Commuting Distractions

Commuters have lots of complaints.  Crowds, noise, smells, rude people, selfish people and delays seem to be the common ones,  For me, however, commuting allows (mostly uninterrupted) time for a variety of hobbies that I classify as commuting distractions.  There are a lot of them, and with each of these blogs I will highlight one of them.

One of best ways to kill time on the commute (and avoid killing your fellow commuters) is reading.  In a good year, when I am not concentrating on other hobbies, when there isn't a strike, when the person beside me isn't bleeding music out of his ears and when I can find books that aren't a slog, I get through about 50 books.  In a bad year, that total is probably 30, probably because I read at home.

Finding books to read is occasionally a challenge.  Yes, I was an English Literature student at university, but I don't always want to read the classics.  My degree may have prepared me for life in the 17th century (and not much else) but that doesn't mean I want to spend all my time there.

Fortunately, most of my friends and family also love to read and they often make great recommendations.  I also, sometimes, make a good guess when judging a book by its cover and discover a great read.

As we are in the 21st Century, I have decided to embrace technology and buy an e-reader.  I haven't used it yet because I have a few books in the queue.  I have the latest Ian Rankin book and people have been urging me to read The Game of Thrones.  When I get through them, I will fire up the e-reader and see where that takes me.  I chose the Kobo because I can access the library catalogue with it.

Loyal readers, if you have any good book recommendations, please list them in the comment section of this blog.  Your help is appreciated.

Leggo my Lego

Owing to a transit strike and too much time to kill before I could get a ride home I found myself doing something I rarely do.  I did a complete tour of a shopping mall at a leisurely pace.  Normally I am a get in, get what you came for and then get out kind of person. I can't really say I had a great time, but it wasn't a complete waste because I came across the Lego store.

I have always liked Lego, but never really had any.  I had one set when I was a child. but it wasn't a huge "megaset."  I could maybe build a small house or car, as long as colour symmetry wasn't a priority.  If you've read my blog called The Massive Collection and the Mind of a Child you might remember my friend's Playmobil collection.  What I didn't mention was that he also had a very impressive collection of Lego. Impressive because he had enough Lego to build a small village of houses, all tastefully colour coordinated.  I was pretty jealous, but we played with it together often enough that I only have good memories of it.

The Lego store is a pretty amazing place.  I hadn't realized how many products they had.  There were so many cool kits and stuff that I had no idea they made.  For a moment..... actually longer than a moment, I was a kid again.

I spotted that Lego train and made those important financial calculations that all hobbyists have to do.  It is a complicated formula involving the  (fun quotient X the building time X the buddy brag factor )/ (the cost factor + the once finished dust collector factor+ the wasted money factor)

I walked out of the store without a box of shiny new Lego and a healthy respect for the store clerks who patiently dealt with children (including one who listed every kit he owned in alphabetical, then chronological order.)  And although I managed to thwart the temptation, the seed has been planted, the need has been created.  Only time will tell where this will lead.