Random Rants LXXXVI: OH, FUDDLE-DUDDLE!

[Timsup2nothin]

So is Tim using his quarantine time to work on the autobiography?

The quarantine actually has very little impact on me, other than keeping pesky people that I have a hard time saying no to from calling me for jobs.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

The quarantine actually has very little impact on me, other than keeping pesky people that I have a hard time saying no to from calling me for jobs.

Which would increase your amount of free time

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Which would increase your amount of free time

True. Since time is never really free, when I write this autobiography what would you think would be a fair price? Digital format, no refunds or exchanges.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

For genuinely enjoyable memoirs I have found that comedians are the best bet.

And science fiction authors, as long as they aren't Kevin J. Anderson, Dennis Bailey, or Christopher L. Bennett (three of the current genre's most boring, most egotistical people I've ever interacted with online). Everyone here knows my opinion of KJA, Bennett is a Star Trek pro novelist who writes novels so boring I lasted about a page and a half - and it was a time travel story and I love time travel... and Bailey's claim to fame is writing two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, neither of which I liked. He actually thinks he's better than Frank Herbert.

On the other hand, I've read Isaac Asimov's autobiography twice - and it comprises three large volumes. Frederik Pohl's autobiography is interesting, particularly if you're interested in the business end of being a science fiction author, as Pohl is known as an editor and agent, as well as a writer. And Judith Merrill's biography is excellent as well. You know how so many Americans say they're moving to Canada if they don't like how the American elections turn out? She actually did that, and we're happy to claim her as one of our writers.

Fun fact: Judith Merrill and Frederik Pohl were married for awhile (he had 5 wives and was married to the fifth one at the time I met and chatted with him in Calgary). One thing about that encounter that comes to mind since we've been talking about generation gaps in another thread is that she was about 30 years younger, and when she and one of my roommates came into the room where we were finishing our chat, he said, "Well, gals, I gotta go to another panel now"... and his wife was left fuming and indignant because he called us "gals." I explained to her that it's how women were sometimes addressed way back when, and he really didn't mean it in a bad way (I'm surprised she wasn't used to it by that time, or maybe they hadn't been married very long yet... ).

I dropped a nearly-full jug of mmililk on the floror and the plalplpstic split and it broke and all the milkc camem otu I cnant't I cant;t do an ynthting rigjt Stupdi stupid stupid stupid waste

dammit

Can you get powdered milk? It can be a bit pricey, but on the plus side, you don't need to worry about spilling anything other than the glass or bowl you've made it in.

This is what your mom hoarded for.

Her mom didn't hoard milk, I don't think.


My grocery order arrived. How anyone could hear "swiffer dusters" and send me the wet floor mop pads is beyond me. I want to dust my shelves, not mop them.

 

[Birdjaguar]

He's likely to leave me behind a Wendy's somewhere.

Conveniently, they are building a Wendy's right down the street from me.

@Synsensa Stay out of SoCal.

 

[Cutlass]

The quarantine actually has very little impact on me, other than keeping pesky people that I have a hard time saying no to from calling me for jobs.

Not much impact on me so far either. I won't be working less hours because of it. I'm just hoping to avoid working more hours because of it.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Can you get powdered milk? It can be a bit pricey, but on the plus side, you don't need to worry about spilling anything other than the glass or bowl you've made it in.

It tastes terrible though and with my prior Extremely Successful Attempts at Cooking™, I'd probably mess up the preparation

 

[Valka D'Ur]

It's deliveries that are the problem here. I'm trying to persuade the manager to put a table in the outer lobby so people don't have to go through the security door to drop stuff off (naturally they'd have to make sure the person it's for is there when they do this, so it doesn't get stolen). I suspect this may be the only way I'll ever get another prescription delivery, unless I switch pharmacies. There is a table inside the security door but the delivery person is too scared to come inside (even though the staff is constantly cleaning the public areas and she could bestir herself to put on gloves or even wash her hands).

 

[JohannaK]

True. Since time is never really free, when I write this autobiography what would you think would be a fair price? Digital format, no refunds or exchanges.

I think the only fair thing is to allow access for free and let the reader choose what they want to pay.

 

[Synobun]

@Synsensa Stay out of SoCal.

Worry ye not, Senor Trump is putting troops on the border to prevent exactly that.

 

[Birdjaguar]

I think the only fair thing is to allow access for free and let the reader choose what they want to pay.

I think a fixed price is better unless one's goal is charity work. Good stories sell so begin with that.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

I think the only fair thing is to allow access for free and let the reader choose what they want to pay.

This cuts heavily against my car salesman grain and experience. Whenever someone came on the lot armed with some "consumer reports tells me that the dealership paid ______ for this car" we would ask them what they thought would be a fair profit on that and they would invariably say something like fifty or a hundred bucks. So since we sold about 200 cars a month they thought it would be "fair" for us to support about thirty employees and maintain several million dollars worth of inventory for them to pick from on ten to twenty grand a month. We'd walk them through those numbers and just say "can't do it" and every time they would shift to "make more profit on someone else." Conclusion, customers have zero interest in actual fairness.

 

[JohannaK]

I see my ploy to read Tim's memoirs for free has unraveled.

 

[Cutlass]

I see my ploy to read Tim's memoirs for free has unraveled.

Just read back every post he' s made here. You'll get enough of it.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Just read back every post he' s made here. You'll get enough of it.

Mere teasers my friend, mere teasers.

 

[Takhisis]

Conveniently, they are building a Wendy's right down the street from me.

>[ACTION] Kill Syn now
>[DIALOGUE] Tell us more
>[TEQUEST] can I have ice-cream?

This cuts heavily against my car salesman grain and experience. Whenever someone came on the lot armed with some "consumer reports tells me that the dealership paid ______ for this car" we would ask them what they thought would be a fair profit on that and they would invariably say something like fifty or a hundred bucks. So since we sold about 200 cars a month they thought it would be "fair" for us to support about thirty employees and maintain several million dollars worth of inventory for them to pick from on ten to twenty grand a month. We'd walk them through those numbers and just say "can't do it" and every time they would shift to "make more profit on someone else." Conclusion, customers have zero interest in actual fairness.

And still after that you decided to do something less immoral and do bank jobs? I just need to preorder your memoirs.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

And still after that you decided to do something less immoral and do bank jobs? I just need to preorder your memoirs.

I have frequently said "so I took an ethical step in the right direction and took up robbing banks."

You can make a very safe bet that that line will be in there somewhere.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

It tastes terrible though and with my prior Extremely Successful Attempts at Cooking™, I'd probably mess up the preparation

If you have chocolate or strawberry powder or syrup, it would taste okay (not as good for you, but your taste buds would like it better). And since you don't have to cook it, nothing would explode.

 

[Takhisis]

I have frequently said "so I took an ethical step in the right direction and took up robbing banks."

You can make a very safe bet that that line will be in there somewhere.

The only form of payment left to me at the moment is bitcions. Do you take those?

 

[Timsup2nothin]

By the time they are published you will be running one of my illicit businesses in Belize and wondering what to do with all the money.