Adventures of a young gay boy at Kings Mountain

Each summer I would spend 2 separate weeks at Kings Mountain campground, either at Camp Cherokee or Camp York. The first week would be at church camp with the church I attended while I was growing up. The second, usually after a week had passed but one year they were back-to-back, was Band camp with my High School. 

My church camp experience contained two oddities. The first was square dancing. At a Baptist Church camp. If you know anything about the Baptist denomination, dancing is a big no-no.

The second thing is especially odd to me as I look back on it as an adult gay man. Every week ended with a "Miss. Camp Cherokee (or Camp York) pageant. What you are thinking right now is surprisingly true. A drag show. At a Baptist Church camp. This was nothing like "RuPaul's Drag Race", however. It was balloons for brests and bad makeup and wigs. And no, you can rest assured I did not participate. The girls cabins picked the participants and they always chose the burly guys. The guys that were secure in their masculinity. I think the girls instinctively knew not to select a closet case like me. 

Homosexuality was never really openly discussed but there was one time that all the boys and men gathered around a campfire and we were told it was ok to tell another man you love him, as long as you didn't mean it "that way". I, of course, had no problem with this concept but I could tell it made my male friends uncomfortable.

Then there was the time in every church camp where they put on the sad music and got you feeling really low and bad about yourself until you couldn't resist going up to the preacher who prayed with you and you accepted Jesus as your savior. As always this ended in jubilation and one year I felt so good that I hugged a younger boy. And we kept hugging. So many times that one of the female counselors asked if we knew what had just happened. As if we did something wrong. I often wonder where that other boy is now and if he had the same struggles with his sexual identity.

Looking back on it, I'm confused as to whether I attended a progressive church, that ignored church doctrine about dancing, or one that hated women to the point of mocking them. I think both can be true.

Retail woes

It's been a very long time since I've written a blog and the truth is there's not much going on except my new nephew. (William Daniel Wylupek...

He's early but healthy).I'm growing increasingly frustrated with the fact that I will never be able to afford a nice apartment on my own with a part-time cashier's salary and I'm reading horror stories online about people who left one retail job for another hoping for better hours and pay and not finding it. 

The fact is retail workers and others just aren't paid enough to support a decent lifestyle. I honestly don't know how my co-workers do it. The kids live with their parents but other than that it's beyond me how they afford rent or other monthly expenses. I'm fortunate that many of my bills are still paid by my father and I only pay $100/week that goes directly from my paycheck to his account. I do that so I don't even see the money it's already "spent".

I've been searching for jobs on Indeed and not many pay much more than I earn now. There are a few warehouse jobs but I'm not very strong or possess great dexterity. A job at Verizon seemed promising but I couldn't make the interview on Tuesday because I'm scheduled 10:00-6:00. 

I'm looking into copywriting which motivated me to blog this early morning (USA!USA!USA!). I just don't know if I have the skills to "market" myself into getting regular writing gigs.

Perhaps the USWNT will lift my spirits. I have a rare full weekend off and I'm trying to take advantage of it.

wrestling with streaming

I thought my next blog would be about the new streaming deal between WWE and Hulu, but it appears after about a week of everything except Smackdown listed as expiring Saturday last week, then Tuesday and finally last Friday, it looks like it will be the status quo for next day repeats of RAW and NXT to remain on Hulu instead of Peacock which is where we all expected them to end up.

Another surprise on Saturday morning threw my streaming plans out the window. Sling lost the rights to carry Disney programming including all the ESPN channels. This left me in a bind because I am unable to receive our ABC station out of Asheville, NC. I rely on ESPN3 to watch sporting events on ABC. So after first switching my sling base plan to "Sling Blue", which was the only plan available, I cancelled Sling and restarted my YouTube TV account. I watched last night's game between NC State and Clemson on ABC mainly...a few times I watched on ESPN3 on the ESPN app. I also, however continued to see ads for Hulu plus Live TV which now comes with Disney+ and ESPN+. I hadn't considered that service before and since I have separate yearly subscriptions to Disney+ and ESPN+. After some online digging, I discovered that as long as your email accounts are the same on all the services, it will apply the plan to all your accounts and give you a credit on your bill...I think the date given was December 21st. At $74.99/month for live TV, hulu, Disney+ and ESPN+ it seems like a terrific deal. While I usually don't like monthly bills, I can prepare for one big bill more easily and also much like I did with Sling I can pay ahead of time with an online gift card.

My YouTube TV is already cancelled and will end on November 1st. So I have a new plan now. Hopefully consolidating my streaming services will help me lower costs.

The only thing Hulu with Live TV doesn't have is BBC America, but new Doctor Who episodes are so few and far between and there are plenty of ways to access them I think I can be do without it full time.

Babylon 5 over streamlining streaming services

So I have finally worked my way through "Babylon 5" after streaming "ST:Deep Space 9" and other than the obvious similarities and how Paramount passed on "B5" before "DS9" came about they really are two distinct shows. While religion plays a part in "B5" it's not a central issue as it is with "DS9". Also with "DS9" there is much more of an ability to pick out a favorite episode for an individual viewing,  my favorite for example is "Take me out to the Holosuite". "B5" is much more of a narrative I guess I'm trying to say, watching the whole series is more necessary. 

Before my getting through "Babylon 5" I had decided that when my HBO Max subscription ends on August 30th, I am not going to renew it. The only other show I watched on the service was new series Doctor Who,  most of which I own on DVD although some of those are corrupted. Shortly after I made that decision it was announced that next year HBO Max will merge with Discovery+.

Several of my streaming services are also on the chopping block.

On Britbox, I am currently making my way through another viewing of "Blakes 7". For those unfamiliar with "B7" it is basically a dystopian British reverse Star Trek...the logo is even the "Starfleet" logo turned sideways. While Doctor Who will always be my first love and my favorite show, in many ways I feel that "Blakes 7" is the superior show. I also of course watch classic Doctor Who on britbox but again I own all of the classic series on DVD and they are just collecting dust. I recently switched from watching the British comedy "'Allo, 'Allo" on britbox because while I had made my way to season 7 on Amazon Prime, that season is only available on Britbox so I had to switch. I have my current Britbox subscription until June 23, 2023, so I should be able to finish watching "Blakes 7" and "'Allo, 'Allo" by then. 

