Jim's (drneutron's) Reading in 2022

I'm Jim, 59, husband of 36 years, father of a son in a PhD program in Comp Sci at Notre Dame, who reads pretty much anything. We're in central Maryland with roots in Louisiana. I like to read (obviously), cook, want to learn to fly fish, and trail bike riding/kayaking with mrsdrneutron. Of course, LT is a big time sink, but mrsdrneutron seems to have come to terms with my LT addiction...

Thanks for joining me in kicking 2021 to the curb!

Reserved for 2021 Summary

Greetings, Doctor.

Thanks Jim - I will be joining in for another year.

>3 richardderus:, >4 BLBera: Hiyah Richard and Beth! Glad you made it over here.

Thanks for getting us up and going for another year!! Starred. : )

Hi Jim, thanks for setting us up for 2022.

>6 Berly:, >7 avatiakh: My pleasure!

Starred!

Thanks for hosting yet another year. :)

Thread duly starred, and thanks for the new group. May 2022 be a better year for us all.

Thanks for setting us up again, Jim! I would love to help you kick 2021 to the curb.

>9 fuzzi:, >10 ArlieS:, >11 Crazymamie: It's been fun to do this everyday year - I've really enjoyed getting to know everyone, and especially the times I've been able to meet with LT friends in real life. Here's hoping we get to do that again soon!

>12 drneutron: would love to, but not in February again! :)

Hi Jim, mate. I have starred you ready to post in 2022, thanks once again for setting up the group.

>14 johnsimpson: Welcome to the madness, John!

Happy new thread!

Happy New Thread!

Joining you in kicking 2021 to the curb! Thanks for administering the group once again :)

Happy holidays...and thank you for setting up this new group for 2022!

>16 quondame: Thanks, Susan! I’ll jump over and see your new space once you get it going.

>17 SilverWolf28: Thanks, Silver! I’ll watch for Readathon threads if you decide to keep ‘em going. I’d really like to participate more thus year.

>18 bell7: My pleasure, Mary.

>19 SqueakyChu: Hiyah, Madeline! We need to try to get a meetup going in 2022 if Covid lets us.

>20 drneutron: Good luck with that! I'm trying to avoid people more than ever now. LOL! I was truly fortunate to have had the chance to have @_Zoe_ and @radicarian visit me at my home this year (right after all of us were fully vaccinated). Every day brings a new challenge, it seems.

The Angry Astronaut asks: Is the JWST cursed? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M59cf4hjfog

>22 richardderus: The AA is just too angry for me. I can understand feeling the way he sounds. I don't want to listen to it.

>22 richardderus: Weather delays are the worst 'cause there's absolutely nothing to be done about it. Other issues can pop up too. New Horizons launch:

Day 1. A boat wanders into the keep-out zone off Cape Canaveral AFS. Can't clear it in time to get a launch off, scrub for the day.

Day 2. Local electric company is doing maintenance on our substation/campus power distribution center in Maryland and blows a big transformer. Power outage at the Mission Ops Center. We fire up all the diesel generators, but AC can't keep up and we're worried about overheating computers. Scrub for the day.

Day 3. Two different glitches cause holds and resets of the launch sequence on the rocket side. Finally get it off on the third cycle with about 30 seconds to spare in that day's launch window.

This was us on Parker:

>24 drneutron: *SNORK!!!*

Morning, Jim!

>23 quondame: Yeah, he was a bit much. But I get it - we've had missions that just seemed to be cursed, problem after problem. Usually, though, things are better once we get in orbit - our former chief engineer was fond of saying the safest place for spacecraft is in space.

But Webb is very complicated, so we'll see how it goes.

>25 scaifea: Morning, Amber!

>24 drneutron: LOL

The thing is that this machine is hellishly complex, is going into space forever, and can't be touched...so it's just begging for delays from overpernickety scaredy-cat "NO MORE HUBBLES!" folk who just need to push the damn button already and let the gods decide whether we get to use our $20B toy or not.

Fortunately, they've had the Launch Readiness Review, which means it's going to be pretty hard to stop. At this point, outside the team or the launch vehicle people finding a real technical problem, it would take the Administrator of NASA to stop since he's already given his "go" at the LRR.

