"In a democracy (‘rule by mob’), those who refuse to learn from history will be the majority and will dictate that everyone else suffer for their ignorance."
*huh* .32 H&R snake shot: a legitimate use for an oft-neglected caliber handgun (hiking, backyard work after high creek waters—water moccasins, etc.). Limited usefulness (maybe rats, other very small varmints), but seems a decent use to put a collectible (~100-year-old) firearm designed and built for modern propellant that is in excellent condition. Otherwise, it’s pretty much just a plinker.
I have had fun reading a few LitrPG books a week (a fair percentage—maybe ~30%?—of the 10 or so books I read in a week are from this relatively new genre). The big appeal if getting inside thee heads of the writers, since almost all of them fall into a demographic that I have had little exposure to. *heh* Lil sidebar: this Olde Pharte surprised a fast food worker when I recognized his GamerSpeak™ and simply looked at him and said, “Gamer, eh?”
Oh, and filed under “Guilty Pleasures of Which I Should be Ashamed But Am Not,” I spend at least 25% of my time in the average LitRPG book marking it up with comments on errors. Almost universal crap editing of not-ready-for-publication writing. Yeh, yeh, I couldn’t write these things, but I can critique ’em. Shameful. . . that I’m not more ashamed of that than I am (which would be ANY shame at all. 😉 )
Well, it’s a hobby.
My fav of the LitRPG self-pubs are those from native Russian speakers/writers, even though the translations are sometimes a bit. . . rough. eh, maybe even a wee tad because the translations are sometimes a bit rough. English idioms and syntax are the most common problems. Still, even though the demographic the writer pool is drawn from may not be that of the average contemporary Russian people (well, not any more than US RPG gamers/writers are typical of the average American. . . though sometimes it seems they share a lot of common ground with typical 23-30-somethings. Sometimes), I still am able to get a feel for deep-seated psycho-sociological traits, and that is fascinating. What is even more fascinating, is that the attitudes of the Russian LitRPG writers, though less literate than 19th Century Russian authors (still more literate than most 21st Century American writers, IMO) are fairly consistent with earlier writers. Fascinating.
One thing that annoys me about roughly, well, almost all LitRPG writers is that they seem to have knowledge bases almost completely circumscribed by what they learned from gaming, thus, for but one recent example, a character “destroying” a bioweapons research center with a large ANFO bomb. No. In order to INCINERATE biological materials, and ANFO explosion must be VERY carefully designed and executed (and no, I will not discuss the construction and execution of such a thing. The NSA is listening, you know, and I do not want to be unjustly persecuted by the feds), and given the description in the book, the character had NO idea what he was doing even with a basic ANFO device. Ah, but maybe the writer feared his own government, so that might not be thee best example. ‘S’all right. There is a myriad of others. . . *heh*
(Then again, the writer/character uses a hydrogen bomb as having analogous destructive characteristics, so maybe allowing the writer an excuse isn’t warranted.)
1 Corinthians 8-10 offers a pretty wide range of responses to “food sacrificed to idols.” Why am I thinking about this? Well, Amazon engages in a number of shady practices, but perhaps the most concerning is the way it bends the knee to Chicom interests and practices (all forms of idolatry, worshiping at the feet of Mao and his corrupt practices, as it were, corruption as evil as Mohammed’s own). For but one example, if one submits a review of a product that Chinese Communist interests object to, one can be assured of being banned from submitting any further reviews.
So, the 1 Corinthians linkage concerns? If buying from and using a product from a corrupted source offends (lead astray, cause to sin—including oneself *heh*) one who is weaker in the faith, then one should not buy/use such a product from that source. If buying an otherwise useful product from a corrupt source does NOT offend one who is weaker in the faith, then it’s OK.
So, I bought a new, compact Bible that will fit nicely in my ADC vest to sub in for the miniature New Testament I carry in my shirt pocket. . . from Amazon. ¯\_(?)_/¯ Beats driving 80 miles round trip to a bookstore in a dying mall to buy the same product.
While I was quite aware of most of the drawbacks to eliminating our POTS line and relying only on cell phone service, most of the cons were actually moved to the already fairly full “pro” column when we decided to make the move. *heh* However. . . although service outages were still counted as possibilities in the “con” list, I did not rate that as very likely. Perhaps I should have. Cell outage simultaneously combined with dead Internet service: even less likely.
