PS re Cheer (2020 Series on Netflix)

It was unclear after Episode 1 whether or not Cheer had enough stuff to remain interesting. Sadly, upon watching Episode 2, the inescapable conclusion is that it does not. It devolves into stories of individual teen cheerleaders that are even less intriguing and captivating than Teen Mom on MTV. There will be no further reviews of any more episodes for they will be unwatched, and our high standards and respect for our loyal readers are such that, if a show is not watched, it is thought only fair not to review it. 

All or Nothing (Season 5 on Amazon Prime)

All or Nothing is a series of NFL films. The first four season are of no interest or import. But, Season 5, it's about the 2019 Philadelphia Eagles, and it's fabulous. The photography is amazing. The narration is by Jon Hamm. You really get to know the players, the owner, the coach, the fans, the announcers, and more. To say it's provocative is to say Shakespeare wrote some really deep stuff. The only shortcoming is that it's only 8 episodes. If you liked Silver Linings Playbook, All or Nothing is even better because it focuses more on what's important, namely, the Philadelphia Eagles. 

Possible Fix for Laptop (Connected to an External Monitor) Forcing Computer Into Power Saver Mode

Like just about everyone, my computer is a 13" notebook which, when at home, is connected to an external mouse, keyboard, and 27" monitor (and some other stuff). Quite a short time after booting up, the monitor flashes that it is going into power saver mode and then it and the notebook go to sleep. While simply pushing the power button brings everything back on quickly, you can imagine (although perhaps not) how annoying this is, and how frustrating it has been to find a solution. The reason it is believed the monitor is the culprit is that this behavior does not happen when traveling and the notebook is unattached from a monitor. But every setting change and cable change and power cord change did not resolve the problem. What so far, after 4 days and 6 boot-ups, has seemed to work, is to leave the notebook open for a few minutes after booting up. No where in The Google is this fix suggested and every fix suggested by The Google failed. I post this solution with the full knowledge of the risk being taken that it is bad karma to do so.

Better Call Saul (Season 5)

There is a bit of confusion about what's denominated "new episodes" of Better Call Saul just released on Netflix. Those "new episodes" are actually Season 4. Season 5 is now out on AMC. As of the first two episodes, it is parallel stories (so far not connected) between Breaking Bad (before Mr. White got involved) and Better Call Saul. It's not great. But, if you are a Breaking Bad fan (and, if not, I don't know what to say), and a fan of Bob Odenkirk and Rhea Seehorn (and, if not, I don't know what to say), it's often slowness and unreality and bad shirts are tolerable enough to let one keep watching. 

Kai Perfume Oil: How Sweet It Is

Hawaii is our favorite place (its a series of islands, each of which is surrounded by water) in large part because of its gardenia smell that is an olfactory treat. While it's been around since 1999, apparently many are unaware that, with Kai, which is considered the Holy Grail of the Gardenia. You don't even have to suffer the fragrance section of Saks to get it ... just go to the Amazon, and it's not that expensive. 

Link to Kai Perfume Oil on Amazon

Yesterday's Post About Masks re the Coronavirus and

1. The post yesterday about use of masks was meant as a joke which clearly flopped. I apologize. Please ignore it.

2. For a good overview of COVID-19 and related viruses, see this article brought to our attention by a loyal and knowledgeable reader: Link to Article From the Scientist

Masks and COVID-19

Masks will not keep one from getting infected by COVID-19. However, that is not a reason not to get and wear one. While they won't help the wearer avoid infection, they have some efficacy in preventing the wearer from spreading the infection to others, like me. So, don't worry about the price-gouging that's going on--get yourself a mask so that this blog might not be interrupted in the event Trump's predicted "miracle"--that "One day, it's like a miracle, it will disappear"--doesn't arrive soon enough. It's also doesn't hurt, if your live-in companion is the one designated to continue going out for shopping and such wears a mask when in the house or on the homestead property.

