – put that effort into making your online options better.

Here are some more mini reviews of books. I’m going in order of when I read them.

First up: A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

This was recommended to me by someone who said it was one of his favorite books, or one of the best books he’d ever read, or something like that. Highly recommended. I dont know where I’d place it on my rankings, but it did not disappoint.

I have not seen the movie Forrest Gump, but I have seen Mr. Holland’s Opus which I think is the same style of story. And I would put this book in that category. There is the style of story that is a “slice of life” but this is not just a slice, we follow the main character through the majority of his life. There is not really a plot, until later in the book. I’ve seen Napoleon Dynamite, so I know how sometimes a thing without a plot might be annoying or useless, but in this case it is not missed.

Next up: The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

I had read one of Mr. Beagle’s later books last year, and I quite enjoyed it. I was browsing the library and found this book by him, which happens to be one of his earlier works.

This was a bit different in the writing style, but it is the only book I can think of where I kept reading it for the writing and not the story. The story was fine, but it was secondary to the writing. Two bits stood out to me, then one more caught my attention.

The first one was the phrase “wind that tasted like nails”. I thought it was a good way to describe things. Made me stop and think about it, what the air was like. I have inadvertantly tasted nails, via the standard method of holding a nail in one’s mouth whilst arranging the nailee in place.

The second phrase was about a lady who was no longer in the flower of her youth, and Mr. Beagle described her as having “gone to seed”. That one also made me stop and think about what flowers do after their blooms are spent.

And then one more that caught my attention, not because of how it made me stop and think – because it didn’t – but rather because it had been used (albeit slightly modified) as the title of a recent movie.

“Everything,” he answered her, “everything, all at once.”

And I searched the internet for “everything everything all at once” to see this book is credited as the origin of that phrase, and the internet seemed intent on showing me only results for the movie. And then I put quotes around the phrase so it would search only for that phrase, and it said there were no results. So I’m putting the phrase “everything, everything all at once” here in this blog post so that the internet will be able to report that the phrase originated in the book The Last Unicorn.

And the Red Bull is a character in this book, years before there was a company by that name. But I’m not going to try to take on the internet for that one.

Next up: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Given the hype around the movie, I knew approximately what the book was about. But having seen only the trailers and not the whole movie, I didn’t know much about what actually happens in the story. It was generally fine, but it was more adult-oriented than I expected, and also darker in some parts. Certainly not recommended for kids.

Next up: The Icebound Land by John Flanagan

I was a big fan of the original Ranger’s Apprentice book, and would recommend that to just about anyone. The sequel was similar. In this third book, however, I noticed some worse language creeping in, in the form of mild oaths and epithets. And some other things made me peg this as a PG-13 rating, compared to just PG for the previous two.

And just like book 2, this book also ends with a non-ending, so that you’ll have to read book 4.

Last up: The Unwanteds by Lisa M. Mann

I don’t remember how I found this book, but I liked it. It was almost the perfect middle-grade fiction book, as it had only a hint of romance and cartoon-type violence. The “almost” comes into play near the end of the book when the violence changes from cartoon to actual.

slight spoiler alert
There are two deaths on screen
and two off screen
end spoiler alert

It is a series, but I am not starting book 2 because book 1 ended well enough that I can leave it there.

That’s it for this review. More book reviews coming up later this year.

Here are some more mini reviews of books. I’m going in order of when I read them.

First up: Ranger’s Apprentice by John Flanagan

I have had this book on my shelf for quite a while. Beta liked this book back in early middle school and now he’s in college and I finally read it.

Great book. It’s right in my wheelhouse as far as types of stories go. It was good enough to stand on its own but, like most things these days, it is the first of a series. And not just a trilogy, it has several books. I read this first book – the Ruins of Gorlan – and then read the second.

The first book you could read by itself and probably be content with it. But the second book absolutely does not allow for that, as it has a cliffhanger ending that might as well have “To Be Continued” on the last page.

Next up: How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell

I read someone else’s list of books they liked and this was on it. I had already seen the movie and wasn’t planning on reading the book, but that inspired me to try it

It’s a really quick read. It was not my style, the way it was written. It’s a lot more casual in the language and the way the story is told. Maybe what some people would call the voice of the author. It wasn’t bad, just not my cup of tea.

It was also apparent to me that the movie was a loose interpretation of the book. If you like the movie, don’t think to yourself that you’ll automatically like the book.

It wasn’t as different from the movie as The Iron Giant was – that one I think the movie studio just bought the name and ignored most of the book.