But here I am on a rainy morning with both, simultaneously. Naturally. Oh, well. It’s not as if I am without plenty of other things to occupy my time, eh? 😉
I’ll file this somewhere live when The Dark Ages end.
Been raining too much. (Yeh, flood warnings, but I don’t much care there. Can’t do anything about it, so. . .) EVERY time I have had a chance to mow (dried out enough). . . more rain. ended up with much of the lawn 10” high. Today? Brief window, giving Master Curmudgeon Emeritus, Bovine Scatology University, an opportunity to go off on mower ergonomics. Front yard: relatively small (~1/6 acre, IOW, pretty darned small), so gas push mower (because height is beyond what my very comfortable to use reel mower can manage). NATURALLY, the handle CANNOT be positioned at a comfortable level for use, so decades-long gripes from my back, knees (especially worst one), ankle and hip are all screaming at me to use a rider for such a small patch. Nope. Not with that hill on the north side, bubba. (Ways around the problem involve trespass. *heh*)
Oh, well. On break, now. I hope it doesn’t sttart raining before I get this wee patch finished.
Politics. #smh What leftard politicians and Hivemind Media Podpeople simply cannot understand is that their attacks on Trump’s cabinet picks are simply them digging the hole they are already in deeper. Take Kash Patel, for example. They cannot attack his record, because it is sterling. Did I say “sterling”? Nay, solid platinum. So? “Oh, yeh, let’s attack his demeanor and his attitude! That’ll do the trick! He just doesn’t fit with the FBI’s image and ethos.”
What they cannot see (because they are willfully blind) is that no rational, ethical, moral person approves of the ethos and image of the Felonious Barony of Iniquity. It is like Crabby Appleton: rotten to the core, and thus it should either be given an institutional purgative or completely razed to the ground.
I have Leveled Up several times in the “Achey-Breaky Body” game. I have dislocated a knee rolling over in bed and dislocated a hip by just laying there, unmoving.
And then there are those “rough patches” of clear, smooth, open floor. . . Dangerous when barefoot or in shoes that give good traction, ya know. Socks or smooth-soled slippers, dude. Less likely to trip over a stray cat hair.
And lest you think it’s all age-related, nope. Pretty much been this way my whole life, with the rare decade of well-coordinated, healthy, fit body wedged in.
Of course now, what with New Guy puppy* and all that, it’s fun working downfield past a VERY active Defensive Tackle; it’s challenging. . . *heh* (I dunno why he’s working so hard to take me down when he has rung his Doggy Door Bell to go out, but I guess that’s the game, eh? *heh*)
*At least, as a puppy, he needs about as much sleep as he does activity, so I do get a little bye on heading “downfield,” at times. 😉
I grew up as an Odd in a family of high-functioning Norms. There was generally about one chance in ten that things that struck me as hilarious would elicit as much as a chickle from my sibs. In their kindest moments, I was the recipient of the iconic “calf-at-a-new-gate” looks from them.
And so even today, I get my own laughs primarily from observing Norms. Primarily pity laughs, but I do find Norms amusing from time to time.
(Yeh, DSM-IV, the latest perversion of the DSM, was written to reclassify my norm, as for most Odds, from “eccentricity” to “disability” when it really just reveals the disabilities of Norms to view reality through a different lens.)
Looking back. . . all the falls, run-ins with cars (several rear-and-even side-enders while biking, for example on top of my own teenage driving experience—don’t ask *heh*) and. . . other things, I have outlived my own projected life expectancy by around 35 years. *heh* I attribute those decades mostly to my Wonder Woman (MINE!) and just God saying to Himself, “Nope. he’s only maybe half-baked.”
Of course. *rips rear view mirror off the windshield* Enough. I’ve got decent enough vision for my age (and a fairly recent pair of glasses to go with it). Keeping my head on a swivel, I think I’ll just direct most of my attention ahead, for now. Buh-bye, bygones. 🙂
[Virtual] Paperwork Reduction Act [Personal]: Eliminate ALL technical/instructional material in any language I am not/am no longer fluent in (decades of little use can do that, ya know. Sometimes the rust is just too extensive *heh*). Oh, heck, at this point, unless it’s unavailable in English, eliminate all instructional material that’s not in English. Life’s too short and storage space too limited to include technical instructions I do not need to have.
Besides, my command of French, German, Spanish, and Italian is more and more sketchy as time goes on and I have less and less use for them.