DJT vs. GWB

I was no fan of GWB and could not figure out how, even at the end of his second term when the second worst financial crisis hit the U.S., how he still had 27% approval rating, but I just figured there are 27% who will support the president they voted for no matter what. It looks like that it might be appropriate to up that percentage to 43%.That said, I then gave, and look back and continue to give, him, the highest marks for what he did, namely, he called Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke and Secretary of the Treasury Paulsen into his office and said, in effect, "I have no idea what is going on with the economy or the markets and I have no idea what to do, so, you do whatever you think needs to be done, and I will support whatever you do." In sharp contrast, Trump, whose presser confirmed he knew nothing about the flu until yesterday, does not understand that the mortality rate for the coronavirus is 20-times that of the flu (2.3% vs. 0.1%), or much of anything else about the problem, put Pence in charge of the federal government's effort. When asked for why he picked Pence over Secretary of Health and Human Services, Trump explained in not so many words that Pence had better to nothing to do, and I quote: “I think Secretary Azar is doing a fantastic job, but he also has many other things. We’re working on many, many things together. If you look at his schedule of what he’s doing, including drug prices, I think it’s perhaps the most complicated job that we have in government, and I want him to be able to focus on that.” Of course, Trump could have made a worse pick--apparently Michael Brown (of "You're doing a heck of a job, Brownie") has even less to do these days than Pence does. Finally, putting aside the stark differences of Bush and Trump, one skill they shared: They both were terrific at bestowing nicknames.

PS: It must be conceded that The Stable Genius has analytic powers that defy gravity: On Wednesday, when asked if he could explain the 1,000+ market drop that happened on Monday followed by a further slide on Tuesday, Trump said: "I think the financial markets are very upset when they look at the Democrat candidates standing on that stage making fools out of themselves, and they say we have to have a president like this, and there’s always a possibility. It’s an election, you know, who knows what happens? I think we’re going to win. I think we’re going to win by a lot, but when they look at the statements made by the people standing behind those podiums, I think it has an effect, yes.” Omitted from this explanation is how Trump knew that the Dems' debate that took place on Tuesday night after the market closed could have had that effect on the market for the two days before the debate. Then, after the market closed on Thursday, which had one of the steepest declines ever, Trump again attributed it to the Dems running for president (and not to the coronavirus or anything else), and went on to say that, if any of the Dems won, the market would totally crash.  And then asked about the coronavirus, Trump says he expects a "miracle" to happen quite soon, and I'm not kidding, where the coronavirus stuff will just end. All of which brings to the fore the question: Who are these 43%?

Cable TV Remote Replacement

Cable TV remotes wear out over time, becoming sluggish and often non-responsive in turning on your devices. Many cable companies (including Cox) charge $20 for a new remote. If you call and ask for a new one, they might just send you one for free. But, if not, you can get the identical remote for about half the price on The Amazon.

Food Delivery Services Are Not All Equal and Are Not Inexpensive

[Courtesy of the NYT]

After a long day, you have probably done some back-of-the-napkin math and decided there was no point in going out for dinner when you could get food brought to your door for the same cost, plus a tip. So you fired up a delivery app.

Too bad the numbers aren’t that simple.

When you order through a delivery app, you pay multiple parties, including the driver and the companies that offer the apps, like Uber Eats and Postmates. In some cases, you pay the restaurants extra fees as well.

The markups can be downright egregious. Take Panda Express, the fast-food chain. If you ordered a $39 Family Feast value meal using Uber Eats, your tab would be 49 percent higher than if you bought the same meal at the restaurant.

You would have to really love Panda Express to pay this kind of premium — and that doesn’t even include a tip.

The extra fees creep into your bill for various reasons. Some restaurants hike the prices of food ordered for delivery. And most of the popular apps charge a delivery fee and cram tax and extra service costs into a single line on the bill, making it difficult to notice the inflated costs.

To give you an idea of the true cost of delivery app convenience, I tested some of the apps. Read on for what I found. (Hint: It wasn’t pretty.)

