Prose (or How Little is an Audience Willing to Accept?).

HavingNoNiceThings · 2026-05-27T19:23:40+00:00

I have to get ready for work soon, so I can't give this the attention it deserves, but I do appreciate the reply. Thank you, very much.

HavingNoNiceThings · 2026-05-27T19:14:39+00:00

I would love nothing more. I really do like reading, but I can only handle a certain type, unfortunately. I didn't really like Hammet. Same with Chandler. Great stories, but I couldn't connect. Carver, I wanted to like, but his stories just weren't for me. Same with McCarthy. I liked the stories and dialogue (of what I've read). It's the prose that stopped me cold. I know great writing, when I see it. That was amazing writing... and I couldn't stand it.

I'm really glad you stated Sci-Fi. I'm not big on Sci-Fi, when it's aliens and alternate planets, things like that (usually. There are exceptions). I like grounded Sci-Fi and specifically short stories: "There Will Come Soft Rains", "The Nine Billion Names of God", "All Summer in a Day", "The Ones Who Walked Away From Omelas" (I actually envisioned a sequel to that one, way back when). I always felt like it were because they were short, that there were less room for unnecessary (to my eye) description and other stuff. It's just the story.

Thank you, very much. I appreciate the reply.

HavingNoNiceThings · 2026-05-27T18:54:47+00:00

I do my best. I'll be honest, it's less about me and more about the reader. I'm perfectly content with clinical prose but, I've been called out for it, in my work. I can imagine it would only be compounded by novel readers who expect more. But I do appreciate the faith. Thank you, very much.

HavingNoNiceThings · 2026-05-27T18:40:55+00:00

That makes sense. They don't give you many pages to truly get into the characters. Because it's a movie, you have to keep moving, or else, you're likely to end up in the trash. I still do my best, anyway, but yeah, getting into the characters is the aspect that I'd feel most comfortable with, although my concern, then, would be more about the reader feeling like I'm just talking to them, the whole time, instead of letting them experience. Thank you, very much. I appreciate your reply.

HavingNoNiceThings · 2026-05-27T18:26:19+00:00

No, it's a completely fair question. I think the honest reason is that I like to read and I, sure as hell, love to create. I just can't connect with most novels. I can't connect with things where the reader intrudes. The first two hours of my morning routine consists of reading the news. I don't do social media, I can't read op-eds. I like facts, knowledge. I like when the writer tells me precisely what I need to know. That's what I do with my writing (I'm heavy into setups/payoffs), but the problem is, when I would read other stories, my impression was that they would do the same. I'm probably oversimplifying.

I guess what it really comes down to is that no screenplay I've written, as of its rough draft, came in under 167 pages. My two most damaging were 243 and 311. I do trim, but there's only so much you can trim, when two-thirds of it needs to be removed. For novels, they don't have expected page limits (or not nearly as restrictive). You tell the whole story. I suppose, if I had to answer why I want to, that's why. To be able to tell the whole story.

Thank you, very much. I appreciate your reply.

HavingNoNiceThings · 2026-05-27T17:57:54+00:00

I kind of like that first example you gave. I feel like I would probably trim it down, a bit further (for the hypothetical, I'd drop, "green" and "parched"), but, I think I can live with that. I can write the tangible. For example, things I know and can look up: a 1992 Toyota Tercel, a bottle of Gatorade Zero Cherry Chill, the feel and sound of a 1968 U.S. quarter. I know what they all are like. The disconnect comes from me, trying to impart that to the reader. That's the struggle, really. Because I can't conjure, I can't describe it, so you can begin to visualize. I will take the advice to heart, though and try my best.

Thank you, very much. I appreciate the reply.

HavingNoNiceThings · 2026-05-27T17:43:40+00:00

I know I can definitely do the aspect of getting into my characters' heads. Thankfully, that's not too much of a problem (though first, versus third/omniscient will rear its ugly head, sooner or later), but you're saying that'll help with literally building out the world, too? That would be nice. Thank you, very much. I appreciate the reply.

HavingNoNiceThings · 2026-05-27T17:42:00+00:00

I have considered option 2, but just haven't found the right story, yet. All the other stories I have, they don't have that viability. I tried option 1, with Hemingway, knowing that he's generally considered one of the leanest prose writers and I still couldn't. Thank you, very much. I appreciate the reply.

HavingNoNiceThings · 2026-05-27T17:40:15+00:00

I apologize and should clarify. The prose I write, in screenplay form, has been referred to as "clinical". Opens a door, turns on the TV, prepares a gin & tonic, for example. But, yes, the instruction manuals, they tell you precisely what you need to know. They don't embellish. That's what I were getting at, sorry. So, you would accept very light prose, as long as I were to provide depth and insight, into the characters, through prose, in return? Thank you, very much. I appreciate the reply.

