The Great News Paper-Trail Trial

   I have subscribed to The Record for as many years as we've been in this house, granted, a leftover tribute to the paper my parents subscribed to back in the days  when newspapers were prime sources of news.  Over the years, the price of my subscription has risen to what amounts to a lot of money for very little newsprint, symptomatic of the throes of the death of print media.  But I'm a sucker for nostalgia, and habit.
    So when The Record sent me notice that my subscription term would end last November, I made payment in the amount of $503.40 for a 52 week subscription, through online deductions from our local bank account, as we've been doing for the last several years.  Right on the last due-date notification, our newspaper delivery stopped.  I waited a while, and then called to say I'd made payment.
     Rep #1 said it would take a while for the payment to arrive, so I said o.k.  Still no paper, so after a while I called back.
    Rep #2 said payments were now to be sent to Texas, not Albany. Didn't you read that on your statement?  I admitted I had not, had just made payment as usual. He told me I needed to contact my bank and re-send the payment. I said I would, and would wait to re-pay until I figured out where the first payment had gone, as the money was withdrawn from my account. I called my bank and the rep there said he would try to cancel the check,
   The very next day, Rep #3 called from The Record, noticing my subscription had lapsed and said he could offer a lower rate. I agreed, but said I first wanted to make sure my cancellation had cleared.
   A few days later, I called to take advantage of the lower rate, and Rep#4 told me he could offer only the $503 rate.  At my request, he agreed to have a supervisor, "one of 5 or 6 on the floor,"call me the next day. No one ever called, and I may add it's very difficult to reach a live person if you call them.  So I did nothing. It was easier than I thought to break the newspaper habit.
   But about 2 weeks ago, I saw an online notice that I could subscribe to The Times Union for $22 for, I think,  a 4-week subscription, so I made payment, even though I already have a Sunday-only T.U. paper delivered.
  Last week, I started to receive the Times Union every day, and, surprise, surprise, a Troy Record paper arrived along with it, has every day for the second week now.
     I figured it may just be a glitch on the part of the carrier, whoever that may be, as both papers have combined carriers.
   Today , I received a statement from The Record, advising that  my "current subscription term will end on 2/01/17."   The price to extend my  subscription is the higher rate, the $503.
 
 
 
 

The President and The Bachelor

   As long as there is a massive viewing audience for "The Bachelor," and I believe there is, the present leadership position of our country becomes understandable.  Both figures represent polar opposites of what our society aspires to, but each has captured the fancy of a great, great, many, many Americans.

Our Christmas Tree Hack

Here it is in February, hoping for the best.

Sean Spicer and SNL

  He must hate it.  The voice alone...

Adam Lambert

   Just binge watched all of Adam Lambert's American Idol performances. He is the best singer and performer of all times. A nostalgic viewing  because  Dorothy would be here and watch, and take issue with that assessment. She loved Elvis.  One of the songs he sang was "A Change Is Gonna Come."  Different context,but all too true.

What the hack?

    The word hack would be my hands-down nomination for the most used, and misused if I'm any judge, word of the year.  It's a word that too many want to apply to their own situation, in a most smugly aggravating manner.
    You can hack down a tree.
    You can play golf badly and be a hack.
   You can call a cab and a hack driver may respond.
   You can write for a newspaper, and be called a hack journalist if you're mediocre .
   You have a cold and hack all night; you have a bad hack.
   You can even be an untalented professional, of an inferior sort.
All of these meanings have been around for a while;  the aggravation starts here:  A hack can be a quick solution that solves a problem, but not very well.  Usually a temporary, sloppy fix.  So we are now subjected to the version of hack as promoted on the media,as if a hack is a glorious, innovative way to make our lives better. Too many people have latched on to the word as a way to enhance their own fame or pocketbook.  "Let me show you a hack."  Most so-called hacks are at best the most feeble efforts at recycled bon mots that used to be called hints.  I remember a column of "Hints from Heloise," back in the 1960's and 70's I believe.  One such hint was to make your house plants shine by wiping their leaves with mayonnaise.  At the time, I thought it was a waste of mayo, when you could just as easily wipe the leaves with water, but it was a popular hint for a while.  The other day, I witnessed that same procedure being presented as an original idea, but called not a hint but a hack.  It is a brave new world, and we're years past 1984.
   

Hurry up.

"Let's do it now.  Let's get that place now."