Is The Newspaper Still Worth The Cost?

For most of my life I've read the newspaper, and mostly that paper has been the Wisconsin State Journal.  When I was young my parents were subscribed.  In my young adulthood I usually picked up the paper on my way to work every day.  I went through fits and starts subscribing for myself, but usually ended up cancelling due to issues, mostly that the paper would not consistently arrive early enough for me.  This is also why I changed from subscribing 7 days a week to just getting the Sunday and Wednesday subscription option since we bought the house in 2009.  Eventually I learned not to count on the paper to read before work, so I'm no longer concerned too much what time it arrives on Sunday or Wednesday.

This Sunday/Wednesday subscription to the Wisconsin State Journal consists of either 8 or 9 newspapers a month, 9 a month for 8 of 12 months in 2021, 104 newspapers a year.  Keep in mind, these different days of papers are not created equal.  The Sunday paper offers much more than a daily paper, though the Sunday and Wednesday papers are both loaded with ads, which is why you can only subscribe to the Sunday paper if you get Wednesday's, as well.

Last month they sent me a notice that my subscription price would be changing next month.  They cite the online access and other perks that justify the cost, but really all I want is the newspaper.  Thinking about this, I wanted to know what the newsstand price was for both, the Sunday and daily papers.  You think you can find that online somewhere?  Fat chance.  I finally found an email for their customer service, and they replied that it is $2.50 for the daily paper and $5.00 for Sunday.  (I remember paying only $0.35 for a daily paper on the way to work, years ago).  I forgot to ask if these prices would also be changing soon, so I replied to ask and have yet to hear back.

So, at my subscription price of $37.50 a month, that is $450.00 a year and $4.33 a paper on average.  The newsstand price would be $390.00, which is $60.00 to have it delivered for a year.  And sixty bucks for 104 deliveries is probably worth it, I think.  But is the overall cost for the paper itself worth it?  I guess I've thought so for several years now.

Now, as I mentioned, they recently sent me notice that my subscription price is changing.  It is going up to $43.00 a month starting in February.  So let me look at those numbers again.  $43.00 a month is now $516.00 a year and $4.96 a paper on average.  That's $66.00 a year and $0.63 a paper more than I'm paying now.

Sure, I can afford it, but do I still think it's worth it?  Do you?

January This-and-Thats

We're well into the new year now and other than for a little insurrection review I've not posted in 2021.  We are entering the doldrums of winter here, and during a pandemic still, so there's not a whole lot going on for us lately.  Despite that, there must be a few things I could say so time to start typing and see what happens.

• First, let's get this out of the way:  I hope he gets the book thrown at him and dies alone in jail.  I don't care if it's from taxes to insurrection as long as he gets locked up.  He went from sideshow to embarrassment to disturbing to criminal psychopath and wanna-be dictator.  Enough said.
• That reminds me of a saying I heard recently.  "It's easier to fool someone than it is to convince them they are being fooled."  I thought that made a lot of sense, from what I've been seeing.
• Now, for a totally different thought, why does this rug seem so much harder to keep clean back here rather than when it was in the living room?
• I may have said this before, but I don't read books anymore.  Not really a conscious choice as I used to read every day on my breaks at work, now I don't go to work and I have different habits at home.  Probably just as well, I read mostly 'rock star' autobiographies and while some are very good some are very not.  I'm thinking of this because I was excited to see another one the other day and almost bought it - until I read the very unflattering reviews.
• I splurged on my computer setup.  I returned a 24 inch monitor to work and bought a computer stand with 2 heavy duty arms and a 32 inch monitor to match the one I already have.  It certainly helps for work having two same-size monitors, but my desk looks like a gamer station now.  I don't play a lot of games but I do watch a lot of videos, concerts and even sports on the computer.  Maybe concerts not so much anymore, but there hasn't been many new concerts now in a long time.
• And my 'good back' chair gave up the ghost recently, so now I work in lowrider style in my 'relaxing' chair to save my back until the new chair arrives in about a week.  Had to spend more this time for quality to support my back while I work and I want just one good chair that meets all my needs.
• Does it seem like I use too many commas and also not enough contractions when I write?  I think so.  I've been a little hyper-conscious of these things lately, for some reason.
• We've not gotten much snow since the last storm I wrote about, just a few overnight dustings, some of which was rime frost from the 10 straight days of fog and freezing fog we had.  Anytime now, though, it will start snowing and we're expected to get 2-4 inches through tomorrow.  We are fully in winter now, and this is what winter does.  On the bright side I got my vacation weeks for the year approved today, in May and September.
• While the Badgers football team had a disappointing and disjointed season during this pandemic, the Packers are the number one seed in the NFC for the NFL playoffs.  Hopefully two wins in Lambeau Field so they can go win the Super Bowl, starting Saturday afternoon.  Go Pack Go!

