What I’m Reading This Weekend…

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Sarah Sammis of the blog Puss Reboots answered the often-asked question: “What are you reading this weekend?” with the fact that she doesn’t. Instead, she spends time with family, binges TV, and paints, she said. My own circumstance is a little different in that my wife and I have no children (by choice), she works a 12-hour shift Saturday (8 p.m.) into Sunday (8 a.m.) and then Sunday (8 p.m.) into Monday (8 p.m.) — which means she is sleeping for much of the day both days of a weekend, and I’m not an artist. So my own weekends usually but not always go like thism

If I’m not working at the library on a Saturday, usually once or twice a month, then I spend part of that day running errands and maybe some reading later in the day. Yesterday was different, though, as it was my wife’s birthday and I spent all day with her as she has a couple of days off from work. Growing up, I was taught and conditioned that Sundays are a day of rest. As an adult, I still try to adhere to that conditioning, because while my job isn’t as stressful as countless others, I deal with people a lot throughout the week and as an introvert, I need a day to rest. That rest includes, but is not limited to, reading.

I start my Sundays with reading and commenting on Sunday Salon posts, of which Sarah’s posts was one for this week, while listening to Guido’s Lounge Cafe on Mixcloud.

Then in the afternoon, if I’m not going to watch a NASCAR with my neighbor Mike in his ManCave, I read a book. For example, this afternoon I plan to start All Things Wise and Wonderful by James Herriot.

For Lent, I am reading Leaving Church: A Memoir by Barbara Brown Taylor, which I will read later this morning as part of my morning devotions, part of my everyday reading routine. I also plan to continue reading “Like This or Die: The Decline of Criticism in the Age of The Algorithm” by Christian Lorentzen from the April 1, 2019 edition of Harper’s Magazine, which was offered free via Amazon Prime Reading this past week. From what I’ve read so far, it might good for other book bloggers, especially those who do or continue to review books regularly, to read.

So that’s what I’m reading this weekend or what I plan to read anyway. What about you? What are you reading this weekend? Or are you reading this weekend? If not, what are you up to and what are you reading during the week?

Today’s Lesson: Focus on the person in front of you

Today’s lesson is to focus on the person in front of you. I went for a doctor (nurse practitioner) appointment this morning and on the way out, the check out clerk told me that I was scheduled to be back for an appointment in three weeks. However, I knew the NP had said three months, not three weeks. When I let the clerk know, she said, after looking at her screen, that the NP had said three weeks.

She also had a phone call on hold that she twice went back to while (trying to) talk to me. And she looked back toward where another checkout clerk was supposed to be but wasn’t and rolled her eyes. I let her schedule the appointment, but later that morning, I double checked and learned from the nurse, who was with me before I saw the nurse practitioner, it was three months, not three weeks.

I was transferred to a receptionist, who also wasn’t listening to me at first, and did get the three week appointment canceled. Before I hung up, I let her know politely that they should focus on the person in front of them and that it’s not a patient’s fault if they are shorthanded.

I have a feeling that before the day and week is done — if only because of self-confirmation bias, it will be a lesson that I need to learn too. I’ll keep you apprised as the week progresses.

Pushing Forward Back March/April 2019

March began with a decision the first weekend to read what I wanted and then continued with a decision the second weekend that what I wanted to read were my own books for a reading challenge. By the third weekend, I had One Foot in the Grave, but I was still reading, and by the fourth weekend, I had received bookmail from a fellow Sunday Saloner. I haven’t read that book yet, but I did read Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew J. Sullivan and The Uninvited by Dorothy Macardle, for the reading challenge.

March also began with simple plans for Lent, the first of which included a vacation day for Ash Wednesday that I took and that I am bookending with a vacation day on Good Friday in mid-April. Another plan was to read Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith by Barbara Brown Taylor, which I am reading during the Sundays of Lent.

Other things that happened during the month were:

My wife and I ditched Facebook (no link, no blog post…yet).
I changed my blog theme (visit my blog on a browser to see the new theme).
I started a new pay week tradition (every two weeks) of going to a restaurant in a nearby town for breakfast on Saturdays or Fridays, depending on when I work on a Saturday.
I attempted to start a new routine for mornings and evenings during the week to cut down on screentime and be able to read more on weeknights.
My wife and I hung a few framed photographs, prints, and local artwork on the walls in our living room.
My wife and I got tickets for a wine event on Seneca Lake, one of the Finger Lakes in New York, on the weekend of my birthday and booking a room at a bed and breakfast nearby for the Saturday night before my birthday.
My wife and I watched Can You Ever Forgive Me?, which we both thought was a little slow to start, but picked up, especially toward the end.

April begins with big changes, starting with an oil change (get it?) this Tuesday and new hours for the weekend at the library where I work. We are adding Sunday hours and modifying Saturday hours to match the Sunday hours. That all begins this coming weekend. Also on Saturday, my wife turns 49 (she gave me permission to tell…“I don’t care…own your age…I always hated that ‘tee-hee, I’m turning 29’…Don’t be a little bitch about getting older.”). We are going out for brunch (yes, that restaurant in the nearby town) and getting together with neighbors to play 500 Rummy.

On the reading front, I am giving up on the aforementioned reading challenge (when am I going to learn that I suck at reading challenges and readalongs and the such?) because I really do like reading not only what I want but also when I want. That said, I was glad to read the two books I did for the challenge: the first, Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore, because I did eventually want to read it, and the second, The Uninivited, because I wanted to read it especially since my friend John highly recommended it to me. It was good and I think if you liked the movie Rebecca or the book (which I haven’t read) that you’d like it. A movie also was made of it, that I need to find. I also want to thank Anne of the blog My Head is Full of Books for having the challenge and I wish her and the other participants the best of success on the challenge.

As for the rest of the month, I have two back-to-back (week) Fridays off in April, that includes the aforementioned Good Friday off, so I plan to put those two Fridays to good use:

The second Friday of the month, I will be putting out stuff for “cleanup week,” a bi-annual tradition in our town, spring and fall during which townsfolk put out stuff they don’t want or sell it in yard sales before it gets taken to the landfill. We are getting rid of a few chairs that we don’t use, including some kitchen table chairs that we plan to replace with a more comfortable chair in which I can sit when I read my Sunday Salon posts Sunday mornings.
The third Friday of the month, I plan on going to church in the afternoon for Good Friday services.

I am working two Saturdays this month, but because of the aforementioned change in schedule for Saturdays, they won’t be as long of days as they used to be, so I’ll have time to blog more…

…speaking of blogs, if you ever wondered how they get started, here you go:

How was your month of March? Read any good books, seen any good movies and/or TV shows, listened to any good music? What was the highlight of your month? What are you looking forward to in April? Share in the comments.