Jump to content
DVDVR Message Board

Stuff. Not good. Not bad. Just...stuff.


Cristobal

Recommended Posts

Well holy fuck.

I think I just had a home invasion of sorts.

I was having trouble sleeping, and I had just given in and turned out the lights to try to force my brain to shut down and to let sleep happen. I must've dozed off because next thing that I know my dogs are going nuts, I hear my front door closing and a woman's voice trying to calm the dogs.

That's great and all, but the only people who live at this house is my wife and I, and my wife is in upstate New York right now.

I jump out of the bed and atart going down the hall to the living room front door area, all the while asking what is going on and who was there. I hear the door start to open again as I round the corner and turn on my living room light. It's a really thin, methed-out redneck woman, white and in her mid-to-late forties. She says "sorry sweetie" and starts backing out of the door.

I just sort of say loudly "what the fuck is going on?" and she is backing out the door. My smallest dog is barking at her and walking out the door towards the woman. I get to the door, grab the dog by the collar with one hand and shove the lady with my free hand. She falls down in a heap onto my front porch/landing area/whatever and then I just slam the door and scream that I am calling the cops.

I call 9/11 and give the dispatch the information and then I see what looks like a small truck driving off of my road. I then realize that a cop is going to be at my house in a minute and I am only wearing a pair of boxer briefs.

Cops just left and holy shit that was nuts. I must've went to sleep without locking the front door. The cop and I went outside and checked my car and it wasn't messed with. Trying to calm down. Now I need to figure out how to tell my wife that this happened.

Needless to say don't mention this on social media for a bit until I tell my wife. Don't want to unnecessarily scare her.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Amazon hasn't killed small, independent booksellers, it's just forced them to move online, just like eBay has done to countless businesses (like sports card stores). There are tons of booksellers operating under the Amazon Marketplace umbrella. Not gonna apologize for buying my used books there.

As for their interactions with authors, I can't speak with any authority. I know lots of authors are upset but I also know their main competitor - Apple - was breaking the law with their actions.

None of that has anything to do with used booksellers on the Barnes and Noble site listing crap they don't actually have and pissing me off.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tabe: You described the one really terrible thing about on-line booksellers, the "phantoms"... They don't actually posess any books, but are pretty adept at loading up hundreds of titles, some price things ridiculously high hoping to catch that one sucker who will pay $500 for a $50 book. Others just go with mid-range pricing, hoping you click. If you do, then they scramble to find the cheapest copy and have it drop shipped to you. ABE is pretty good about banning these vermin when there's a complaint, B & N, I can't speak for.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Evilwaldo, if you want to throw around remarks like "if you were a writer", then don't be surprised when a real one shows up and takes you to task. Writing is what I do for a living, if you doubt my credibility, it's likely that I've had more books published than you've had pieces of ass. Self-publishing, particularly self-publishing e-books is the resort of the talentless. Have I been "boned" by a publisher? A time or two I've gotten less than I thought I should have, but eventually royalties added up and made the payoff worthwhile.

 

FWIW: If you want to check out what I've done, visit the Internet Speculative Fiction Database and look up "John Pelan". I think my cv will pass muster as a professional who knows what I'm talking about.

 

BTW: If you're going to cite The Strand as a success story,, if might be prudent to disclose WHY they are a success... Pretty damn simple, they own the building that they are in and of course charge themselves far below market value for the space.

 

FWIW, I know quite a few self-publishers that are doing quite well.  You may like using a publisher but the future of the industry lies with self-publishing rather than the old large publisher model.

 

Most self-publishers keep their success quiet and groups of self-published authors are beginning to form to share their successes and build their business together.  You can take me to task for it but the industry is changing and has changed considerably over the past ten years. 

 

I used The Strand as a simple, five second example.  The Strand has been in their location for so long that I would be surprised if they did NOT own the building because leasing and overhead is part of what killed the large booksellers. 

 

I am hearing of many small bookstores that are clawing back after almost being pushed out of business when companies like B&N and Border's ruled the roost.  Right now B&N only survives because they decided to manage all of the college bookstores and partner with Starbucks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had to new get a new driver's license and photo and was at the local DMV.

When I was sitting there, this dude taps me on the shoulder.

"Yo, you know how to spell the word 'mannequin?'"

I spelled it for him.

 

Right when I was about to ask why he needed to know that, my number was called.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Evilwaldo, if you want to throw around remarks like "if you were a writer", then don't be surprised when a real one shows up and takes you to task. Writing is what I do for a living, if you doubt my credibility, it's likely that I've had more books published than you've had pieces of ass. Self-publishing, particularly self-publishing e-books is the resort of the talentless. Have I been "boned" by a publisher? A time or two I've gotten less than I thought I should have, but eventually royalties added up and made the payoff worthwhile.

 

FWIW: If you want to check out what I've done, visit the Internet Speculative Fiction Database and look up "John Pelan". I think my cv will pass muster as a professional who knows what I'm talking about.

 

BTW: If you're going to cite The Strand as a success story,, if might be prudent to disclose WHY they are a success... Pretty damn simple, they own the building that they are in and of course charge themselves far below market value for the space.

 

FWIW, I know quite a few self-publishers that are doing quite well.  You may like using a publisher but the future of the industry lies with self-publishing rather than the old large publisher model.

 

And exactly what do you mean by that?

