Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
You can do this with an ordinary book, too - just adjust the distance between book and eyes.
Edit: 'you' read my mind.
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Pointless But It Does My Head In
You can do this with an ordinary book, too - just adjust the distance between book and eyes.
Edit: 'you' read my mind.
I am going to start marketing books, explaining that they are small and portable, splash proof, shock proof and customizable PLUS the whole user interface is glare free and high definition......
…and if you leave it on the train you can replace it for around a fiver.
…and if you leave it on the train you can replace it for around a fiver.
Dr Awesome
Techsteppin'
I hear books have a lovely analogue warmth and nice harmonics, as opposed to the crisp digital sharpness of kindles, which is especially prevalent when read over a big system.
Slothrop
Tight but Polite
The iPhone (or smart phones generally) I can see the point of - take two things that you probably already carried around (phone + portable music player) and combine them, then add in a load of stuff that's kind of convenient to be able to do at the same time - check email, check train times, check where you are on a map, find out where the nearest pub is etc... it's debatable whether it's worth it at the price but that's kind of a balance of increased convenience versus how much disposable income you have.
eBook readers are just pointless. I've got a friend who's just got one because she's about to spend 18 months in the antarctic, and I can imagine you might want one if you were going to crew a nuclear submarine or a space mission, but otherwise they just don't seem to be better than books.
Yeah, this is like how they market jeeps and four-wheel drive SUVs. Useful and convenient - if you live and/or work in the Gobi desert. Until you run out of petrol that is.
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
Continuing the theme of work gripes from the business-speak thread, it Does My Head In when I'm reading a book while having lunch in the canteen, then someone else who works here sits down in front of me with her lunch and starts chatting - about work. I mean, she's a nice enough woman but beyond working in the same office and having rather vaguely worked together on a couple of the same projects, we have essentially nothing in common. I'd rather not talk at all than exchange meaningless polite noises about work, especially over lunch. And when we've exhausted our supply of small talk, which doesn't take long, we have to just sit there in silence staring at our plates while we eat, because the rules of basic politeness dictate that I can't just pick up my book and recommence reading it while she's sitting opposite me. GAH.
I think you shouldn't disturb someone who's reading unless they're actually a friend of yours and conversation flows easily rather than being a socially-necessitated chore.
I think you shouldn't disturb someone who's reading unless they're actually a friend of yours and conversation flows easily rather than being a socially-necessitated chore.
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I've also noticed that it causes people extreme discomfort to be in a lift with somebody they work with and not say anything. They get around this by talking about the weather, since they only have about 45 seconds. In the years I've worked at various offices I've rarely heard any other topic discussed in lifts, which is strange because hardly anyone is very well accquainted with the weather given that they spend most of their days imprisoned in a room that the air-conditioners keep at a steady 40 degrees below freezing. It's more like the conversation they are really having is "Weather: it's nice, isn't it?"
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
I think you can't post in all caps so as to prevent SHOUTING. bUT YOU CAN GET ROUND IT WITH LUKA-CAPS. (note the 'b')
Re. lifts - one good thing about the general lack of very tall buildings in London is that lift journeys do not take 45 seconds!
I suppose if the time is short enough that a "Hi how are you?" will suffice until the doors open up then it's not so bad. But if you're somewhere between that and the 45+ seconds that allows a conversation about the weather I can see some extremely awkward conversations occuring amongst the sedatephobic.
As we all well know though, if all else fails you can always stare anxiously at the floor numbers escalating.
Haha! I actually have a picture on my phone of a lift by the same company that was in my friends' apartment building in MTL. I couldn't believe it.
i was once reading my book during lunchbreak at work and this girl - who i absolutely fucking loathe - came over and asked me what I was reading. I showed the book to her (can't remember what it was now, i think a pynchon), she gave the synopsis on the back a quick dismissive glance and then proceeded to tell me how she never reads fiction because her imagination is so OVERACTIVE and MENTAL and WACKY that whenever she does read fiction she thinks that she can "come up with much better ideas". this same girl later got into reflexology and also writes the worst, most emo poetry you will ever see in your life.
IdleRich
IdleRich
I had a Schindler's Lift at the company I used to work at too - it was really unreliable and kept breaking down. One time some overly zealous employee decided to come in at the weekend and do some extra work without telling anyone but the lift got stuck with him in it. He had to call the fire brigade. Obviously those kind of incidents were much funnier before the advent of mobile phones. Lift to The Scaffold wouldn't really have worked either.
you
Well-known member
trusay
I get so annoyed by people who come over and ask what I'm reading. It's the same as being woken up in the night by someone asking you if you're asleep.