I focused my tests on DoorDash, Postmates, Grubhub and Uber Eats, the four largest delivery apps in the United States. To compare them, I used all four apps to make identical orders — such as the same kind of pizza — from four restaurants.

The results, for the most part, followed this trend:

Cost	Grubhub	DoorDash	Postmates	Uber Eats	Restaurant
6-inch Turkey Breast Sub (x2)	$11.98	$14.78	$14.78	$14.78	$12.58
Delivery fee	$1.99	$1.99	$2.99	$3.99
Service fee	$1.29	$1.20	$2.42	$2.22
Sales tax	$1.20	$1.29	$1.33	$1.26	$0.63
Misc.				$3
Total cost	$16.46	$19.26	$21.52	$25.25	$13.21
Markup	25%	46%	63%	91%

 

The markups on the food deliveries were 7 percent to 91 percent more than what you would pay if you bought the meal directly from the restaurant. Yep, you read that right.

Uber Eats bills were high across the board, which was surprising because it offers practically the same type of service as Grubhub and DoorDash.

But unlike the other apps, Uber Eats charged a $3 “small order” fee when I ordered the sandwiches from a Subway. Plus it added a 15 percent service charge and a separate $3.99 delivery fee, which was determined by my proximity to Subway.

Meghan Casserly, a spokeswoman for Uber, said that the company’s goal was to deliver meals to people as quickly as possible, and that the transparent fees covered operating expenses while fairly compensating workers.

Yet among the four apps, Uber’s service charges were also the most unpredictable, I found. Its delivery fees fluctuated depending on the availability of couriers when I placed an order. That was similar to Uber’s so-called surge pricing for rides, which it uses to get more people to drive when rides are in high demand.

Postmates’ markups were also confusing. Its delivery fees and service fees both vary widely, depending on the merchant you are ordering from. For the same Subway order, its delivery fee was $2.99, lower than Uber’s $3.99. But its service charge was highest at about 16.4 percent, or $2.42.

Postmates service charges can skew higher in part because it doesn’t deliver only meals. Its couriers offer to bring you practically anything they can pick up, from a pair of sneakers to a birthday cake.

Other delivery apps generally have relationships only with restaurants, so their offerings are more limited and they charge a smaller service fee. DoorDash’s service fee for the Subway order was 11 percent, and Grubhub’s was 5 percent.

Another thing to look out for are food prices that are inflated to cover delivery expenses.

In my tests, this practice was most evident at Panda Express. While the family value meal’s normal cost was $39, the price was listed at $44.85 in Postmates and $47.10 on Uber Eats, DoorDash and Grubhub.

Cost	Grubhub	DoorDash	Postmates	Uber Eats	Restaurant
Family Feast	$47.10	$47.10	$44.85	$47.10	$39
Delivery fee	$1.49	$5.99	$2.99	$4.99
Service fee	$4.71	$5.18	$9.73	$7.07

Pandemic Bonds: Nothing to See Here, Move Along

[Prefatory Note: The other thing we don't do here besides politics is finance/investing. That said, with the recent hiccups in the market, we have been deluged with requests as to what to do. We have no idea, but we do know one thing: Pandemic Bonds are not the answer. Although this description of this was in French at France24.com so please be tolerant of our translation, it mirrors the same conclusion of the WSJ or, as Larry Summers put it, they are instruments of "financial goofiness"]

The World Bank created an insurance mechanism in 2017 to help some of the world’s poorest countries deal with a possible pandemic. The coronavirus outbreak could lead to its use for the first time – but there are doubts about how effective this tool would be.

The so-called “pandemic bonds” were created in response to the Ebola outbreak in Africa that killed more than 11,000 people between 2014 and 2016 – and the idea was to transfer some of the economic risks caused by disease outbreaks from under-developed countries to the financial sector.

They work in a similar way to insurance: as long as there is no pandemic, the buyers of these securities make money from high annual interest and premiums, but if an outbreak occurs, they must return all or part of their investment to a specific World Bank fund intended to fight pandemics. In this way, there would be no need for fraught political negotiations when states raise funds to respond to the crisis.