 

Most self-publishers keep their success quiet and groups of self-published authors are beginning to form to share their successes and build their business together.  You can take me to task for it but the industry is changing and has changed considerably over the past ten years. 

 

Oh, the secret cabal of self-made millionaires that litter the Internet with their unedited tripe.

 

I used The Strand as a simple, five second example.  The Strand has been in their location for so long that I would be surprised if they did NOT own the building because leasing and overhead is part of what killed the large booksellers. 

 

You used a silly example.

 

I am hearing of many small bookstores that are clawing back after almost being pushed out of business when companies like B&N and Border's ruled the roost.  Right now B&N only survives because they decided to manage all of the college bookstores and partner with Starbucks.

 

You are hearing what, voices in your head? I made the mistake of thinking that you actually wanted to learn something about how the industry works, but I see that you are fully in the camp of the witless masses that think they will be "discovered" by putting unedited tripe on-line.

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

During the early Ted Turner owned days of CNN, they prepared a video to air in case the end of the world was confirmed.

Because Ted Turner.

http://jalopnik.com/this-is-the-video-cnn-will-play-when-the-world-ends-1677511538

Can never be too prepared for a Lions Super Bowl victory.

Fuck. This. World.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On a different note, for the first time in my life, I actually did the whole No Shave November thing. I shaved my usual slightly more than stubble growth off on Halloween to go as Kristoff from Frozen (my daughter was Elsa and my girlfriend was Anna). So I let the thing grow all throughout November. That was the longest I've let a beard grow because it never grows in that thick. Then I went all through December without shaving. In pictures and stuff, I actually looked like I had a full beard, but it was growing in all fucked up. Along my jawline my beard kept wanting to curl back toward my ear, but it could easily move so that it was sticking straight out. If I didn't wear a nice floppy stocking cap, I would have looked like a homeless person. And let's be honest, I probably still did.

 

Today I had enough, but I didn't want to shave it off. I also didn't know the first thing about trimming. I gave it my best shot and it doesn't look totally fucked up, so I'll consider that a victory.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

During the early Ted Turner owned days of CNN, they prepared a video to air in case the end of the world was confirmed.

Because Ted Turner.

http://jalopnik.com/this-is-the-video-cnn-will-play-when-the-world-ends-1677511538

Can never be too prepared for a Lions Super Bowl victory.

Fuck. This. World.

 

Sorry man. :(

 

 

 

During the early Ted Turner owned days of CNN, they prepared a video to air in case the end of the world was confirmed.

 

Because Ted Turner.

 

http://jalopnik.com/this-is-the-video-cnn-will-play-when-the-world-ends-1677511538

Can never be too prepared for a Cubs World Series victory.

 

 

I was going to go with the Cubs, but went with something a little more current in the Lions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Woke up today, and the Central Heating wouldn't switch on. The pressure in my boiler was too low, apparently. Wasn't until after work that it occurred to me that there might be something on the internet that tells you how to repressurise your boiler. And there was.

 

Plumbers probably hate the internet. They most likely used to charge fifty quid a time to do something simple like that. And now it's free~!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have to leave my car outdoors during the workday.  On Monday and Tuesday it was cold.  On both those days, when I got back to my car, the lock on the drivers' side was frozen (meaning I could put the key in the lock but couldn't turn it) but I was able to get in through the passenger side, probably because the sun was hitting that side of the car during the day.

 

Today it's the coldest it's been all week.  Apparently the easiest way to open your car if your locks are frozen is to heat up your key.  So I'm going to buy a cigarette lighter just in case.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have to leave my car outdoors during the workday.  On Monday and Tuesday it was cold.  On both those days, when I got back to my car, the lock on the drivers' side was frozen (meaning I could put the key in the lock but couldn't turn it) but I was able to get in through the passenger side, probably because the sun was hitting that side of the car during the day.

 

Today it's the coldest it's been all week.  Apparently the easiest way to open your car if your locks are frozen is to heat up your key.  So I'm going to buy a cigarette lighter just in case.

Liking this due to your suggestion on heating the car key with a cigarette lighter.  That is one of those, "why didn't I think of that before" moments.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just don't try to heat the lock of your petrol cap with it :)

 

Pouring hot water onto the lock works. WD-40 works better, because hot water eventually becomes cold water and then ice, so you've basically frozen the lock for tomorrow. Whereas WD-40 drives moisture out and also lubricates the lock to make it easier to turn for a bit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just don't try to heat the lock of your petrol cap with it :)

 

Pouring hot water onto the lock works. WD-40 works better, because hot water eventually becomes cold water and then ice, so you've basically frozen the lock for tomorrow. Whereas WD-40 drives moisture out and also lubricates the lock to make it easier to turn for a bit.

Yeah, I've done the WD-40 thing. It just doesn't do a whole lot of good when you wake up the next day and realized you locked the car and forgot you left the only can you have on the passenger seat.

 

Whoopsie!!

 

I ended up walking to the nearest store and picked up 3 more cans. I sure as hell could have used the key heating idea that day.

 

To be fair, it was dark when I got off of work and it was along tiring day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Came in to work today to find out that only the two people that I actually would consider friends here both got new jobs and will be putting in their 2 weeks notice today.

 

I'm happy for both of them, as their new jobs are so much better than the hellhole we all work at now, but I'm secretly throwing a pity party for myself and how much more awful work is going to be now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...