Daily "Check In" Thread For Us

[Smith1776]

I should really get on to reading the books. I feel like by reading the books I somehow would enjoy the movies less going forward though. I keep consistently hearing about how much better the books are than the movies. Mentally, I already get some of the "magic" of the movies ruined by weird family guy memories popping into my head.

https://youtu.be/eH7vk3lR45M

I'm no medieval combat expert, but yeah, when you watch the Helm's Deep battle scene enough times, you do notice logical inconsistencies. Of course, you also notice the ridiculous amount of plot armour Aragorn has in particular. Either way, it's still my favourite battle scene in probably all of cinema. My second favourite is probably the Anakin vs Obi-Wan fight scene in Revenge of the Sith. (Don't judge me, please lol.)

[Dieter]

I should really get on to reading the books. I feel like by reading the books I somehow would enjoy the movies less going forward though. I keep consistently hearing about how much better the books are than the movies. Mentally, I already get some of the "magic" of the movies ruined by weird family guy memories popping into my head.

https://youtu.be/eH7vk3lR45M

I'm no medieval combat expert, but yeah, when you watch the Helm's Deep battle scene enough times, you do notice logical inconsistencies. Of course, you also notice the ridiculous amount of plot armour Aragorn has in particular. Either way, it's still my favourite battle scene in probably all of cinema. My second favourite is probably the Anakin vs Obi-Wan fight scene in Revenge of the Sith. (Don't judge me, please lol.)

Books are definitely different. I like them better, but I enjoy both. Although I have to admit I enjoy the movies less over time based on some of the changes.

If into fantasy or D&D, these are such foundational works.

We can start a LOTR thread if you read them

Hobbit not required. VERY different from LOTR. The book was retconned a bit to better fit with LOTR I believe. Love that for some reason.

[WiseOne]

Smith, if you haven't read Tolkien's books, you absolutely must do so!!! And of course this is an outstanding time for it.

I would differ with Dieter - the Hobbit is well worth reading first. It's written more like a children's book but it's still very engaging. The Hobbit movies were much more true to the books than the LOTR movies were, although the additions were kinda annoying like the elf/dwarf love interest. Note that the Hobbit (one small book with mostly cartoonish characters) translated to 3 movies, while LOTR (3 dense books with an intricate set of storylines & very well developed characters) also translated to 3 movies - so you can imagine how much had to be cut.

Perhaps watching the movies first worked out well as an introduction, because you will be amazed at how much more is in the books. Going into the movies with an intimate knowledge of the books was not so pleasant. I was really looking forward to seeing my favorite characters and scenes come to life, but almost every one of them fell flat. I had high expectations I guess.

A LOTR thread would be awesome! How do you transfer posts to a new thread?

[vnatale]

Perhaps watching the movies first worked out well as an introduction, because you will be amazed at how much more is in the books. Going into the movies with an intimate knowledge of the books was not so pleasant. I was really looking forward to seeing my favorite characters and scenes come to life, but almost every one of them fell flat. I had high expectations I guess.

This always my position regarding movies / books first.

I see the movie first because that then gives me a better overall framework when reading the book. And, then I devour all the extra details that the book provides.

It's almost always a disappointment when I read the book first and then see the movie. All I'm thinking about in the movie is that,"...……..they left out that part....and then they left out that part.....and that part is missing....and so on."

Vinny

[Mark Leavy]

So, I had the money conversation via text with my date. Here's how it went:

Her:

About money, do you have a preference for people dating to pay their own way like on Saturday or to split the bill in half? How are you generally with money - saver, splurger... ?

Me:

I generally like to split things so that everything is generally fair and equal. I like the idea of being equal partners with someone. I’ve had lots of bad experiences with women using me for money. Beyond that I also don’t like the feeling if a person expects me to pay their way for their company. It’s like I’m paying for the privilege of being with them or something, and they’re just here as a job or charity. It really hurt my self-esteem the times it did happen.

Her:

I respect your approach with dating and money. I also don't like the feeling that a guy pays for me and then he expects something in return or it feels like that.

That honestly went better than expected.

Smith, feel free to igore old cynical me, but I have a hard time ignoring biology.
I believe that if your response had been something akin to, "I apologize, but I'm a bit of a dinosaur and I enjoy paying for our dates" Or some more polished version of that...

Her "honest" response would have been "I can appreciate traditional values in a man..." or some version of that. There is zero chance she would have said, "I prefer to pay half".

I don't recommend playing this game at home

Either way, she sounds like a sweetheart.
Mark

[Mark Leavy]

Her "honest" response would have been "I can appreciate traditional values in a man..." or some version of that. There is zero chance she would have said, "I prefer to pay half".

Speaking of which, what the hell has happened to Maddy? She would know the right answer.

[Smith1776]

Alright, you guys have me convinced. It's at least another month before I return to work proper. I'm going to try and get through at least one of the books in that time. Knowing me, when I get really drawn into a book I tend to drop everything else in my life and enter into a sort of hermit mode. My only issue is that libraries aren't open right now...

So I had a quick dinner break from homework last night to meet up with the girl. Even after our money conversation she ended up ordering about 50 dollars worth of food and bev, while I had my usual 20 dollar order or so. The fact that she has seemed to continue with relatively generous ordering, despite going in knowing we were splitting the bill, leads me to think she wasn't expecting to be paid for on that first date.

I actually went into a Chapters bookstore the other day. With the safety protocols and everything, the fun browsing experience just wasn't there anymore. The joy of discovering a cool book or author was kind of lost. People had to line up to get into the store, and even once in we had to follow a one way path specified by arrows that had been drawn on the floor. I got the feeling that if you didn't already know what you wanted, there was scant opportunity to stumble onto something intriguing.

