Water Cooler Chit Chat

[marshwiggle]

You can't hardly sell those old Condensed Books anymore.  Books By the Foot, which sells books in bulk to people who need help filling up their shelves (Incredibly enough, there seem to be such people), lists old Condensed Books at $29.99 per foot--for good-quality ones.  It seems to be their least expensive category.  If that patron does indeed want them, we're prepared to offer a far better price than that.

I'm amused at the idea of needing to buy books for decoration to fill empty shelves.  I've never had that problem; if anything, I'm trying to figure out where to put more shelves.

When my daughter was in middle school, she went to visit a friend from her class. The thing that amazed her about their house was that there were NO books! (On vacation, she was always pleased when we drove through a small town and she observed the library. That meant it was civilized enough that people could live there.)

[Larimar]

Ah, yes. A library is a good benchmark for civilization!

[OneMoreYear]

I'm amused at the idea of needing to buy books for decoration to fill empty shelves.  I've never had that problem; if anything, I'm trying to figure out where to put more shelves.

Agreed.  I am of the opinion that one cannot have too many books, but one may have too few bookshelves. 

We try to give away books to the used book store that we are never going to read again to save some space in our small house. Hubby is better at this than I, as I am a consistent re-reader of my favorites or even just sections of books I particularly like.  We tend to bring a box of books we have read to the used book store and come home with 2 boxes of books from the used bookstore.  Thus, the need for more shelves.

[Morden]

Our city has a lot of "little free libraries" on people's lawns, so a lot of our novels wind up there. The trick is not to bring home more than you put in.

[apl68]

Cheerful, thanks so much for starting this thread.

Hmm...what can I contribute?

Is anyone else having a hard time figuring out a good exercise routine? Staying home all the time means I'm not getting in as much walking as I usually do. Also, both legs are injured so certain exercises like squats or pretty much anything that requires bending the legs are not feasible at moment. I can't do much walking anyway because the pain sets in and the muscles seize up after only 5-10 minutes.

I'm doing PT exercises at home to regain some mobility, but that can takes weeks to months to be significantly effective.

What are some good aerobic/strength exercises that don't involve much leg action?

I like to do arm exercises with a cheap set of resistance bands (just looked and it looks like you can still get them cheap and quickly on Amazon). They usually come with a sheet of exercise to try, and I'm sure there are many videos online too. They come in different resistance strengths so you can start easy and work your way up.

Resistance band exercises have been a big help to me over the past year and a half as I try to recondition my damaged shoulders.  A combination of stretching exercises, resistance bands, and hand weights has helped me to regain strength and function.  It does take time to feel the improvement.

[hmaria1609]

From a sandwich board sign I saw last year:

I have so many books at home I haven't read yet. Oh look! A bookstore.

The sign was outside the front door of an independent bookstore in Burfurd, UK.

[Parasaurolophus]

It looks like there's a real uptick in the number of spammy registrations here. I wonder why?

On the exercise front, as an amateur bodybuilder, I'm feeling the absence of the gym. I'm just relying on resistance bands at the moment.

[mamselle]

I'm rehabbing my broken-nearly-recovered foot with simple modern and ballet exercises. (No turn-out, everything in parallel, and I'm not pushing the extensors or flexors yet until they're ready--just little movements, gradually increasing their range.)

I've started with the things I'd give my 5-year-olds, working up from there. I figure it'll take a few weeks to loosen up all the little muscle sheathes that got stuck together while my foot was in a cast, and I'm just doing one-footed balance stuff for now, until the healing foot is really ready to take my full weight (uhG! There's another challenge--let's lose some of that weight, while I'm at it!!)

But I'm putting the injured foot (never call it a "bad" foot, it will feel embarrassed) down on the ground more, carefully, and shifting weight on and off of it at times, to get it used to the idea that one of these days, the free ride is over...

Time to start prepping my music lessons for this afternoon, later, guys!

M.

