len_mullen

from Amazon Prime’s price is going up to $139 per year - The Verge Amazon is raising the price of Prime in the US to $139 per year, up from the $119 annual fee that was instated four years ago. The price hike is meant to address higher costs Amazon is facing across the board, from shipping to labor to construction, according to analysts. The price change will go into effect for new members on February 18th and for current members after March 25th. The price for a monthly membership to Prime is also going up to $14.99 per month from $12.99 per month. Prime passed 200 million subscribers last year. Amazon has continued to expand the service’s offering, growing from quick shipping speeds to also include access to Prime Video, music streaming, Twitch perks, and more. Prime lost one member this year -- me. After years of student freebies and discounts, I am terminating Prime. I have not found value in Prime even at $4.92 per year. No way they retail me at $11.58/month (starting March 7). In other news... Facebook stock plummets 26% in its biggest one-day drop ever (cnbc.com)TWTR Stock Could Lose Market Share to Growing Alternative Social Media | InvestorPlaceWhy Are Netflix Shares Down 30% In 2022? (msn.com)Why Walt Disney Shares Fell 14.5% Last Year | Nasdaq All of these guys are suffering from competition. For the entertainers, Pluto, broadcast television, and other FREE streaming services are 'good enough' for many. With every price increase and increasing fragmentation, the free options become 'more good enough'...at least for me. Where are you spending your entertainment money? Where are you talking about it? Have recent price increases changed your consumption?

WFH Excuse: Lost power/internet.

Note the 'return for any reason' terms and return it at the end of the return period. Buy a new snow blower when the rest of the world is shopping for bathing suits.

Bring it back. Try something else.

In 2002, I bought this beast of a snow thrower -- a 9 Horsepower, Electric Start, 29-inch Dual Stage Craftsman snow blower. Twenty years (and a few parts) later, it's still going strong. But it's huge and 90% of the time, it's unnecessary. In 2018, I bought a Craftsman 88694 26" 208cc Dual-Stage Zero-Turn Snowblower. It's smaller (5 HPish), quieter, and a lot easier to use with remote chute controls and zero turn. I gottadeal. It was $700 minus $257 in Shop Your Way points. First time I changed the oil, I looked for a manual online because I thought it would be easier than sifting through my collection of manuals. Instead of finding the oil type and capacity, I found this youtube video about installing a light on the machine. So I ordered the parts. $34.78. The parts came in on the day of a big snow storm. After I cleared the driveway, I found them in my mailbox. Next morning I installed a light on my snow blower. When I finished, as I was admiring my handywork, my youngest son comes into the garage... Paul: "What are you doing?" Me: "I just installed a light on the snow blower." Paul: "Are you going to get rid of the old one?" Me: "No. It works fine." Paul: "But it doesn't have a light." Me: "I don't need a light. I've been clearing the driveway without a light for 20 years. I could clear this driveway in my sleep." Paul: "Then why did you put a light on the new snow blower?" Me: "Because I can. You'll understand when you get a little older." Hope you get your blizzard. Hope it ends in the dark. I really wonder how well that light works...

I had no idea how rich you were.

It depends on the reliability of your electricity source during an emergency, the amount of snow you expect to clear, and the size of the area you need to keep clear, but you probably want gas. If it's cold enough for meaningful snow, it's cold enough to impact battery performance. Unless you have a generator, you may not be able to clear your driveway during a power outage.

Well, mine is

He's right, of course. Do it. Your purpose in life is to make your kids' life more wonderful.

Where do you live? In New Hampshire, winter begins in February. In fact, February and March are our winter. The good news is that the Global Warming crowd will be hibernating for a couple weeks as we are buried in climate.

I'm on the New Hampshire seacoast, so that's about as northeast as you can get. It's been snowing here since before daylight. We probably have three inches now. It's powdery, as predicted. Just put some pork ribs in the slow cooker. My child is still in bed. Probably was a mistake to get him flannel sheets, a fleece blanket, a comforter, and a heavy comforter. May not see much of him until spring.

They are predicting 20" -- I'll believe it when I see it! Just the same, snowblower is full of gas, gas in the generator, and a can full just in case we actually lose power. All the things that promise a dusting.

[Despite me buying a 75" TV and two iPhone 13s] December retail sales slide 1.9% amid shortages, omicron Sales at department stores fell 7%. restaurant sales slipped 0.8% and online sales fell 8.7%.