However, pandemic bonds have lost more than 50 percent of their value since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak originating in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

For NGOs and healthcare workers, the new coronavirus – which has infected nearly 80,000 people worldwide, including more than 2,600 fatally, represents a critical test for the viability of this very controversial insurance mechanism.

In April 2019, Larry Summers, the influential former chief economist at the World Bank and former treasury secretary under then US president Bill Clinton, described pandemic bonds as “financial goofiness” and an “embarrassing mistake”.

Olga Jones, a senior fellow at the Harvard Global Health Institute, a former economic advisor at the World Bank and among the most vocal critics of pandemic bonds, has argued that investors have been the only winners – describing them to the Financial Times as a “gamble with taxpayers’ money” at “terrible odds”.

The World Bank has issued two types of bonds. The first covers a wide range of potential pandemics – such as coronaviruses, Ebola, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever and Rift Valley fever. It is considered riskier – and more lucrative – than the second pandemic bond because the conditions triggering reimbursement by investors are easier to meet. The second type covers only the influenza epidemic and potential hypotheses for what could happen with the coronavirus.

When the bonds were first created, investors – mainly pension funds and specialists in “catastrophe insurance” – immediately rushed in to buy these financial instruments and the World Bank had no trouble achieving its goal of selling $330 million (€303 million) in bonds. This eagerness with which they were snapped up suggests that financiers saw them as a great deal.

The devil was in the detail – the 386 pages of documentation setting out how the bonds work and, above all, the conditions to be fulfilled for a pandemic to cause money to be transferred to the World Bank’s special fund. In order to be triggered, the first type of bond requires 12 weeks to have passed since the start of the outbreak (a point which will be reached on March 23 for the coronavirus), 250 people to have died in the country where it began, and 200 deaths in a second country.

In this context, the second Ebola outbreak illustrated the limitations of pandemic bonds. Still ongoing after it started in 2018, this health crisis has already killed more than 2,200 people, almost entirely in DR Congo. But not a single penny has been transferred from the portfolio of pandemic bondholders to the World Bank fund, as 20 people have not yet died from the outbreak in another country.

“The terms are too stringent; it shows how useless this instrument is,” Bodo Ellmers, director of the Global Policy Forum’s sustainable development finance programme, told the Financial Times.

In establishing such tight criteria, the World Bank was partly trying to ensure that the insurance was only triggered in response to a genuine emergency – but also, it seems, to attract investors. That would also explain why the pandemic bonds’ interest rates are so generous, at around 10 percent for the holders of both types.

But in trying to please bondholders, the World Bank seems to be neglecting the interests of the poor countries the insurance mechanism was supposed to help. “The whole scheme is set up to minimise the probability of payout,” Jones told the Wall Street Journal. “The instrument has triggers that are well into an epidemic that’s about to be out of control or already out of control,” she continued.

So by this point in the outbreak, critics of pandemic bonds argue that they will be an inadequate response to a situation that is already out of hand – while it will only benefit countries on the World Bank’s list, under-developed states excluding South Korea and Iran.

Moreover, it takes 84 days after the first WHO “situation report” on an epidemic before the funds can be transferred. In the case of coronavirus, the first such report was issued on January 21, which means that – even if the criteria were reached – poor countries that need the money won’t get the money until April.

It's Time to Up Our Chinese Restaurant Patronage

There's nothing good about the coronavirus, but one of the more insidious fall-outs from it is a marked rise in anti-Chinese sentiments and racist attacks, as documented in the CNN story linked below.  Whatever you think about GWB, he deserves credit for his post 9/11 efforts to combat Muslim racism, but of course DJT ain't going to do nothing to tamp down racists fears and actions--after all, his political ascendency and maintenance of power revolves around his unleashing and stoking racist flames. Within this most recent ugliness, Chinese restaurants are taking a big hit for no reason. So, and while this is different than the "go-shopping" advice page from GWB's playbook, PLEASE: Patronize a Chinese restaurant by going to one for a dine-in experience or by calling one to do take-out at least once per week. Remember, they were there for us to end one of the classic movies ever.

