How I Deal With YouTube Ads

— Posted inOther — 2 min read

YouTube seems like its becoming a cesspool of ads and I’m not paying Google money to be somewhat ad free. So, what with YouTube being the place the hucksters have taken over with ads that are sometimes longer than the video I want to watch, this is how I react.

If it’s the channel of someone I like, I let the ads play, but mute the volume and spend time doing something else. later returning my attention to the screen, if the ads are over, and there are always ads not just a single ad, I click back to the beginning of the video I want to watch, unmute the sound and watch the video. If YouTube interjects more ads I just repeat the mute etc. routine. When done I find a playlist for that channel, click to watch and go off letting the ads and videos run on and on. I figure if the advertiser is willing to be a party to my privacy and time, they can pay to have ads run that I am not even in the room to watch. Any amount the channel earns from YouTube is just a bonus.

If it is a new channel I immediately click to skip the ad , I’m not watching an ad for some channel I know nothing about. Most all of the videos I watch are what I call educational, where I am trying to do something and seek out a video from someone who has already done it. This is especially true for the photo and video editing apps, various repairs, gardening info and space news videos and live streams I like to watch. I’d say something about the stupid video suggestions YouTube provides, but that is a post for another day.

An Easy Repair

— Posted inOther — 2 min read

Our Jeep Cherokee is now 10 years old and one thing which has worn out is the gas struts that assist in raising and lowering the the rear lift gate.

It tuned out the only tool I used was the pick in the foreground. It made it very easy to remove the retaining clips on the struts. That’s one of the clips by the handle of the pick.

Overview of the liftgate with the new struts installed. IMPORTANT: when replacing these struts you must have a brace in place to hold up the lift gate (I used a wooden 2×4 that was the right length) whenever you remove one the old struts.

The old struts. You can tell they are the original ones as the Chrysler emblem can be seen on the one to the left.

Closeup of a new one installed. There are many YouTube videos on how to remove and install these struts if you’ve never replaced any of these before. One of the key things is to purchase replacement struts that are the exact same size and pressure as the original ones. $35, a half hour of my time and the lift gate receiving the seal of approval from my wife means I must have done good.

2,401,088 – Yes, Really It Was

— Posted inHealth & Fitness — 1 min read

For years I have periodically worn a pedometer, but in 2024 I did something different. I wore a pedometer every single day of the year and each day I recorded the reading. The total was the number in the title of this blog post, 2,401,088 steps.

That sounds like a lot of steps, but a little research indicates it really is only slightly above normal for the number of steps an American takes in a year, though less than is taken by people in the rest of the world.

I’ve always parked my vehicle further away from the entrance to buildings and walked when short distances were involved rather than driving. I once read that our body is the only place we have to live in. I do my best to take care of it and hope you do also.

It’s So Different From a Year Ago

— Posted inEclectic, Other, Personal — 2 min read

With nearly 500 Vivaldi blog posts to my name, a year ago at the end of 2023 I gave up on posting any more because of a problem with my images not posting true to color. That was a mistake on my my part and I must own up to it. Sometimes emotions can over rule logic and what I did was a prime example. With that said, I am looking forward to a full year of posting in 2025.

And since I didn’t post in 2024 with a minor exception or two I’ll give brief mention of two of the highlights of 2024. The first was a 127 day around the world cruise at the start of the year. The second was writing and publishing two more children’s illustrated books inspired by several of the photos we received of our great grandson doing something interesting.

As I look back , I realize more than ever that with each passing year there is less time to do all I want to do in life. It’s not that it’s been 79 years wasted, it’s making the most of the 20 or so years I have remaining. May you also make the most of the one chance you have to live the year 2025.