Facebook

Facebook is a dying platform, and Zuckerberg is in panic mode because of it.  Young people aren't getting on it, because they say it's their parent's social media.  It's for old folks, they say.  

Old folks aren't getting on is as much as they used to, either, because it just isn't fun any more  -- mostly because of the changes they've made to the site over the years.   There is so much they could do to make it fun again, but no.  They're getting ever more restrictive, so it's no longer such a nice place to hang out. 

I've been noticing this in my memories -- the few they haven't taken down, I mean.  We used to have real conversations about real topics.  We posted serious topics, but we also posted jokes and teased each other a bit.  And yes, we talked about our dinners and TV shows, too, but it was a great place for social interaction. 

Nowadays, it seems all you see in your feed are ads.  I logged in one morning and I kid you not, I scrolled past sixteen --SIXTEEN-- ads before I got to a real post posted by a real friend.  It's supposed to be social media, not an advertising platform.  

But when you do post a real post, chances are it's going to get removed and/or you will get put into Facebook jail.  Heh, it cracks me up when people say they won't use Facebook because of Zuckerberg's spying and fact checking, but they will be on Instagram which is owned by...wait for it....Facebook!  They can be even more strict over there, too.  My post about buying a Squishmallow was removed from Instagram (and when I appealed, they refused to restore it) because I was somehow inciting violence by buying a stuffed toy.  Go figure. 

Facebook, on the other hand, didn't remove the post.  Go figure again...

All that to say I don't get on Facebook much any more. I scroll through a couple of times a day to see if I can see what my friends are up to, and occasionally I'll post a meme or weather update, but that's about it -- other than links to the blog.  Therein lies my conundrum.  I'd love to leave Facebook altogether, but most people won't check in to the blog unless they see the link in their Facebook feeds.  

I actually started a Substack account as an alternative, but find I wasn't getting enough of an increase in hits to make sharing the link over there worth it.  Besides, that doesn't seem the place for a personal blog like mine.  They're all so serious, and everything has to be meaningful or political or whatever.  

Anyway, enough of my moaning.

I'd said yesterday that I hadn't gotten any damage from the hurricane, but it turns out I did.  My favorite sunflower had several branches broken off from the high winds.  

I didn't see it yesterday, because it was still raining.  I went out this afternoon and trimmed the broken bits off and put them into the compost pile.  I still need to mow and finish painting the fence, and one day it will stop raining and I will be able to do just that.  Today was not that day.  It has been drizzly and rainy all day from the remnants of Francine. 

The only thing I was able to do was go to the store.  Oh, and I drove by the lake and dropped off some Pokémon into the gyms out there.  I hadn't planned on walking any of the routes, but it stopped raining just long enough for me to quickly walk one of the shorter routes before going on to Walmart.  I thought about walking it twice, but didn't because I'd walked out and forgot my water on the kitchen cabinet.  

When I got back home, we had no water.  Apparently, the storm caused a leak and they had to shut off the water to fix it.  I wish I'd known that before I repotted one of my Christmas Cacti.  Or Thanksgiving cacti for those of you who are pedantic about such things.  

That poor cactus has been through the wringer.  I was plant sitting a few of  Beverly and James' plants while they were moving back to Texas and accidentally broke off a piece.  I felt bad about that, so I rooted it.  It was doing great for a couple of years, then in 2019 something -- probably a squirrel-- dug it up.  I salvaged a piece and rooted it again.  It was struggling, but surviving, then a couple of years ago, it inexplicably died back.  Again, I managed to salvage a piece and put it into one of those temporary pots you buy plants in at the store.  It looks like it's taken, so I figured it was time to put it into a regular pot. 

And finally, I forgot to mention. I re-upped my Paramount Plus subscription.  They had a deal where if you are a new or returning subscriber, you could get it for $2.99 per month.  The only catch is you had to pay for a whole year at once, but that wasn't but $30 ish.  I did that nearly a week ago, but so far, I haven't watched a single thing...

My friend told me to watch A Quiet Place, so I might do that this evening.