Once it's in space, though, we'll see how the complexity of this thing plays out. They're in for some real nail-biter days to see if the origami unfolds the way it's supposed to. Generally, we hate mechanisms in space - though we use them all the time. Galileo's antenna is the horror story we always have to think about, but then that mechanism sat in cold space for several years before it needed to operate, which Webb's mechanisms won't do. And there's always the problem of ground testing in gravity skewing the performance and hiding a problem.

Exciting times, for sure, and I'm glad I'm not the one leading that team. If Parker screwed up, at least it was only *one* billion instead of *ten* billion dollars down the drain. 😀

>29 drneutron: Considering the physics we're going to be learning from PSP, and the astonishing feat of surviving INSIDE THE SUN'S ATMO, cheap at twice the price. And the JWST? Ten (*snerk*) billion to discover places in the Universe where life has a foothold?!? There's not a single question that's worth the investment.

Not to mention the tech we've developed that can now be repurposed. Not to mention the number of astonishing "is that for real?!" moments upcoming.

JUST LAUNCH THE GOSHDARNED THING ALREADY!

>30 richardderus: 😀

It feels a bit foolish to interrupt the launch talk with a simple hello, but alas that's all I have. Hello!

Hello! Not foolish at all!

>20 drneutron: If you'd like I can remind you of the readathon each week.

>34 SilverWolf28: Sounds good!

Happy new thread and new group. I always enjoy hearing about your technical adventures and am grateful for your leadership on the group

Thanks, Helen! I’m glad you’re joining us again for 2022.

It launched!!!! : )



These were our family ornaments this year and, despite COVID, a merry time was had by all. I hope the same is true for your holiday and here's to next year!!

Glad you had a merry time, as did we! Happy new year!

Just popping in to place a star. Happy reading for 2022.

Hi and Hello!

Just returning the visit to wish you a happy new year and thank you for getting us set up for another year.

Hello and thank you for keeping us going , Jim.

>40 BBGirl55: Stop by any time, Bryony! I hope your 2022 is a great one.

>41 AuntieClio: Stephanie! Glad to see you’re back.

>42 fairywings: Adrienne, it’s a pleasure to host - glad you stopped by!

>43 RebaRelishesReading: Hiyah, Reba!

You may have seen this post:

Thanks for getting the 2022 group launched! Excited to be here again!

>45 quondame: Oh, that’s cool!

>46 justchris: I’m glad you’re back!

Thank you, Jim. We are so indebted to you for setting this up every year. I would be lost otherwise.!

Thanks for getting another year rolling, wishing you the best for 2022.

>48 PaulCranswick: Would not be the same without you, Paul! Thanks for taking on the Asian Author challenge. I’m looking forward to it.

>49 ursula: and you too!

Thanks for organizing us, and I wish you a Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Best wishes to you, your wife, and son for a healthy, safe, and happy 2022. Hope to see you in the future when being with others can be done without fear!

>53 SqueakyChu: Same to you, Madeline! I hope 2022 is good to you and your family.

Thanks, as always, for setting this up!

Happy new thread! Happy New Year!

All the best for the New Year, Jim. You're launching us off to a good start! Thank you.

>55 witchyrichy: Thanks, Karen and Meg! I hope you both have great 2022s!

Happy New Year, Jim, and all fingers crossed for the Webb!

>58 ffortsa: Thanks! I hope you have a good 2022 too! Webb seems to be moving right along with deployments, so far so good.

Happy New Thread, Jim. Happy New Year! Once again, thank you for all you do, keeping this bookish, joy machine going. Who could ever imagined that it would have taken off like this?

Happy not-so-new thread, Jim! I could have sworn I already posted that but I don't see it so I guess I was only *thinking* it!

>60 msf59: Hiyah, Mark! I know - it’s amazing how this thing has turned out.

>61 jessibud2: no worries - I’ve been known to double post ‘cause I forget I already visited someone’s new thread!

Happy new year and new thread!

Thanks, Anita!

Happy New Year Jim!!!!

This group always helps me to read; in large part thanks to you, Jim.

>66 PaulCranswick: As if you need help with this, Paul. Haha.

>67 SqueakyChu: Well the more we read we more we want to read, Madeline. x

>68 PaulCranswick: True, of course! :D

>65 The_Hibernator: Happy new year to you and your family, Rachel!

>66 PaulCranswick:, >67 SqueakyChu:, >68 PaulCranswick:, >69 SqueakyChu: Wise words, Paul! And yeah, he’s the best model I can think of. 😀

Happy New Year Jim! Thank you so much for keeping this group going year after year. I'm dropping a star, returning your visit, and seconding your hopes that RL meetups will one day be possible again.

