Advertising

Everywhere I turn I'm seeing advertisements.  I'm speaking of my computer - first I noticed it on youtube.  I am not always happy with youtube content, but then I think much of it is more reliable and honest than the print and televised media today.   I hope I never get tempted to go back to watching TV, so youtube is how I keep up with current events, and sometimes, just plain entertainment.  

This morning I noticed that everything I tried to do on youtube was preceded by a 25 second ad, which allows you to click on "Close ad" after you've been subjected to 5 or 10 seconds of it.  

I opened up my email account and at the top of my list of emails (in AOL) is an ad for wine.  It's still there, and I wrote to the AOL Help desk to see if I could get it removed.  The answer I got back was entertainment in itself - the message stated in part that "we are excited about our new ad-free service".  The old service was exciting to me, and didn't cost anything extra.  The new exciting service would cost me $5 a month plus tax!  In the mid-late 1990's I used AOL and paid $24.95 a month for it, but there were a lot of features that made it worthwhile - in those days, anyway.

So I don't know what to make of it - on the same Monday morning AOL and Youtube (a Google product) have started running paid ads that put a damper on my internet experience.  So far Gmail hasn't shown me any ads but that's not to say they won't.

I went to Costco this morning and also filled up the gas tank.  The price of gas is supposedly going to rise soon, and not knowing what exactly is going to happen this coming weekend (Nov 4-6), I want to be prepared for any possibility.  I didn't get many items at Costco - I put things into my cart and then ended up taking them out before I checked out.  I did buy a new Lasko ceramic tower heater and hope it doesn't blow my electric.  I've had problems with various space heaters in the past, so I just try to find one that doesn't have any bells & whistles and hope it works for me.  This one did come with a remote, which I don't care for at all.  Everything comes with a remote these days, and I just toss them because I never use them.   I sit too much as it is, and any excuse to get up and move a bit is a welcome diversion to me. 

What a way to start the week.  In addition, I missed my chiropractor appointment,  which is usually every other Monday.  When the appointment is changed to Wednesday for some reason, I get totally confused about when the next one is.  I feel bad about it, but will pay in the long run because they offered me an 8:15 am appointment this coming Wednesday.   How in the world will I ever get there by 8:15!