[Kriegsspiel]

Alright, you guys have me convinced. It's at least another month before I return to work proper. I'm going to try and get through at least one of the books in that time. Knowing me, when I get really drawn into a book I tend to drop everything else in my life and enter into a sort of hermit mode. My only issue is that libraries aren't open right now...

Don't they have ebook borrowing in Canada?

[Smith1776]

Don't they have ebook borrowing in Canada?

Good call! Looks like a lot of people have the same idea as me when it comes to reading LOTR over this break though. Yikes! Either way, I quite strongly prefer physical.

lotr.png (177.02 KiB) Viewed 5015 times

I might try to grab a copy off of a friend. It's such a common book, I can't imagine it would be hard to find someone on my Facebook or something that would have one.

[Smith1776]

Another interesting experience I want to report to you guys.

I went to the Vancouver Bullion and Currency Exchange (VBCE) yesterday to pick up some gold. They're sold out. No gold. They're the biggest dealer in Vancouver and they had absolutely no gold at all. The only thing they had in stock was 10 ounce bars of silver.

Jim Rickards is smiling somewhere I'm sure.

I talked to one of the reps at the store who told me it's a combination of supply chain disruption as well as a spike in demand. The money I had earmarked for a gold purchase might just have to sit in an ETF for a little bit. At least that way I can maintain price exposure.

[Smith1776]

ALSO. (And sorry for the rapid fire posts.)

I've come up with a solution to the death by a thousand cuts phenomenon that occurs when you buy coffee every day.

I'm going to keep some of those coffeeshop to-go cups at home and drink my homemade coffee out of that during my daily walks. This seems to be enough to "simulate" the feeling of going out and getting a cup of coffee without actually spending the money.

Value investing principles applied to coffee!!

I wonder how many times you can use a disposable coffee cup before you get "chemicals" leached into your drink though...

[Libertarian666]

ALSO. (And sorry for the rapid fire posts.)

I've come up with a solution to the death by a thousand cuts phenomenon that occurs when you buy coffee every day.

I'm going to keep some of those coffeeshop to-go cups at home and drink my homemade coffee out of that during my daily walks. This seems to be enough to "simulate" the feeling of going out and getting a cup of coffee without actually spending the money.

Value investing principles applied to coffee!!

I wonder how many times you can use a disposable coffee cup before you get "chemicals" leached into your drink though...

I recommend that you splurge and buy an insulated metal cup to take with you on your walks.

[Smith1776]

I recommend that you splurge and buy an insulated metal cup to take with you on your walks.

It's not the same "feeling."

Oh god, I sound like such a diva.

[Libertarian666]

I recommend that you splurge and buy an insulated metal cup to take with you on your walks.

It's not the same "feeling."

Oh god, I sound like such a diva.

Starbucks sells ones with their logo on it. Wouldn't that be good enough?

[Smith1776]

Starbucks sells ones with their logo on it. Wouldn't that be good enough?

Oh hey, you're right. And it looks exactly like their disposable ones. Hmmm. Might pick one up then.

[Mark Leavy]

Her "honest" response would have been "I can appreciate traditional values in a man..." or some version of that. There is zero chance she would have said, "I prefer to pay half".

Speaking of which, what the hell has happened to Maddy? She would know the right answer.

Mark, all due respect, but I disagree. I have been told by numerous women that they expect me to pay when we go out, regardless of how I frame it. Either because I am the man, or because I have a higher paying job depending on their (faulty) philosophy. However, this attitude varies wildly depending on age, and becomes much more common as women get older. Smith is presumably dating ladies in their 20's where splitting expenses is a more common attitude.

I miss Maddy, too, but I'm not sure if she would be the one to ask here.

I amend my opinion to agree with MangoMan's.
And Smith, it sounds like life is good.

[dualstow]

Starbucks sells ones with their logo on it. Wouldn't that be good enough?

Oh hey, you're right. And it looks exactly like their disposable ones. Hmmm. Might pick one up then.

I don’t know why but i love reusable products that look like disposable ones. Ceramic coffee cups that look like paper. Fake brown lunch bags, Beer glasses shaped like a can of beer.

[Mark Leavy]

This is my mental image of Smith1776 planning his date.

[Dieter]

This is my mental image of Smith1776 planning his date.

+1

[dualstow]

This is my mental image of Smith1776 planning his date.

Ha!

side note: that looks like Randy from ‘Monk’ at the very beginning of that clip.

[Smith1776]

How'd you guys know I prefer blondes?

[Mountaineer]

ALSO. (And sorry for the rapid fire posts.)
I wonder how many times you can use a disposable coffee cup before you get "chemicals" leached into your drink though...

At least once per day until you die.

[pp4me]

ALSO. (And sorry for the rapid fire posts.)
I wonder how many times you can use a disposable coffee cup before you get "chemicals" leached into your drink though...

At least once per day until you die.

If you're talking about styrofoam cups I gave up on using them at work in favor of my own cup long before I retired.

I can probably thank my wife for that. How long did it take for chemicals to leach through? Almost immediately for her, causing her lips to swell to about twice their normal size.

And then there is that powder they call creamer. What the hell is in that any way?

[Smith1776]

I'm buying MapleGrams on Monday and no one can stop me!!!!!!! ^__^

[Smith1776]

The Vancouver Bullion and Currency Exchange's Burnaby location was totally sold out of everything except for 10 ounce silver bars. Today I managed to catch a break at the downtown branch and added a bit to my physical holdings with a MapleGram and two 1 ounce silvers.

goldsilver.png (1.16 MiB) Viewed 5048 times