Hulu is currently my destination for "Monday Night Raw" and "NXT" as well as "NXT Lvl Up" which drops on Peacock Friday nights at 10:00 pm but i'm usually either watching "AEW Rampage" on TNT or i'm going to bed because of an early shift on Saturday. Word on the internet however is that WWE's contract with Hulu is ending soon and Peacock is likely going to be the new next day streaming home for most WWE programming. Smackdown is a question mark due to it's airing on FOX. It's very likely that when Hulu losses it's non ABC/Disney content it will merge with Disney+. So Hulu is likely not going to be around in it's current format when my subscription expires next March. 

ESPN+ is one that I like to have, but it's not really necessary. While I have enjoyed sporting events on the service,  there are so many other sporting events going on often at similar times. 

Peacock is a must for WWE and Days of our Lives due to it's leaving the airwaves and going to streaming exclusively. Paramount+ is needed for Star Trek and Disney+ for Star Wars. Amazon Prime is worth it for the shipping alone and they will have Thursday night NFL games might as well keep it. Sling is my live TV service but I rarely stray beyond ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3 (which is mainly Sporting events broadcast on ABC which I cannot receive over-the-air). TBS and TNT for AEW Dynamite, Rampage and other special programs. BBC America of course for New series Doctor Who and I'm currently recording A&E biography series on WWE Legends but I haven't watched it yet. 

As always the caveat is I don't pay for streaming services monthly but yearly. It saves money and as long as you cancel you won't get surprises on your bank account. 

Wow its been January since I last posted

I can't believe January was the last blog I posted.

While there are a lot of things that have made me very angry lately, I've decided to go in a positive direction and post about sports. 

The NBA and NHL seasons have concluded with results I was pleased with. I had the Carolina Hurricanes to root for in the NHL playoffs for a while,  but I was kinda turned off by their trying to prevent New York Rangers fans from buying tickets. I thought it was very poor sportsmanship much like a few years ago when the Tampa Bay Lightning tried to prevent opposing fans from wearing their teams color or jerseys. I'm glad the Colorado Avalanche won though I have no real connection to the team or city. No former Gamecocks to root for in the NHL.

Similarly in the NBA, one player for the Washington Wizards played his freshman year at South Carolina then transferred to Virginia. I'm a big fan of Warriors couch Steve Kerr as I love his passion and activism. Steph Curry is also kinda cute in my opinion. So I was happy they won.

In baseball I was a college baseball fan long before I paid much attention to MLB. When former Gamecock Jackie Bradley Jr. was called up to the Boston Red Sox,  I declared myself a Red Sox fan in a Facebook post. The fact that the Greenville Drive in the minor league are a Red Sox affiliate also factored in to that decision. JBJ was traded to the Brewers last year but is now back in Boston but there's a dilemma. Two former Gamecocks are on the New York Yankees pitching staff and the Yankees are having a very good season. As a southerner, I didn't grow up with any inset hatred for the Yankees. One big mistake MLB made in restructuring MiLB was separating the Greenville Drive and Charleston Riverdogs (Greenville is now High-A and Charleston is Low-A). They also changed the Riverdogs affiliation to the Tampa Bay Rays, so the Palmetto State no longer has its own slice of the Red Sox- Yankees rivalry.

So perhaps if the Yankees continue their winning ways I'll pull for them in the MLB playoffs.  I also love Whit Merrifield of the Kansas City Royals but I don't think they are doing very well. I also keep an eye on other former Gamecocks.

Tonight I am also beginning making TBS' Tuesday night game regular viewing and probably Sunday night baseball on ESPN as well. At least until football season which also has many former Gamecocks to keep an eye on in the NFL.

National Championship thoughts

I have some thoughts on tonight's national championship I wanted to share.

I have been somewhat angered by posts on Twitter saying Gamecock fans shouldn't pull for Georgia either because of former Gamecock coach Will Muschamp or some rivalry that only really existed in the 70s and 80s. Things are so one-sided between South Carolina and Georgia apart from a fluke win by the Gamecocks a few years ago. 

I have a high school classmate who is a UGA grad. I wasn't in many classes with him in high school and we didn't really hang around in the same circles but as we're both openly gay now our friendship has blossomed in recent years although I haven't heard from him much lately.  I tease him because while I pull for them against Clemson, he won't return the favor and pull for us because his family are Clemson fans.

My main reason in pulling for Georgia, however, is my father's side of the family which  consists of huge Georgia Bulldog fans. As my father was in the Gamecock Club and we had season tickets in Columbia,  we would also attend when the Gamecocks played at Sanford stadium.  We would usually visit family during the trip (one year we didn't and someone saw my father at the game and told on us...at least that's the story I recall from my father). My family in Georgia also consists of tons of "double cousins".

Now don't get the wrong idea. My great uncle, who I called "Daddy Bill" and my great Aunt "Mama Sue" were only related by marriage. There was no Incest, it's Georgia we're talking about not Alabama. Daddy Bill was the brother of my grandmother on my father's side. I sadly never knew my paternal grandparents as they were killed in a car accident when my father was 16. Mama Sue was my great Aunt by marriage but also my 3rd cousin by blood. I don't think I ever loved any two people more than Daddy Bill and Mama Sue and I don't think any two people loved me any more than they did. Their visit every August when they brought my sister Katie and I our birthday presents are the highlights of my childhood. 

So all those people saying we should root for Georgia tonight just don't know what they're talking about.  Alabama has won way too many national championships it's time someone else did. As for which broadcast I'll watch while I enjoyed the Alabama and Georgia hometown radio broadcasts in the semifinals, I really like Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit. In the past I enjoyed the "Sounds of the Game" broadcast with no announcers but ESPN no longer does that one...I guess I'm too much of an Iconoclast and not many other people watched that one. Traditional broadcast will be my choice tonight while probably breaking for the halftime performances on ESPN3. 

Fortunately I don't work until 11:00 AM tomorrow so I shouldn't be too bleary eyed on Tuesday. Only thing left to say is Go Dawgs! Sic 'Em! Woof!Woof!Woof!Woof! Woof! 

Happy 2022 sorry it's been a while

I haven't blogged in months, mainly due to getting a lot of hours at work and also not having anything to really blog about. As I usually do one around new years and my new years included two of my favorite things, plus I'm up early on January 2nd, here goes. 

I was scheduled 7:00-4:00 on New Years Eve, which worked out great as the college football playoffs got underway at 3:30. My original plan was to tune to "ABC News Live" to watch the ball drop. At around 9:45 however,  towards the end of the 4th quarter I realized I wasn't going to make it to midnight. I planned to celebrate at midnight Atlantic time and was hoping ABC News Live would have coverage from somewhere in the Atlantic time zone. I stopped watching the game around 10:54 and went to ABC News Live on Sling. Unfortunately when they came back from commercial before 11:00, they were in Times Square interviewing NYCFC of MLS. I scrambled to find something on YouTube and settled on the London fireworks for a bit. Took me a long time to open my bottle of Andre and I had a glass or two and went to bed.