>71 mstrust: Oh, wow, that's beautiful, Jennifer!

>72 AnneDC: Thanks, Anne!

Happy (relatively) new thread and happy new year, Jim!

Thanks, Rhian! Good to see you back for 2022.

I'm not going to list my book list for 2022 - it's in my 2021 thread if anyone's interested. But I thought that I'd share some data I'm tracking my my spreadsheet on how my reading has broken down over the years.



Some notes:
- My ebook reading continues to increase, roughly linearly since 2012. I had figured it would level off at some percentage, but not yet.
- My nonfiction reading is steady at about 30%.
- My reading of non-male authors increased in 2015, and again in 2018. Since then, it's sagged a bit. A goal for 2022 is to continue to push this higher.

And my total books for the last years.



Seems over the covid period, especially, I've declined a bit.

>77 drneutron: Of course it could have something to do with launches rather than viruses.

Happy reading in 2022, Jim!

>76 drneutron: >77 drneutron: Nice charts!

>78 quondame: Possibly. I think that it's some of both - extra work and extra time needed to take care of the mother-in-law as we went through covid. Anyway, gonna see if I can get back into a groove this year.

>79 FAMeulstee: Thanks! I've been tracking for a while.

Here's to finding the groove again!

>81 Berly: Yep!

>82 quondame: Happy new year to you!

Happy 2022 reading!

Hi Jim, I just noticed that on the 2022 group page the link to the Threadbook reads "2021 Threadbook".

Heya Jim! Back for another year! Happy New Year to you, hope you have an excellent reading year!

Happy New Year and happy first thread of 2022, Jim!

Thank you, as always, for administering the group. You do a marvelous job.

>76 drneutron: Ooh, I love your chart. The ebook explosion is fascinating, of course, and your increase in non-male authors is admirable.

>84 thornton37814: Same to you!

>85 FAMeulstee: Doh! Missed one! It’s fixed - thanks for letting me know.

>86 vikzen: Hey! Happy new year!

>87 karenmarie: Happy new year, Karen! I’m also trying to up my reading of nonwhite and non-US/UK authors, but I’m finding that harder to track as the data on authors is murkier. Same with author sexuality. Still, a goal of mine.

Happy New Year Jim and to mrsdrneutron. Thanks for getting us going for 2022. Hope it's a great one for you.

>89 mitchma: Thanks! I hope you and yours have a great 2022!

Happy new year, Jim! Ooooo, graphs! I love graphs!
Thanks for taking care of us 75ers, once again!

>76 drneutron:, >77 drneutron: Interesting! I'm off to add some new charts to my spreadsheet. :)

>76 drneutron: Oh, I love data. How fun - thanks for sharing, Jim. And a happy new year to you and yours!

>91 Carmenere:, >92 ursula: What can I say? Engineer… 😀

>93 London_StJ: And to yours, London!

>77 drneutron: But remarkably consistent for all that, Jim, as the range of your graph is effectively less than a 30 book spread.

Happy New Year, Jim! I hope it's filled with lots of good books.

Yep, consistent, but the downward trend over the last several years is noticeable. We’ll see if it continues.

Happy New Year!

Thanks! Same to you and yours!

Breakfast Stratta I made last night and baked this morning. Wow, it was good! Recipe’s here in The Kitchen. Though I did modify a bit - upped the slice quantities, also used smoked sweet paprika. And more cheese on top than called for.

Happy new year, Jim!

>100 drneutron: - More cheese on top than called for is always correct :)

>100 drneutron: Interesting Jim. Unfamiliar to me I have to say but a tasty way to bring up 100 posts already!

😀 my evil plan worked!

It’s an egg casserole - eggs, bread chunks, milk, cheese, nutmeg, cayenne pepper, paprika. I put breakfast sausage in this one, but really, you can do anything you’d put in a quiche. I liked it because I mixed it up the night before and stored it in the fridge, and then just popped it in the oven this morning.

>100 drneutron: It looks really yummy!

Happy New Year from me n Miss Po!

>104 SilverWolf28: Thanks! Mrsdrneutron liked it so much she took the pic and posted it on her Facebook page.

>105 sibylline: Well, doesn’t Miss Po look fine! Happy New Year!