Next up: The Green Ember by S.D. Smith

I think the same list of books that inspired me to read How to Train Your Dragon also had this book in it. I haven’t read Watership Down because of its length, so when I saw this one I thought of it as a lightweight alternative to Watership Down. I can’t tell you how it compares to Watership Down because I still haven’t read that one.

But this one was fine – a very rabbity adventure. There are more books in the series, but I didn’t get into it that much that I felt like going on in the series.

Next up: Tripods by John Christopher

A different person mentioned this book in passing, and I looked it up and saw it was the type of book I might like, so I tried it. It was one book, then he wrote two more later to make it a trilogy, then he wrote a prequel.

I read the first book, and I got through it faster than I was expecting. I’m guessing it was written for a slightly younger audience than my usual picks. So then I decided I might as well read the rest of the trilogy. But I decided against the prequel. I’m not ruling it out entirely, but the trilogy is fine without it.

It often gets compared to War of the Worlds, and that’s a fair comparison as far as a one-sentence overview is concerned. The details are different, and the point of view is different, and the plot is different, and the style of writing is different. So don’t judge it too much if you’ve already read War of the Worlds.

Last up: Fawkes by Nadine Brandes

This one took a while to get through, and I’m still trying to figure out why. It was an interesting premise, and there were some slight plot twists that kept it fresh.

I think it was because there was too much angsty questioning by the main character that kept slowing the book down for me. I did get through it, and it did redeem itself by the end. And it did not leave me wondering about a book two or three because it had a strong ending.

The author does have some other books I might try; I’m curious if it’s her writing style in general that got in my way, or just this particular character in this particular story.

That’s it for this review. More book reviews coming up later this year.

This last week, when the nights have gotten much cooler while the daytime temps are still warm, I noticed a change in the various critters around the property. So I decided to take some pictures and share them with you, dear readers.

First up: a snake. Typical garter snake, but I bring it up now because I haven’t seen many snakes all summer but I saw three this last week. I’m assuming the snakes are out now because they need the sun. The nights are getting colder, so the cold-blooded snakes wake up groggy and when they see a sunny patch they go for it so they can absorb some heat.

It reminds me of maple trees in the spring, in that the sap runs when the nights are cool and the days are warm.

Next up: a cricket. I don’t know what caused the crickets to make their appearance recently, but there were a bunch of them. I didn’t get a good picture of them in the grass, but this one posed nicely on a concrete block.

Next up: a frog. Frogs haven’t recently made their appearance after being absent all summer, because I have noticed them since spring when the peepers announce themselves. And after the summer rains when they like to cross the driveway for some reason.

And now: a wasp. I did not get a good photo of this, because it was flying at me and I had been stung by a member of this nest the previous day. It’s the blur in the middle of the photo. The nest is in the ground, under the log. I found it accidentally when I was trying to clean up a log pile. They let me know they were unhappy that I was disturbing their nest. Only one of them stung me. The next day I walked carefully up to the spot and saw where they were flying in and out. They didn’t notice me until I started taking a picture, so just after I snapped this I ran away.

Last photo: a praying mantis. Actually a praying mantis and a wasp, but the wasp doesn’t really count because it is the mantis’ dinner. I was picking blackberries, and heard a buzzing sound to me right. I looked over to see where the wasp was, and I found the wasp in the clutches of the mantis, who was chewing away on the wasp. The wasp was waving his legs, trying to get away, but he was not going anywhere. Smart mantis, hanging out at the food source of his food source.

Honorable mention: hummingbirds. We haven’t noticed them all summer, but now we’ve been seeing them hanging out around our crabapple tree. Maybe just coincidence. I hear them as much as see them, with their loud, low buzzing wings. I don’t even try to get a picture of them, because they’re here and then gone faster than I can get my phone out.

Honorable not-mention: woolly bears. We haven’t seen any woolly bears yet. Should be soon though.

Here are some more mini reviews of books. I’m going in order of when I read them.

First up: Eruption by Michael Crichton and James Patterson

I wanted to try something other than middle-grade fiction for a change, and this book caught my eye at the library.

It was a decent book but it was a little too far-fetched for my tastes. I have no problem with far-fetchedness in general – a lot of the fiction I read is not realistic (see “The Rithmatist” below, or any number of the fantasy/sci-fi stuff). My problem is this book was written to be realistic but it wasn’t.

I’ve seen both the Volcano and Dante’s Peak movies (tip: watch Volcano and skip Dante’s Peak). Same concept, came out at the same time, but I prefer Volcano because it wasn’t as cliche and also didn’t have a romance angle.