New Years Day started with my usual pomegranate mimosas, a tradition I started a few years ago. I watched some football then walked up to my parents house for our traditional collard greens, black-eyed peas, ham and cornbread. We also had mashed sweet potatoes. I watched a little more football before walking home, watched even more football with pomegranate mimosas. Originally I had planned to go to bed after the Rose Bowl and get up early to watch the 3:35am replay of the Doctor Who's New Years special. Around 6:30 though I got very sleepy,  probably from eating 3 helpings at dinner so I went to bed. After sleeping very soundly for about 90 minutes I woke up in time for the end.of the Rose Bowl and I also watched the Sugar Bowl. I think went to bed again and woke up around 2:30 without any of my alarms set for 3:00 going off. After some web surfing I put my Sling app on BBC America and got ready for the special. 

Perhaps this is a 'woke' thing to notice but in the opening credits I noticed that both the producer and director of "Eve of the Daleks" were women. Unlike the "Flux" 6 part series a few weeks earlier,  which was confusing and just not very  satisfying,  I throughly enjoyed "Eve of the  Daleks". Don't want to spoil anything for those that haven't seen it yet, but I think most doctor who fans will be pleased.

So that was my New Years. Only thing to say now is

GO DAWGS! SICK 'EM! WOOF! WOOF! WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!

(I have a lot of family in Georgia and they are big bulldog fans.)

The State of Doctor Who

It's been a long time since I've blogged so I thought I would do a series on the states of the various interests in my life starting with my #1 interest Doctor Who. 

News has broken now that 2022 will see Jodie Whittaker depart as the 13th Doctor and Chris Chibnell is leaving as show runner. It's certainly been a controversial run for Chibnell as show runner with the elephant in the room being the Timeless Child retcon.

As far as I'm concerned,  on It's own merits, as far as storytelling goes, I'm ok with it, however I don't like the implication that William Hartnell's Doctor wasn't the first, etc.

So much of classic and even new series Doctor Who is based on the Timelords having 12 regenerations. Clara's begging the Timelords to give the 11th Doctor (who by counting the War Doctor and the 10ths regeneration without changing bodies was out of lives) for another regeneration is now pointless. I'm hoping it gets resolved in the next series which will be 6 episodes with 3 specials. 

Speaking of which, I normally stay away from rumors and leaks but have found myself paying more attention to those this time.

Word is we will not get a 60th Anniversary special in 2023 but instead a centenary special in 2022 for the 100th Anniversary of the BBC. 

I'm OK with this because the centenary Special is rumored to feature past Doctors,  David  Tennant is the main rumor with rumors also circulating of Paul McCain getting a long overdue main screen appearance as the 8th Doctor.  If the centenary Special is going to be a multi-Doctor affair,  then I see no reason to turn around and do a 60th Anniversary special in 2023. 60 is not a big milestone and I think it would be overkill. 

The other big rumor going is that we are in for a big change, much along the lines of differentiating between classic Doctor Who and the new series. 

I've seen fans on Twitter debate over whether or not Doctor Who needs to "rest" for a bit with many saying we already wait long enough between series.

One thing I wouldn't mind seeing is a move away from a "series" and more towards 3 or 4 specials a year. Make them really good, gives us something to look forward to. What I don't want to see is a whole series being "dropped" at once on a streaming service, I'd miss the communal discussion of a new episode every week,  although I imagine it would still be broadcast in that way.

The other issue is there is so much Doctor Who content out there already that I don't think a pause would be the worst thing to happen. 

Classic Doctor Who airs M-F at 8:00 & 8:30 on retro TV here in the states with occasionally episodes at 9:00 & 9:30 on Thursday and Friday (usually to "even out" a story with an odd number of episodes). It also airs Saturday and Sunday from 6:00-8:00. There's Pluto TV which airs a collection of classic episodes, although it's a limited run. The classic series is also on Britbox with the new series on HBO Max. Not to mention all the novels I bought and never read. 

I think if we are going to see a big change in production,  certainly we can do with a pause. We Whovians have had our share of long pauses between new televised stories what's one more?

The Great Sling Experiment

Several months ago I canceled my YouTube TV subscription because $64,99/month was just too much for live TV. I listened to many sporting events on the radio or over the internet and watched what I could over the air, mainly the NCAA basketball tournament. 

Several weeks ago I decided to try Sling TV. I opted for the Orange package, which includes ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN3 (ESPN's online content that is only available on the ESPN app). $35/month is about what I'm willing to pay for live sports, however I am not willing to pay the extra $11/month for SEC Network, ACC Network or ESPNU. 

Here's the thing about the "conference" networks. I only really ever watched SEC Network when the Gamecocks were playing (I dislike Paul Firebaum immensely). Football, Men's basketball and most baseball games are on the radio locally. Women's basketball and the few early season baseball games that don't get on the radio are on internet audio through either the "Gamecocks" app or iheartradio through 107.5 "The Game"... the Gamecocks flagship radio station in Columbia. I don't ever remember watching ACC Network, but if I did it was only when Clemson played...the same radio "rules" apply there. Also USC and USC Upstate often play around the same time, so I can listen to the Gamecocks on the radio and watch the Spartans on my tablet via ESPN+. I had a wonderful Friday last week when forecasted inclement weather on a Saturday meant that USC Upstate played a doubleheader on ESPN+ while the Gamecocks also played a doubleheader that Friday and I was not scheduled at work. 

By only having ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN3 i will have access to most "championship" events, the women's basketball tournament, College World Series, bowl games and playoffs, etc.

The Orange package also gives me access to TBS and TNT, so I'm covered for the later rounds on the NCAA basketball tournament. I'm not concerned about TruTV because only the "first four" and first and second rounds are on that channel which I never watched any other time of the year. I also didn't watch much of the first two rounds this year. It also gives me AEW Dynamite on TNT, which I had learned to live without but I still missed. USA Network is only available on the Blue package, but I have access to RAW, NXT and Miz and Mrs., etc. on Hulu. Smackdown is a problem because I typically listen to Gamecock baseball games on Friday nights and Smackdown typically isn't uploaded on Hulu until Sunday afternoon. I also get AXS TV, which shows impact wrestling on Thursday night, but the few times I've watched it recently I didn't enjoy it. I am enjoying A&E's Biography, which is currently airing a series on WWE wrestlers. And whenever the new series of Doctor Who debuts, I'll have BBC America. 