>100 drneutron: GIMME

>97 drneutron: Well, multiple demands, and heavy ones, were made on you and several of those are now obsolete or obsolescent. Plus there's the inevitable stress of your child being unmasked as an international criminal mastermind! That's no small thing.

...wait...that was Ghislaine Maxwell...how *do* I keep mixing those two up!

Happy New Year Jim, and thanks for taking us into 2022!

>107 richardderus: B.A.G.

>107 richardderus: I *do* worry about him… He’s working on our robot overlords some really cool AI…

>108 swynn: Hiyah. Steve! Glad you stopped by!

Happy New Year, Jim! Thank you for all you do to help keep this madness going :)

Yum on the strata!!

Happy New Year, Jim. Your leadership in this group makes many people so very happy. Thank you for all that you do. Here's to another year of good reading, no matter what the numbers are. I thought I'd read more since I didn't have a thread in 2021, but I also was down slightly for the year.

Happy New Year, Jim! I love your charts, and the stratta looks most yum!

>110 alcottacre: My pleasure, Stasia

>111 Berly: It was deeeelish!

>112 Donna828: Happy new year, Donna! I hope this year is a great reading one for you!

>113 Crazymamie: Happy new year to you and the gang!

Happy 2022, Jim! Here’s to more exciting PSP (and James Webb) developments in the new year.

Happy new year, Joe! I’ll be keeping folks posted on my space stuff. 😀

Happy new year Jim

Thanks! Happy new year to you!

>100 drneutron: That looks good, and I think it's a little smaller than the similar recipe I have. I may have to try it sometime.

We had leftovers this evening. Still good!

Happy New Thread, Jim! And a wonderful New Year!
Thanks for setting all this up again and keeping the group going.

Happy to do it!

>76 drneutron: How do you produce these graphs? I don't have the years of data that you have, but it still looks like an interesting thing to do, eventually at least.

Happy New Year and happy new thread, Jim!

>123 ArlieS: I have an excel spreadsheet that I use - as I read, I enter data on the authors, etc. it does the tallies automatically, calculates the percentages, and plots the data. Then I save the plots as jpg images to post.

I’m happy to share my spreadsheet if you’d like an example.

>124 SirThomas: Happy new year, Thomas!

>100 drneutron: Oh wow, that looks amazing!! Also, I love that plate!

>126 scaifea: Found the plates at Costco… 😀

>127 drneutron: Really! We don't actually need new plates, but I do love how colorful those are...

>125 drneutron: Thanks Jim.

I should be able to beat my spreadsheet program into shape. (I'm using a Mac, so it'll be Numbers. I've never used its graphing functions, but I'm pretty sure it has them.)

FWIW, I was hoping you'd tell me there was some unknown (to me) facility in LibraryThing for graphs and such.

Happy new reading year, Jim!

>128 scaifea: it’s been a while, so they may not have them any more. So you’re probably safe … 😀

>129 ArlieS: Well, not the same graphs, but there is a “Charts and Graphs” tab on your home page with some interesting breakdowns of your library.

Happy New Year, Jim! Wishing you a great year of reading in 2022.

Thanks, Harry!

>131 drneutron: Fun views

>100 drneutron: more cheese is always a good thing.

I'm planning on making a version of this for lunch today, as dh already ate oatmeal for breakfast, plus the Jimmy Dean's breakfast sausage is frozen, solid.

>134 ArlieS: Yep, though data quality is always a concern for me. When I collect data by hand in my spreadsheet, I know the data's reasonably right.

>135 fuzzi: Cool! Let me know how it turns out!

So just got off the phone with Verizon - we've cut the cord. No more land line phone or cable tv. Went from $200 per month to $55. We haven't watched cable TV in ages - been streaming for a while. And haven't actually gotten a useful call on the land line in a couple of years, to the point that we stopped answering it.

Anyway - it's a little weird... 😀

>137 drneutron: - Welcome to the 21st century, Jim ;-)

We haven't had a land line since 2008 and have never missed it/needed it. I do wonder how long traditional cable companies can hold on. That model makes no sense now with more a la carte (though imperfectly so) choices...

>137 drneutron: Good job! We have not had a landline since we moved to Georgia, so 2012. We still have cable, but it's going this year as soon as football is over.

>100 drneutron: That really does look good! I will have to try it. I am also a fan of "extra" cheese! Yum!

