Goodbye to an old, inanimate object/friend! I bought this back in 2009, and after about five or six years gave it to my Dad, who now has a brand-new Mini. Fortunately, this is still able to be used by an aunt of mine, so it’s still chugging along! I upgraded the RAM past what is stated that it can take, and upgraded the hard drive to four times the capacity so it’s good to go. (I did this years ago). It is starting to not work with some web sites as well, and as of a few years ago was unable to upgrade to the latest operating system, but it still does quite a bit just fine.
First time ever: I took my garage-stored car, that has never been rained on since I took ownership back in what, 2014? That I never drive if I don’t have to for fear of… everything… I took it to the Ice Ranch. The longest drive ever with this vehicle, for me. When I bought it, I declared that I’d never have my hockey gear in this fine automobile, but upon watching some videos on the perils of allowing a car to sit too long, it was mentioned that if a car isn’t driven specifically on the highway, to get true hot/cold action on the engine, big problems will evolve. So, it was for the good of the car. I picked a late-night game in good weather, and the long drive home on C-470 was wonderful! Especially the newly remodeled parts to the south. Boy was I careful with my big bag and sticks in this car, they weren’t in it any longer than necessary!
This is a month’s worth of thrifting… not much compared to this time last year!
The Rise of Germany: 1939-1941 • I did some reading in this and really liked it as it expanded on some info I’d heard in some YouTube lectures… unfortunately the book smells like some sort of chemical. I gave it a clear, transparent contact-paper cover (it’s a paperback) and left it in front of a fan for two days, and left it for five more days outside. It still smells. So instead of putting it on my main shelf next to another James Holland book, I’m storing it in a more obscure bookshelf for the time being, maybe the smell will go away or I’ll find another copy. A hardback to match the other James Holland book?
Iwo Jima: Portrait of a Battle • This is a big book with really good photos, and I paid ten bucks for it which is not a price I usually pay, but it is worth it for sure.
The Count of Monte Cristo • One of my favorite tales, it was very good luck to run across this of all things!
Star Wars: Episode IV • This version has twice the music my previous copy had. I’ve been listening to a lot of John Williams lately, so I was glad to find this. I have The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi from this release already, so those are bigger editions as well. I only need to get the music from the last three movies (bad movies, but great music) but I can take my time as I have a lot to listen to already. John Williams is fantastic.
Residence: Dvorak in Prague • I bought a few of these Residence releases by Erato in the early nineties, brand-new, so when I see these, I get them in an effort to get them all. Up to eight of them so far.
Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet • I’ve been discovering a lot of new music (to me) in ballet and opera. It’s right there, in front of me and I always pass on listening to it, which is not the case anymore.
Beethoven: Famous Piano Sonatas • This is exactly the kind of album I have already. How I don’t have this already is testament to how many releases there are out there. It is A: Beethoven piano sonatas, and B: a Naxos release. That alone would lead me to think that I already had it, but I didn’t!
Isaac Stern: Wieniawski / Bruch Violin Concertos • Another series I’m putting together that would be so much easier just grabbing it off of Amazon. I have enough of these already that I’m not going to do that!
randyrydberg.org 