The only drawback is Sling only works well on my Amazon fire stick when I have high speed internet at the beginning of the month, but I have gotten where I only watch my streaming services on my tablet anyway. My TV is used mainly for local OTA channels, classic Doctor Who on retro TV for example and to watch DVDs, although through watching my DVDs of the new Doctor Who series, I've discovered many are corrupted and have skips and freezes. I'm using a Doctor Who fan website called "The Randomizer" to select episodes and instead of my DVDs I'm watching on HBO Max.

I believe I am going to stay with Sling Orange for the foreseeable future. As I said $35/month is what I'm willing to pay, but not $46/month to get "sports extra". I'm hoping for the day when YouTube TV comes up with a new plan, say pick 10 channels for $35/month. If anyone could do that, it's YouTube TV/Google. 

Royals it was always going to be you.

Going to bed at 9:00 PM has backfired on me and I'm now awake at 1:00 AM with baseball and the upcoming season on my mind.

I added a subscription to ESPN+ today (yearly then canceled immediately to avoid surprise charges on my debit card.) My plans to attend a baseball game at USC Upstate on Tuesday have taken a badbturn due to weather. While the game could still be played (rain ends mid afternoon as of the last time I checked) i will probably take advantage of ESPN+ and stay in the comfort of home.

I'm also not completely sure I will be able to make it to a Greenville Drive game with capacity restrictions and not really wanting a season ticket, even the one on Thursdays, my day off, was too much baseball, not to mention my admittedly prudish nature regarding "$1 Drink Night".

As I also mentioned in a previous blog, Jackie Bradley, Jr. exiting the Red Sox organization has me rethinking my loyalties. It's occurred to me tonight thought it shouldn't be that difficult of a decision. 

I am also a fan of the Kansas City Royals primarily because of former Gamecock Whit Merrifield. The Columbia Fireflies are also now a Royals affiliate. And for some reason,  perhaps because of an early childhood premonition, I used to always look at the standings in the sports page and see how the Royals were doing. I wasn't even a baseball fan then.

Perhaps I'll wait and post this on Facebook on Opening Day April 1st.  It would be fitting as years ago I did the same declaring myself a Red Sox fan. 

Slugger and Texas on my mind

Ever since the upcoming baseball series between South Carolina and Texas was announced,  I have been flooded with memories from 2002, the year the South Carolina and Texas met in the championship game of the College World Series. 

That was the final year that the championship was a single game, the next year saw the beginning of the 3 game series for the championship. Myself and other Gamecock fans have long argued that if 2002 had been a 3 game series, the Gamecocks would have come back and won the championship. Things worked out in the long run, as South Carolina won the final Championship contented in Rosenblatt Stadium in 2010 and won the following year in the first CWS at TD Ameritrade Park. Also if memory serves me correctly,  we came into the 2002 championship game with 1 loss in the tournament while Texas was unbeaten which would have called into question our worthiness had we won in 2002.

2002 also brings happy memories of when my "Big Ole Baby" Slugger adopted me.

Long before South Carolina and Clemson played a 3 game series annually, the rivalry consisted of two game home and home on a Saturday and Sunday in March and consecutive Wednesdays in April, also home and home. I believe it was the final game on a Wednesday in April and as it was a nice evening I turned up my radio which was then hooked up to an old stereo system, opened my front door and raised the window on my screen door and went to listen to the game on my front porch swing. Right when the game was about to start I saw what at the time was a little black puppy staring at me from my fence by the edge of the road.

I went over to him and he started to run away but I called to him and held out my hand. He sniffed and licked me through the fence and I walked around the edge to my gate in my driveway. He followed me and I let him in and we walked to my front porch. 

I held him and noticed a sore on his neck. I worked in the kennels at an animal hospital at the time so there was no doubt I would bring him in the next day. While I was holding him, the Gamecocks hit their first home run of the game and I looked at him and said something to the effect of "you're a little slugger aren't you?". The Gamecocks went on to win that evening and it was obvious that he was to become part of my family. 

I introduced Slugger to Andy that night (Andy knew something was up) and they were instant buddies. Andy may have been the smaller of the two, but he was the boss when it came to "chase".

Sadly Andy and Slugger died within about 2 weeks of each other many years ago. But I have happy memories that have been awakened by a baseball series. 

3 Tuesdays in March and other baseball musings

This is the time of year when spring training starts and college baseball is just around the corner that I start making plans for the upcoming season. 

With no Furman baseball program, the annual visit by the Gamecocks to Fluor Field here in Greenville is out although the neutral site game vs. Clemson is here this year. It has been moved back however to the last weekend in February as opposed to the first weekend in March. It was cold enough the one time I went on my own as well as the previous times with my family....not to mention USC and Clemson fans arguing in the stands. I also had the next to last seat in the next to last row down the first base line and that game is the most expensive of them all. I get better seats for half the cost to Drive games.

The Drive has yet to announce other college or high school games this year but I found Wofford vs. Georgia listed on Wofford's schedule and North Greenville also  has a game scheduled there. The sad part is Michigan State is not making their usual trip this year. The owner of the Drive is a Michigan State grad and I was fortunate to see my USC Upstate Spartans beat them last year before the season blew up.

USC Upstate was scheduled to play Clemson at Fluor Field on Tuesday March 9th, but the game got moved back to Clemson. I do plan on visiting Harley Park in Spartanburg on Tuesday March 16th when UNC-Asheville visits. One of my favorite customers is the sister-in-law of UNC-Asheville's baseball coach and I always hoped for a rivalry with that school even before USC Upstate joined the Big South conference. There is also a game against Presbyterian the following Tuesday the 23rd that has possibilities.  I could listen to the game against Clemson on the radio on the 9th, go the the game against UNC -A on the 16th and possibly the game against PC on the 23rd.

Minor league also is a consideration this year, but I am very disappointed in MLB's restructuring. It's bad enough that the Charleston Riverdogs are no longer a Yankees affiliate, breaking up the Palmetto State's part of the Red Sox/Yankees rivalry, but the Riverdogs and Columbia Fireflies won't even be in the same league as the Drive. The only team I have any interest in in terms of a rivalry that will be in our league are the Asheville Tourists. I considered the Drive's "Mug Club" which would include tickets to every Thursday game (I don't work on Thursdays) but I decided it's too expensive for only really being interested in one team, and also not being a big fan of going to games on "$1 Drink Night".

