Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Hi everyone. My dad is driving me bat->-bleeped-<- crazy with books. He is a huge reader, which is fine. I like to read too, but unlike me my dad won't use an e-reader. He wants actual books. The den has bookshelves full of books. His home office, full of books. His bedroom, more books. And he keeps bringing more into the house! He gets them from the flea market and used bookstores.  It might not be so bad if he threw the books away after he read them but he doesn't. All those books everywhere totally ruin the decor of the house and the den and his office look like a used bookstore.

He's totally being stubborn about the e-reader. I told him any book ever written could be downloaded on a e-reader and I showed him the kindle oasis which looks really sharp. I also told him used books were nasty and that people had touched them,breathed on them and even coughed all over them and god knows what kind of germs they could have had. He said he would risk it and that he had already told me he didn't want to read his books on a e-reader and that he was pretty sure he hadn't studdered when he said it. Then he said if we had this discussion again he would put shelves all over my room and store books in there too. Then he opened one of his books, shook it over my head and told me to go wash the book Ebola out of my hair before I dropped dead. How rude! I was only trying to help him! God, try to drag some people into the 21st century!  I hope he gets a papercut from one of those stupid books!

Sorry for ranting. Sometimes my dad makes me want to tear my hair out.

 LOL your Dad sounds like me. I preferred real books too. Then I got audiobooks for my Mom when she came to live with us (she was legally blind with macular degeneratiom) and I started listening to them on long drives for work. Now I don't read them.
  Hey does your Dad like sci fi and fantasy? I could drop off a hundred or two next time I go through.

Hugs,
   Laurie

Quote from: Laurie on September 23, 2017, 01:56:19 PM
LOL your Dad sounds like me. I preferred real books too. Then I got audiobooks for my Mom when she came to live with us (she was legally blind with macular degeneratiom) and I started listening to them on long drives for work. Now I don't read them.
  Hey does your Dad like sci fi and fantasy? I could drop off a hundred or two next time I go through.

Hugs,
   Laurie

Do it and I sign you up for the cheesecake of the month club for the next 20 years. Lol

Quote from: Julia1996 on September 23, 2017, 02:02:46 PM
Do it and I sign you up for the cheesecake of the month club for the next 20 years. Lol

Now that would be cruel and unusual punishment, mean and rotten too. I'll find another home for them.

laurie

You are right about how books can take over a home, but I sympathise with your Dad.  I can barely move without tripping over books but I find it hard to choose which ones I can bear to part with.  Many of my books are second-hand too, and the thought of germs does cross my mind.  If only I could part with most of them, I would be free to move or travel!  I feel like a prisoner of my own library.

There are many good old books that aren't available online, and some large format books aren't suited to Kindle.  E-readers are the way to go, though.  I have 2 Kindles but whenever I pick them up, I find that I haven't charged them.  I am still something of a cavegirl.  We now live in a world where books, music and photos don't need to take up space or weight.  You are right not to want to be burdened with "stuff". 

I can't even be slick and get rid of some of them either. My dad is one of those freaky people who can always tell if his stuff has been moved or any of it's missing. Sigh...

Quote from: Julia1996 on September 23, 2017, 02:14:25 PM
I can't even be slick and get rid of some of them either. My dad is one of those freaky people who can always tell if his stuff has been moved or any of it's missing. Sigh...

Well yeeeaah. How do you thing we find things in all the mess? We know what is where. You mess us all up when you rearrange our filing system.


Laurie

Sorry but I'm your dad's side here  ;). There's nothing in the world like the smell of an old book or the feel of the pages; sensing all the history that book has had; all the different types of people who have read its pages. There's a sense of connection there. That other people have enjoyed and liked the same book you have. You can't get that from an E book. It's no were near the same experience. And I think we stare at computer screens way too much. Sometimes it's nice to take a break from it.

Quote from: Laurie on September 23, 2017, 02:55:26 PM
Well yeeeaah. How do you thing we find things in all the mess? We know what is where. You mess us all up when you rearrange our filing system.


Laurie

I know. I cleaned his home office once and he had a total fit. For 3 days I had to hear about how he couldn't find anything. Slobs can be so OCD about their messes!

Well, there's one thing said about books by the illustrious John Waters: "If you go home with somebody, and they don't have books, don't f*** 'em!"