谢谢

Xièxiè

Link to CNN Story

Link to Classic Movie Finale

PS: To cover the contingency that some of our readers do not speak Chinese, the symbols and transliteration appearing above are "thanks" in Chinese.

Air New Zealand "Bunk Beds"

While our commercial flight option of choice is a first class suite with shower on Air Emirates, we understand some people balk at the cost (if you have to ask what the cost is, you're likely a balker). For those, we have good news: Air New Zealand now offers light flat bunk beds in economy class, which it calls SkyNest. So those wanting to pinch pennies on long-haul flights, this is not a bad option.

Air New Zealand's Sky Nest:



Air Emirates Suite:

How to Pick a Winning Democrat Presidential Nominee

Expect to see this thought when the Failing NYT Letters Editor hands it off to a columnist: "The shortcomings of each of the remaining candidates to head the Democratic ticket in November are so serious that any of them easily could lose to Trump. If they truly believe in country over party and country over self, here is what they should do: Agree that, if none of them wins the nomination on the convention’s first ballot, they will collectively agree to support a candidate other than themselves—namely, Michelle Obama."

How Trump Could Handle the Coronavirus Thing: Top 10 Things He Might Say and a Bonus

[Prefatory Note: As our loyal readers know, we don't do politics here. But we are afraid the coronavirus and its rippling effects could cause Trump some difficulties. So, here are some advice he might heed as to what he should say in how to handle it]

1. The coronavirus is a Democratic hoax, led Shifty Schiff and his so-called Intelligence Committee and Speaker Pelosi who couldn't get me fairly and squarely.

2. There is no coronavirus health problem. It's all a creation of the enemy of the people, the fake media.

3. If the Democrats had not blocked funding for the wall and opposed my travel bans, nothing like a coronavirus could have crossed our borders.

4. I've done more to defeat the coronavirus than Obama ever dreamed of doing.

5. I've engineered with coronavirus thing because too many people have not gained from the greatest stock market rise in the history of the world that I am responsible for, and so I'm giving them a chance to make up for what they missed--everyone should now buy as much stock as possible.

6. While everyone is applauding the incredible history-making low unemployment rate I alone am responsible for, but the coronavirus is my way to drive it even lower because of the increased hiring that will result to screen and treat and otherwise dispose of coronavirus victims.

7.  Anyone in the government who says they are infected by the coronavirus is a Never-Trumper and is disloyal and should die anyhow or otherwise be fired or removed.

8.  People always ask me why I don't drink alcohol. Now they know: Corona is a beer ... it's a Mexican beer ... so know you know.

9.  No one knows what a virus is anyhow. It's not something like Puerto Rico that everyone knows is an island surrounded by water. 

10. No one need worry--I will pardon any American who is diagnosed as having the coronavirus. Illegal immigrants and others from certain countries--you know the ones I mean--will not be pardoned--they will be sent back where they came from. 

And a Bonus 11: MAGA is my campaign slogan for 2020: Make American Germ-Free Again.

Two More Affordable Private Flight Services: Set Jet and Surf Air

Their respective membership plans and terms are a bit complicated, but if you fly a lot in the Western U.S. or just fly a lot, and hate commercial airline flying, and are willing to pay just a bit more for a private plane or jet, but cannot afford your own jet or NetJets and such, Set Jet (all jets) and Surf Air (props) are definitely worth a look. 

Link to Set Jet Website 



Link to Surf Air Website

Do's and Don'ts of Cleaning Phone, Tablet, and TV Screens

The article from cnet in the below link gives a thorough overview of what to use to clean your various screens and, as importantly, what not to use. Some of the advice is intuitive, but much of it, which makes it an important read, is not intuitive. Here is the bottom-line summary: Don't do anything you think you should ... your best friends are a micro-cloth dampened with warm distilled water (and for some screens (but NOT all) Dawn, which in earlier posts we have touted its amazing cleansing abilities).  