[polly_mer]

...as I am a consistent re-reader of my favorites or even just sections of books I particularly like.  We tend to bring a box of books we have read to the used book store and come home with 2 boxes of books from the used bookstore.  Thus, the need for more shelves.

Yep, that's how it goes here as well.  The only thing I've found that slows the acquisition is to schedule pickups for donations.  We have a local enough charity that brings the big truck and will pick up boxes of books, clothes, etc. so we don't have to be tempted as we donate.

However, I have two bookcases of new-to-me books just waiting for an opportunity like all the libraries and bookstores being closed.  I'm not overindulgent;  I'm just preparing to be a good social distancer.

[secundem_artem]

...as I am a consistent re-reader of my favorites or even just sections of books I particularly like.  We tend to bring a box of books we have read to the used book store and come home with 2 boxes of books from the used bookstore.  Thus, the need for more shelves.

Yep, that's how it goes here as well.  The only thing I've found that slows the acquisition is to schedule pickups for donations.  We have a local enough charity that brings the big truck and will pick up boxes of books, clothes, etc. so we don't have to be tempted as we donate.

However, I have two bookcases of new-to-me books just waiting for an opportunity like all the libraries and bookstores being closed.  I'm not overindulgent;  I'm just preparing to be a good social distancer.

Ummmm.... iPad anyone?

[Morden]

I have a kindle--which is great for travel. But I prefer paper.

[polly_mer]

...as I am a consistent re-reader of my favorites or even just sections of books I particularly like.  We tend to bring a box of books we have read to the used book store and come home with 2 boxes of books from the used bookstore.  Thus, the need for more shelves.

Yep, that's how it goes here as well.  The only thing I've found that slows the acquisition is to schedule pickups for donations.  We have a local enough charity that brings the big truck and will pick up boxes of books, clothes, etc. so we don't have to be tempted as we donate.

However, I have two bookcases of new-to-me books just waiting for an opportunity like all the libraries and bookstores being closed.  I'm not overindulgent;  I'm just preparing to be a good social distancer.

Ummmm.... iPad anyone?

New electronic books are often far more expensive than used physical books.  Our Friends of the Public Library will put books out for free after the shop gets too many donations and certain books haven't sold in a timely manner.  Many used bookstores used to have sales on damaged books or books that have sat on the shelves for too long. 

One does not necessarily own an electronic copy, as many people have found out from other media, unlike a physical copy that is clearly mine.  I can also lend and borrow physical copies without any company being involved.

Many of the books I found in a second-hand store are not available electronically.  Some of them have been books for which I've looked and some were fortuitous finds that I was happy to get for $10 knowing they sold new for several hundred dollars.

Electronic books that need a subscription somewhere are of no use to me when the internet goes out and electricity goes out long enough that recharging should be a thing.  We had an internet outage of several hours just this week and I often end up in places where the electricity is even wonkier, let alone internet access for any sort of license check or stored-in-the-cloud library.

I keep hoping that electronic books would help my storage concerns, but even with my new tablet for Christmas, I am not divesting my literal tons of physical books in favor of new electronic formats.  We did that for our VHS to DVD collection and that was plenty expensive.  I would be short on books if I could only use electronic versions.

[OneMoreYear]

...as I am a consistent re-reader of my favorites or even just sections of books I particularly like.  We tend to bring a box of books we have read to the used book store and come home with 2 boxes of books from the used bookstore.  Thus, the need for more shelves.

Yep, that's how it goes here as well.  The only thing I've found that slows the acquisition is to schedule pickups for donations.  We have a local enough charity that brings the big truck and will pick up boxes of books, clothes, etc. so we don't have to be tempted as we donate.

However, I have two bookcases of new-to-me books just waiting for an opportunity like all the libraries and bookstores being closed.  I'm not overindulgent;  I'm just preparing to be a good social distancer.

Ummmm.... iPad anyone?