And while I do like my e-reader, the heft of a DTF (dead-tree-format) story is worth the effort.

I suppose that some books, especially in uniform volumes, will always have some decor value.  In my early teens, I remember pulling a book out of a shelf at some exhibition, and being surprised to find that the contents were blank!  My mother told me that it was once a common phenomenon, as they were cheaper than the real thing.  I remember a scene in the book The Great Gatsby, where someone examines the books in Gatsby's library and is amazed to find that they AREN'T blank. 

Having well worn classics on bookshelves can also give the impression of being an intellectual.  They are the perfect accessory for the Rip Kirby type, along with a pipe and glasses.

Unfortunately my dad's books are mostly paperback. So no decor value other than catching dust. I don't know who Rip Kirby is but my dad isn't a pipe and glasses type. He's a gymrat who had LASIK type.lol

I prefer the sensation of real books as well. I have hundreds of books myself.

Books have been a huge part of my life—I used to sometimes read more than one a day. My family had a collection large enough to start a little library when we had to move and give them away.

I do find e-books convenient but they make my eyes tired, so to me real books feel more relaxing. I know real books are bulky, but I think it's sad that some day they may disappear. I hope they won't.

Anyway, your father sounds so funny... Book ebola.....!

Well, Julia, I guess you might consider yourself in a strange situation. Stay with your dad and brother, and all their quirks, or tolerate your mother. I'm guessing the former is preferable.
I just can't wait to see what you post when Tristan and yourself get your own place.  :)

Paper is such a beautiful material, it has texture and softness that is hard to describe, and the lower grades used in pulp fiction add imperfections to the page that makes each one unique.

Don't worry about the germs, paper is too dry for them to survive, although they can in the wrong climate grow a nasty group of fungi... and seem to breed dust...

On a more serious note, a collection of books, or a small library is one thing, filling all the rooms with books is a quite another...

Rowan

I sympathize with your dad. If I had the room, I'd go back to only reading physical books too. It's just not the same on a Kindle. The realities of moving around a few times made me give what I had to Good Will and I hated it, but then I am a collector(not a packrat!) by nature. Well, except my Dune hardcovers. Those stay with me.

Quote from: Lady Sarah on September 24, 2017, 10:30:03 PM
Well, Julia, I guess you might consider yourself in a strange situation. Stay with your dad and brother, and all their quirks, or tolerate your mother. I'm guessing the former is preferable.
I just can't wait to see what you post when Tristan and yourself get your own place.  :)

Live with my mother!  :icon_eek: :icon_yikes: :icon_help:  I would rather live in a refrigerator box under a bridge than live with my mother. I would rather deal with books than a bitch.

Quote from: Sno on September 24, 2017, 11:28:39 PM
Paper is such a beautiful material, it has texture and softness that is hard to describe, and the lower grades used in pulp fiction add imperfections to the page that makes each one unique.

Don't worry about the germs, paper is too dry for them to survive, although they can in the wrong climate grow a nasty group of fungi... and seem to breed dust...

On a more serious note, a collection of books, or a small library is one thing, filling all the rooms with books is a quite another...

Rowan

He doesn't have them in every room thank god but he does have them in the den which is public family space. Books can grow fungus?? Wow, that's just great. Well on the bright side I guess I could grow my own mushrooms.

Why are your stories always so hilarious? [emoji1] I feel like I would love to meet your dad and brother.


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Quote from: Julia1996 on September 25, 2017, 06:13:05 AM
He doesn't have them in every room thank god but he does have them in the den which is public family space. Books can grow fungus?? Wow, that's just great. Well on the bright side I guess I could grow my own mushrooms.

They will only really grow fungus in damp environments.  Colorado is not an area I would consider moist enough to make that a problem.........Of course, you could always store several in the bath room, the steam would help them grow.  My books spent time in the swamps of Georgia, and they haven't grown anything.

Quote from: Artesia on September 25, 2017, 08:53:39 AM
They will only really grow fungus in damp environments.  Colorado is not an area I would consider moist enough to make that a problem.........Of course, you could always store several in the bath room, the steam would help them grow.  My books spent time in the swamps of Georgia, and they haven't grown anything.