Link to cnet Article

Free Data Recovery Software Recommendation

[Courtesy of Gizmo Freeware]

Pixel8 is a data recovery software company that recovers deleted data from any brand of drive and most storage device types. They are offering Seagate Premium Data Recovery Software as a free download, with some limitations. There are unlimited recoveries for one year and the software can be activated on up to five different computers. Every activation is unique to each computer.

Seagate Premium Data Recovery has a clear interface that’s easy to understand and use. At startup there are three options: 

• Test a device (short or extended scan, along with estimated time for both) 

• Recover lost files (lists devices or volumes from which data can be recovered. Encrypted files will be grayed out. Turn off encryption to access the data) 

• Erase data (volume or device or specific files and folders)

The recover lost files option has three scan modes: simple, advanced and smart scan. After scanning it displays the recoverable files and the condition of each file. 

You can recover all files, or selected folders and files, which are listed in groups by type – images, documents, videos, audio, miscellaneous, etc. You can use the drop down menu to sort files by date created, date modified, date last opened, size, type and integrity. Note that when you start a recovery operation, you may get a message that one of your license keys will be used if you proceed. With the unlimited one year license, the keys aren’t applicable.

The program can recover these file types: bmp, gi, svg, psd, eps, emf, jpg, png, pdf, tiff, ppt, pptx, doc, docx, xls, xlsx, rtf, outlook, txt, mpp, chm, vsd, mp3, wma, wav, mp4, mov, wmv, 3gp, swf, asf, avi, flv, fla. The program scanned and recovered several different file types on my system – all were in good condition before recovery and restored with no problems. Document files were intact, as were zip files, mp3s, images (jpg, jpeg, png) and some miscellaneous files. All functioned properly when opened or played. Data recovery success depends on the condition of the files and the device or drive.

To download the program, scroll down the page a bit to the Premium Software $0 box. Choose either the macOS or Windows version and select Add to Cart. During checkout, you’re asked to provide first and last name, physical address, country, phone number and email, with the option to create an account or receive news and updates. After checkout you’ll receive an email with a license number and order number. The license number, order number and email address used to download the software are required to activate the software during installation.

There are other data recovery programs (free and paid) but if you’re looking for a good program from a manufacturer who has had traditionally good tools, give Seagate Premium Data Recovery Software a try. It’s clear interface, speed, ease of use and success rate make it a good choice to recover lost data. 

Link to Seagate Premium Data Recovery Download Site

Coronavirus and Trump

Trump is a germophobe. And well he should be. He has survived every onslaught so far, but it just might be that a microscopic germ, called the coronavirus, could bring him down. If the coronavirus truly does cause substantial disruption of world trade and world economic growth and integration of supply chains, and that gets reflected in economic downturns across the world and even here, and the stock market reflects all that, Trump's latest tweet could be a redux of GWB's "You're doing a heck of job, Brownie": “The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA. We are in contact with everyone and all relevant countries,” Trump, who is traveling on official business in India, tweeted. “CDC & World Health have been working hard and very smart. Stock Market starting to look very good to me!” No one is hoping for calamity, and no one would dare predict that anything Trump does would shake his rabid deplorable support. But, and of course we don't do politics here, but, just saying. 

Cheer (2020 TV Series on Netflix)

While Cheer has to do with cheer leading, it is not a television series of Bring It On (the 2000 movie with Kirsten Dunst) or any of its gazillion sequels. Rather, it is a documentary-style series that focuses on excellence, and what it takes to achieve excellence, albeit in an endeavor (cheer leading) you might not have given much thought to. The people are real, the ambitions are real, the struggles are real, and, even more important, nothing is gussied up like in Friday Night Lights or Bring It On or that kind of romanticizing competition of worlds most of us know nothing about. It's fairly raw. But it's real, which is what keeps one's attention. Many look up to Vince Lombardi for the standard that "winning is not the most important thing, it's the only thing," or chastise that view as misplaced values. But it's a standard looking at whatever the undertaking, and that's what Cheer takes a close, and entertaining, look at.

