Posts Tagged ‘Miami’

Far From Perfect – By George Farina

July 8th, 2018

Via: https://www.georgefarina.net/store/farfromperfect/index.php

I spent most of 2017 writing a book called “Far From Perfect” (described via the below press release). Before I started writing, I decided to put together a timeline of different events I went through during the span of my life. This was done on a spreadsheet. I went back as far as I could remember. I’d enter the date of the event. In the next field I’d write a description. I ended up with about four hundred lines. From there, I decided to start writing.

Once I started writing, I wrote six days a week and spent almost the entire day typing away. I’d go to bed thinking about what I wanted to write the next day. If I thought of something I felt couldn’t wait, I’d often get up in the middle of the night. I’d fire up the computer and jot my thoughts down.

The book took about nine months to finish. Then, I spent about a year making adjustments, while trying to figure out the best way to move forward with publishing. During that year I was often traveling. The adjustments and research were done sparingly, as time permitted. After researching the many different avenues for publication, I decided to take the self publishing route.

Currently, the entire book is being printed and bound by the author. Each book takes about a half hour to put together. Then, the binding is glued and set to dry overnight. The next night the cover is glued to the binding and set to dry overnight. From start to finish it takes two days to create each book. Because of this process, each book is a little different. This is a self published book in every sense of the word. Each book purchased is truly a one of a kind.

The book was written, typed, edited, and proofread in its entirety by the author. Please be understanding in regard to potential errors. There are over 70 thousand words and 285 pages. Even though the author used diligence, he is only human and as such prone to making mistakes. Far From Perfect takes place in East Hampton, Connecticut, Cromwell, Connecticut and Miami, Florida.

Without further ado, I would like to announce the publication of “Far From Perfect” via the below Press Release :

Far From Perfect Press Release:
(Date: 7-8-2018) This press release is to announce the publication of my first book: Far From Perfect – By George Farina. I’m not a New York Times Best Selling Author. I’ve read books on their best seller list. The words flow effortlessly. They are rhythmic. They thrust a person’s imagination into a new and exciting world. Parts of what I’ve written might come close. I guess that’s up to the reader to decide.

In this book I tell a story. It’s a true story. It’s a story that was written with a lot of thought. It’s a story being told as accurately and detailed as possible. It’s a story detailing part of a persons life. It is also an informative story. I try to pass on as many of the things I’ve learnt as possible.

This is a book about a life. It’s about the experiences encountered during that life. The things witnessed. Throughout that life many different events occurred. People entered and left. These were people I met in school. They were neighbors. They were people I met at an abandon 18-wheeler truck trailer, during a time when I didn’t have any other place to stay. They were people I met at events, at work, and even in the middle of the street. I met people through chatrooms, Myspace and Plenty of Fish.

Many of these people took parts of a “far from perfect” life to enjoyable. Their personalities; their character; their charisma made parts of my life exhilarating. They gave me many amazing memories. I relived them vicariously while writing. These are memories I accumulated over the course of forty years.

With that said, as the title states, my life was far from perfect. I’ve been through plenty of struggles. Some of the struggles I didn’t include, simply because I don’t like thinking about them. I know I’m not the only person on this planet who has struggled throughout their life. I didn’t set out to write a book. Circumstances led me to writing. Now that the book is finished, I think people might like hearing a few of the stories I’ve detailed. Others who’ve been through struggles might relate.

When I started writing, I wasn’t in a good place. My head was filled with all that went wrong. It was filled with all the terrible. As I continued writing, I started thinking about the people I’d known, and all the crazy things we’d been through. I thought about their personalities and their sayings. I often laughed to myself as I wrote about them. They drowned out much of the terrible.

Even with many of the terrible times excluded, I wrote about enough struggles to justify keeping the title. I hope the people who decide to read Far From Perfect find it enjoyable.

Far From Perfect can be purchased at: https://www.georgefarina.net/farfromperfect

Honeywell’s Kitchen Computer: The First Home Computer

May 14th, 2014

The Kitchen Computer is widely recognized as the very first home computer offered to consumers. This monstrosity weighted in at over 100lbs and was mostly used to store and display recipes. The Kitchen Computer was a luxury item as only the wealthiest of wealthy were able to afford this machine. It was offered for sale at Neiman Marcus stores for $10,000. That would be about 65K today. Imagine having to pony-up 65K for a computer! Forget that! Luckily, that’s not necessary. For under a hundred dollars a small tablet could be purchased and used to store virtually every recipe known to mankind.

One of the main reasons the Kitchen Computer wasn’t a success was because it wasn’t user friendly. Once purchased the new owner needed to take a two week programing class so they could learn how to enter and read recipes. To enter recipes a series of zeros and ones known as binary code would need to be programed into the computer. When a recipe was requested the computer would display a pattern of coded flashing lights. The user would then need to decipher the coded lights to understand the recipe. Yes, I know what you’re thinking! That sounds like a lot of extra work for a single meal. To make things worse, the Kitchen Computer was rather large and wouldn’t fit in many kitchens.

This futuristic looking machine was made by Honeywell. Technically it’s name was H316. Introduced in 1965 the H316 didn’t last long due to its many drawbacks and high price. Though, the computer did possess some cool features. It had the ability to suggest a meal based on a particular side dish. It came with a built in cutting/rolling board and the 1969 model came with pre-programed recipes. Plus, it looked very cool. Today there is only one Kitchen Computer known to be in existence. It can be seen at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA.