Check-in II
February has been and gone in the blink of an eye!
I hate when time flies like that, and I can’t remember much. This is when I’m in the “busy” mode, losing a lot of “me” time.
On the good side of things, my other half got me a present that I’ve been thinking of buying myself for some time now. I’m usually hesitant to buy “one more gadget”, and I wasn’t sure if I would like the feeling of using it. So yeah, I got a new Kindle Paperwhite! Is it essential? No. Do I consider it overpriced? Yes, but they have done a fantastic job on the “reading a book” feel.
I replaced a laptop monitor without breaking things, which I consider a win. I’ve been using computers for the biggest part of my life, but I’m clumsy when it comes to fixing an electronic part that needs delicacy and patience. YouTube FTW, of course!
On the other hand, we did break the heatsink of an ancient computer we use to watch movies. Yes, it was a month of fixing - well, messing with probably is the best way to put it - computers.
The old beast was having some issues lately and rebooted at will due to high temperatures, so the next logical thing was to open it, clean it, remove the CPU heatsink, replace the thermal paste and assemble it again. Removing it was pretty easy, but when we tried to put everything back, something wasn’t right. And this was when we figured out we’d broken the awful heatsink mount pins that lock on the motherboard.
There is a message I would give to the person who created this patent… “You deserve a special place in hell!” Why would you make this kind of mechanism that is difficult to understand - if you haven’t broken one already - breaks easily, and everyone hates it?
If you ever do this similar work and see these kind of pins, please have a spare heatsink in case something goes wrong.
Writing
Didn’t publish much this month. I just wasn’t in the mood for some reason. I felt “bad”, but then I thought about “The importance of being idle” and decided to not stress myself out.
I wrote some things, of course, but only one was published:
Reading
Stephen King Corner
The Institute
Kids with Telekinetic or Telepathic powers are abducted and moved to a facility called the Institute. Excellent read. I enjoyed it. Mid-level King.
The Bazaar of Bad Dreams
A short story collection published in 2015. Great read. Grim, but great. Who doesn’t like a car that eats people?!?
Roadwork (as Richard Bachman)
A man spiralling into madness because his house (and his workplace) will be demolished to create an extension to a highway. I suggest this only if you have read all his other 60+ novels. Not his best work. My least favourite so far. I couldn’t relate to the main character or his motives, and the writing just wasn’t as good as usual. I should do a ranking of his novels at some point. Everybody else does it.
Prague Fatale - Phillip Kerr
I was sceptical about this, but the person at the bookstore told me, “Any of these stories are good. I’ve enjoyed them too. Just pick one!”.
This is part of a fourteen books series that focuses on a Berlin cop, Bernie Gunther.
This novel takes place in October 1941, and Bernie Gunther gets involved in a story with Reinhard Heydrich, Reichsprotector of Bohemia. Murder, spies, women and decadence.
If you enjoy reading mystery books with some historical figures, this one might be for you.
Watching
There was more watching this month. These are some things that stood out:
- The Last Of Us - Great storytelling. There should be some more episodes or a faster pace.
- Shrinking - I always enjoy this kind of comedy.
- Prospect - While watching this movie, I was thinking about it in a written format. I would love to read it.