What are you doing?

[Kalevala]

Had Shingles vaccine 2 Thursday (you have to wait 60 days between the two shots).

Kicked my butt yesterday. Didn't sleep well Thursday night, was sore and achy all day Friday, and chills/fever Friday evening.

A little out of it today, but mostly better. All to be expected based on documentation, but it doesn't mean I have to enjoy it.

Ouch!!  Heard that it can be a bit rough, but hadn't heard that it could be that bad.   

Up early here to catch roughly the tail end of the men's singles final at the Australian Open.  I was not up for getting up at 3:30 a.m. to watch it; however, I had thought that it would be closer and was rather surprised to see it end quite so soon.  Might try and catch some of the repeat later.

K

[hopefullytrusting]

Going to be going headphone free (going analog according to Master Shake) for the foreseeable future.

[AnotherSpin]

Watching football, Barcelona vs. Valencia, in a hotel room in Bucharest. Thinking that I'll probably sleep soundly tonight, without listening for the sound of air raid siren or waking up to grab my phone and check for updates on missile or drone launches.

[hopefullytrusting]

Today was my one day in hell (aka the day in which I have all the meetings).

By the end of today, I will have essentially been in one long meeting which started at 10 AM and ended at 8:00 PM.

O_O

[ChamberNut]

Today was my one day in hell (aka the day in which I have all the meetings).

By the end of today, I will have essentially been in one long meeting which started at 10 AM and ended at 8:00 PM.

O_O

That's rough. One hour meeting is draining, let alone ten!

[hopefullytrusting]

That's rough. One hour meeting is draining, let alone ten!

The meeting I am in right now started at 3 PM, it is not 4:20 PM, and I suspect it will go until at least 5 PM!

[Kalevala]

Watching football, Barcelona vs. Valencia, in a hotel room in Bucharest. Thinking that I'll probably sleep soundly tonight, without listening for the sound of air raid siren or waking up to grab my phone and check for updates on missile or drone launches.

AS,

Have you left the Ukraine due to war concerns?

K

[AnotherSpin]

AS,

Have you left the Ukraine due to war concerns?

K

A few weeks of vacation by the warm sea.

[LKB]

A few weeks of vacation by the warm sea.

A few weeks respite should be a blessing, good for you! 

[DavidW]

I did my taxes!

[LKB]

This is normally the first night off of my weekend, but I called in sick last night.

Soon afterward my manager texted me and I decided it was time to reveal my diagnosis of long-term kidney failure.

Now we'll see what happens...

[Kalevala]

This is normally the first night off of my weekend, but I called in sick last night.

Soon afterward my manager texted me and I decided it was time to reveal my diagnosis of long-term kidney failure.

Now we'll see what happens...

I'm sorry to hear of your diagnosis.  Life isn't easy and everyone has their struggles in life.  I hope that things go well for you at work and the best wishes in terms of healthcare going forward.

With love,

K

[DavidW]

I'm sorry to hear that LKB.

[Number Six]

This is normally the first night off of my weekend, but I called in sick last night.

Soon afterward my manager texted me and I decided it was time to reveal my diagnosis of long-term kidney failure.

Now we'll see what happens...

Oh, no! 

[Number Six]

I saw a discussion recently on reddit - don't judge me. The commenters were arguing about the advisability of spending $10 a month renting music on Spotify vs buying albums and owning them. The initial answer always seems to be: If you care about music, then it's better to own it than rent it. Plus, the whole world is trying to make us rent forever instead of owning.

But then someone provided an interesting example. He said that his Last.fm software (who knew that was still a thing?) informed him he listened to 2,000 different albums in 2024. To make it a little more realistic for most active music listeners, we'll narrow down to 200.

• Spotify is $10/mo, and an album on iTunes averages $10.
• 200 albums would be $2,000 to purchase.
• $2,000 on Spotify would be 200 months, or roughly 17 years.

So, you could rent the music for about 17 years at the same cost as buying it.

The question is, would that many years be sufficient, considering you don't own the music? Collectors would say no, it's still not enough. But others would say, "Not only do I get to listen to those 200 albums as often as I want for 17 years, but I also get hundreds of thousands more available to me!"

It would take 17 years to break even, as it were.

[DavidW]

I'm pro-streaming, but I don't like the argument.

1. Sticking with non-classical music, most wouldn't buy the entire album. But even looking at classical music I can regularly find downloads for sub-$10.
2. Most people have a small list of favorites and use streaming (and before that the radio) to explore. Pre-streaming, and before download everything off Limewire, people would buy and own like 20 CDs not several hundred or thousands.
3. Will Spotify exist in 17 years? Will the price be the same? Would all those albums still be available?

That last question is important because I have seen albums pulled off of streaming services.

I think that paying for access to a library of favorites is a mistake. If you love it, buy it. I only use favorites the way that I maintain watchlists on video streaming services.

[hopefullytrusting]

I am pro-streaming, but only in a very limited capacity. On an album of 12 tracks, I say you should be able to stream 2 (enough for a taste to see if you want to purchase, but not enough to give away the house), so I support services that take stances similar to that: Bandcamp, easily the best one for artists, if I recall, and Presto (I use eBay for things that are rare).

[AnotherSpin]

If you like something - own it, or risk losing the chance to have it. Ok.

1. But who's to say what you like today won't bore you tomorrow, a year, or ten down the line?
   
2. Then you're left with what no longer sparks joy. Will have to either discard it or fool yourself into still caring.

And really, isn't it clear? You don't own it. It owns you.

[hopefullytrusting]

The archive is infinite, and the costs to store are essentially zero.

[LKB]

I appreciate the supportive remarks regarding what I've posted above - thank you.

I rather wish I hadn't have had a few whiskeys on Saturday evening, but the conversation with my manager was stressful. Having experienced both anxiety attacks and inebriation, I much prefer the latter, if it will stave off the former.

Anyway, I'm still singing Mahler's Resurrection on the 16th. On that account, I truly consider myself a lucky man.