REVENUE REPORT
article 1 of 2 today
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Okay, minions, you know I love you most. And you really shared the love. Not only were my Amazon commissions insanely good, I got gift cards!
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First, the usual boring stuff that pays the bills. $100 in donations. $20 in Kindle book sales. $440 in Amazon commissions ( !!!!! ). Damn, that has GOT to be a record. Way to Christmas shop through my links ( I get paid two months after a purchase, so I'm assuming you are all smart and shop early to eliminate stress ).
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I just got two gift cards/gifts for the holiday. Many thanks to RS in MI, for the gift cards. Barnes & Noble-books! Hell, yeh. And I'll be downloading music. A bit of a treat-not something I usually indulge in but very nice to add to what I have. Stuffing cigarettes can get boring and music helps.
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Big hugs and much thanks to RSL in WI, for the gift of the LiteCoin certificate. You know I'm very skeptical but it doesn't matter when its a gift. I'll just hang on to it and enjoy the ride. I'm hoping I don't get Bitcoin Rich, as the Fates would have me die the day after I cashed out, but it is cool to have a moment of Lottery Fever!
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A few weeks ago I got the insanely generous $250 Amazon gift card from a minion. Shocked, shocked I tells ya's! I had plans to make it last for awhile, but that was wishful thinking. I just went on an orgy of consumption ( I don't do that often ). I finally broke down and bought a few bunches of leather ( primarily, I want to make bayonet frogs ) and got a few more leather working tools. Almost $90 there ( insane what they want for the stuff-which is why I took my time stocking ). I bought an exercise bike, which might seem unnecessary, but made a bit more sense than you realize.
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To buy replacements for my real bicycle, I would spend much more than for an exercise bike I use indoors. The one I was using had that gay ass welded cross piece for the pedal arms and it finally broke off. The replacement was built better, with no weld ( pieced through the frame, instead ). It was one of those "just a pedal on a frame" types. Only $30. The problem with those is if you sit on a chair and use it, you aren't getting very good exercise and your backs is hurt rather than helped.
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I solved the problem by placing a milk crate on the chair, putting a pillow over the crate and then I had the long leg reach like a regular bicycle or an exercise bike that costs over a hundred bucks. Sure, it has no handlebars and that sucks, but I just place my hands behind me on the back of the crate, like I would be holding on to a sissy bar if I were a Biker Bitch. Now I watch instructional videos while I bike, just going out once a week to check my mail. I'm prolonging the heck out of my street bike lifespan this way, but still using it enough it doesn't rot away.
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I got a couple of those revolver speed strips Commander Zero was just talking about ( I bought through his links, obviously ). I've never liked plastic speed loaders, so I'm hoping these fit the bill. And, you'll be happy to know after years of hearing my hate, a book on AR gunsmithing. If I find one, I'll need to know how to replace parts. And another $40 on misc. books because you know I can stay on budget with books but I can never stop buying them altogether.
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Last, a DVD of the directors cut of the new version of Dawn Of The Dead. Why not, for $10? I had only seen the theatrical version rented from Blockbusters, and the YouTube fanboy review showed new scenes that made me want to indulge in my own copy. If you remember, I reviewed the movie on my original blog. How easy is it to spend $200? Damn, no wonder we are all broke!
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I go on and on about the unusual, but everyone that spends or sends the very bare minimum, it wouldn't be possible without you. A buck? $5? $1 in Amazon commissions? If you all weren't contributing, I couldn't be doing this. Many, many thanks to everyone!
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"Now I watch instructional videos while I bike..."
ReplyDeleteWhen you tired of or need a break from those, you might want to consider watching (and downloading?) some of the videos on YouTube that are meant to be watched while you're on an exercise bike. They are recordings from cameras placed on the handlebars of bicycles that are traveling scenic routes (like Yellowstone) or just ordinary roads. Here's just one channel for those sort of videos - https://www.youtube.com/user/CycleScenery
"I had plans to make it last for awhile, but that was wishful thinking. I just went on an orgy of consumption..."
From the minion who gave you the card - GOOD FOR YOU! When you mentioned in your "thank you" email that you were going stretch it out I was hoping that you would change your mind and instead use it to get some of the items you needed but wouldn't normally consider buying. Glad to see that you did exactly that :-)
"If you all weren't contributing, I couldn't be doing this."
You write great stuff, we donate so that we can continue reading your great stuff. Sounds like a real 'win-win" to me!
I'm glad it was there. The old bike is held together by duct tape and I'm only using it half as long ( 20 minutes instead of 45 ) to get it to stretch out until the new one arrives by mail. And the leather, well, I'm rather nervous I don't have a way to attach the bayonet. Everything I buy, I'm trying to sooth the panicky voice, and this one did wonders!
Delete"I'll be downloading music....Stuffing cigarettes can get boring and music helps."
ReplyDeleteHave you considered downloading free audio books from LibriVox ( https://librivox.org/ )" The site links a huge collection of public domain (copyright-free) books that are read by volunteers. Some of the readers have great voices and can make a good book a real pleasure to listen to. I've downloaded full books but mostly I like the short story collections - each story is usually just the right length to listen to in their entirety while performing a home task or daily commute.
I had never heard of them-thanks.
Deletesearch audiobooks on youtube.
Deletehave a great hair year
"audio books on YouTube..."
DeleteHere's something to consider if you're downloading them to listen to at a later date:
YouTube videos are in the .mp4 (video and audio streams) format and are larger than .mp3 files that contain only the audio stream. (The video stream for audio books is usually just a constant image of some text or a single graphic but it's still treated as a video stream.) Not a big deal unless you have a slow connection.
If you do decide to download the .mp4 and only want the .mp3 to transfer to a player you can extract the audio stream to an mp3 file using the convert/save function in the free VLC video player ( https://www.videolan.org/vlc/ ). Instructions on using VLC to extract the audio to an mp3 file are on the internet - for example: https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/2719/how-to-convert-video-files-formats-to-mp3-with-vlc/
Thanks for the info. Don't know if I'll bother, but good to know.
DeleteNOTE: downloading on youtube will become a bigdeal in the near future with the net neutrality rules. Download all your videos and music you can as quickly as you now can (unless you are already paying per gigabyte of download - like on a cellphone plane, in which case nothing much changes for you.
DeleteAh. Good point. Soon I'll be unable to watch Netflix or YouTube to exercise by. Books on tape would become the default. Or perhaps I'll actually start worrying about following the talking preppers that don't video or write. I just hate audio, in general. Much prefer visual. But beggars won't be choosers.
DeleteCongratulations on the Christmas loot and kudos to the generous souls who made this possible.
ReplyDeleteI ordered two new-ish Martin Van Cleveld books I normally wouldn't due to their prices. Love the guy-he wrote one of only about three accessable books on military logistics, and writes stylishly.
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