As for MLB, I'm very intrigued by the possibility that Jackie Bradley, Jr. may no longer play for the Red Sox. It may be as long as 10 years ago that I went on Facebook on opening day and declared myself a Red Sox fan, primarily due to JBJ being called up. Now my loyalty is in question although the Greenville Drive may be enough to hold my devotion to the Red Sox. Opening Day is Thursday April 1st so I lucked out again as I will be off. It will be an interesting year.

The Ultimate Decision

After all that I blogged about a few weeks ago,  I've decided I'm keeping YouTube TV. I found some free channels on Sling and while they worked well with my high speed data at the beginning of the month, after my high speed was used up (it's still "Unlimited" but my speed is slowed after 15 GB) Sling was buffering constantly. YouTube TV is the only live TV service I've tried that doesn't buffer after I use my high speed data. While I could save a few bucks by watching only on my tablet and switching out plans depending on the channels I need, having all the channels I need in one plan with an unlimited DVR and the ability to watch on the big screen without buffering is worth the extra money. So what now?

My plan was to make February 1st my big change over date as I will get quarterly stock dividend. I pay for Amazon Prime on the yearly plan with my tax refund in order to avoid monthly fees, and I wanted to do the same with another streaming service. If I keep YouTube TV, I will not need Hulu. As much as I'm sure I would enjoy other things on Hulu, I have so much I already watch, I'm not sure I would watch Hulu enough to make a yearly plan worthwhile. The same is true Disney+. I know I would enjoy "The Mandolorian" and other shows, but would I have the time to watch? The other possibility is ESPN+.

I've always questioned whether I would watch it enough. USC Upstate men's and women's basketball games are on ESPN+ and the occasional baseball games, but they often conflict with Gamecock events on the regular ESPN family of networks. There's just not enough to justify subscribing.

The Disney bundle is only available monthly and is going up to $13.99/month. Netflix is a similar story, just too much to watch and not enough time to watch. But there's one streaming service I definitely watch regularly in WWE Network. 

My sisters bought me 6 months (two 3 month gift cards) of WWE Network for my birthday. While Best Buy has 6 month gift cards, it would involve a paper card and envelope to mail it. While that would be easier to keep track of, Walmart has email delivery of 3 month cards, which I what my sisters got me (although printed out). So my plan is to either buy 2-three month email gift cards on Walmart.com or one 6 month card from Best Buy. My current gift card won't expire until the middle of March if my math is right and 6 months would take me through my birthday in August and into September where I might get more gift cards. 

Time for change...or not.

There are many issues I could blog about on my weekend off but i'm going with a non controversial one. My streaming services. 

The new year has me thinking of change and I'm examining my choices of live streaming services and as usual it comes down to YouTube TV and Sling.

I've have YouTube TV and I've tried Sling. While YouTube TV suffers a bit in picture quality when my high speed data is used up in my "unlimited" data plan, my previous trials of Sling resulted in skipping and buffering,  which I rarely get with YouTube TV. Sling also has no live local channels but ABC is really the only issue as I get NBC, CBS and FOX locally as well as PBS (SCETV and UNC-TV) and the many independant subchannels that I often enjoy. 

I watch Days of our Lives on the NBC app and everything else I normally watch is on Amazon Prime or WWE Network. I really only have 3 main requirements for live TV. 

My absolute all time favorite show Doctor Who is a non issue in this battle it is available on YouTube TV and both base packages of Sling. 

For live sports I mainly need the ESPN family of networks as well as the other major sports networks which are only in the "Orange" package. ABC, which I include under the ESPN umbrella,  is not available over-the-air in my location. I never record sporting events to watch later. If i'm at work I'm checking my phone during my break and after work for scores. (Also since Modern Family ended, I no longer watch ABC for anything other than sports). I also need the major sports networks for most college and professional sports. During March madness,  I need TBS and TNT which are available on both base packages but i must also  have TruTV  (the only time I watch that channel but it's only available in Sling's "Orange " package ). I also need the ESPN family of networks during March madness because as a South Carolina Gamecock fan, the women's tournament is very important to me and that on the ESPN family of networks. I would have to have "Orange + Blue" for both, which is $45. SEC Network, ESPNU and MLB Network are among channels i watch often that are only available in "Sports Extra". As I would need "Orange  + Blue", "Sports Extra" would cost $15. That brings us to $60 almost what I pay for YouTube TV.  

As for professional wrestling, Smackdown is not much of an issue as I'm usually home to watch it live on FOX (broadcast) and if I need to watch it later, it's available on multiple FOX platforms. Sling, however , does not have FOX locally and on rare occasions I must record Smackdown to watch later. i have that ability with YouTube TV .TNT, which carries AEW Dynamite is available on both Sling's Orange and blue packages.  USA is a must for Monday Night Raw and NXT. While RAW is available in condensed form the next day on basic Hulu, USA network is the only place to watch it live. USA is only available in the blue package, and as I said above,  I must have Orange for ESPN as well as TruTV.

The main advantage to YouTube TV over Sling is of course the unlimited Cloud DVR at no extra charge which also saves your recordings for 9 months. Sling's base DVR only holds 10 hours and while i usually watch things as soon as i can in order to protect recordings and have 50 hours, you have to pay $5 for their "Cloud Extra" package which would bring us to $65 which is exactly what a pay a month for YouTube TV. 

So when you add it all up, I might save a few bucks here and there by getting my shows from different sources and waiting a day or two to watch things that I would normally watch live, but the convenience of having everything on one service plus the peace of mind of not having your recordings deleted just makes YouTube TV  the obvious choice for me.

Additional: After saying all that I could make the ultimate sacrifice and give up on live TV (including sports) altogether get WWE programming from Hulu, WWE Network and Fox apps....say goodbye to AEW Dynamite and get Doctor Who from HBO Max.

ON SECOND THOUGHT  I have decided to go with Plan B. I've paused my YouTube TV subscription for 24 weeks (or 6 months). I'm giving up watching live sports on "cable". There will still be live sports on NBC, CBS and FOX. Other events will be able to follow on local radio, internet audio and the ESPN app. I will do with Doctor Who what I have done with Star Trek Discovery and Picard, I will wait until the season is complete or almost complete, order a month of the service, cancel it immediately and watch the series within that month. I change my mind quickly but the new year and typing everything out has made me reconsider. 

