Head Cases by John McMahon, Book Review

~ Veselin ~ 1 Comment

A group of nerds is either brought together at the FBI to solve its toughest cases or to fail together because they suck. The lead nerd also happens to be the protagonist. I already don’t remember his name but he’s the type of person who would count things or spot things nobody else does.

The promise of watching a team of nerds solve a big mystery is delivered. The mystery is medium level difficulty but involves multiple serial killers. The main villain is something of a Dexter Morgan type. He clearly knows far too much to not be FBI, at the same time may also be a nerd himself. FBI people wouldn’t enjoy being investigated as suspects.

If you don’t like tropes, this book would not be for you. For me, it was a satisfying read that I’d rate around 4.5*/5. Not very original or anything, just satisfying.

I waited on a queue to take this photo

~ Veselin ~ 1 Comment

Sorry it didn’t turn out very well and there’s glare but I’m sure you’ll appreciate the situation.

A cat chilling on a velvet pillow in front of a signed photo of Evanna Lynch. Shishman Street.

It’s not easy to find a way to combine the books and cats tags 🙂 I think this is the first time I do it.

Best purchase ever

~ Veselin ~ 4 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What is the best purchase you have ever made?
View all responses

I try to not get too attached to items and keep them replaceable.

I grew up in an environment when we couldn’t really own anything expensive. One day, my parents brought home beautiful fake adidas pants with three stripes (I think it was abidas or something like that). I went out with it and a kid pushed me down during play (probably on purpose) so my pants got torn. I learned by that mistake and the next fancy thing (a sweather) my parents brought, I didn’t wear at all. Then there was a birthday party and I wanted to put it on, and it was already too small. I outgrew it. So that didn’t work either.

Later in life, I had a chance to experience shopping stuff I need and want, I need and don’t want, I want but don’t need, and even stuff I neither wanted or needed. I it was around my mid-30s when I established some stable principles and conclusions about purchases.

  • The satisfaction you get from a new car and from a new book is not too far out but the car is far more expensive
  • Storage space is a limiting factor for the things you want but don’t need. Space management requires a good sense of minimalism. Once you learn how to throw away things, you get attached to items even less and no longer buy as much as before
  • You can’t be cheap on stuff you’ll use for work, and some of the hardware that frequently fails, I keep fallbacks. I have multiple backup glasses, some kept at specific locations, multiple headphones, countless chargers, cables, connectors, a battery that can recharge my computer and so on.

So with this philosophy, the items I buy are replaceable. Even my book collection is fluid, with a constant outflow of books that get donated.

If I can nominate one item that was life changing and at the same time inexpensive and easily replaceable, that’s my Apple Watch. It keeps me walking.