>138 katiekrug:, >139 Crazymamie: 😀 We decided to do it a year ago, but kept stalling. After 6 months of not watching cable because we're streaming everything, we decided to pull the plug. Freeing up money to pay for our upgraded bathroom was a strong motivator... 😀

>140 figsfromthistle: I hope you enjoy it!

Hey drneutron,
Thanks for starting this up again!
I look forward to this every year!
I was just reading your thread, very interesting. I like reading about what others are doing besides reading.
Happy 2022!!

>137 drneutron: So *you're* part of the reason I was on hold with Verizon for over an hour and never got through! GAH! We've switched our cell service to Mint (we love it) and I need to close our account. Stupid Verizon; their website is The Worst and I'm so frustrated. Congrats on getting out!

>100 drneutron: my version of your egg stratta:



I used 2 cups of heavy whipping cream instead of milk and cream, 2 handfuls of baby spinach torn in half instead of 3 handfuls of greens, 2 cups of Jimmy Dean sausage (crumbled) instead of 1 cup of meat, and slightly dry panettone instead of bread. After I placed it in the baking dish I sprinkled the second cup of sausage on top with extra shredded Gouda. I didn't use the cayenne either.

I saw this and thought of you, Jim:

https://a-sorta-depressing-chimp.tumblr.com/post/672378303303368705

Congrats on all that money you'll save! We dropped our landline more than 10 years ago, but still have cable, along with two streaming services. Mike prefers sitcoms to movies.

Happy New year Jim!

>142 hredwards: Thanks for stopping by, Harold! I’m happy to share life with my friends.

>143 scaifea: Yep. I was on hold for about 40 minutes, then it took about 15 to make the switch. Unfortunately, D’s cell phone is still Verizon - given the coverage at our house, that probably won’t change, and I’ll likely join her when I retire and have to give up my work phone.

And yeah, their website absolutely sucks!

>144 fuzzi: Oh, that looks great! Some of the recipes called for mustard powder instead of cayenne - I may try that next time.

>145 scaifea: *snerk* Yeah, that’s how it’s done.

>146 mstrust: So the one big give up was a Big Bang Thory, so I think I’m just going to buy the whole series on Amazon Video for mrsdrneutron’s birthday.

>147 leperdbunny: Thanks! And you too!

On January 3, 1892, J. R. R. Tolkien was born. Raise a glass with me -



To The Professor!

>141 drneutron: Renovating a bathroom sounds like as good a reason as any to me!

>149 drneutron: I will, although my glass has tea in it :)

Mine’s a single malt Scotch from a distillery called Glengoyne. Just on the edge of the Highlands, it was a delightfully tranquil place when we visited in 2008.

>137 drneutron: I like having a landline, because POTS has some chance of working in an emergency when VOIP is useless (it needs power at your house), and cellular is chancy.

We have decent coverage at the house - my work phone is ATT and mrsdrneutron’s is Verizon, so there’s backup there. We got to exercise the emergency system with our cell phones several times while her mom was living with us, so we’re pretty sure that’s ok. Honestly, the power goes out at the house more than the cell phones don’t work. 😀

But everyone’s situation is unique, so I get why some wouldn’t make the same decision.

Congratulations on cutting the cord, Jim. We eliminated our landline when we moved to Philly, and eliminated cable altogether while we were living there. When we moved to NoVA the house was already wired with Verizon FiOS for internet and that's all we need. We began our all-streaming lifestyle with YouTubeTV as part of the mix, mostly for sports, the occasional show on broadcast TV, and DVR. But after a while we found we weren't using it nearly enough to justify its cost. I recently suspended it for a couple months and if we don't miss it, we'll cancel.

>154 lauralkeet: Yeah, we pared the streaming services down too - the main ones for us are Netflix (gotta have our Witcher!), Paramount+ (gotta have our Star Trek!), Discovery+ (gotta have our HGTV!), and Britbox (gotta have our Shetland!).

We got rid of our cable back in 2007 or 2008 I think. We didn't cut the landline until I realized I was paying $50 extra a month for a phone none of us used, that only rang when telemarketers were involved. It was probably 8 or 10 years ago.

Cable internet is still expensive so I've got DSL, works fine even for streaming and only $55 a month.

Interesting. FIOS internet only is the same price here. Mainly because we’re not upgrading to gigabit per second service, I’d guess. Don’t need it - we can stream, run Zoom, and do all our other internet stuff with no lag. Plus, I’d have to run Ethernet into the house to where the router is located - co-ax is already there.