Bye 2020 hello 2021 and 2022??? You never know.

I haven't blogged in a month plus and I'm sorry about that.  There hasn't been much that caught my attention,  the election being the exception and we're probably all weary of that. I usually write a year end blog and I'm a bit early but I'm on the 5th of 5 days in a row off so I'd better blog while I can.

Despite the pandemic and having to wear a mask every day at work and when I go out to eat it's really not been a bad year for me personally. I've done some redecorating and cleaning, or maybe clearing out is a better way to put it. A new roof is coming soon thanks to my dad and insurance.  I had a brief period of panic and wanting to move to Columbia or Charleston or somewhere on my own, I'm starting to look into low income housing options but I've been holding off I need to get back on it.

Sportswise the Gamecocks stunk it up in football but we're getting a new coach and I'm very excited about Shane Beamer. I was so worried that they were going to hire Hugh Freeze and I would have had to withdraw my support.

We did have a weird convergence of NBA, NHL and MLB championships in October this year due to Covid delays in basketball and hockey. A good year for Los Angeles and Tampa Bay. The Chargers are out I think,  Rams are a possibility and with Tom Brady on the Buccaneers now you never know. I really don't have any one team I'm favoring over any other but a Chiefs Packers Super Bowl has always appealed to me as it was Super Bowl I. Very real possibility of that this year or rather next year as Super Bowl LV will be February 7th, 2021.

2021. It reminds me off my late friend James. He died in 1994 (gee what a long time ago). It was around new year of 1992/3 and we were discussing how we didn't like the "3" at the end of the year. It was odd numbers 1,3,7 and 9. 5 was ok i think because it's "half-way" or maybe because it's a divisor of 10 I'm not sure where our conversation went from there but for some reason I like "2021".

Maybe it's because 21 is "blackjack" or the "legal" age I'm not sure. It sounds good though. There's something right about it. 

Then of course politically our attention will mainly turn to 2022. Not sure if any democrats are lining up to run for Governor yet. My hopes are with former University of South Carolina trustee Darla Moore, who is only a "former" trustee because that snake in the grass Nikki Haley replaced her with one of her big donors. It's the freaking "Darla Moore school of business" for a reason. 

Then there's my own little neck of the woods, state house district 17. I was so excited in 2018 when Judi Buckley ran as a Democrat here. I got involved in her campaign, although admittedly a big part of that was being able to have breakfast at "The Cafe at Williams Hardware" once a month dang i miss that place. I've toyed with the idea of running myself just to put a name on the ballot but my tax refund was delayed and I talked myself out of it. I'm openly gay, HIV+ and I describe myself as a secular humanist. That's three strikes against me right of the bat. Plus I live in a house on my conservative parents property no telling what kind of threats they would get let alone me.

There's a side of me though that just wants my name on the ballot once in my life. A bucket list item and I'll admit an ego trip, I have the self awareness to acknowledge that. Then again if I ever do move, maybe it's to a more "blue" part of Greenville county. Although they probably have leaders already elected. So I'm torn. I'll probably just stay behind the scenes and try to encourage someone else to run and help them out. Ok it's 2:45 am. I should get some sleep.  Have a great end of 2020 everyone.  Kick old man 2020 in the ass on his way out!

Come to G.O.P.-esus moment.

I can't sleep tonight for pretty obvious reasons so it's time to put my racing thoughts out in the blogosphere. 

I am of course elated tonight. I was watching CBS this morning after going to the grocery store and getting lunch and some mini bottles of prosecco in preparation for a big announcement. I thought the Army/Air Force game was going to be on but I found out after I checked that it was canceled. CBS News happened to break in during some "E/I" programs I was enjoying to announce their call in the Presidential election. I had a toast with my first mini bottle of prosecco and after watching for a bit took a walk and waited for the Florida Georgia game. That didn't go the way I wanted so I flipped around until NBC Nightly News which came on before the Clemson Norte Dame game. After learning the game would move to the USA Network while NBC carried President Elect Biden's (boy that's nice to type) speech, I decided to stay with NBC and follow the score on my tablet, where I also had the Texas A&M South Carolina game playing. 

Both speeches were excellent and as I watched Notre Dame defeat Clemson in the 2nd overtime,  I toasted the tears of Clemson fans and trump supporters (many of whom are the same). 

I want to say something to any of my republican "friends" who might read this. You need to have what I am calling a "Come to G.O.P-esus" moment. 

When I was young, the republican party was known as the "big tent" party. There was room for everyone.  I have made this analogy before, right now they are a "country club" party. If you're gay or an immigrant or a strong woman, particularly a woman of color; if you support reproductive freedoms, if you don't love guns; they don't want you in their club. It wasn't like that when I was young. Reagan was pro-choice. Most Republicans accepted Rape, Incest or the life of the mother as acceptable conditions for abortion. Reagan recognized that citizens had the right to own a gun for hunting and defense of the home, but that assault rifles were not necessary for either. This attack by Republicans on planned parenthood is ridiculous. Planned Parenthood provides much more than abortion services they are valuable health providers for low income women which includes women of color. 

Republicans and Democrats disagreed but came together to get things done. Democratic speaker of the House when I was young was a man named Tip O'Neil. He and Ronald Reagan disagreed strongly but they got things done for the good of the country. We had bipartisanship. 

Republicans are digging in their heels and hanging on to a 50s sitcom version of America that never really existed. Unless the G.O.P. recognizes and accepts that the country's demographics are changing as are attitudes on social issues they will continue to become more of a minority. Republicans want to hang on to the electoral college because it's the only way they can win without changing their ways.

And I have news for you. Kamala Harris will run for President again, whether it's 2024 if Joe Biden doesn't run for reelection, or 2028. Pete Buttigieg will run again. The future of the Democratic Party is bright and diverse. Recognize it and accept it, or keep fighting a losing battle. That's my advice. You may not like it, but that's where it stands. Ok sleep now.

Sorry Dodgers, it's an AL East thing.

I've had several ideas for blogs over the past two months since my last one, but they seemed to be preachy and more of me venting about politics or it was something that I thought would only interest me. We have the World Series starting tonight, however, and while I have some controversial reasons for who I have decided to root for, it's not really that controversial. I'll start with the results of the NLCS.

