7Wannabe5- Take 6

Where are you and where are you going?
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Alphaville
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 6

Post by Alphaville »

7Wannabe5 wrote:
Fri Nov 13, 2020 2:01 pm
@Alphaville:

When we were handling our own inventory storage, picking, packing, and shipping, it covered the entire floor of a large barn, 4 X4 stacks of banker boxes each holding up to 40 lbs of books, on array of wooden pallets. I paid my own kids and a couple of their friends to do most of the grunt work, shipping, and some of the data entry. My expert skill at book scouting in isolation pays well, but if I water it down doing all the other work myself, these-a-days I can’t do much better than I make substitute teaching, and Amazon’s shipping requirements are also less flexible and more demanding than substitute teaching.

An additional factor would be that I have moved on myself to liking e-books as well for some purposes as paper. I was never a fiddly sort of antiquarian or first edition icon dealer. Much more interested in any condition or sort of book that contained obscure information or had limited printing.
ooooh so you needed the large scale to make it pay huh? no way to run it profitable at small scale?

i still use a bit of skill/network from my old dead business to make some side money. maybe $3k/year net, after pricey macs and gear? but we operate it in a very different, low-intensity way, with little effort, and none of the stress or bureaucracy of the original failure. it’s a fun hobby that pays some.

(i’m currently looking for another similar operation, as scaling this one up would create misery instead of yielding “free money” from a fun hobby)

what i’m driving at i guess is that perhaps you can carry forward some of your hard-to-acquire competencies into a forward-looking, lower scale, unbureaucratic, near-passive income situation? because you know about this stuff, seems to me what you need is just a new angle to make it pay (i can’t know if there’s one, as that information is not in my area of expertise).

7Wannabe5
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 6

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

Same page. That’s why I might attempt copyright mining. Buying rights to republish worthwhile books that are currently out of print but still under copyright. My expertise would be in being able to accurately estimate potential sales forward and thereby be able to offer reasonable cash offer for rights. Obviously, it’s very easy for anybody to simply republish a book to which they hold rights these days themselves, but some people wouldn’t like to be bothered and other people like cash in hand.

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Alphaville
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 6

Post by Alphaville »

oh yeah... and you could just publish ebook and auto-profit from the stream...

ive been finding a lot of that kind of stuff searching for long dead authors lately. have not pulled trigger on any: i think branding matters here. e.g “dover thrift editions” (that was paper) sounds more culturally reliable than “moxie enterprises llc” with some ugly logo :D

as a reader of ebooks i also see a demand for better designed product than gutenberg project shit, with ugly fonts and ridden with typos.

just yesterday i was looking for seneca in latin... no joke, could not find. plenty in english, but no latin.

i’d love side by side bilingual editions actually. old timey ones ok. i think loeb/harvard used to publish them.

montaigne in french?

i’ll pay a couple to five bucks for good formatting and design, over “free” unreadable lumps of ascii

7Wannabe5
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 6

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

Yeah, working on better design would be fun for me. I also have a lot of other ideas for interesting collections of copyright-free works. Google keeps on scanning and scanning, but there’s still niche work for finders and curators.

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Alphaville
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 6

Post by Alphaville »

google is all about the brute force and i’d never buy a thing from them. never have, in fact—not even ads.

curation and design are services that add real value and therefore worth paying for.

seneca in latin + english side by side, in readable format, are worth paying for even in old timey translation. ( i’m interested in the latin part, the english just as crutch)

btw there’s an open source project where they’re trying to prettify gutenberg project stuff. but open source things are rarely optimal. okay often, optimal rarely. people pay for optimal.

...

hey are your crafty books in storage... out of copyright yet? :)

(perhaps, an experiment...)

-

eta i ended up getting a $2 kindle seneca in translatione anglicus (?)

(i have my paper versions a covid away)

7Wannabe5
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 6

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

Yeah, I could/should experiment with some copyright free editions first. I have a fairly large collection of archaic garden essays. If I tack on new introduction, I would hold copyright to my edition, and that might slow down the Copy-cats out of China.

CS
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 6

Post by CS »

Your asthma history makes me nervous for myself. I also had that thirties onward disappearance of symptoms... ugh.

How are things now? (like today now, not the big picture now).

7Wannabe5
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 6

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

Took my last dose of oral steroids yesterday morning. Woke up wheezy today, but definitely manageable with a couple puffs and a cup of coffee. I’ll have to see how it goes. My county is burning up with Covid, so I’m just going to video chat with my primary, even though it’s kind of useless because he can’t listen to my lungs. Overall, I am shorter of breath even when not actively wheezing, but no pain and little coughing. I couldn’t even try on my new corset that I ordered and two flights of stairs down to my car seems like an outing. :lol:

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Alphaville
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 6

Post by Alphaville »

7Wannabe5 wrote:
Sat Nov 14, 2020 4:08 am
Yeah, I could/should experiment with some copyright free editions first. I have a fairly large collection of archaic garden essays. If I tack on new introduction, I would hold copyright to my edition, and that might slow down the Copy-cats out of China.
that’s what the heaths would call “ooching”. no major investments or big trips required, just a small pilot program with materials you already have... see how you like it, learn from the experience...

plus could be homeotelic with next permaculture project etc... work on books that interest you for non-business reasons. more motivation that way.

just don’t get any partners on it. have the control yourself... ;)

CS
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 6

Post by CS »

At least with a video chat you could put the mic up by your mouth so he could listen for wheezing. :)

How about this for a futuristic novel element - a corset with iron lung functionality. Nano technology at its finest.