Yeah, I'm in one of the most humid places in the U.S. probably here in Georgia coastal marshland and I've never had a book get moldy. I've seen that it happened to other people (at garage sales usually), but I imagine that they were already damp from something else and just weren't dried out properly rather than the humidity itself was just so overwhelming.

Quote from: Roll on September 25, 2017, 10:34:45 AM
Yeah, I'm in one of the most humid places in the U.S. probably here in Georgia coastal marshland and I've never had a book get moldy. I've seen that it happened to other people (at garage sales usually), but I imagine that they were already damp from something else and just weren't dried out properly rather than the humidity itself was just so overwhelming.

Yeah, see, a e-reader never grows fungus. Lol

Quote from: Julia1996 on September 25, 2017, 11:27:42 AM
Yeah, see, a e-reader never grows fungus. Lol

  I wouldn't be so sure about that Julia, I'd be willing to be an E-reader has more germs and bacteria on them than any random book in your Dad's collection.

"Tablets/e-readers — Just think of them as smartphones with fewer features and more surface area when it comes to the germ load tablets and e-readers pack. One iPad tested by British consumer magazine Which? found 600 units of Staphylococcus aureus alone."

https://www.forbes.com/sites/reehines/2015/08/11/5-gadgets-with-more-germs-than-your-toilet-seat/#409f567c12fe

Laurie

Quote from: Roll on September 25, 2017, 10:34:45 AM
Yeah, I'm in one of the most humid places in the U.S. probably here in Georgia coastal marshland and I've never had a book get moldy. I've seen that it happened to other people (at garage sales usually), but I imagine that they were already damp from something else and just weren't dried out properly rather than the humidity itself was just so overwhelming.

Savannah?  I was stationed in Fort Stewart, took a couple books on an FTX into the swamp.

I certainly use an ereader (iPad) now, but I still prefer books--built in haptic feedback.  I also agree that digital devices are far more likely to carry a pestilence than paperbacks.

Everyone used to have books.  When I would go to someone's house, the most interesting room to me was the library.  By scanning their titles, I could construct an intellectual past for the owner and consider how it related to mine.  Books mark us up rather than the other way around.

A real book is probably cleaner than your phone or ereader! Wood is has a natural antiseptic! Your electrics just lets the bacteria roam around! Till they get Irradiated! Lol


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Quote from: Artesia on September 25, 2017, 11:31:47 PM
Savannah?  I was stationed in Fort Stewart, took a couple books on an FTX into the swamp.

Bit further south, the barrier islands next to Brunswick.

Quote from: gv2002 on September 26, 2017, 07:54:05 AM
A real book is probably cleaner than your phone or ereader! Wood is has a natural antiseptic! Your electrics just lets the bacteria roam around! Till they get Irradiated! Lol


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My dad said he would worry about me getting a brain tumor from the electric field of my e-reader but to get a brain tumor you have to have a brain so I am safe. :icon_lemon:
He thinks he's funny.😒

Ah, dad jokes. :D

Quote from: Roll on September 26, 2017, 09:19:57 AM
Ah, dad jokes. :D

Yeah, his jokes can be dorky. Of course my brother thinks any joke towards me is a riot. He especially liked it when I locked my keys in my car and then every time I went somewhere my dad told me to remember to lock my keys in the car so I didn't lose them. Groan..,..

Nothing wrong with Dorky.  All of my jokes are dorky.  Probably goes along with me being a: nerd, dork, dweeb, geek......I'll answer to anything but late for dinner.

If you want to mess with him, put a compass and a calculator in a pan, and put it on the kitchen table.  Tell him there's some pie in there for him........then run.

Quote from: Julia1996 on September 26, 2017, 09:27:59 AM
Yeah, his jokes can be dorky. Of course my brother thinks any joke towards me is a riot. He especially liked it when I locked my keys in my car and then every time I went somewhere my dad told me to remember to lock my keys in the car so I didn't lose them. Groan..,..

Now who would go and lock their keys in the car?  Well your Dad was correct they won't get lost there.

Hugs
   Laurie

One problem with paper books, especially old ones for some reason, is that in some environments, they attract bookworms (the invertebrate variety as well as the inebriate variety) and silverfish (not sure what they're called in the US).  At least with e-readers, we don't see the wildlife that is living on them.

