Roberta--
I'm fine with "Turn right at the gas station."
However when I hear, "Turn right at the gas station that used to be a Dunkin' Doughnuts...or was that on the other corner? There was a Dunkin Doughnuts sitting catty-corner from a vacant lot. Joe's Auto Body was on the north corner until he sold out.... I think he retired and moved to Florida...or that might have been his brother."
Point A to Point B in January, 2007. My wants are humble.
Maddening.
ME-have-always-GO at math. It's just too abstract for me.
I shut down when people start telling me recipes, too. I'm fine with "just add a little balsamic vinegar to your salad dressing"...but when they start in on a whole list of ingredients, MEGO after about the first three. (I was going to give you a sample of the type of conversation, but MEGO just thinking about it. Uh, where was I?)
Easy answer on the seat belt thing; only the driver has a seatbelt that is actually designed to be used. Front passengers can go fish. Rear seat passengers can just give up and hope they don't get caught.
farmerman, James Joyce? If your eyes glaze, your eyes glaze. I don't have your reaction to watching golf, but it depends on who's playing. Have to admit that at the winter Olympics, curling is hard for me to watch.
Noddy, Seems to me that the kind of directions you're describing are coming from somebody who's just plain boring. If I run into you on the street and you ask me for directions, I'll point and say something like, "Turn left at the drug store."
Eva, a kindred math spirit. I admit that my eyes don't glaze over at oral recitations of recipes. I just don't remember what I was told.
Roger, thanks for the seatbelt info. I was in the backseat when it took me almost ten blocks to get the damned thing unbuckled. Sigh. I'm occasionally in the front seat, but I'm never in the driver's seat, so I can't compare.
So, anybody in this thread want to play a game of chess with me?
Decades ago, I followed Fischer Spassky, or whatever their names were, helped by a maniacal lab tech friend. But that was it, I understand no more.
Have made the odd attempts at backgammon and dominos, not games of my childhood. Phooey.
Crossword puzzles I can understand.
I know you're great at those, Roberta, but I claim to at least do them in ink.
(not lately though, as one has to pay for the NYT puzzles from here)
What's that you say, Reyn? Maybe if you could break out of the monotone, or something.
Heck, Reyn, I'm a'skirred to look into online scrabble, even with pals here doing that - like lilK and RealJohn.
Osso, You have touched on another of my many failings. IMPATIENCE. I understand chess. But I can't bear a game that requires so much thinking time. In fact, I'm remembering a game I played in which my opponent took so much time that my mind moved on to other things. Completely forgot to move out of an upcoming mate. Was I disappointed? Nope? Relieved the damned thing was over.
As for Scrabble, I have no patience to play with humans. Too much waiting and thinking. I used to have a Scrabble CD, but it's incompatible with my new computer. I miss it. Kept me on my toes.
I'm not as good at crossword puzzles as I used to be. I stopped getting the paper, so I don't do them very often. I have a NY Times crossword book though that I turn to occasionally.
I suspect that the people who cause the MEGO effect in me are in fact simply taxing my patience in some way.
BTW, I remember following the Fisher Spassky matches too. Chess was hot for about an hour and a half.
ossobuco wrote:Decades ago, I followed Fischer Spassky, or whatever their names were, helped by a maniacal lab tech friend. But that was it, I understand no more.
Heck, Reyn, I'm a'skirred to look into online scrabble, even with pals here doing that - like lilK and RealJohn.
Yup, a long time ago.
I tried online Scrabble once. People ran circles around me, coming up with obscure words.
roger wrote:What's that you say, Reyn? Maybe if you could break out of the monotone, or something.
I figured your eyes would glaze over on the mention of chess.
Roberta wrote:...I understand chess. But I can't bear a game that requires so much thinking time. In fact, I'm remembering a game I played in which my opponent took so much time that my mind moved on to other things. Completely forgot to move out of an upcoming mate. Was I disappointed? Nope? Relieved the damned thing was over.
You're supposed to
think while playing chess?
[smacks forehead]
Well, maybe I should try again then!
Reyn wrote:ossobuco wrote:Decades ago, I followed Fischer Spassky, or whatever their names were, helped by a maniacal lab tech friend. But that was it, I understand no more.
Heck, Reyn, I'm a'skirred to look into online scrabble, even with pals here doing that - like lilK and RealJohn.
Yup, a long time ago.
I tried online Scrabble once. People ran circles around me, coming up with obscure words.
roger wrote:What's that you say, Reyn? Maybe if you could break out of the monotone, or something.
I figured your eyes would glaze over on the mention of chess.
Roberta wrote:...I understand chess. But I can't bear a game that requires so much thinking time. In fact, I'm remembering a game I played in which my opponent took so much time that my mind moved on to other things. Completely forgot to move out of an upcoming mate. Was I disappointed? Nope? Relieved the damned thing was over.
You're supposed to
think while playing chess?
[smacks forehead]
Well, maybe I should try again then!
Uh oh. I see all these quotes within quotes around quotes--a computer thing--and there go the eyes. Too late. They're glazed.
Rather than navigate throught the maze, I'll just say: Who's to say those online Scrabble players ween't looking stuff up?
As for thinking and chess, couldn't hoit. But only if you've got a lot of time on your hands and want to win. I'd rather just get the game over with.
Whew. Wrote three sentences with glazed eyes. Didn't know if it was possible.
