Monday, January 23, 2012

Morning ramblings

During the past couple of weeks I've been trying to trim my list of Facebook friends:  I don't have a problem with any or the people on my friend list, but there are people who never post a status update on Facebook or show any sort of activity there.  If I go to their "wall", all I see is a few birthday wishes that people posted six months ago.  And then there are those that I hardly know in real life: they won't know the difference if I unfriend them; they probably already have their settings fixed so they don't see my all-too-frequent updates.  
Surprisingly, I am still left with 367 friends.  There was one guy I was going to unfriend, but when I went to his wall and saw a picture of him, his wife, and their two sons, I just couldn't do it.  I used to watch those boys in the nursery at church, and I like seeing them all grown up.  I may eventually knock the guy off my friend list, but not until I've looked at those fully-grown, handsome boys a couple more times.  With a couple of exceptions, I can now look at the "wall" of any of my friends and know exactly who they are. 
Here's a surprising thing to me:  At one time I needed more Farmville friends on Facebook, so people referred some of their relatives and friends to me, and I added them so I could be a more successful Farmville farmer.  It stands to reason that since I no longer play the game, I could easily get rid of those people, wouldn't you think?  Oh no!  I interact with most of them regularly.  They are nice people, and I don't want to lose their status updates.  I enjoy seeing their pets and their children and all their smiling faces.  


On to another note:  Before Cliff retired, we agreed to drop subscriptions to most magazines and newspapers.  With the Internet, who needs all that stuff coming in the mail?  Evidently Cliff does, because one by one he has resubscribed to most of the magazines we dropped over a year ago.  He gets two Oliver-collector magazines, and he recently subscribed to this: 

It's chock-full of home-made inventions and bright ideas, and Cliff decided he can't live without it.  I think he's considering resubscribing to Antique Power, too.  If you want an antique tractor magazine that's professionally done, it's the best.  
I, on the other hand, have not felt the need to start getting any newspapers or magazines.  The last time someone called from the Kansas City Star with a bargin subscription price for me, I told them I wouldn't take the paper if it was free.  It's just something for me to haul to the trash.  
However, this morning I actually realized that I've missed the Odessan.  It's a weekly local paper that carries the school news, and I have granddaughters in school.  Besides, I can keep up with the obituaries and divorces and traffic tickets around here. I caved and made out a check. 
So far I've managed to rake up the money for all these subscriptions, so I guess it's OK.

6 comments:

  1. If you enjoy it and can afford it then yes, you should do it. Same with facebook friends, if you enjoy them, keep them. Life is too short to bother with anything we don't like, and there truly is much to like. I don't subscribe to anything here but do love my internet and so far I can afford that. Hope your Tuesday is a terrific one!

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  2. Farm Show is my hubby's favorite mag. I get it for him every Christmas so that he will have it all year long.

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  3. nerves05 (nancy)10:21 AM

    Our local Paper is small to and has all the updates as yours for the kids and the school and what not, but the thing i dont' like is that it also tells every single thing every person does wrong in town.
    Who doesn't pay their property taxes and how much they are behind. John doe went to Jail for speeding. Jane doe beat up Jill.. And so in so farted and how it smelled... and how it made them feel.
    I just don't think it's right to air everyone's dirty laundry around town just because you can't find enough interesting things to talk about.

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  4. Anonymous1:25 PM

    I subscribe to some magazines & newspapers just because it's a piece of Americana I don't want to see disappear. So I always encourage folks to subscribe to paper media. :-)

    Peace~ Earth Mama

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  5. If keeping your Facebook friends makes you happy, DO it. If they don't, delete them. No guilt. We stopped all our magazines and newspapers too, except for a couple. I find great joy in my Archaeology magazine. Been getting it since I was in my teens. My hubby likes a particular ENGINEERING magazine, he won't part with it. Like Cliff with his tractor mags. So if there is something you really want to read yourself, Donna and you can afford it, get it.

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  6. I don't ever go through my FB friends; it doesn't cost anything just to leave them on--and they may update eventually! I love getting a newspaper, although it is fairly expensive.

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