Quote from: MaryT on September 27, 2017, 07:26:40 AM
One problem with paper books, especially old ones for some reason, is that in some environments, they attract bookworms (the invertebrate variety as well as the inebriate variety) and silverfish (not sure what they're called in the US).  At least with e-readers, we don't see the wildlife that is living on them.

Bugs and worms! Ewww gross! I HATE bugs!  I wish I had known about this before.  I can't bring up the subject of his books again or I really might end up with shelves of books in my bedroom. We have exterminator service every month. I need to have that guy spray the books,

Quote from: Julia1996 on September 27, 2017, 09:36:02 AM
Bugs and worms! Ewww gross! I HATE bugs!  I wish I had known about this before.  I can't bring up the subject of his books again or I really might end up with shelves of books in my bedroom. We have exterminator service every month. I need to have that guy spray the books,

Just make sure you give your tablet and phone a good antimicrobial cleaning every few days too!

It must be a man thing. My father has hundreds of books, we lined our games room with book cases and he still filled them up.

Personally I either like books or audio books, e books tend to give me eye strain.

It can be frustrating but maybe talk to him about setting up a filling system in the shed if u have one.. we got dad book boxes and got him to store the over flow in the shed. It was so nice to have the piles no longer all over the tables in the gaming room.


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I really like the idea of book boxes. I could store them in the basement.....inside the furnace.  My dad is just weird. He's all compulsive over the books and his desk is a cluttered up mess but then he's totally anal about other stuff. Like making his bed with the sheets all tucked in military style and the way he keeps his clothes in the closet. If he starts saving aluminum cans and old newspapers and starts bringing home stray cats I'm taking him to therapy.

I don't even own an e-reader.  I don't think I would like one.  But then, I am a librarian's daughter.

And I am probably the only person in North America who uses her cellphone just as a phone.

Quote from: KathyLauren on September 27, 2017, 08:22:58 PM
I don't even own an e-reader.  I don't think I would like one.  But then, I am a librarian's daughter.

And I am probably the only person in North America who uses her cellphone just as a phone.

My grandma doesn't even use a cell phone.  My dad got her one but she never turns it on. Its just buried in her purse. She uses a house phone. The only thing it does is make phone calls and its like attached to the wall. You actually have to stand there in front of it to talk on the phone. It doesn't have a screen or anything and you can't even see the number you dialed. And she has this thing she calls a roller desk on the counter under the phone. It has handwritten names and numbers on little cards! I give up on her.

Quote from: KathyLauren on September 27, 2017, 08:22:58 PM
I don't even own an e-reader.  I don't think I would like one.  But then, I am a librarian's daughter.

And I am probably the only person in North America who uses her cellphone just as a phone.

Raises Hand.

I use it as a phone only as well.  I have a laptop and a tablet for internet surfing, and an xbox for gaming.  My wife put some stuff on it.  So, occasionally, it beeps at me for something.....God knows what.

Quote from: Julia1996 on September 27, 2017, 08:33:28 PM
My grandma doesn't even use a cell phone.  My dad got her one but she never turns it on. Its just buried in her purse. She uses a house phone. The only thing it does is make phone calls and its like attached to the wall. You actually have to stand there in front of it to talk on the phone. It doesn't have a screen or anything and you can't even see the number you dialed. And she has this thing she calls a roller desk on the counter under the phone. It has handwritten names and numbers on little cards! I give up on her.

  Julia you are showing your youth. First off it is called a rollo desk and it was a very common item for keeping contact information handy.. You are too young to remember rotary dial phones and party lines. Ask you grandmother about them. The first "cell phone" was a monstrosity the size of a military walkie talkie. and was not light. Home phones were commonly attached to a wall or sat on a desk in a common room.. You need some history lessons girl. I remember all of these myself. I'm a product of the good old days.

Lol & Hugs,
   Laurie

Julie you are always such a trip.  So young, so wise and so nice but girlfriend, like Laurie said all that wall phone stuff is not that old.  My mother would have been the same with a cell phone.  No need and said she would be the last person to own one.  She was high tech though.  Had an answering machine.
I remember that we had a party line phone at first.  We shared a common line with other nearby and if you were sneaky you could listen in to what others were saying.  LOL.
Somewhere in my stuff is a analog bag cell phone from the 80's.   A monstrosity.  Huge phone and huge battery that had a shoulder strap.  It must now be worth more than the TV I traded for it.