I really don't like the Atlanta Braves, but that was not always the case. In 1995, when the Braves had gone from perennial losers to winning the World Series, I was captivated like the rest of the upstate of South Carolina. Back then, Greenville was home to the AA Greenville Braves, and a slew of big names that went on to win the World Series came through Greenville and played here either on their way up to the major league or playing here "on assignment". We had the right to be just as invested as people who lived in Atlanta. There was a problem that I never quite got past, however and that was the Braves use of native American stereotypes and imagery.

I have no problem with the name "Braves". Unlike the Washington NFL teams former mascot, it's not based on a physical characteristic that was used as a racial epithet. It's a positive attribute. The logo of a tomahawk and the terribly racist "tomahawk chop" gets under my skin however as a person who is sensitive to those issues. They are based on a 50's Hollywood stereotype of Native Americans as warlike which is not accurate. So I was rooting heavily for the Dodgers. It has been 1988 since they won it and they have a reputation as being a very pro LGBT organization. "Outsports.com" even tweeted their support and how they hold special regard for the Dodgers pro LGBT efforts. But a longtime friend of mine who I originally met on their message boards reminded me of an issue he takes with the famous (or is he infamous?) former manager Tommy Lasorda. 

Tommy Lasorda, Jr. was the flamboyant son of the former Dodgers manager. While it is well documented that the younger Lasorda frequented gay establishments and died of AIDS, Tommy Lasorda continuously and vehemently denies those facts.. It's something my friend cannot look past and he has convinced me to do the same. I will be happy if the Dodgers finally do win one, but I have reasons to root for the Rays.

Like the Dodgers, the Rays have an excellent record of being supportive of the LGBT community. An article I read online seems to support that, but as it was written by the Tampa Bay Tribune (I think that's the main newspaper in Tampa) it should be taken with a grain of salt. Other sources seem to back that up including the aforementioned Outsports.com however. 

I do have some negatives about Tampa Bay, but little of it is to do with the Rays. Several years ago the Lightning, who I'm sad to say won the Stanley Cup this year, tried to prevent fans of the opposing hockey team from wearing their teams colors or jerseys. I thought that was poor sportsmanship. I also didn't like former FSU quarterback Jameis Winston, or as I call him "Ignoramus Jameis". Tom Brady is the QB of the Buccaneers now and my opinion of his soured after he went all trumpy. I do continue to like Rob Gronkowski however. There's also the fact that the Rays are teasing fans in Montreal by saying they want to play half their season there.

Then there's the fact that the Tampa Bay Rays are in the AL East. When former Gamecock Jackie Bradley, Jr. was first called up to the main roster, I went on Facebook and declared myself a Red Sox fan after years of not paying much attention to MLB. We also now have the Single A Red Sox affiliate Greenville Drive who play at Fluor Field, a miniature version of Fenway Park. I love going to games there, both Drive games and the college games they host. The weird thing is though, unlike a typical Red Sox fan, I don't hate the Yankees. 

Former Gamecock pitcher Jordan Montgomery spent a year recovering from surgery and is now back on the Yankees roster, even helping them win in his last outing. He only pitched 4 innings so he didn't get the official win, but he was crucial. I also like the Yankees Single A affiliate the Charleston Riverdogs who are the only minor league team in the Palmetto state to host a "Pride" night. In fact they were doing so long before the New York Yankees were doing it. I also didn't grow up in Boston so I don't have that life-long hatred for the Yankees built up.

I also have reasons to like the Baltimore Orioles. A high school classmate of mine, who currently lives in DC with his husband spent many years in Baltimore and even wrote for the Baltimore Sun and he is a die-hard Orioles fan. I'm really quite proud of his even though we weren't in many classes together in high school and didn't hang in the same circles. He is a Georgia graduate but his family are Clemson fans and I often tease him about how I will root for Georgia when they play Clemson but he won't return the favor and pull for the Gamecocks when we play the Tigers. 

As for the Toronto Blue Jays, former Gamecock Justin Smoak was with them until recently and I began following them. Also as a liberal living in the dirty, dirty south; I tend to root for Canadian teams anyway. Canada also has a beautiful national anthem, whereas as ours is more "chest thumping" as a Canadian friend on Facebook put it. 

Which brings us back to the Tampa Bay Rays, who I believe have the 29th (of 30) (Edit: it's 28th) lowest salary of any MLB team going against one of the highest. The Dodgers also stole Mookie Betts from my Red Sox and you see what happened to them they didn't make the playoffs in the easiest year to make them with a ridiculous 16 teams in. Part of me is very happy we have the 2 best teams at the end, and not a bunch of Wild Card teams.

So there are my reasons for my changing from rooting for the Dodgers to now rooting for the Rays. As I said, I won't be sad if the Dodgers win, quite the opposite, but my loyalty is to the AL East this World Series. 

Crossroads at 50

I've been a bit stressed out the past few days. I'm turning 50 on August 22nd and it's caused me to take stock of my life and where I am in my journey. 

I moved into this little house in November of 1999 after a nervous breakdown and discovering (although in many ways I already knew) that I was HIV+. Tensions between my parents and I were running high and the decision was made to allow me to live in my Great Aunts old house. My father bought half her land to build the house myself and my sisters grew up in. My Great Aunt Marie (pronounced Mare-E for reasons that always alluded me) died in 1988 when I was on a trip with my high school marching band. 

This house has been terrific for me, but things are starting to break down. The house was built in the 1940s and most of the appliances were as well. The yard is also a big problem as it is overgrown and well beyond my capacity to take care of.

There's a problem, however. 

I love my job at Publix. I've been there going on 13 years now and I'm building quite a nestegg. Publix as well as most retail outlets, however, doesn't hire full time. It wouldn't really work as a cashier anyway, because you have to be so careful about going over 40 hours. They really don't want to pay that overtime. I'm not really qualified to do anything else...that you can legally be paid for...and i don't want to do anything else anyway. 

I've looked into ways to earn money by blogging, etc. but it seems really complicated to me. Most advice I read says you have to specialize, but that's the opposite of who I am. I consider myself a renaissance man and as a person born during the cusp of exposure, varied interests is what we're all about. 

Buying the house for myself has occurred to me, but I don't have that kind of money and I have too much debt to begin with to even consider taking on more.

I have seen apartments listed in Greenville and Greer for less than $1,000/month, some for less than $600, but finding an extra $1K/month is proving difficult not to mention the added expense (even in terms of labor) of moving all my stuff. Ive looked into instacart and shipt, but the interview process for shipt is ridiculous and instacart has no openings right now. Also why spend any more time in a grocery store than necessary? My house is so "lived in" (to put it politely) it's just impractical to consider moving.

