Exploding Eyeballs

So. Finally got scheduled for an MRI... Next Saturday morning. BUT between now and then I have to get an x-ray of my head because I sometimes use a grinder and grind metal. Apparently, even though I don't do it regularly, there's a chance I might have tiny metal filings in my eyes and being too near the MRI machine could make my eyeballs explode or something.

Cool.

I wish I were smarter

*sigh* I know this isn't an issue of being 'smart' but it often feels like it is and it's something that really bothers me.

I really REALLY wish I read faster. I read constantly. If you include the internet and looking at code, the vast majority of what I do in a day is reading.

But I read REALLY antagonistically slow. Most of my friends can zip through a short novel in 2 or 3 hours. For me it's more like 10-15. Even more frustrating is that most of those friends have much better retention of what they read than I do. Often I can't even remember the names of the characters after I'm done reading a story and I am left with only a vague outline of the plot.

Reading fast might not make one smart but retention surely counts for something and imagine how much smarter I could be if I could read at that speed. I can only imagine the joy of being able to burn through 5 books in the time it currently takes me to get through 1.

*sigh* So many books. So little time. How frustrating it is to be crippled in this particular way. I don't suppose anyone else has faced a similar problem and found some method for solution.