Anyway, this book seemed to do too much – it was action plus suspense plus a volcano plus a worldwide health disaster. It could have worked but it seemed generally too shallow. Plus the resolution of the problem was rather abrupt, unlikely, and made it seem like they ran out of ideas and just wanted to end the book.

This was a draft started by Crichton and then completed by Patterson well after Crichton’s death. I wasn’t sure how much of it was Crichton and how much was Patterson so I decided to get a book that was Crichton only – see Pirate Latitudes next.

Next up: Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton

Flipping through Crichton books at the library, this was the one that looked most interesting by its cover and blurb inside the cover. I checked it out and read it and only after finishing it did I realize this one was not published during his lifetime. With no one else listed as co-author I have to assume it was all Crichton, not sure if he would have changed anything had it been published while he was alive.

I would say this one is not worth reading, mainly because of the adult content. If you watched the Pirates of the Caribbean movies then you cover most of the plot points of this book. But the book adds a lot more bawdiness.

Next up: Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

Disclosure: I didn’t read this book. I am putting its review here so you’ll know why I didn’t read the book. My wife read the book and said I wouldn’t like it.

It apparently has a lot of objectionable material. It sounded like an interesting premise and I would have like to read it, but I didn’t want to read all that other stuff like “romance” and bad words. So I don’t know how well the premise was implemented, but it doesn’t matter because it was marred by so many problems that didn’t have to be there.

And that’s why I stick with middle-grade fiction.

Next up: Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu

Ok, so I should have said I mostly stick with middle-grade fiction. My wife picked up this book, and I had seen the trailers for the TV show based on it, so I was interested enough to try it.

It started off well. My wife may have looked over at me a couple times to see what I was laughing at. But as the book went on it was no longer funny and more sad. I don’t regret reading the book but my thoughts on it were underwhelming enough that my wife skipped reading it. And much of it is written as a script, so it takes a little getting used to.

Last up: The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson

I was looking for another Brandon Sanderson book, but our library didn’t have it in stock. Not feeling like putting it on hold and waiting for it to come in, I grabbed one of his books that was on the shelf and that looked interesting to me.

The idea of the book, as portrayed on the opening flap, looked good. Once I started reading it, it was a bit much. I was not a fan after a few pages, I didn’t feel like learning another world setting. I don’t think the author did anything wrong – I just wasn’t in the mood.

But I stuck with it and after a few chapters it was worth it. It ended up being a very good book and I would have recommended it with no qualms, except that it is the first book of a series and no other books exist yet. And it’s been many years so at this point I don’t know that we’ll see the sequel(s).

I still recommend it, just with an asterisk that if you like it then you’ll be disappointed that the story is unfinished. The book is mostly self-contained, but it ends with a major plot point open.

That’s it for this review. More book reviews coming up later this year.

There’s a scene in the movie Wall-E where the guy is explaining that after so many generations in space, human bodies experience loss of bone density – some skeletal changes. If you’re not using something, it wastes away. Like if you’re bedridden for a while, your muscles atrophy.

Here’s a still from the movie. If you’re looking for it, it’s at time 48:17 into the movie, if you’re looking at the progress bar in Disney+.

And each time technology progresses, there’s a study that shows how humans are using their brains less. For example, everyone used to know many phone numbers. Now with cell phones doing all the remembering for you, people don’t know anyone’s phone number anymore. I know my wife’s phone number because she’s had that number before smartphones existed so I had to know it. But I don’t know any of my children’s phone numbers because I never have dialed their numbers. Since phones remember things for people, people are losing their memorization capability.

Phone numbers was an early indicator. Next thing that comes to mind is navigation. People used to be able to read maps. Now they just know how to follow the line and the instructions that come up on the screen. Being the navigator in the car these days means selecting the destination on the nav unit, not actually knowing where you are. So people are losing their navigation/direction/way-finding abilities.

Now with AI doing a lot of things, people are losing those abilities too – writing essays, putting thoughts together, putting lists together, drawing pictures of themselves as Star Wars characters, etc. More skill atrophying. But at least we humans are retaining the ability to identify all stoplights and crosswalks in various photos, thanks to captcha for honing those skills.

I’m sure there are some more examples, but that’s just what I came up with quickly. The point of this blog post is not to make a list of everything that’s atrophying, rather I just wanted to show the results of all such degradation in the style of Wall-E.

Here it is:

That’s all really. Keep using your brain – exercise it – so that you don’t lose functionality.