Well, only one workday left until the weekend.  With our new work contract we no longer get the christian holiday Good Friday off but we do get Martin Luther King Jr Day off now.  About time.  There might have been a few other changes, I can't remember, but this one just makes sense.  That means a long weekend this weekend so, for Monday, happy MLK Day!

What Happened...?

What happened to respect?

What happened to decency?

What happened to honor?

What happened to tolerance? 

What happened to democracy, and the office of the President?

What the hell has happened to us?

Happy New Year 2021

The consensus seems to be good riddance to 2020 and that 2021 will be much better.  It's a nice thought, but I think it will be more of the same until we can get a majority of people vaccinated and work through the details of getting back to some sort of normality.  Going back to the office, dining out, having drinks at the bar and gathering with friends and family will likely not return to any semblance of normal until late in the year, or possibly 2022, I fear.

More important is that there is now actual hope for a vaccinated end to this pandemic.  Hang on to that, encourage it, do your part when called upon and let's work toward that future and it will come to be.  I believe that because I have to.  How about you? 

Happy New Year to you all.  The ones I read, the ones I love, all my friends and all of you who take the time to read me.  Whether you comment or not, I can see you're there.  Thank you.

Snowy Firepit

Yesterday morning Google Photos reminded me that indeed I did have a firepit after Christmas on that date last year, but for some reason I never posted about it.  So I checked the weather and the winds were light and the temperatures moderate (just above freezing) but there was snow that would be starting later in the afternoon.  Never mind the snow, I was going for it and having a fire!

I'm glad I did as it was actually pretty ideal outside for a late season fire.  After a couple hours the snow came, so I let the fire die down as I stood around it, poking at it now and again, sometimes while listening to music.  I had to take my chair inside the garage as the snow was getting it wet.  It was so very peaceful getting snowed on and watching the flames.

The snow was sticking to the ground by the time I went in, and we got about 2 inches over the next few hours to blanket everything once again.  But this is nothing, really.  We already have a Winter Storm Warning for Tuesday/Wednesday that they say to expect 6-8 more inches, but we'll see.

Below is a one minute video from yesterday afternoon, link here for email readers.  Get comfortable, take a deep breath and let it out slowly, then watch the video and maybe you'll feel some of the peace I felt while out there yesterday.  Here's sending some peace your way.

Merry Christmas 2020

Yes, it's been a bad year.  Lockdowns, masks, sickness and death.  But we made it this far and there is hope with the new vaccines, but that doesn't help us yet this holiday season.  A basketball game on TV and a Zoom call with immediate family is pretty much all we have planned today.  My wife will see her dad, but that's not unusual as she's pretty much his full time caretaker these days.  Almost all our snow has melted so it's not even a white Christmas this year.  But we must to try to stay positive, and I do have hope for a vaccinated future.  It will take time and there will be more challenges yet, but we'll get there.

Wherever you are, I hope you're making the best of things today.  Merry Christmas, everyone.

Christmas Fire Video

Have you ever used one of those long, soothing background videos for something to put on your TV or computer monitor?  Like hours of watching fish in an aquarium, or a babbling brook in a woodlands setting?  Around Christmastime a full screen roaring fireplace is popular.  I've seen and used all of the above at one time or another, and now I found one for 2020.  Enjoy.

Solstice Firepit and Holiday Plans

Happy winter solstice, everyone.  Winter officially arrived at 4:02 a.m. this morning, locally.  While there has been some recent melting, including some today with temps in the upper 30's (F), there just hasn't been enough to get me out by the fire for this one.

I was hoping, it just wasn't meant to be, and I'm afraid there will be no more opportunities until spring.  In a couple days here we'll go south of the freezing mark and it looks like that's where we'll stay for the foreseeable forecast.  It was a good ride, and I had more fires this year than I ever imagined I would have in a season, but thanks to covid it was my only escape, my only real pleasurable time outside the 4 walls of the house for almost all of 2020.

I don't know if I mentioned it here, but sometime during the last several fires I noticed several loose bricks, so come spring there will be a little repair work needed.  Last time I used an adhesive specifically made for outdoor fireplace blocks.  It was more expensive, but I wanted it to last - and more than just a few years.  I think in spring I'll use Liquid Nails or similar adhesive and see how long that lasts.

So, dear readers, you won't have to listen to me go on and on about it and post mostly firepit pictures for at least several months.  Let's hope life gets back to normal sooner than later, or I'll end up doing it all over again next year!