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Their exclusions are overwhelming and MVC exclusive promotions trim sales, but, yes, personalized codes were kind of the icing on the cake. A lot of people have always complained that Kohls marked stuff up before sales. I haven't seen that, but I have had sale items in my cart go off sale before codes became effective. Probably did not help that the store became political last year as well. I will never forget the year Walmart cancelled Christmas -- no decorations on the lights in the parking lot, happy holidays greetings from the employees, and a general ban on Christmas references in ads and stores. I also remember the Christmas decorations and greetings came back the next year. I suspect Kohls will be bought by Amazon (they already do returns for Amazon) once Amazon decides it needs a chain of pickup/retail locations.

Kohls also had a bad Christmas.... Kohl's Stock Cut to Sell as Sales Seen Pressured by Rising Inflation | Barron's (barrons.com)shares were falling Friday after the retailer’s rating was cut to Sell from Neutral by analysts at UBS who expect rising inflation to pressure sales.The price target on the stock was slashed to a Wall-Street low of $38 from $66. Shares of Kohl’s (ticker: KSS) fell roughly 4% to $47.10 on Friday.No surprise. BB&B coupons go directly to the recycle bin at my house. Kohls, which had captured a LOT of my dollars until last year, only collected about $400 from me in 2021. Both retailers dramatically diminished the value of their discount/coupon programs.

^^^ This is just WRONG! Hold On A Minute Not Ready To Begin It Heart Is Not In It or is it? I hope retail makes a comeback in 2022. Clicking isn't as fun as it was when no one else was doing it.

New Year, New Television. I think that's how it's done. Last year, we all got those $148 55" TCL Roku 4K HDR sets. I have one of these in every bedroom. I didn't plan on buying a television this year. I was keeping an eye on the TCL 8 Series QLED TV -- hoping for a <$1000 deal -- but it never happened. I haven't seen it for less than $1400 to date. Somehow, I got through BF without buying a television. The only thing I bought on Black Friday was heating oil. And it wasn't on sale. On December 18th, looking for a deal on a smaller TV for a friend, I stumbled across a discussion of the 75" Toshiba C350 Series LED 4K UHD Smart Fire TV (75C350KU). Actually, what I saw was... Best Buy 75" TV $499.99 I added it to my cart and started doing some research. The first thing I found was a $25 off deal on PayPal. So, $475 shipped. I decided to buy the television. I set the delivery for 12/24 which gave me a week to find it in a store and cancel the order if it did not meet expectations. I never found this television in a store. Even where it was in stock, it wasn't on the floor. Not a good sign, but other research was fairly positive. For instance, the poor review on rtings.com was not for this television. The review was for a 55" set. Amazon and Best Buy reviews were pretty positive. Then I learned that the set is actually manufactured by Hisense (sort of). I say 'sort of' because it is (most likely) manufactured in a Toshiba factory in Japan. Hisense bought 95% of Toshiba Visual Solutions Corporation in 2017 including two factories in Japan, hundreds of R&D employees, and an IP portfolio of TV technology patents for image quality and acoustics. (My set was manufactured in actually manufactured in Mexico in July.) I like TCL and Hisense sets. So, I crossed my fingers and waited. For a couple days before delivery, snow and freezing rain turned my yard into a winter wonderland. By December 24th, my house was sitting on a glacier. My youngest and I carried the HUGE box around my home so we could take it straight up the stairs to the second floor. It took a tight three point turn into a bathroom to get the TV into my bedroom, but we did it. I was very impressed with the packaging. The box comes in two pieces -- a short base and a tall 'cover' held together with four plastic clips which can be reused if the set is returned. The set was held firmly in the middle of the box by Styrofoam packaging with an air filled 'pillow' and cardboard protection between the screen and the box. Hard plastic strips protected the screen from careless handholds. A plastic sheet that covered the screen was easily removed without leaving any kind of residue. Out of the box, no dead pixels, no physical damage, and nothing missing. Good start. I attached the stand, plugged in power, and powered on the set. Once I logged in to Amazon, I could access my antenna via an Amazon Recast -- wirelessly. Upscaling on this set is outstanding. SD looks great. From the westerns of the 50s and 60s to the dramas of the 80s and 90s to modern HD programming, everything is clear and properly sized/scaled. Then I plugged the TV into my antenna. The picture quality was better than through the Recast. UI was still Fire TV. For television, I can choose a grid style guide that integrates antenna and streaming. Top of the screen is a description of the selected show. I like that. So, I plugged in a TiVo. The TiVo autoscales to 1080p. It looks almost as good as the antenna. Good enough for me to choose the TiVo input over the antenna input...sometimes. Last night, I was hopping among inputs watching a New Year's Celebration and the 1080i programming looked great via the Recast, the TiVo, and straight from the antenna. That said, I am watching the antenna. Audio is very good. There are two 10w speakers. I'm not an audiophile, but they sound fine to me. My desk is on the same wall as the television in my bedroom. From my desk, the viewing angle is probably around 160 degrees. The viewing angle of this television is excellent. The remote resembles a Fire TV remote. It is about half an inch longer. There are four additional buttons for TV control -- channel up/down, guide, recents, and quick settings. There are also four additional buttons for Prime, Netflix, Disney+, and Hulu. The remote contains a mic and the TV is Alexa enabled. There are four HDMI ports, one USB port, one LAN/Ethernet port, one digital audio out port, one RF input (antenna), one headphone out, and one AV input. The USB 2.0 port. Movies, music, and pictures can be played off the USB port. The port powers drives that require up to 500mA. I am using the port to power a Roku that requires 5V – 1A. The TV has a Native refresh rate of 60Hz with a Motion Rate of 120Hz. I did not experience motion blur watching basketball or football. Hockey will be the test. Documentation is less than sparse and completely unnecessary. Complete specs are available here. If this television proves to be durable, I think this Tv is a steal. Happy New Year! Happy New TV!

