Win or lose, it’s all the same. It’s how you take it that counts, and knowing when to let go, when to go on to the next thing

Yay! I have finally completed the 18th century! Now, after the pre-1700s (the only other block I've finished), the 18th century is, of course, the shortest century. So, you could argue, very fairly, that this is a hollow victory. That's fair. Still, it's a milestone and we're going to be happy about it.

Now, here we come to a bit of a blog-post fail on my part. Prior to writing this post, I had an idea for the post based on an expectation that did not come to bear. You see, the final book that I had to read was Confessions by Rousseau. And for some reason, that I can't justify at this point, I was convinced that I would not be able to find it for free online in English. Clearly, as the link shows, that was completely wrong. Again, no idea why I thought that would be the case.

My initial plan to deal with that was to buy an eBook copy on iTunes. I happen to have a $1.05 credit on iTunes, and I figured this would be a good way to make use of that. My plan was to then tell the story about why I have this credit for this post. But then I got it for free, and I still have the credit.

Nonetheless, I will tell that story: I have that credit because of an ill-thought-out baby-sitting gig. I recently got an email from Apple alerting me to an opportunity to get a refund for unathorized in-app purchases.

I'm telling this story really poorly. Let's try again: So, about a year ago I was entertaining a hilarious, precocious then five year old with my iPhone. She elected to play a game called Fruit Ninja, which I was able to download for free. Yay! Ostensibly she was going to teach me how to play it, but she was much more interested in playing herself. I learned nothing. Later I discovered that she bought something with an in-app purchase. I figured, ah well, that's the cost of sharing your phone with a child, and at least she didn't break it, am I right? Then, out of the blue, I got this email and jumped on the chance to reclaim my 99 cents. I'm not sure why that became a $1.05, but what do I know?

Now, after writing this all out, I realize this is not actually a good story. And it's sort of pointless. Oh, well.

Also: five-year-old's high score? 157. My high score? 74. This will come as no surprise to anyone who has ever watched me try to play video games. Except for Sky Roads. I was amazing at that.