”The car ate road and blew miles out of its tailpipe.”
Such a wonderful line from Stephen King’s The Stand. I think this one will replay in my mind whenever I’m on a long drive next.
”The car ate road and blew miles out of its tailpipe.”
Such a wonderful line from Stephen King’s The Stand. I think this one will replay in my mind whenever I’m on a long drive next.
And now I’ve just renewed my Audible subscription and downloaded Stephen King’s The Stand.
I’m 236 pages (just started Part 2) in to ”Seveneves” by Neal Stephenson and I’m absolutely loving it. This is the kind of nerdy topics, full of even nerdier digressions that I love.
The Moon blew up without warning and for no apparent reason. It was waxing, only one day short of full. The time was 05:03:12 UTC. Later it would be designated +0.0.0, or simply Zero.
That’s a great opening to a book.
(The lawn needed mowing today, so I bit the bullet and started listening to this one.)
The reading continues. After finishing Life 3.0 I resumed my listening of Neal Stephenson’s Fall; or Dodge in Hell. This one is a wild ride. Such an interesting premise and great start, then kind of slow for while and now (Prim’s journey) it’s great again.
@MrHenko I love the way he writes, but his books are too chewy for me.
I did love Anathem even though it took me four tries to finish!
@MrHenko my first listen on Audible was ”Snow Crash” – lengthy but very enjoyable @cheri
@Cheri “Fall” is only the second Stephenson book I’ve read, but I’ve gathered that brevity isn’t exactly his thing. But I do like both “Fall” and “Snow Crash” a lot.
Have you read “Fall”? I seem to recall you posting a photo from Moab a few weeks ago, and that place quite a big roll in the first part of the book.
@MrHenko I loved the first 300 pages of Fall, but stopped at about 500. The further they got into ”bitworld” the less interesting it was to me. I liked ”Seveneves”. It’s especially great if you’re interested in orbital mechanics as a main character. (My goodness he can drone on about stuff). Also enjoyed ”Reamde” and ”Anathem”. Didn’t finish ”D.O.D.O”.
@MrHenko I have a copy of Snow Crash that I’m nibbling at. But I saw how thick Fall was and my internal reaction was: Ha ha ha nooooooo. 😂
@jack I don’t have my physical copy of ”Fall” at hand, but the page numbers probably corresponds well to my impression of it. You should have pressed on because it did get a lot better again once the time of Adam and Eve had passed. The ending was genuinely good, something it seems based on other reviews isn’t Stephenson’s strength.
And yeah, he does drone on, and on, and on. I think ”Fall” would have been just as good, probably even better, if condensed to half och 2/3 the length.
”Seveneves” is the next audio book in my queue, but I think I need something shorter before embarking on another 30+ hour journey.
@Cheri I’ve just now finished ”Fall” and while in the end I liked it a lot I think it would have been just as good, probably better, if it had been edited down to half och 2/3 the length.
Keep nibbling at ”Snow Crash”, it’s a really good one.
@MrHenko I’ve listened to ”Cryptonomicon” – it’s an amazing tale interwoven amongst several generations, with all the threads falling in place at the end. I remember telling myself ”so that’s how it’s all connected”! Quite a long listen but worth it
@kirschen I’ll add that one to my list of books I might listen to. I see a possible Neal Stephenson binge coming up. :)
Also I’m currently reading Max Tegmark’s Life 3.0 and I can’t for the life of me decide if I really like it or if it’s really tedious. Perhaps both. The first few chapters where great but as it goes on it really goes on, and on, and on, and on.
Moreover1 it discusses a lot of similar topics, and based on similar sources, as Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell. That is both a good thing and a bad thing. It’s interesting to nod along to things I already knew from Kurzgesagt, while it’s also tedious to be told things I already know from Kurzgesagt.
As you can tell, I’m really mixed on this book so far. Currently I have a little over two hours left on it.
This Article was mentioned on blog.henrikcarlsson.se
I just realized I left the story of covid-19 in the family unresolved, and that I haven’t blogged for over a month. Anyway, I got a total of two tests while Linn was covid positive but both my tests came back negative. I’ve been meaning to get an anti-body test but haven’t gotten around to that (yet?). So it’s quite possible that I didn’t have covid. All we know is that Linn had it, that Iris might have had it, and that I maybe possibly had it.
Linn got better after a few days and hasn’t had any long term effects, so we seem to be in the clear.
Now spring is here and the summer seems to be right around the corner. Lot’s of things to do.
The first day with the πiFi was a great success yesterday. The kids caught on to how it worked immediately and listened to a lot of music.
Finally, I have the first proper beta of the πiFi Music Player working. The enclosure is 3D printed and fits nicely and the software works more or less. Tomorrow I’ll ”release it to the public” (aka the kids) and see what happens.
This large wall hook 3D model is really useful and has helped me clean up the power chords on the side of the house where we park the cars.
Replies and comments
jeremycherfas
30 juni, 2021 16:53@MrHenko Having just done Rome to Puglia in 8.5 hours elapsed time, I can relate.
MrHenko
30 juni, 2021 17:33@jeremycherfas Wow, that’s quite a long time in a car. Quite a lot of interesting places along the way I guess?
jeremycherfas
30 juni, 2021 18:42@MrHenko Many interesting places, but we stopped only three times, and each time on the road: coffee, sandwich and petrol. Easier to just keep going. My partner doesn’t drive, but is a terrific co-pilot.
MrHenko
1 juli, 2021 10:55@jeremycherfas Yes, staying on (or close to) the road is preferable to the more scenic route when you want to get to the destination. I wish I was someone who took the second option every now and then but I tend to always take as small a detour as possible.