7Wannabe5
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 6

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

@Alphaville:

Gotcha.

@CS:

Would be very steampunk!

7Wannabe5
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 6

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

Okay, I am now temporarily holed up in a suburban extended stay. My primary focus is simple self-care and finding less expensive place for next move. The Cowboy is trying to get me back with texts that say stuff like “I miss my little cheerful one. Won’t you come back for Thanksgiving?”, but I have put social force on my side by informing my sisters that I have finally dumped him for good. OTOH, I have led the two other exes who are still interested to believe that I am still living with The Cowboy, so they will not bother me anymore.

I am also moving full throttle ahead with my new publishing business idea. I ordered a super high tech fancy book scanning device to be delivered in a few days, and I have skimmed 3 books on the topic.

Previously, I rated getting well laid as higher order goal than starting new business, but, obviously, this goal must directly ride on my first order goal of repairing my health. I did try out the 1940s roller set hairdo that my more aesthetically gifted sister recommended, and the picture I took of myself looked just like my maternal grandmother, except that she was more beautiful than me. Point being that it is apparent that at some point in the last 5 years separating 50 and 55, I have definitely crossed over the boundary between MILF and GILF. So, that means that before I date again, I guess I will have to resign myself to maybe only rating one of the guys in the Dance Monkey video. Maybe somebody non-famous who looks like Terry Bradshaw would be my best case scenario match at this juncture, because I still look a little bit like somebody who might have once been tall, corn-fed, bottom pyramid cheerleader and/or the less pretty half of a 1980s girl on girl porn scene, although in reality I was a nerd with zero school spirit and my brief fling with girl on girl was never committed to VHS.

I also watched a recent documentary on the topic of dating apps, entitled “ Swiped: Hooking Up in the Internet Age” in order to get back up to speed on the process. I first engaged in online dating after my first divorce in 2007, and I have done more than my fair share of coffee shop meetings, but I have never used Tinder or the like. I don’t even have an active Facebook account, so I’ll have to figure out something else. I am curious about whether any young people who saw that documentary thought it was accurate? As an older female, the non-Tinder online experience has been much less hook-up oriented. Much more frequently the old guys right away want me to be their new exclusive girlfriend so they don’t have to use a condom etc.

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Alphaville
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 6

Post by Alphaville »

dammit, i have been trying to congratulate you for a while now but failing to click “submit”. one thing after another. ok here it goes, short version!

a) i always enjoy your mixture of serious reasoning with hilarity. plans look interesting!

b) i’m sorry i can’t offer anything about dating in middle age, but if i come across anything i’ll send it your way. as for dating at all times i’ll say one thing—avoid vampires!

i need 2nd breakfast now.

7Wannabe5
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 6

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

@Alphaville:

Thanks! I read a bit about emotional vampires and the article indicated that dealing with these people can actually inflame auto-immune disease!

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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 6

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

Which of the following constitutes a more severe limitation upon personal freedom:

1) Ongoing pandemic for which you have been officially deemed high risk potential.

2) Full-time employment by other.

3) Live-in relationship with grouchy old man.

In my experience, the ranking is 2/3/1. I am currently locked up by myself in a micro-motel room, only emerging to fetch groceries at masked distance, or do slow perambulation of park, and I am quite happy. Nobody bothering me! I have my new fancy high-tech book scanning machine, and I am teaching myself Adobe InDesign, and I am reading several books, and I am drawing with colored pencils, and I am watching silly holiday movies, and I am eating big salads and cookies.

Unfortunately, I am fretting a bit about whether the grouchy old man might do something dire because I dumped him, but I have to remind myself that I don't owe anybody the benefit of my company, especially if they can't even be civil. I also made the mistake of talking to my terrible mother. She, of course, suggested that maybe I ought to take The Cowboy up on his break-up inspired offer and lose 40 lbs and marry him for financial security. Flashback 40 years: I am 15 wearing a bright yellow bikini, and my generally extremely neglectful bi-polar mother takes notice and says "You've got a cute figure. You just need to firm up a bit. And, remember a man won't buy the cow if he can get the milk for free."

Luckily, I also spoke with my delightful sisters and my wonderful daughter, and the summary of their comments would be something like "What a dick! Why don't you date somebody nice for a change?" This caused me to reflect upon the subtle variation in disparagement offered by slang synonyms for male genitalia. "Dick" actually works pretty well for The Cowboy, but my first husband was much more of a "prick" and my second "husband" was more of a "cock." My son referred to him as "total douchebag", but I think that was unwarranted.

