OmegaMouse

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I suppose when I say 'modern' I mean anything from the mid 20th century to the present day.

At some point in years to come, certain books will stand the test of time and continue to be commonly read, held above other novels as the best this century had to offer. What makes a book a classic? My guess would be the impact it has had and the overall quality of its writing. But it's probably quite subjective!

One book that springs to mind is Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. It's just unlike anything else I've read, with some beautiful visions of the American landscape contrasted with brutal depictions of the worst humanity has to offer.

There's a small coffee shop in my city that puts a lot of love into their drinks. They have a couple of seats at the bay window by the entrance, which I always find a relaxing spot to read whilst I'm savouring my coffee. And the best part - the café has a really cute dog that'll occasionally come up to you for some pets :) Just sitting there, with relaxing music playing and the sound of people chatting in the background... I find that to be a charming place to read.

I also have fond memories of sitting by a pool when I was younger whilst on holiday with my parents. I'd devour the latest Alex Rider or Lemony Snicket novel sitting in the shade. Has been a while since I've last had that experience, but it's a sunny day here today, so perhaps I'll sit outside on my lunch under a tree.

Do you have any particular places where you like to read?

Nowadays I don't really have any authors or book series like this. As I kid I used to get really excited for a new Series of Unfortunate Events or Alex Rider book. For a while I kept my eye on Adrian Tchaikovsky, but lately I've found some of his novels to be hit or miss.

The only book release I'm currently looking forward to is Brigands & Breadknives in the Legends & Lattes series by Travis Baldree. The other two books have been cosy and wholesome, and it's become a little tradition of mine to read these books around Christmas.

I've always found the concept of wabi-sabi quite fascinating and I'd love to find out a bit more. Are there any books that explore this concept? Something quite approachable would be good.

https://www.youtube.com/@ChillDudeExplains

A video from this channel popped up on my feed the other day. The topic seemed interesting, but after about the 3rd or 4th point something felt off. He constantly uses similes to draw very odd comparisons. The phrase 'it's like' comes up very often. This is exactly how I've seen LLMs talk.

Is it just me, or am I right about this? No one in the youtube comments seems to have mentioned it.

I've had a Gaggia Classic for a few years and over the last few months I've been having issues with the flow from the group head.

I think it might be an issue with the solenoid valve. There was some guidance I saw online about flicking rapidly from the group head to the steam wand, as this forces water through and clears any blockages. And yes this does seem to work - if I rapidly flick the switches the water suddenly flows a lot faster from the group head. But it's not a permanent fix.

I've descaled it several times. Is there something else I can do, or does the valve need replacing?