simplifying my digital and media world

[pinkytoe]

When the virus hit, like a lot of retired (and other) people I found myself online for hours a day. News sites, forums, FB...That has pretty much continued unless I have other things to do on particular days. I figure if I state my intention here it will help me start the New Year with a cleaner slate and I won't be frittering my time away on news that doesn't add anything to my life other than distraction and anxiety....I am going to cease watching national news and checking online news sources. I am going to cancel the NY Times which eats up way too much time reading articles and comments. I am going to clean up my email inbox and unsubscribe from most of the annoying stuff I get. I have a FB account and enjoy the gardening groups I belong to so those will stay. I will cancel NextDoor since like most everything else it has turned mean and political. Reading about all the porch pirates and car thieves is depressing anyway. I can no longer endure what one person called the "infodemic" of covid news and opinions and all the nastiness out there. I am very much looking forward to the quiet of being away from media for now.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Haha, has next door ever been anything but mean and political. That's all I've ever heard about it. Maybe once upon a time many many years ago ... when dirt was new

Good luck.

[iris lilies]

As a Nextdoor moderator, I report and remove when I am able posts that are about national politics. Those posts are not supposed to go into the general feed on Nextdoor, they’re supposed to go into some sort of special forum for national politics discussion.


But you’re right, many of the concepts seep out because they do have local import.

Nextdoor is brilliant for matching Up lost and found pets

[pinkytoe]

As an example, there are current ND discussions about our horrible local trash service which for some inane reason is privately vs municipally run. Any attempts on discussing that it ought to be municipally owned turn into arguments about free enterprise and choice. "I don't want no socialist trash service"...it drives me nuts. The dog and cat stuff is fun but ends up irking me that so many people let their pitbulls run loose repeatedly.

[Rogar]

This is the only social media sight I visit. I own a Tracfone that I mostly used when travelling. I just unsubscribed to Netflix streaming, don't do Amazon Prime or other streaming services. Don't use online billing for utilities, etc. If I have a downfall, I use the web for news and some educational uses, both podcasts and text, and that takes up some wasted time. And I find email indispensable and occasional Zoom as a necessary evil. I'm personally happy with that.

[iris lilies]

As an example, there are current ND discussions about our horrible local trash service which for some inane reason is privately vs municipally run. Any attempts on discussing that it ought to be municipally owned turn into arguments about free enterprise and choice. "I don't want no socialist trash service"...it drives me nuts. The dog and cat stuff is fun but ends up irking me that so many people let their pitbulls run loose repeatedly.

I don’t know why something should be municipal versus private always, but I normally do love our city provided trash service. It is phenomenal. We have giant cans set out in our alleys that are easy to fill.

But I will say this: several years ago we paid for private recyclable trash service. And then the city came in and killed that service because the city started handling recyclables. And then they sent us a bill for it! So get this: for the past year and going into the forseeable future, the city is no longer separately processing recyclables because they don’t have enough drivers to drive separate routes.

In other words, they need to send one truck to pick up all dumpsters be they recycling dumpsters or landfill dumpsters.

So my city killed that little private business of picking ip recycling, and then ****ed up the work by not recycling at all. Yay government.

[ToomuchStuff]

Had a gal that worked for us, that had been trying to get me to join Next Door, just to see the for sale/free stuff (I don't know how it is set up). At my old house, the big push for next door, was by one of the local churches (trying to get members). I didn't want to be proselytized to.
She had an aneurysm Saturday morning, and died this morning.
The next day, a few went to go see her, when they were doing tests and determined no higher functions.
While they were down there, I received a call, a sibling collapsed and stopped breathing, and was rushed to the emergency room. A while later after getting a bunch of work for initial tests, a blood pressure event was determined, but not what caused it, so there will be more tests.
Mom had worked and trained the gal that works for us, in an old job at the hospital, so I called to let her know and notify their old hospital group. She told me one of her oldest friends has been moved to hospice and now has covid.
I expect I will be on here less, even though this and a few other places are my relaxation. I think I will be somewhere between 6 and 7 days a week for a while. My late friends estate finally settled, so the ownership of the business and the house mortgage, etc are all happening now. The stuff I didn't take, all went into the care of the gal that passed away today, so I may have to deal with that, again, all while moving. Time is tighter for a while and attitude is getting to my typical, bad stuff that happens at Christmas.
I wish I didn't need sleep.

[pinkytoe]

I hope all our lives lighten up a bit in 2022.

[Teacher Terry]

TMS, that’s so sad about your friend. I hope they are able to figure out what’s wrong with your sibling. You have a lot on your plate. Best wishes for getting through all the challenges.

[rosarugosa]

Wishing you the best, TMS. You've had quite a year.
I've found Nextdoor to be surprisingly civil, much more so that my town's many Facebook groups. Nextdoor seems a little more anonymous, covers a broader area and most people don't have profile pics, so I would have expected less civility rather than more. What I don't like about it is that my "neighborhood" seems to encompass such as vast area. I recently tweaked my newsfeed and hopefully will be seeing posts for a more limited area.