Anyways, I'm actually more concerned by the extent to which my feelings were not hurt by offer of marriage contingent upon weight loss. My soul has grown so old as of late. Well, actually that's not entirely true. My fun and freedom loving juvenile masculine energy is on the upswing. I am just completely bereft of girlish energy. There is nothing left in me that hopes to twirl around like Natalie Wood. Whatever glands once held the chemicals that caused me to blush and/or swoon have dried up and shriveled. I have even lost my taste for Jane Austen.

However, I do still have it in my mind and/or bucket list that I would like to finally achieve or somehow make happen my Ideal Woods and Water Sex Fantasy. The death of potential for romance in my soul need not preclude this fantasy, because my partner only needs to provide idealized masculine sexual energy as epitomized by an old growth tree and/or a wolf and/or rushing river rapids. You would think that in the age of the internet, when you can pretty much order up sex like a pizza, this would not be that tough. My experience suggest otherwise. Also, there's my own ante up to consider. I'm not willing or wanting to lose 40 lbs in order to achieve financial security within the confines of a basically sexless marriage of convenience, but I believe that I am willing/wanting to lose 40 lbs in order to achieve my Ideal Woods and Water Sex Fantasy. I mean, maybe I could make it work without losing 40 lbs, but I am either going to have to lose some weight or round up a chubby-lover who is super-fit himself. Apparently, there are apps for that, but admittedly the appearance of my midsection is currently in violation of my own idealized sex fantasy aesthetic, which does not include the adjective "blobby."

Even though I really don't have a clue what I'm doing, my stock market investments have been doing very well lately, so my temporarily greatly increased expense level hasn't yet nicked my semi-retirement fund roll. However, I do not count on this continuing to be the case, so my tentative plan is getting the best deals I can on clean, safe, solo lodging until I am fully vaccinated, and then moving into an anarchist co-op that only charges $150/month and needs help with their garden. So long as I keep my combined transportation/shelter expenses at less than approximately $400/month on average, I will be gold.

ThriftyRob
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 6

Post by ThriftyRob »

If you're carrying a spare 40lbs on your midriff, my justification for losing it would be how much better you'll feel not having to carry that burden around with you! Not to mention how much you'll enjoy what the mirror reflects back at you.

Is a micro-motel room the lowest cost accommodation option available? Just asking out of curiosity because around where I live, a house-share rental room works out cheapest.

7Wannabe5
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 6

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

@ThriftyRob:

The majority of the somewhat arbitrary 40 lbs is not on my midriff. The addition to my midriff is recent and consequent to late menopause. It is true that I do not like how my belly looks in the mirror. I used to only have a cute little pouch right above my love bone, but now it is yuck. Unfortunately, it is possible that I may have to take hormones to get rid of it. However, it behooves me to attempt simple caloric restriction first. The only good thing is that I think my skin is still stretchy enough to bounce back.

I can't do a house-share because I am high-risk for Covid. I will likely do a house-share as soon as I am vaccinated.

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Alphaville
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 6

Post by Alphaville »

now with more peace at home your fitness goals should be achievable.

stress increases cortisol which adds belly fat and wastes muscle

reduced cortisol will help. make sure you sleep well too.

taleb has this idea that slow long walks and short explosive workouts yields optimal results. i wouldn’t recommend hiit due to cardiac risks, but what about strength training with bodyweight + elastic bands? that is what we do here in alphaville.

found also some videos for bodyweight exercises. i’ll post in the workout log thread (but i don’t log anything cuz i hate accounting).

hang in there, and don’t rush the hookups. just get yourself some deluxe toys! :P

(yeah yeah it’s not the same but eh)

Miss Lonelyhearts
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 6

Post by Miss Lonelyhearts »

Which is more likely, that your diagnosable mother and skating on the edge of socially sanctionable ex-bf both have made uncharacteristically wise insight into consequences of your body’s deviation from classical ideal, or that two skilled manipulators gifted with abundant access to your company and time have identified area of persistent insecurity to advance their own self-centered agendas? And you’ve spoken glowingly of your son’s judgment elsewhere, why the sudden lapse of maternal confidence?

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Alphaville
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Re: 7Wannabe5- Take 6

Post by Alphaville »

Miss Lonelyhearts wrote:
Sat Nov 21, 2020 1:05 pm
Which is more likely, that your diagnosable mother and skating on the edge of socially sanctionable ex-bf both have made uncharacteristically wise insight into consequences of your body’s deviation from classical ideal, or that two skilled manipulators gifted with abundant access to your company and time have identified area of persistent insecurity to advance their own self-centered agendas? And you’ve spoken glowingly of your son’s judgment elsewhere, why the sudden lapse of maternal confidence?
ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding!

definitely this (and more.)

i though i had already replied to the stories here, but it was in a different thread where the guy “proposed” lmfao

and i’ll see the douchebag and raise to a douche tractor :lol:

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