My new television came with a one month trial of Fubo TV. I would not watch Fubo TV for free. In fact, after less than five hours, I cancelled my trial. Hard to believe anyone would pay for Fubo TV never mind pay $70 per month for Fubo TV. What's Not To Like? For starters, the price. For $70/month, I can get a Comcast plan that includes high speed internet. For $12.99/month, I could get Hulu+. Broadcast tv is free. All better choices than Fubo TV. The registration process is onerous. The TOS pops you out of the registration process. The trial requires a credit card including the Card Security Code (CSC). The first thing that happens after registration is that you are encouraged to sign up for a long term plan. The user interface is a screen of tiles. Click, click, click. Back, back, back. Way too much work to watch television. Fubo TV feels more like a collection of apps than a streaming television service. I settled on the Paramount app. I had seen featured Paramount programming on FREE Pluto TV. Apparently 'featured' means 'the good stuff'. So, back, back, back, click, click, click. The easiest part of using Fubo TV was cancelling the subscription and uninstalling the app. Then There's The Content Best way to describe Fubo TV is cable and broadcast filler channels, minus the anchor channels, plus sports, minus the good sports. For instance, my favorite broadcast channels are: Heroes and Icons, StartTV, FaveTV, LAFF, MeTV, ION, This, and MyTV in that order. Of these, Fubo TV includes: MyTV. Fubo TV is not on anyone's list of top streaming services. I get that.

