I stepped on my rest room scale the opposite morning and couldn’t imagine the three digits staring up at me.
And I imply that actually — the dimensions was rigged.
I do know this as a result of I’ve been weight-reduction plan my butt off, and I swear I’ve dropped 20 kilos. So the very first thing I did was ask my spouse whether or not she messed with the dimensions as some form of prank.
She stated no, including, “Possibly you’re retaining liquids.”
Steve Lopez
Steve Lopez is a California native who has been a Los Angeles Occasions columnist since 2001. He has gained greater than a dozen nationwide journalism awards and is a four-time Pulitzer finalist.
I threw the dimensions out instantly. Then I went again into the toilet, took one look within the mirror, and received one other shock.
That couldn’t be me within the reflection. No means.
I’ve received extra hair than that. All people is aware of it, and folks touch upon it. I’m going onto social media and persons are asking each other, virtually every single day: “How does he keep such a full mane and youthful glow?”
I known as my barber and fired him.
It’s not the barber, my spouse stated. You must take one other look within the mirror.
Our columnist was dismayed when he found the Bible ranks greater in e book gross sales than his personal works. “That needs to be on the checklist of faux miracles, proper up there with the loaves and fishes,” he writes.
(Marta Lavandier / Related Press)
She’s been considerably out of kinds these days, ever since I went on Nextdoor to want all my neighbors a cheerful Independence Day, together with “all you scum I wouldn’t converse to IF YOU WERE THE LAST ONES on the picnic.”
Half the time, my spouse doesn’t even dwell with me, and I don’t know the place she is. It’s odd, as a result of the wedding is ideal. Individuals ask us what the key is, and I say it’s hospitality. We open our hearts and our house to others, and we have been planning on constructing a yard ballroom till our monetary advisor informed us we have been already working up large debt.
I sued him for negligence and monetary fraud.
My spouse introduced house a few refugees sponsored by her church, and I went together with it, though I feel it’s improper in charge coyotes each time a neighborhood pet disappears. We have been having a cup of espresso and some pastries, and one in every of them took a second almond croissant. After which, even earlier than he completed it, he reached out and grabbed a bear claw.
There I’m, watching it disappear, and between bites, this freeloader begins telling us our nation has to supply extra assist to his nation.
I couldn’t take it anymore.
“I needed the bear claw!” I stated. “You didn’t even say thanks for the croissant, and now you need a third pastry? Get out of my home!”
To calm myself, I slipped into the lounge to chill out with a e book. I picked one which was on a shelf subsequent to 3 books I’ve written, which made me inquisitive about how gross sales have been going these days.
So I went to Amazon to test the rankings.
The primary e book I checked was ranked 3,907,369. I swear on the Bible, which, by the best way, was ranked 206 on the bestsellers checklist.
Actually?
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John have been within the floor for what, a few thousand years? No one can let you know whether or not any of them knew a Magi from a Musketeer, to not point out that the Roman Empire they labored underneath was a failed administration. And their e book is promoting higher than mine by a mile?
That needs to be on the checklist of faux miracles, proper up there with the loaves and fishes.
A dispute with a neighbor over a property line ? “The boundaries are rigged.”
(A dispute with a neighbor over a property line ? “The boundaries are rigged.”)
My e book is a good e book. It’s already listed up there with the all-time classics, and it received starred opinions in every single place. At Barnes & Noble, they preserve it within the Stunning Books part. Once I was on a e book tour, I had the most important crowds ever. Means greater than Hemingway. Individuals are nonetheless speaking about it.
So to chop to the chase, I gave my gross sales rank a Triple F score.
Pretend.
False.
Fony.
And I fired my e book agent.
I checked out a few of the books ranked greater than mine — aside from the “holy” Bible — and it didn’t take lengthy to determine what’s happening.
To begin with, plenty of the folks allegedly “shopping for” books don’t exist. Someplace between 30% and 40% of the individuals who go onto the evaluation part and declare they love Stephen King books are literally lifeless.
After which you may have lots of people coming into this nation illegally, ghastly folks, and they’re voting in elections and they’re voting on books, too, as a result of they’re being put as much as it, and being well-compensated, I’d add.
Little-known truth:
The vote-counting machines and the book-counting machines are made by the identical firm.
You already know what they need to name that firm?
RIGGED!
To not be obsessive, however I’ve heard it stated that Stephen King doesn’t take care of me a lot, and that’s high quality. Water off a duck’s again. My canine has extra expertise than that man. All he does is write tales about killers and horrible, sick folks.
He ought to write a e book about my neighbor, if he likes deranged folks a lot. Most neighbors love me; they’re kissing my you-know-what. However then there’s this man, whom I’m having investigated. I went out to the curb to throw the toilet scale away, and what do I see? That jackalope is placing his trash can on my property. I’m the one who’s encroaching, he tells me, and I ought to go to the county workplaces and test the property data.
Effectively, it simply so occurs that I already checked the data, and so they’re inaccurate. It figures, as a result of that final county administration was the worst in historical past. A bunch of corrupt, evil folks. Who ought to have been impeached. They employed incompetents as surveyors, so don’t stand on the road and inform me the place I can and may’t put my trash can, as a result of the boundaries are rigged and I’m having them rewritten.
My legal professionals are on it, and we are going to win this case on Day One, assured, with time left over for a spherical of golf.
Observe to self:
On the best way house, choose up a toilet scale.
steve.lopez@latimes.com
