1068th Friday Blog Roundup

I was stressing about the fact that three books were all coming to me on the same day from my library holds list, followed by another book the next Tuesday. All four were super popular books, so if I suspended the hold, I would be waiting weeks to get them again.

But then it occurred to me that if you read 5% of a book per day, you would finish it in 20 days, leaving you with 1 day of wiggle room for a 21-day checkout. 5% of a 400-page book is 20 pages, and most books are under 400 pages. I could easily move each book forward by 5% per night, right? 15% seemed do-able.

I checked out the first book and read to 5%. Then I checked out the second book and took it to 10%. Then went back to the first book and brought that one to 10%. I was currently 1 day ahead of schedule! I waited until the next day to check out the third book and bring that to 5%. As long as I always end at the daily percentage goal, I can keep this going indefinitely. Though it feels like 4 books may be my limit.

Take that, library holds list.

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Stop procrastinating. Go make your backups. Don’t have regrets.

Seriously. Stop what you’re doing for a moment. It will take you fifteen minutes, tops. But you will have peace of mind for days and days. It’s the gift to yourself that keeps on giving.

As always, add any new thoughts to the Friday Backup post and peruse new comments to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.

And now the blogs…

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But first, second, helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week. To read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• None… sniff.

Okay, now my choices this week.

Finding a Different Path is on a hunt for delights. I love this as a teaching concept, and while it’s similar to a gratitude journal, there is something different, too. Gratitude is more about acknowledging and thanking the world for a moment. It feels weighty. Noticing delights is more whimsical and speaks to the fact that there are good things in the world, even when it looks like a dumpster fire. And beyond that, noticing them is kind of the point of living. Love this.

Lastly, All & Sundry writes about two visits: one at a care facility and one at hospice. While I was deeply moved by the hospice story, it was a thought she wrote about in the care facility one that was a light bulb moment for me: “What I now understand is that he has trouble expressing things but no trouble at all receiving, if that makes sense. He can often answer questions, he cannot ask them.” The human brain is fascinating.

The roundup to the Roundup: 5% reading goal. Your weekly backup nudge. And lots of great posts to read. So what did you find this week? Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between January 2 – 9) and not the blog’s main URL. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week. Read the original open thread post here.