It is a sneaky way to increase what I thought was a customer to Cincinnati Bell “contracted-each-year” cable TV and Internet monthly bill?
Nope, according to @CincyBell … after being mislead by customer service that the below increases were “government related fees” and “out of their control” … the increases are negotiated contracts with content providers, and as the CB social media person commented, “TV content costs and continued upgrades to our network.”
After a phone call to Cincinnati Bell customer service and follow up with their online social media people regarding what I thought might have been a mistake in noticing a $6 pass-along increase on our cable and internet bill. The phone agent pointed to where it is listed in a semi-hidden (pull down) segment on our monthly online invoice. It highlights the increase (Dec2021 above, Nov2021 below) as a “TV Broadcast Surcharge, Sports Programming Fee and Govt VSP (Video Service Provider) Fee.”
Hm? After some back and forth, @CincyBell clarified it being content fees and a surcharge coming from network upgrades and negotiations with content providers … obviously not government and under management’s control. Unfortunately, invoicing it to customers as “surcharges and fees” halfway through my contract period seems a little sketchy … but it looks as if they are using the UPS and Fedex delivery service and airline’s “fuel surcharge model.”
The surprise increase in blog traffic corresponded to my taking a few more security measures such as locking down more of the personal content to only logged in readers … but I’m not sure that had anything to do with increasing earnings? Still, I noticed upward change (more than doubling) of Google Adsense earnings and most of this has occurred in the last couple of months; not much else has changed?
A more logical approach would be to look into the analytics to see if a search engine, social network or higher profile website has been linking to a particular post? That might shed some light on this positive windfall. HA … windfall!
At least I’ve met my goal in covering my webserver costs and will have a few dollars to invest in my blog funded cryptocurrency account – that’s where I plunk the proceeds. I should have kept “hodling” my original “fractional” coins and never sold Bitcoin on a couple of those early sharp moves up. Grr!
Since the post scheduled for today is for those who have signed-in(you should register) … I’m adding this one as a public filler for the day. These week we had our first slick road for the season with a touch of snow … and as it does every year, triggered an accident on the road behind our house. I noticed it early in the morning and since my camera was out from the “moon and Venus” photos, I took a photo of the headlights and slow traffic. Someone was off in the ditch behind our neighbor’s property — it was 6AM and still dark.
At about 7AM, it was light enough to see that it was a small pickup truck. A tow truck with a winch took care of it in less than 5 minutes. I think this makes FIVE accidents that I’ve posted about along Bethany Road on the blog … although I know there have been many more in the years we’ve lived here. (previous One, Two, Three & Four).
Since part one of a couple of blog photo posts will be pubic and not include family, I’ll archive it first. I finished (hopefully) the NINE trailer loads of leaves I mulched and raked in the front yard this year. Oh for the pre-Global Warming and now Climate Change days of burning leaves rather than making monster compost piles that I hope will degrade without creating additional problems (rotting compost, fungi, etc) … but I did enjoy being outside since the weather was mostly sunny and 50 degrees.
The office update project is moving at a snails pace … partly because I’m not fond of painting … but also because of overthinking the adding of a new electrical outlet in the closet (for cable box, etc) and creating a wire pass-thru so that I can hang a thin screen TV … “a possible” Christmas present from Brenda for the wall in my office (I asked for a thin Samsung QLED screen TV).
The “untold story of the Battle of Midway” (from the Japanese perspective) book highlighting the revenge story (if you were and American or in the US military) and fairly detailed account of a major Pacific Theater World War II. The 2005 book detailed the Japanese subs, ships, planes, aircraft carriers and the officers who planned and troops who were ordered to attack the US island military base of Midway in the Pacific Ocean. The Battle of Midway has been written about and studied thoroughly (even by me), but the “Shattered Sword” account from the Japanese perspective was particularly interesting.
Imperial Japanese Navy’s I-68 in 1934 (I-168 on 5/20/1942)
I’m almost finished with the book and learning about the Japanese submarine I-168 (one of 13 subs forming the Advance Expeditionary Force in attacking Midway Island).