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And now for something completely different... Free2View TV Select | TV App | Roku Channel Store | Roku If you have a Roku streamer or a Roku TV, consider installing this free channel. Some of my favorite OTA channels are streamed via this channel... Search for Free2View in the Roku Channel Guide. Add this free channel for access to... Movies! TV NetworkHallmark Movies and MoreGritHeroes and IconsLaffStart TVDecadesAce TVMe TVCoziCharge TVComet TVDefy TVDigi TVIONFamily EntertainmentACE TVClassic Arts ShowcasePositiv TVFolk TVMy Time Movie NetworkRetro TVRev'n TVCharge TVStadium TVDove ChannelThe Heartland NetworkCircle TVDustClassic Reruns TVCartoon Fun Time24/7 RetroSpydar TVLove NaturePBSPBS Lids <-- Pretty sure this is PBS KidsThe AsylumElectric NowCinevault 1970sCinevault 1980sAMC ThrillersThe Walking Dead UniverseHunt TVThe Film DetectiveLively PlaceOutside TVThe Design Network Cozi TV: Charlie's Angels, Columbo, Emergency!, Frasier, Highway to Heaven, Little House on the Prairie, Murder, She Wrote, My Favorite Martian, Roseanne, Smell-a-Vision, Starsky & Hutch, The Bionic Woman, The Munsters, The Nanny, The Office, The Six Million Dollar Man, Will & GraceLAFF: According to Jim, Grace Under Fire, Home Improvement, How I Met Your Mother, Night Court, That '70s Show, he Bernie Mac Show, World's Funniest Videos: Top 10 Countdown**Heroes & Icons: STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, WONDER WOMAN, ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, BATMAN, BAYWATCH, BLACK SHEEP SQUADRON, COMBAT!, CSI: CYBER, THE DEAD ZONE, THE DISTRICT, THE GREATEST AMERICAN HERO, THE GREEN HORNET, HAVE GUN, WILL TRAVEL, THE HIGH CHAPARRAL, HILL STREET BLUES, HOUSE, JAG, LANCER, MACGYVER, MARTIAL LAW, MAVERICK, MONK, MUTANT X, NASH BRIDGES, NUMB3RS, THE PRETENDER, THE RAT PATROL, RAWHIDE, RENEGADE, STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE, STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE, STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES, STAR TREK: VOYAGER, TOUR OF DUTY, 12 O'CLOCK HIGH, THE UNTOUCHABLES, WANTED DEAD OR ALIVEComet: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, DUST, NIGHT GALLERY, QUANTUM LEAP, SLIDERS, STARGATE SG-1, THE OUTER LIMITS, THE RAY BRADBURY THEATER, THE X-FILESCharge: CSI: MIAMI, KNIGHT RIDER, CHIPS, MAGNUM, P.I., HUNTERCircle: The Dailey & Vincent Show, Opry, Bonanza, Coffee, Country and Cody, Chasing Down Madison Brown, The Patty Duke Show, Hee Haw, Soundstage, Phil Vassar's Songs From the Cellar, The Jeff Foxworthy Show, Only in America with Larry the Cable Guy, Fury, The Lone Ranger, Petticoat Junction, Ditty TV Concert Series, Authentic America, The Southern Weekend, Landmarks: The Stages of Country Music, Circle Country Countdown, Talking in Circles with Clint Black, Better Half, Rusty's Rockfeast, Circle Sessions, Gospel According to Al Green, Outdoor America, THE WRITE STUFF, Austin City Limits, AMERICAN MUSIC SPOTLIGHT, THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES, CMA SONGWRITERS, F-Troop, On The Road, OPRY DOCS, STAND UP NASHVILLE!, SOUNDSTAGEION: Blue Bloods, Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., Criminal Minds, Hawaii Five-0, Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, NCIS: LA, NCIS: New OrleansGrit TV: eath Valley Days, Laramie, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, and Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre Mystery: Crime Stories, CSI Miami, Forensic Files, Scandal, It Takes a Killer, American Greed, American Greed: The Fugitives, The First 48, The FBI Files, Unsolved Mysteries TrueReal: Wahlburgers, Intervention, I Survived…, Gene Simmons Family Jewelsl, Storage Wars, Married at First Sight, Hoarders, and Little Women: LA. ***Defy: Pawn Stars, Forged in Fire, American Pickers, The Curse of Oak Island, Ice Road Truckers, Alone, Dog The Bounty Hunter, Ax Men, Swamp People and Counting Cars

I wonder how this compares to other years. We always lose some. Still time to lose less.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_HV9w9_0BEgE/TRmqNR8gtlI/AAAAAAAAAd0/sHaxYi5XzFc/s1600/merry_christmas_animated.gif

75" happens to be the right size for my living room. Not ready to put a television there yet, but when opportunity knocks, right? The $499.99 price was the best I've seen. I took a chance because I think the Hisense sets look nice. I can always return it. Of course, the free Dot, Fubi, and ATV+ did not hurt. $25 off from Paypal sealed the deal for me.

My TV arrived today. I won't plug it in until Sunday. The purchase includes three months of Apple TV+ and a month of Fubo TV. I'm looking forward to sampling both. The Fubo code must be redeemed by 12/31, so it'll get the first look. Good review here... https://www.tvguide.com/news/fubo-tv-review/ The Apple TV+ expires 3/31, so I will have some time to relax before sampling Apple's 'amazing' productions. The set came from Best Buy. They bring it to the room of your choice for free. Very nice. I had them leave it outside. My son and I maneuvered it from the doorway to my bedroom. Not heavy and the box has handles, but it was still big and my yard is covered in about four inches of ice. Expect a review of this beast as my first post of 2022. Merry Christmas!