Still Sick with Two Newspapers

We subscribed to two newspapers in Hawaii, the Honolulu Advertiser and the Star Bulletin. One of the main reasons was because the Star Bulletin was doing so poorly that they started offering incredible subscription prices to just try their paper. We did and just a few months later, the Star Bulletin owner bought out the Advertiser and has consolidated the two newspapers.

Well, they don't have their act completely together so we're getting two newspapers. I've called their circulation department several times and keep getting told that I'm the first caller and my wait time is less than one minute...and I wait and wait and wait. I also left messages. Finally somebody called yesterday and told Art she doesn't understand why this is happening but she would correct it.

This morning, two newspapers again.


They're working out the kinks yet. A lot of the staff from the Advertiser were let go. That's surprising to me. Why would you let go the staff from the much more popular and successful Advertiser?

Meanwhile... I am still very sick. My mother is convinced I'm deathly ill. She keeps telling me I'm not young anymore. Do I really need to hear that constantly? It's not like I don't know that.

I think this is a cold. It started out with a headache the day I returned from Illinois. The headache lasted about three or four days. Then came a slight cough that became worse on Sunday. By Monday, the cough kept me up at nights. Today, I've got a runny nose that is showing an infection. My voice is sounding pretty horrible and Art is having a hard time understanding me. No, I mean more than usual.

And meanwhile, my mother keeps shaking her head every time she sees me telling me of some other person she knows who wasn't being careful and ended up dying. She wants me to go to the doctor... NOW. I told her people don't go to the doctor when they have a little cold and that I know what a bad cold is since I've been in an emergency room with pleurisy.

Wrong thing to tell her.

Anyway, this is the reason I haven't been able to get on the computer much. I'm going back to bed and see if I can lick this frustrating thing. I'd like to get better without drugs, if possible. I'm going to make another pot of chicken soup and maybe try that Vicks Vaporub on the feet cure that Sarah mentioned in her comment to me yesterday.

Choosing Between Two Newspapers

I got a call AGAIN from the Star Bulletin newspaper. This time they were offering me a year's worth of Monday to Sunday newspapers delivered for $50.00. We already subscribe to the Honolulu Advertiser. However, we met a Star Bulletin editor and reporter at Gigi's Blog party so I thought we'd better give it a try since they are really, really struggling to not go under.

We got our first paper on Wednesday morning. Right off the bat, Art found something humorous. One of the front page titles for the Advertiser read: Teachers balk at furlough plan. The Star Bulletin's read: Teachers Willing to return for furlough days.

And here's what else I noticed without reading much (anything).

The Star Bulletin has a larger crossword puzzle so I don't have to strain my eyes to write in the little squares. However, the crossword clues are hard (more challenging)and they only have one. The Advertiser has two crosswords. One is for the non Mensa people like me. I could almost do it with a pen. The other is for really, really smart people. There are days that I can't get one single clue. Sigh... now you know.

The Star Bulletin is more like a big newsprint magazine in format and its smaller size. There are no sections like the Advertiser. It would be easier to read on a train if we had a train in Hawaii.

They have different comics.

The Advertiser has a LOT more advertisements. Hmmmm.... Is that why it's called the Advertiser?

Well, that's all I have for opinions on that. When my mother is feeling 100%, perhaps I'll have more time to actually read an article.