I-168 spent the first three days of June observing Midway’s southern horizon through the periscope by day and through binoculars at a range of five miles (8.0 km) at night. I-168 observed and reported heavy aircraft activity indicating the island anticipated the Japanese attack. She made periscope observations during the first Japanese air attack on Midway. I-168 commenced shelling Midway with its 10-centimetre (3.9 in) deck gun at 0130 5 June; but submerged when illuminated by shore searchlights after firing only six rounds.
I-168 was the submarine that sunk the only two American warships which became the turning point battle in the Pacific. The Battle of Midway cost the Empire of Japan 3057 lives, 4 fleet carriers, 1 heavy cruiser and 248 aircraft. The US lost 307 airmen and sailors and the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown as well as the destroyer USS Hammann(along with approximately 150 aircraft). The sub was damaged after they fired 4 torpedoes, were depth charged … but able to evaded the American destroyers under the cover of diesel smoke and darkness. They limped back to Japan for full repairs only to suffer sinking with all hands on July 27, 1943 after being torpedoed by the USS Scamp.
American destroyers Gwin, Hughes, and Monaghan dropped 60 depth charges before damaging I-168 at 1530. A depth charge exploding near the bow put out the lights, damaged the forward battery room, sprung the hatches to #1 torpedo tube and reduced the submerged depth to 60 feet (18 m). All unoccupied crewmen grabbed sacks of rice from forward storage and moved astern to trim the submarine because of the flooding forward. After a few hours of relative quiet, I-168 surfaced an hour before sunset and ran west at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) to charge batteries and ventilate interior spaces. Two American destroyers spotted her at a range of 11,000 yards (10,000 m) and commenced firing from a range of 6,500 yards (5,900 m) about 30 minutes later. I-168 submerged and evaded the approaching destroyers.
After conducting emergency repairs, Tanabe and his crew limped back to Japan using only two engines, a journey of twelve days.
But today, 80 years after the United States was “suddenly and deliberately attacked by the naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan,” we remember those who died and thousand who were called to arms. Thank you to all who served and may the 2403 who lost their lives on that day rest in peace.
I took a quick photo as the Moon and Venus are lit up by the sun well down in our evening sky in the Cincinnati, Ohio area. Cold, clear and beautiful. Be watching for Saturn and Jupiter!
It might be a good idea to replace, or at least check, the wax ring seal on your toilet … as the line goes, “ask me how I know.” It seems ours was fine for 25 years, but at some point decided to drip when flushed. Slowly but surely the drip turned into a wet spot under the tile (didn’t damage the wood subfloor) and dripped onto our finished drywall ceiling in the basement. Earlier this year, I thought all was well when I fished through the TV signal box wiring, but obviously not.
After cutting away all the damp drywall and after removing the insulation material (in our basement media/game room area) … I found the culprit. So after removing the toilet and “electing”Brenda to do some deep Clorox cleaning in the master bath … I headed to Home Depot to pick up the “premium ring with 40% more wax” … just in case.
Instead of patching the drywall, I am planning to add a framed panel in the ceiling so that I can remove and access the drain pipes that merge in this spot (hopefully never to be needed again, but who knows).
I’m not really happy with the “removable panel” look … and might still end up patching with drywall again. 🤔
The scientific community which tracks asteroids has known about the “potentially hazardous”asteroid 4660 Nereus, which is the size of the Eiffel Tower, since it was discovered in 1982. It will pass at its closest point in 20-years on December 11, 2021, although still a safe distance from earth.
The “egg shaped” asteroid may contains $4.71 billion worth of nickel, iron and cobalt which makes 4660 Nereus a candidate for a “rendezvous mission.” Private space exploration firms like SpaceX and Blue Origin might eventually look an asteroid this size and “only” 2.5 million miles from Earth as an ideal candidate for orbiting, landing or mining.
a customer to Cincinnati Bell “contracted-each-year” cable TV and Internet monthly bill? 
semi-hidden (pull down) segment on our monthly online invoice. It highlights the increase (Dec2021 above, Nov2021 below) as a “TV Broadcast Surcharge, Sports Programming Fee and Govt VSP (Video Service Provider) Fee.” 