We all grew up with those, Julia.

Quote from: rmaddy on September 28, 2017, 02:20:04 AM
We all grew up with those, Julia.

When I was little we had a house phone too but you could walk around the house with it and it had a screen for caller ID. You couldn't go that far outside with it but it wasnt attached to the wall. It had kind of like a charging mat only it was kind of big. That plugged into a electric socket and it had another cord with a weird little plug thing that also plugged into the wall.  I've seen those first cell phones. OMG you would have looked like such a tool carrying around something like that. Lol.  I'm so glad we have normal cellphones now. I use mine for everything.

Our phones where all larger, sat on a countertop, and had a dial rather than buttons.  Yeah...I'm that old.

Quote from: Julia1996 on September 27, 2017, 08:33:28 PM
My grandma doesn't even use a cell phone.  My dad got her one but she never turns it on. Its just buried in her purse. She uses a house phone. The only thing it does is make phone calls and its like attached to the wall. You actually have to stand there in front of it to talk on the phone. It doesn't have a screen or anything and you can't even see the number you dialed. And she has this thing she calls a roller desk on the counter under the phone. It has handwritten names and numbers on little cards! I give up on her.

Julia - now your even making me feel old.

Then again Australia has always been behind when it comes to phones. I blame Telstra (oh wait I work for Telstra.. probably shouldn't do that) - feel free to ask ur BF and I bet he can't find a single positive thing to say about good old Telstra ;)

We called those wall phones a T1000 or the earlier ones a T100 we still have one as do my parents.

As for the old rotary phones I can remember both my grandparents having them right up until the mid 90's

Working in the phone industry I suppose you get to see a lot more then most people but the number of people who hang onto their old phones is surprising and a lot larger the most people expect :)

Back to the books tho, book boxes worked amazingly for us, me and mum were close to walking out and finding a new place. Not so sure about the furnace idea but it would make them easy to store :P

Good luck! 


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My grandparents are just the kind of people who keep everything and don't update. They still have apple green ankle deep shag carpet in their living room. Not only do they still have actual records , the turntable they play them on is hidden in this huge wooden cabinet thing. You open up the top and there is a turntable in there. I told her it was weird to have something so big just to hold a turntable and she said only the turntable still worked but it was a TV too and she slid open some doors and there was a big, fishbowl looking TV screen built into it! WOW! She calls that thing her " stereo " .  lol

Quote from: Julia1996 on September 28, 2017, 03:36:51 PM
My grandparents are just the kind of people who keep everything and don't update. They still have apple green ankle deep shag carpet in their living room. Not only do they still have actual records , the turntable they play them on is hidden in this huge wooden cabinet thing. You open up the top and there is a turntable in there. I told her it was weird to have something so big just to hold a turntable and she said only the turntable still worked but it was a TV too and she slid open some doors and there was a big, fishbowl looking TV screen built into it! WOW! She calls that thing her " stereo " .  lol

My last foster parents had one of those "stereos". So, I thought I was super cool when I got a Knight Kit 2000 stereo with turntable, that had tubes that lit up to almost white hot when I had it cranked up to Deep Purple, or Black Sabbath. These days, everything is digital, and I'd have no clue how to repair one.

Quote from: Julia1996 on September 28, 2017, 03:36:51 PM
My grandparents are just the kind of people who keep everything and don't update. They still have apple green ankle deep shag carpet in their living room. Not only do they still have actual records , the turntable they play them on is hidden in this huge wooden cabinet thing. You open up the top and there is a turntable in there. I told her it was weird to have something so big just to hold a turntable and she said only the turntable still worked but it was a TV too and she slid open some doors and there was a big, fishbowl looking TV screen built into it! WOW! She calls that thing her " stereo " .  lol

My Grandma had one of those, but she called it the HiFi.  They were awesome to play with.  To bad the TV was broken, but everything else worked.  I couldn't imagine that you could get a signal on the TV part now anyway.  Thing is probably worth a pretty penny now too.  It was sold as part of her house when she passed.  :icon_cry: