I have waffling the past few days on what I should use to get my words down with and I’ve narrowed it down to substack, ghost or using something else.
Of course, I chose something else.
The easy way would be to use substack and call it a day. If I end up making a killing on email subcriptions, I just have to give them their 10 percent. Think of it as having an agent and this is the fee off the top. But to start substack is free and free is hard to beat.
The problem is that all my efforts are on their servers which makes it easy, but also makes it hard too as you’re tied into a platform. They might be the platform of the moment, but how about in the future? Will this still be the case? I dunno, and this gives me pause.
There’s ghost, but it’s $100 a year up front for the hosting fees. So it would actually cost me a bit to get started which would not be the end of the world.
Lastly, there’s what I am using already: This site runs on Jekyll and is already setup for writing so why reinvent the wheel - yes?
It’s tempting to use the other tools, but I fear over the long term things will change ie: twitter and then I will have married myself to another dead or dying platform.
I have the blogging thing set, but what about the newsletter part? I found buttondown that offers a free service for the first 100 subscribers and then it’s a reasonable amount after that per month. If I’m getting 100 subscribers, then that would be fanatastic. To be honest, I can’t think how I would get mroe than that.
So after an evening of sharpening up my CSS skills, I managed to add and style some subscribe buttons to put on this site. One day I hope somebody will use one and subscribe but I guess time will tell…
I have been giving some thought about starting a newsletter and the choices seem to be either
substack or ghost
Substack is Free
That should be the decider right there, yes? One would think but there’s more to it. I like the ease of writing it offers but I dunno…there’s something about it I don’t like. All the notes and other features seem to me to be frills and extras not needed.
Substack makes their money by taking a cut of your incomee and that’s okay if you only have a few subscribers. I can live with a 10% fee if I’m only making $20.00. But what if I make more? Do I want to give substack $5000 if I get there?
Ghost Costs Money
But there’s no cut. You keep 100% of the money you make. But you have to pay a monthly fee for ghost pro. To start it’s under 10 dollars a month so it’s definitely reasonable. But to build an audience you’re probably going to lose some money up front.
Stick at it here.
This might be the way I go. I like using jekyll and a plain old text editor to write with and as this is already setup then I may just start here. I don’t have to tweak anything to get going or get used to writing with a new product when the one that I have just works.
Thank you for making probably the most comfortable footwear I have ever strapped to my feet
I had originally bought these to use inside because these were the cheapest Crocs I could find at $20 I figured I didn’t have much to lose as they were cheaper than even slippers would be
I do find them comfortable. In fact so comfortable I bought another pair and have a 3rd on the way. I really like the arch support and the little bumps that offer a massage like feel for way less than it costs for a real massage.
The no slip design is nice and grippy but as I don’t use these in a restaurant setting I can’t really comment on their effectiveness but so far I have managed to stay upright while wearing these.
I do have one complaint though and that’s the fact that these can get hot. I know, it makes sense because this model has no holes and is understandable considering their intended use as well, but it wasn’t something I had considered until I had them but that’s on me.
I wonder though if these are the best sellers you would have hoped? I ask because I picked them up for under $20 which is a fraction of the regular price1 Anyway, they’re nice for what they are and what I paid.
Lastly, don’t you think that the $35 regular price for the regular Crocs is a bit high? I can get sneakers for about the same price and they offer more support and look to be more complicated to manufacture as well. I have no idea how Crocs are made but it would seem that it involves a whole lot of foam and not much else. One would think that after 20 plus years of making these things your initial startup costs have been recovered?
It’s my opinion that they should be closer to $20 each like the ones on sale I bought, But if people are paying $35 and up for your products good for you. Heck, it seems they are willing to pay 10 bucks for those little charm things for the holes then maybe I’m just out of the loop and I should invest in your company as you seem to be doing something right.
Anyway, Crocs are awesome. I’m just about 20 years too late realizing it.
I have been amazed by news of concerts and new releases from some older
bands that I grew up with in my youth. I thought I had hit the end of the
road when it comes to recognizing artist’s names when I check the
weekly new releases.
But now, it seems all the old bands of yore are making albums and touring. I am not the
most up to date on the current album listings or concerts but still I never thought I would see
see some acts like the cure or depeche mode
tour again but it seems like I’m wrong.
It’s as if the pandemic gave these old rockers time to write new material and realize
that they’re mortal and if they wanted to produce more art then now is the time
I have no desire to see these bands live though. Not because I don’t enjoy their music
but more the fact that I don’t enjoy other people and crowds any more. Maybe I’m old
and crankier but I have no desire to spend big bucks on a concert when I can stream the
album and get higher fidelity without the added cost and trouble.
Now there’s something to be said for concerts, but I’m a: not a big concert goer and b: I prefer
lesser known acts in small venues when and if I do go.
But, if your playlists are stuck in the 80’s like mine are most days you might want
to search for your favorites bands and see if they’re coming to a town near you.
At last count, we had more than a few laptops kicking around the house and I am to blame for this. Particularily, I am fond of chromebooks but the wife likes apple products so between the two of us there’s more than one.
I remember some of the first apple laptops I had I was making monthly payments on them and I think the payments were close to $200 each month. I can lease a car for that much now and the chromebook I writing this on cost me less than $200 and it’s more than all the laptop I need
When I started this post I was going to suggestlaptops to buy but they change so often and have so many variations that it really depends on your needs. A quick search in your favorite search engine for best laptops will probably be your best bet.
The title pretty much sums it up. I am finding that I have about 20 minutes to wrtie (give or take) in a day if all goes well.
I had hoped to write everyday here but well…life. It’s a good thing I didn’t pick a name like jimdaily.com or something of the like.
Perhaps now that I have quit twitter I will have a bit more time but we shall see.
The big time sinks seems to be job and family, but they’re not going anywhere anytime soon so I will just have to deal I guess.
So far most of my posts have been small and I hope to change that over time and start writing about some real topics but for now 20 minutes is about all I have.
At this point, where absolutely nobody is reading this drivel it doesn’t really matter much at all but when the time comes where I might actually see an audience it would be nice to find the time to write more.
I rarely used it. I used it a bit when I first found out about it during 2007
and 2008 but not enough to actually make a dent. I had a few “friends” but
nobody misses me.
Elon.
see number 2
Seems things are a litte screwy over at Twitter and seeing as how I wasn’t using it much anyway
this seems like a good time to pack it in and I am for sure not paying8 bucks for a checkmark
I also find all this social media a timesink that as a busy dad with all the repsonsibilities of
everyday life I find it absolutley mind boggling that anybody has any time to tweet let alone tie
their shoes. But maybe I am just really bad at time management.
I don’t have my tinfoil hat at the ready just yet but I am becoming more and more uncomfortable of signing up to a “platform”
only for the platform to change (ie: blue check marks) or worse disappear or made obsolete. Remember
myspace? Things change.
I have signed up to use a Mastadon as I like the idea of this better. I don’t fully grasp
the federated bit, but perhaps that will come. I just signed up a few days ago and haven’t had much time to investigate.
I’m not all that social anyway but it looks a lot… nicer? I dunno.
A few years back I quit facebook and I don’t miss it a bit so I doubt I will miss twitter at all as well.
I have ascended. Being a dad - an older dad at that - requires some skills and one of them is to not give a shit about fashion
It’s all about comfort. I’m over the brands and logos. Heck, even the colors don’t matter much any more for me. I think the
pandemic might have been the reason for me losing all intersest in looking good because we were home all the time so the only
people you saw was loved ones and they were supposed to love you no matter how you looked
And here I am: with crocs and socks. Not only do I have them on, but they are tie dye crocs
And you know what? They are great! I should have done this sooner. How long have we had crocs now? 20 years now? I managed to
dodge the crocs trend until now so I figured that’s not bad! I was not an early adopter of these and yet here I am with these
things pretty much glued to my feet!
These things are awesome. I always thought they were pretty ugly and I still do - but the only thing that’s changed is that
I don’t care any more. :)
Due to the overwhelming weather we’ve been having
lately I decided it would be a good day to take her for a walk on the river, and it was:
It was an absolutely gorgeous day to take her for a stroll and get some of that 4 year old energy
burned off. Besides, it is supposed to snow by this time tomorrow. Today, it’s a record high
for the weather and then tomorrow we are supposed to go back to more seasonal climes.
Anyway, the walk: I would guess it’s about a half mile round trip. We walk a 1/4 mile each way to small bridge
where there’s useually somebody with a fishing rod but today there was nobody and we almost had the
entire trail to ourselves.
Along the walk we saw a dog jump in the river for a swim, we through more small rocks into the water
than I care to count and we happpened on some logs that had been cut as obviously they had fallen
over the winter on the trail and this trail is maintained so somebody had moved the logs to the side
of the trail and this was a whole topic of conversation because she’s four and there’s questions
to be answered.
Also, I’m getting a bit better at this parenting thing and had enough forethought to pack snacks
so while we were tossing rocks we also were tossing chex mix into our mouths as well.
Then on the way home I gave her an apple to chew on for the ride home.
Photo by Anne Nygård on Unsplash
Photo by 
Photo by 
Photo by 
Photo by 