Our ONLY local cable company is horrible, SuddenLink. Their slogan is "SuddenLink, You're Connected!" but the joke around the area is it should be "SuddenLink, We're EXPENSIVE".

We had cable connected when we moved into our house in 2006. We had issue after issue with connectivity, abysmal customer service. I think we cut it in 2007, it just wasn't worth over $100 a month for lots of channels we didn't watch and no reliable service.

Yeah, my parents have SuddenLink as their only option in Louisiana and it's abysmal, alright. I'm not going to try to walk them through a change from 1200 mile away, though. It's been hard enough to get my mom's new iPad set up by talking with her over the phone. 😀

This whole cable monopoly thing needs to go. This is clearly an area where competition is a good thing, and there are just too many places in our country where companies could compete if it were allowed.

>159 drneutron: "if it were allowed" is right. Monopoly of utilities is often an excuse for abuse.

Our local electric company has been fine, and there are plenty of propane suppliers to keep the competition going and prices lower.

>159 drneutron: This might be a stupid question. But why isn't there any competition? We seem to have dozens and dozens of providers for this sort of thing.

>159 drneutron: It's historical - cable infrastructure was expensive to build up, and in many areas of the US, the market was too small to make providing cable TV profitable. So in many areas, local governments allowed a monopoly so as to encourage them to enter that market, plus these local governments could impose conditions like local access channels, etc. During that time, the main competition to cable companies was satellite TV. As services grew, infrastructure became established, so now many markets are competitive, but these are still the most populated areas. And of course, since broadband internet mostly got tied to the cable tv infrastructure, it's bundled up in the whole competitiveness issue.

It's a complicated history, and this is an oversimplified answer, but hopefully it's understandable how we got here.

Competition isn't the solution. Regulation is. The problem with all the cableverse is greed. But that's the universal Murrikin problem.

Oh, I definitely agree that greed is a defining characteristic of America!

Happiest of New Year's! I look forward to another year of your science and reading. And maybe a recipe or three!

>165 streamsong: Thanks for stopping by!

>162 drneutron: & >163 richardderus:
I agree with Richard. The problem is greed and the solution is regulation. That is what happened with telephones back in the early 1900's. The solution is to declare them a public utility and stop all this nonsense with so many separate companies competing for the same blocks of large population centers. If the industry was regulated then the rural and lower income areas wouldn't be communications deserts. In general modern communications are way too expensive for what they offer. I am not even going to start on entertainment options. If people stopped to think about how much they are paying for the right to carrying around a hand held computer (cell phones) and for access to elite entertainment they might think twice about having it. They might run screaming to their nearest library and start checking out books to read that cost only the transportation costs to get to the door.

I live in a blue collar neighborhood here in Tuscaloosa and the available broadband width is abysmal. It was darn hard to "work at home" and I live about 2 miles from the campus. Just over the hill and I can't get good coverage. That is why I read hardcopy books.

Jim - I feel sorry for you reading more ebooks. I enjoy picking up a book and turning the pages. But I do understand the utility of having books on that hand held computer.

The cable monopoly means our designated provider is allowed to deny us service because our driveway is too long even though I know there is fiber along our road. So, we haven't had cable for more than a decade, since we moved to the farm. I have a love/hate relationship with Verizon: We have DSL for basic service and it is bad but better than nothing. But I rely on a their mifi and the data plan on my phone and iPad for decent connectivity.

Here in Virginia we have at least one school division in the southwest that is using Starlink.

OK, here I go for another reading challenge for the New Year (a challenge to myself - no-one else).
Living in the Blue Mountains, outside Sydney, New south Wales, my books tend to have an Australian focus, in authors and content, but my interests are broad. Lately I've also been reading kids' picture books, junior fiction, etc, - being a grand-dad. Haven't included these, but perhaps should - or is that cheating yourself?

>167 benitastrnad: I love having a book in my hands too, but having a gadget that lets me read when I can in a busy day works for me - my biggest challenge with reading is finding time. 😀

>168 witchyrichy: Starlink is a great idea - ideally, one can get coverage anywhere. We’ll see how good it is in practice. Managing that fleet of satellites will be challenging. Plus, Elon’s putting a lot of hardware in space that will affect others. But eventually, this is the way to go.

