Finding the right stuff

[susandennis]

It was not that easy to get up this morning at 4:30. Sleeping in on Wednesday ruint me. But, the very minute I hit the water, all was forgiven. It was a glorious swim. And so worth getting up.

I did hit Yet Another Snag with my swim music player. The Amazon music player - set to offline - wouldn't play because it wasn't online.

Then, when I got home, I learned that Google Music is for sure going to be phased out sooner rather than later.

1 + 1 = Finally, I bit the bullet and got Spotify. Really, Spotify has it figured out. No guessing where shit is or how to get it. Big buttons on my tiny, postage stamp sized player screen. All the music I want, downloadable. Continuous play - shuffle or no. Easy peasy. I even found playlists for swimming.

It seems silly to pay $10 a month for something I really only use an hour a day but I'm tired of fighting it.

I also reset the player to factory settings and built it from scratch. It now now much snappier. So. Whew.

I should mention that for now Google Play Music is going to be left alone and the price I pay is going to be grandfathered and I probably will keep it for ad free You Tube. I don't watch much on You Tube - usually just pop over there to figure out how to do something. So many of those videos are such crap that I already have to skip around to find the meat. Having ads on top of that junk is just more than I can handle. It's a quality of life issue. And the Google Music app is ok. Although it will not work on my swim player so it's kind of useless mostly.

All of these $10 and $5 a month for this and that are really kind of insidious. It's not so much the money as it is the monthly decisions - is this worth it? yes? no? Every single month. When it's something I know I'm going to have for a long time and there's an option, I'll pay by the year. But, lots of stuff does not have that option. I think my new game plan is to pick an amount - $50? $75? $100? per month and just order up whatever I want as long as it does not exceed my monthly allotment. If I want more, I delete something. But, otherwise, no decisions. I need to chew on this some more but I think I'm getting close to a plan.

I have been looking for the perfect coffee cup for a while and I think I finally found it. I wanted one that was bigger than 12 ounces and kept coffee warm for a while and had a handle and a lid and wasn't stainless steel. This coffee mug met all my requirements and then some. It's coated in enamel so the steel part is mitigated. It keeps the coffee so hot that I have to leave the lid off for about 5-10 minutes in order to cool it enough to drink. It's got a nice, wide ass that makes seating it on the fly less prone to spilling. I'm a happy camper coffee cup wise.

The other day, I reswizzled my closet for warm weather clothing. I'd forgotten about a lot of the short sleeved shirts I made last year. It's such fun, now, to rediscover them all, once by one.

Someone finished the jigsaw puzzle in the lobby. I have the next one ready to go. When I finish this entry, I'll go down and tear up the finished one and set out the new one. I hate the part where all you are doing is flipping the pieces so they are right side up but it has to be done so I might as well get it over with.

Comments

[hopefulspirit.livejournal.com]

I've avoided paying for any of those music deals. I suppose if I listened to them more I'd bite the bullet and do it, but I don't. Maybe if I'd get my ass back to the gym I'd do it. lol

I love that mug! Great color choices too.

[sweetmeow]

Those little subscriptions to online things get out of hand quickly. I didn't keep a record of them -- up until now -- and I'm shocked how much I have. So - beginning in January, when something comes up, I add it to a log I've created of all subscriptions / yearly or monthly payments. Plus - there were a number of things I cancelled which are not of use to me anymore.

[susandennis]

SOOOO smart.

I've just spent the last 90 minutes doing the same thing. I keep a financial spreadsheet and I just made a new tab. PLUS, I put all those little subscriptions on one credit card (an old Discover card I haven't used in ages).

Now I feel like I can add what I want without getting out of control and know exactly what/when/how it's hitting my bottom line. I should have done this ages ago.

[solteronita.livejournal.com]

Ooh, thanks for sharing your coffee mug! I'm always on the lookout for the perfect cup and keep striking out (or breaking them :/ ). Might have to give that one a try.

[susandennis]

guaranteed you won't break it :)!!

[lifeinroseland.livejournal.com]

I just found a pretty good travel mug (KeepCup). It’s glass (+cork+plastic). I drink on the go Mon-Fri, so I was willing to pay some pretty pennies (25 bucks). And so far so good. But man, is that a hard world to navigate! I guess cuz so much crap gets made for it.

[susandennis]

I tried the glass KeepCup and now can't remember why it didn't last. I was always afraid of dropping it but didn't. I still have one of the plastic ones and like it but zero insulation (the glass did that part right).

It is hard and ever changing. At Walmart yesterday, they had a million different types and sizes of steel tumblers with plastic lids. It's apparently the 'in' thing this season.

[gracegiver]

Spotify is pretty cool, isn't it. I think it's well worth the bucks.

Credit cards DO expire, mine once every two years, and I get notices from vendors who can no longer collect their monthly fee. At that time I either let the thing drop or hand over my new expiration date.

[susandennis]

EXCELLENT point on the credit card. The Discover I am using for this action expires in July of this year. SOOOO in my calendar is a note to make sure I update and in the spreadsheet is the list of places to update.

And, yes on Spotify. It 'gets' me!

[goddessdi.livejournal.com]

I have used several different streaming music services but Spotify is probably my favorite. I am in the car a lot for work (I’ve already racked up ~700 billable miles for the month and that doesn’t include my commute to and from work) and I prefer my music commercial free. I’m currently hooked on a podcast though so that has been all I’m listening to.

[letmesaythis.livejournal.com]

I think I'm going to try this mug. I hope you're still loving it.

It will take me a while to settle on a color--so many options!

[susandennis]

Do it. I am still loving it. I bought a second one just in case. And the color thing is absolutely a problem. I'm not sure I even got the right colors. But the mug is really excellent.

There is a downside. No popping it into the microwave for a reheat. Of course, it keeps the coffee warm for so long, reheats aren't generally necessary.