Heard. Unread. Unrun.
Nov. 2nd, 2012 09:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
captainsblogAubible is a sneaky little weasel.
Not quite a month after they helped themselves to a $27 debit for my 30-day "free" trial of "a book you might like" (which they refunded before Bad Things happened as a result of it), they sent me another semi-reminder the other day titled "The begining of a beautiful friendship." Or somesuch. It reminded me of all the major Audible-y benefits I'd be getting now that my free trial was about to morph into a regular $15 a month Audible membership.
Just one problem. I'd already sent them a cancellation request before the end of the trial, as I do anytime I'm tempted with the fruit of another (Outlook is actually useful in this regard). So when I re-sent the cancellation last night, Audible got all clingy and said, Arright, arright, how about a three-month continued trial at half-price?
Since we were just haggling over the price at this point, I said, fine. Feed me three audiobooks for $7.50 apiece, Seymour. I still have the new expiry calendared and Bezos the Clown won't be oppressing me beyond that as a reasonable cost. Of course, they zapped my checking account for the new charge before the sun came up, so one has to watch these guys carefully.
I decided to finish the Hunger Games trilogy in the audio format I've followed it through so far. Carolyn McCormick does a good job all the way through, so I'll let her take me to the end of this 'verse.
----
One reason for the desire to continue the Katniss trilogy? I was suddenly without my alternate snailbook.
Despite disliking it, I was determined to make a dent in Townie, the memoir my sister recommended to me. By Tuesday evening, I'd worked through his graduation from UT Austin, his somewhat less violent return to New England, and his potential return to graduate school.
Wednesday was a long day that didn't permit cardio-platform reading, and last night, I figured I'd just forgotten the damn book, so I listened to a Dexter podcast and to most of the Wait Wait episode hosted by Drew Carey.
Tonight was when I realized that Townie, and my platform for reading such books, had both disappeared.
Not in the car, nor in any accessible corner of the house. The front desk peeps at the gym deny any knowledge. Best guess as of the moment is I left both on my roof on Tuesday night and they're in a leaf pile or somesuch by now.
Fortunately, I just renewed the book for three more weeks, and I have Mockingjay to keep me company until the end of that time, so there's no mad rush in solving this stupid mystery.
----
Much farther away from any of that is New York City, and word from late today that they've called off this weekend's NYC Marathon as a result of the Sandy aftermath.
Good call. If they'd tried to run the race low-key, with no expectations of diverted resources from private and public sectors, I'd have supported the decision. But- after the sponsors initially held fast in their determination to run, they put their running shoes in their mouths on multiple occasions. One, there were potential conflicts between city hotels hosting emergency shelter families and incoming runners from far afield; two, the organizers took (deservedly) mucho crappo when it was revealed that they were hoarding three multi-family generators to power a media tent for the event in Central Park, one of them offline and stowed as a backup. By late today, slower and/or cooler heads had prevailed, and the marathon will not divert needed resources from the rest of the city.
Long before any of this, I'd signed up to sponsor one of the runners. Those dollars will do just as much good even though the runner will not run. If she runs again next year, I will equal or exceed the contribution, so in that respect, Sandy may be a blessing for the cause.
Not quite a month after they helped themselves to a $27 debit for my 30-day "free" trial of "a book you might like" (which they refunded before Bad Things happened as a result of it), they sent me another semi-reminder the other day titled "The begining of a beautiful friendship." Or somesuch. It reminded me of all the major Audible-y benefits I'd be getting now that my free trial was about to morph into a regular $15 a month Audible membership.
Just one problem. I'd already sent them a cancellation request before the end of the trial, as I do anytime I'm tempted with the fruit of another (Outlook is actually useful in this regard). So when I re-sent the cancellation last night, Audible got all clingy and said, Arright, arright, how about a three-month continued trial at half-price?
Since we were just haggling over the price at this point, I said, fine. Feed me three audiobooks for $7.50 apiece, Seymour. I still have the new expiry calendared and Bezos the Clown won't be oppressing me beyond that as a reasonable cost. Of course, they zapped my checking account for the new charge before the sun came up, so one has to watch these guys carefully.
I decided to finish the Hunger Games trilogy in the audio format I've followed it through so far. Carolyn McCormick does a good job all the way through, so I'll let her take me to the end of this 'verse.
----
One reason for the desire to continue the Katniss trilogy? I was suddenly without my alternate snailbook.
Despite disliking it, I was determined to make a dent in Townie, the memoir my sister recommended to me. By Tuesday evening, I'd worked through his graduation from UT Austin, his somewhat less violent return to New England, and his potential return to graduate school.
Wednesday was a long day that didn't permit cardio-platform reading, and last night, I figured I'd just forgotten the damn book, so I listened to a Dexter podcast and to most of the Wait Wait episode hosted by Drew Carey.
Tonight was when I realized that Townie, and my platform for reading such books, had both disappeared.
Not in the car, nor in any accessible corner of the house. The front desk peeps at the gym deny any knowledge. Best guess as of the moment is I left both on my roof on Tuesday night and they're in a leaf pile or somesuch by now.
Fortunately, I just renewed the book for three more weeks, and I have Mockingjay to keep me company until the end of that time, so there's no mad rush in solving this stupid mystery.
----
Much farther away from any of that is New York City, and word from late today that they've called off this weekend's NYC Marathon as a result of the Sandy aftermath.
Good call. If they'd tried to run the race low-key, with no expectations of diverted resources from private and public sectors, I'd have supported the decision. But- after the sponsors initially held fast in their determination to run, they put their running shoes in their mouths on multiple occasions. One, there were potential conflicts between city hotels hosting emergency shelter families and incoming runners from far afield; two, the organizers took (deservedly) mucho crappo when it was revealed that they were hoarding three multi-family generators to power a media tent for the event in Central Park, one of them offline and stowed as a backup. By late today, slower and/or cooler heads had prevailed, and the marathon will not divert needed resources from the rest of the city.
Long before any of this, I'd signed up to sponsor one of the runners. Those dollars will do just as much good even though the runner will not run. If she runs again next year, I will equal or exceed the contribution, so in that respect, Sandy may be a blessing for the cause.
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no subject
Date: 2012-11-03 01:40 am (UTC)I'm sorry about the New York City Marathon. I thought it would be a great gesture of defiance. But apparently those who live there aren't quite up for that yet. It won't be long, though before we hear, "Sandy? Oh, yeah, we knew Sandy. We kicked her ass."
no subject
Date: 2012-11-03 03:12 pm (UTC)