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Christmas is less than a week away now, and we don't plan on going anywhere or seeing anyone, probably just a Zoom call like we did on Thanksgiving. I've got gifts sent off to the younger niece and nephew, and some cash mailed to the older ones.  We've given mostly great gifts to all of them for many years now, but as they graduate high school and become adults this will end.  I was going to call it a day with their generous lump sum graduation gifts, but I think we'll continue to give token cash at Christmas for a couple more years until they turn 21, then I'm done.  I have a few more years of picking out gifts for the younger ones, teenagers now, but then plan on the same for them.

We don't really get gifts for the adults in the family, just a little something for my Mom, like a relevant puzzle or something fun she wouldn't get for herself.  My mom, of course, gets us all something even though I tell her it's really not necessary, but she enjoys it.  Things are done a little differently on my wife's side of the family, but certainly nothing too extravagant.  As for my wife and I, we didn't do much this year.  She told me what to get her and when I couldn't think of anything I wanted she just got me a little something, I guess.  But she has a January birthday, so I'll have to up my game pretty fast.

What are your holiday plans this year?

Just Weather Again

Welcome to winter.  Forty-eight hours ago we were on our second 50ºF day in a row and I was out enjoying a rare weekday firepit.  And today, well....

A winter wonderland, picture taken just a few minutes ago.

Two days earlier, much more relaxing.

I don't normally have a fire when I have to get up early the next day, but with sunset before 4:30 p.m. and a very mild December day I did just that on Thursday.  I got off work at 2:00, had the fire going about an hour later, stayed out until after 5:00 and was inside in plenty of time for dinner.  Then yesterday morning it started raining until turning over to snow in the early afternoon.  Even then, it wasn't until evening that the snow started sticking.  And it continued overnight and is still going, currently projected to finish in the next hour or so.

My back is still touch-and-go so there's no way I was going to pick up a shovel, but with a support belt and what turned out to be one more warm layer than necessary I was able to push the snow blower through the heavy and wet white stuff to get things cleared while my lovely wife used a shovel for the steps and more.  We'll have to go out again later to clean things up when the snow is finished (and after the Badger game this afternoon) but now it will be much easier.

High temperatures for the next week are projected to be right around the freezing mark so not sure how long the snow will last.  I guess it depends on how many of those days are sunny.  But one of these days it will snow and stay until maybe March.  I hope today is not that day.

Back is Back

 I have two sayings when someone expresses sympathy for my back not being good; it's just part of the joy of being me, and, everyone has something, this is mine.  And I thank them for their expression.

Everyone knows I have a bad back.  I've had one neck surgery, two back surgeries and came close to having another one a couple years back ago.  I've been through this so many times, but this last episode has been a bad one.  Maybe a month or so ago I was having issues on my lower right side.  That lasted about two weeks, then moved to my left side.  I believe my left side was trying to compensate for the right side, which is why it moved over and has gotten worse since.  No sense going to the doctor yet, he would only give me muscle relaxers which I already have, and maybe some pain pills that I don't want and they don't really help the issue by just numbing it.  If I miss another day of work, though, I will have to contact my doctor for a note.

At work I have a stand up desk and a very good chair with good lower back support.  I was reminded of this when I went in on Saturday for a couple hours.  A poor decision on my part as I was so tight I couldn't even straighten my legs all the way, but I managed to get the needed work done in a couple hours.  At home I have two chairs, one with a more upright, adjustable back that I use for work and one with a fixed back that leans back and I have a lumbar roll on it that I use for relaxing.  Once it's more safe to go out and shop, I'll be trying out new chairs that will combine all these features.  No cheapie this time, it will have to be a high end, more expensive chair but it will be well worth it.

What I've been avoiding saying so far is that it's much of my own fault.  I've fallen out of the habit of doing my daily exercises and with the colder weather our neighborhood walks have ground to a halt.  Today I will start trying to change that.  I just made it around the block on a walk, though it was slow and I got slower as I went.  I have an icy/hot patch on my lower back now and will attempt my exercises when there is not a cat napping on the bed.  Exercises are basically planking and holding, and I do them on the bed because it is the most comfortable for me and getting up off the floor just ain't what it used to be.

Back problems are very common, I am not unique, and I know several others with issues and I'm sure you do, too, if you don't have back issues yourself.  Exercise is the true key, keeping those muscles in my lower back in shape while not hurting myself in the process.  Now I just have to do it and keep up with it or this will happen more often.

The picture is from a firepit last Friday afternoon.  (If you look just above the peak of the porch you can see where the branch broke off that blocked the road, from a few posts ago.)  I was trying to be careful then as I already ached, but firepits do usually end in at least a small backache for me.  The forecast does not look good for this weekend, so perhaps the last fire of the year, but not if I can help it.  Now I have to get up and move as I just can't sit here any longer.  Take care of your backs, people, you only have one and it affects everything you do.