I know, I know . . . I'm a dinosaur. I don't own an IPad. I was gifted a Kindle at one point, but apparently one of my cats is also a Luddite and decided to knock it off the nightstand and push it down the basement steps.  Alas.   Since I am spending my entire work day on the computer these days, when I have time for reading for pleasure, I want to hold a book.

[apl68]

...as I am a consistent re-reader of my favorites or even just sections of books I particularly like.  We tend to bring a box of books we have read to the used book store and come home with 2 boxes of books from the used bookstore.  Thus, the need for more shelves.

Yep, that's how it goes here as well.  The only thing I've found that slows the acquisition is to schedule pickups for donations.  We have a local enough charity that brings the big truck and will pick up boxes of books, clothes, etc. so we don't have to be tempted as we donate.

However, I have two bookcases of new-to-me books just waiting for an opportunity like all the libraries and bookstores being closed.  I'm not overindulgent;  I'm just preparing to be a good social distancer.

Ummmm.... iPad anyone?

New electronic books are often far more expensive than used physical books.  Our Friends of the Public Library will put books out for free after the shop gets too many donations and certain books haven't sold in a timely manner.  Many used bookstores used to have sales on damaged books or books that have sat on the shelves for too long. 

One does not necessarily own an electronic copy, as many people have found out from other media, unlike a physical copy that is clearly mine.  I can also lend and borrow physical copies without any company being involved.

Many of the books I found in a second-hand store are not available electronically.  Some of them have been books for which I've looked and some were fortuitous finds that I was happy to get for $10 knowing they sold new for several hundred dollars.

Electronic books that need a subscription somewhere are of no use to me when the internet goes out and electricity goes out long enough that recharging should be a thing.  We had an internet outage of several hours just this week and I often end up in places where the electricity is even wonkier, let alone internet access for any sort of license check or stored-in-the-cloud library.

I keep hoping that electronic books would help my storage concerns, but even with my new tablet for Christmas, I am not divesting my literal tons of physical books in favor of new electronic formats.  We did that for our VHS to DVD collection and that was plenty expensive.  I would be short on books if I could only use electronic versions.

Several good points above.  Especially the part about not necessarily "owning" an electronic copy.  Public libraries have been slammed hard by this as we attempt to build circulating digital collections for our patrons.  We often have to pay several times as much for our e-titles as we do for the same thing in physical format.  Many of them come to us "metered"--after a certain number of checkouts, or a certain amount of time, we have to re-purchase it.  Plus we have to pay thousands of dollars a year to participate in the e-book system before we've purchased a single title.  If it weren't for statewide e-book consortia, small libraries like ours wouldn't be able to offer good e-book collections.  As it is the consortium has to monitor expenses very carefully.

I wonder what effect the pandemic is going to have on our consortium.  With libraries now closed to the public, all we can offer our patrons is e-books.  It's great that we can offer those, for patrons who have the necessary devices and internet access.  But our metered titles are probably going to be turning over faster than ever!

[clean]

Hey!  HOW come NO ONE has commented on my 5 pound weight loss?

Given the 'social distancing rules' it seems that my primary calorie source (probably french fries) have been hampered because I was a Dine In person and I loath the drive through! Even when I ordered 'to go' I went inside to make the order.   Even some of the order ahead deals on the aps require you pick up through the drive in and I refuse to wait in the drive through line..like a savage!.. so I am not doing too much with respect to 'fast food'.

In addition, I have been eating primarily pre-prepared salads. I go to the grocery store every 3rd day and pick up a few more day's supply. There is a variety so I have not been getting the same thing so I m not (yet) bored of salads.

IF I could work into my schedule some exercise, and I know that i should!, I would probably lose even more!  However, I have discovered that my clock has rotated. Even IF I go to bed at a reasonable time, I am nto able to sleep.  I find that I might fall asleep right away be be awake in an hour, and for several more hours, only to go back to sleep between 330 and 4. Then I sleep until 1030 -1130am.

Anyone else losing weight on the 'stay safe, stay home' diet or found their sleep patterns rotated?