IMDb Link to Cheer

Misnomer of the Year: "Looks like America"

The commentary on the Democratic primaries races is in the main unbearable. Most of it appears to be blather, but within that blather is one phrase--"looks like America"--that is repeated ad nauseam and that, if listened to without thinking, very well might induce PTSD. To say that Iowa and New Hampshire do not look like America as a whole as much as Nevada does or that South Carolina does even more so, which is a short-hand way of saying that Iowa and New Hampshire have much smaller percentages of minority voters, is to ignore the electoral-based system and electoral college that presidential races are run under. Thus, a candidate can clean up with overwhelming victories in the states that most "look like America" and lose the general election by doing poorly in too many states that don't "look like America."

PS: Relatedly, the Failing NYT has received a letter that it surely will not publish that makes the above point in a more dramatic and depressing way, the text of which reads as follows: "The Democratic primary system pits the candidates to compete for delegates from all 50 states. The major flaw in this approach is that a candidate’s winning delegates in a state where no Democrat has any realistic chance of winning in the general election counts just as much as winning delegates in the states where any Democrat would have a chance of winning. As a result, depending on where the delegates actually come from, a primary candidate could rack up a majority of delegates under the current system and clinch the nomination on the first ballot, while another candidate with fewer delegates would have a demonstrably better chance of winning the general election."

Outlander (2014 on Amazon Prime)

Outlander is a TV series where each episode runs 1h 4min (why the extra 4 minutes no one knows). It is the story of a WWII English combat nurse mysteriously swept back in time to 1743 (why not an even date no one knows). Maybe once she gets swept back the show gets better, but boredom overcame our focus audience before then so who knows. The reviews of it aren't good and some sporadic readers tell us it's not very good. 

IMDb Link to Outlander

Caution re Early Voting

Many states allow early voting, even early mail-in voting as Arizona does. Some people, especially those who pride themselves on efficiency, typically fill in the ballot the day they arrive and mail them back in that day or the next. But for this year's Dem primary, it would behoove anyone, especially anyone wanting to be sure to cancel out the vote of someone else who might reside in the same household, to wait to see who actually is still in the race come voting day or close thereto, unless one wishes to vote for someone already out of the race who appears on the ballot such as Marianne Williamson, Andrew Yang, Patrick Deval, Michael Bennet, Julian Castro, or Corey Booker, or a write-in.

Best Astrology Apps

As many people say and believe (albeit not so many of our loyal readers or staff), one of the most insightful ways to understand destiny is through astrology. In large part, this is because astrology might be seen as putting to rest the notion that the fault is not in our stars but in ourselves. We have done extensive testing of astrology apps and have three recommendations:

Co-Star: Beyond just astrology readings tailored to your birth date, time, and location, this free app lets you connect with contacts in the Co-Star community with whom you can share and compare readings.

Sanctuary: For a mere $20/month, you get the option to message with the app's human astrologers.

The Pattern: Daily notifications allow users to "go deeper," delving into fears and anxieties, instincts, and relationships. 

If You Must Do a Large Ship Cruise, Go With the Regent Suite

We are not fans of large ship cruises, but we concede that, while our staff and readership continuing growing at an astronomical rate, we are in the minority as 32 million people will take such cruises this year (according to the WSJ). If you are wedded to a large ship cruise, then strong consideration should be given to booking the Regent Suite on Seven Seas Cruises (with about 750 passengers). They provide over 4,400 sf of luxury (including a spa, guest bedroom, a $200,000 bed in the master bedroom, private dining, expansive deck and more), and as you can imagine, the demand for them is high, so book early. At just $11,000 per night, you'll certainly want to book one of the longer voyages.

Link to Seven Seas Cruise Regent Suite Website