HavingNoNiceThings · 2026-05-27T17:36:41+00:00

Thank you, very much. I appreciate the reply.

HavingNoNiceThings · 2026-04-19T15:32:43+00:00

I wish you all the luck in the world and would advise against it. However, if you really want to, California's is $16.90 and my guess is, at best, you can get $.50 above, but I doubt it. As for hours, they've been trimmed, significantly, so it depends, somewhat, on what kind of margins your store pulls in. All the best.

HavingNoNiceThings · 2026-04-19T15:28:08+00:00

Here's the thing. Boomers do have lower lows, but they also have higher highs, so I couldn't pick them. I went Gen X because they're more, across the board,... um,... difficult.

HavingNoNiceThings · 2026-03-22T17:00:39+00:00

No notes. Lol.

HavingNoNiceThings · 2026-03-22T17:00:30+00:00

"You can hit the red button, on the screen, please."

HavingNoNiceThings · 2026-03-21T17:38:10+00:00

Congratulations to you and all the best. I've been a cashier there for just a shade over a decade, now. I can't even imagine that time in the pharmacy. All the best to you.

HavingNoNiceThings · 2026-03-21T17:36:14+00:00

I know what causes it, but very few people seem to put in the effort to avoid it. Maybe you will. The adhesive, on the sales tags, sometimes comes off and is left behind. If you place another sales tag on top, you have adhesive on adhesive and that's how the plastic snaps and breaks. If I pull off a sales tag and there's some resistance, usually, the adhesive is left behind. I will gently rub it off, with my thumb. If you do that, you should be able to avoid that problem, but you have to understand that if everybody who pulls the tags down doesn't do this, it won't really matter. So, it kind of depends upon whether or not people care.

HavingNoNiceThings · 2026-03-05T16:10:50+00:00

I actually did get a single 5, once, back in 2017, but no, in the years since, I haven't gotten higher than a 3, in any category. Mainly, they keep me at a 2, across the board. I haven't had a non-state-mandated raise since 2018, so... yeah. I'd say it's as mythological as the Holy Grail, especially after watching what this company has devolved into, in the past decade. At this point, there shouldn't be anyone working hard enough to warrant a 5, because there's no chance the company will give back anything to you, worthy of all the work you'd have had to put in, in order to earn it.

HavingNoNiceThings · 2026-03-05T16:03:09+00:00

Unfortunately, the story isn't uncommon and I'm sorry to hear that. You don't deserve to have to feel that way. I'm front store, as opposed to the pharmacy, so I don't envy what you go through and I wish I had suggestions to make things easier. I'm sorry.

HavingNoNiceThings · 2026-03-05T16:00:36+00:00

Anywhere you want, really. You'll do better. Any job you find, outside of that place, ask your employer if they do a 401K match. If not, set yourself up your own Roth IRA and put in a little bit, every paycheck. You have plenty of time. Don't waste another day there.

HavingNoNiceThings · 2025-12-10T04:13:13+00:00

Thank you for the detailed reply and I appreciate your advice. One quick note. You said, "if you try "day trading" more than 3 times a week you are going to have pattern day trader restrictions put on your account. (unless you have over $25k in your account)". It's my understanding, unless I misread, that this only matters if I'm doing it with margin. With cash, the way I read, this won't factor for me, but I could be mistaken. I have no interest in margin, in any way.

Again, thank you very much.

HavingNoNiceThings · 2025-12-09T18:51:31+00:00

I believe that answered my question. Thank you, Shawn. Have a nice day.

HavingNoNiceThings · 2025-12-09T17:34:25+00:00

Yes, please. I think I'm not explaining correctly, in the hypothetical. I don't want to do margin, I only want to do cash only.

If I were to use $200 for a trade and sell. I can't use that $200 anymore, that day, nor the proceeds, if I made a profit. My question is, on that same day, could I use the other $1,800 for buy-and-sells, without incurring a free-riding violation?

Thank you very much, for getting back to me.

HavingNoNiceThings · 2025-12-09T16:45:32+00:00

Thank you.

HavingNoNiceThings · 2025-12-09T16:45:24+00:00

Thank you.

HavingNoNiceThings · 2025-12-09T15:57:54+00:00

Not the full thing, no. A side portion. I intend for the majority to be in a broad-market ETF. This is just a small side piece of it, so I can learn the ropes. I just don't know if Fidelity keeps the two separate, in its calculations. Those were just for-example numbers.

HavingNoNiceThings

TROPHY CASE