>169 noellib: Welcome back! I don’t know much about Australian authors, so yours will be a thread to watch. And you can count whatever you like! 😀

I was paying bills last night and all this talk about internet coverage made me take a long look at my phone bill. I still have a landline and it cost me $57.65 last month. (December) My total bill was $148.00. The rest of the bill was for my cell phone. I keep my old check ledgers and so I looked back to 2011 - when I didn't have a cell phone and my bill was $75.48 for December 2011. I figure that the cell phone is costing me $50.00 a month to sit on my desk at home. I wonder if I should just drop it? I don't use it except when I travel and I am not sure that is worth $50.00 a month. I shudder to think what my bill would be if I had internet on that cell phone. Probably in the neighborhood of $200.00 per month.

I wonder why people don't complain about how much the hand held computer costs them. It seems that they always complain that the landline phone costs are way too high, but maybe it is really the other way around.

I also understand that many people have "bundled" accounts where they have telephone, TV/movies, and internet coverage all on one account. I wonder how much per month all of that is. Would that make the landline phone with all of its safety and utility more or less expensive?

As a single person I get very cranky when people start talking about "family" plans. In fact, that makes me really really cranky, so how much does a bundled telephone, TV/movies, and internet coverage really cost? My guess is that it costs much more than most people want to admit.

Our land line/cable/internet bundle was $200 per month, including all the fees and taxes. Dropping to internet only, the bill is about $70 per month. I get a cell phone from work at no cost to me, but we do pay for mrsdrneutron's cell. Frankly, for us, it's worth it to be able to communicate as we're out and about or traveling. I'd much rather pay for the cell than hold on to the land line. We made the change to get rid of paying for things we're not using, plus the land line itself is voice-over-internet, so doesn't offer any additional safety. Like anything, it's a cost-benefit trade. If the cell doesn't offer benefit worth the cost, I should skip it and save the money. If I don't watch cable tv, I should drop it.

Have you considered pay-as-you-go service for a cell phone? If you're only using it when you travel, you just load it up with minutes during the times you want it.

>172 drneutron:
You are going to laugh at this - I got the cell phone because I needed to be able to communicate with my peeps when we were at ALA conferences. (the first one we did that was in Washington, D. C. back in about 2015) I never run out of minutes on it, but I do run out of text messages. When I use 200 messages I have to start paying for them. I ran out of texts in December because I went home and so did my sisters! (it was sort of like being at ALA with all the texting.) What bothers me that is that they text all the time, and won't call me. I would rather they called than texted, but ...

I text rather than call because I think it's less intrusive for the recipient (they can look at it when convenient) and because any info (date, time, place, etc) is there for future reference.

We ditched the land-line years ago. Our cell phones (2 lines at T-Mobile for $75/mo including unlimited data) plus internet/cable/home security (@$175/mo) give us everything we need. When we lived in San Diego we were in the city and had a wonderful internet provider (Webpass) that had great band width and cost $60/mo. We added Hulu and streamed everything there. My favorite so far though was Spectrum that we had a Chautauqua where we had internet and cable for under $100/mo. We were able to choose which 10 cable channels we wanted in addition to the "regular" ones (that used to come through the air). I which all cable companies would do that because we never ever look at most of the gazillion channels we get with cable.

Yeah, we mostly text too. It's rare I get a call, even for work stuff. There's definitely an advantage to being in a metropolitan area with regard to cost - one of the reasons we could bring the cost down is that there are options besides FIOS or Comcast.

Just as an FYI, if anyone is interested in a less-expensive cell phone provider...

Consumer Cellular has plans for flip phones at $15/month, and my smart phone with not-quite unlimited data is $30/month.

If you are an AARP member you get a small discount.

Service is great, I've had it for years.

And they do sell cell phones (by the see shore?).

>176 fuzzi: 😀 Say that three times fast...

>176 fuzzi: - LOL!

I've added my first two books of the year, so please join me on my next thread!

>173 benitastrnad: What bothers me that is that they text all the time, and won't call me. I would rather they called than texted, but ...

For me, texting has been such a blessing because I'm hard of hearing, I often don't understand everything on the phone...even with AI transcription which sometimes transcribes inaccurately or at a speed which makes it hard to read. I can read texting without having to feel as if I might be missing something important. I FINALLY got all my family and friends to text me and not call me. I don't want to go back to phone calls. If I do make an actual phone call, I use a free app for teh hard-of-hearing and deaf called Olelo which transcribes speech into text which can be saved.

>176 fuzzi: And they do sell cell phones (by the see shore?).

LOL!