So I find myself in the same place I always do when I panic about my future and my living situation. I've got it pretty good. I need to do better in some places but other things I'm just going to have to accept are out of my control. Just do your best Daniel Patten. That's all you can do. Don't be so afraid to ask for help when you need it. And keep at it. You'll be 50 soon. 10 years away from your senior discount at Publix and not that much futher away than being able to retire (although that's probably further away than I think).

I feel better now that I've "talked things out". I haven't really watched any of my normal shows today I've been so preoccupied. Perhaps a nap is in order soon. And I eat like a retired person and it's 4:00. Have a good day everyone. Thanks for reading. 

Like Sands through the Hourglass and hunks in undies.

Rather than climb back up on my soapbox and preach to the choir, I thought I would spend some time discussing what I'm currently watching and one thing I have been watching off an on since 8th Grade. (With my 50th birthday approaching fast we won't calculate how long that has been.)

It started with my grandmother on my mother's side and her 13 (I believe) sisters (more siblings died in childhood if I'm not mistaken). Not all of them lived in the upstate of South Carolina but any time we had a family gathering, everything stopped at 1:00 pm for Days of our Lives (except 4th of July when Wimbledon preempted Days). And of course my grandmother was a frequent babysitter, and i remember watching one episode with her vividly. 

Bo Brady kidnapped Hope Williams on his motorcycle from her impending marriage to Larry Welsh. That hooked me.  DVRs were either then or soon invented and we would watch as a family after school. I got away from it a bit in college, although I remember spats with my boyfriend at the time who was a fan of the Young and the Restless. Our compromise was sometimes watching all of Y&R and the end of Days, or half of Y&R and all of Days. 

I think I missed the original "Buried Alive" storyline and a few others. I was front and center for Marlena's possesion storyline which I still hear about from fans of other soap operas saying how stupid it was. My answer to them is it was (1995) 25 years ago and you're still talking about it.  Who won that one? When i had DirecTV with DVR, the episodes would back up and i would frequently give up. For a while the episodes aired nightly on Soap Opera Network, then they moved to TV Guide Network (now known as Pop!). When that was no longer an option, my pattern became only watching on my weekdays off.

Recent events, however,  have had Days preempted more than usual and I discovered the NBC app a while ago. The episodes on the NBC app typically last 37:30 and it avoids many of the other pitfalls of the network broadcast. 

In addition to frequent breaking news updates, the political ads are just infuriating. Normally they would only be a minor annoyance but the lies and distortions mainly by donald trump and Lyndsey Graham are maddening. Also, I don't know if this is true in other parts of the country, but our local television stations are suffering from a weather insanity. Crawlers across the screen, watch and warning inset maps in the corner and that's if you're lucky. The tiniest little thunderstorm and they're on there in front of their "Live Super Doppler" maps telling you that there's a thunderstorm. In the South. In the Summer. News flash: It's pretty much a given. Interrupt if there's a tornado or earthquake or something. 

A recent storyline on Days has also grabbed my attention.  Ben, portrayed by the gorgeous Robert Scott Wilson,  was kidnapped during a bombing at the church where he had just gotten married. The culprit was Eve, who's daughter he killed when he was the necktie strangler. Eve's plan is to turn the reformed Ben back into the necktie strangler and kill his new wife.

The fact that Ben has been strapped to a chair and tourtured in his underwear has a little to do with my interest I'll admit. 

As the new episodes are released at 8:00 PM, I'm undergoing a slight change in my viewing habits. Tuesday morning I had a 7:30 am shift, so Monday Night Raw was out and Mondays Days became part of my viewing. I'm off this coming Tuesday-Thursday so I will probably not watch Mondays episode until Tuesday although staying up an extra few minutes is also possible. Tuesday night is usually open (if I was off Wednesday All Star Trek on H&I would be my goto, but that will probably change). Wednesday is my big wrestling night and coincidentally long before Wednesday became the big wrestling night it has become, I always had and still have Thursdays off. So in recent weeks I have watched NXT from 8:00-10:00, then gone directly to my recording of AEW Dynamite. With my new goal to watch Days regularly, I may watch Wednesdays Days at 10:00 and save AEW for Thursday. Thursday night is usually a big night for sports and depending on how early I have to be in Friday and what's on etc., Thursdays episode may also have to wait. Friday night is Smackdown on FOX 8:00-10:00 followed by 205 live on WWE Network which usually lasts 30 minutes. That's another TBD and might have to wait until the weekend. 

Today was my first day off in a while that I did not watch Days of our Lives at 1:00. I watched my usual fare, which included an episode of Babylon 5, an episode of Dark Shadows (the original), a 4 episode classic Doctor Who (with some internet struggles) and also listened to some music (it's almost always New Age music to relax). I'm currently watching a hockey game, which a new game has started while I'm typing this. It's just about dinner and pill time, wrestling will be not long afterward. I'm off Friday as well as my usual Thursday this week so plenty of chances to stream my favorites. 

Despite price hike..YouTube TV remains the best service.

To take a break from the political, and because we're a few hours away from opening day, I thought I'd take the opportunity to bring up the recent price hike by YouTube TV. 

While it is somewhat disappointing, I've tried other free (and not so free) trials of other services and none of them match the quality I get from YouTube TV. Other live TV services I've tried constantly skip and freeze, no doubt due to limited internet speed on my "unlimited" data plan.

Of the other services,  Hulu with live TV does not have BBC America which is a must when new episodes of Doctor Who are aired. AT&Ts service, which i believe used to be DirecTV Now, double charged me after i canceled their service.  In order to get both USA and BBC America as well as ESPN on Sling, i would have to subscribe to both the Orange and Blue plans which is $40 and to get SEC Network and ACC Network, I would have to add the sports package at $15. I may be able to get by without the DVR upgrade, that's $5 and still wouldn't compare to YouTube TV's unlimited DVR. I would be up to $60 with no guarantee of the quality. 

The only time YouTube TV freezes or skips is if i don't stay off my tablet while it is connected to my Google Chromecast. The picture sometimes suffers during heavy internet traffic times, but for the most part is very good.

There is something to be said about the channels added being ones I've learned to live without, but i have already enjoyed episodes of "The Andy Griffith Show" on weekday afternoons as well as "The Golden Girls" on Sunday morning and afternoon. The continuing lack of access to Hallmark Channel has been a blessing in disguise as I no longer stay up late watching the "Girls". I have yet to enjoy "The Daily Show" on Comedy Central as my work and TV schedule haven't really allowed a viewing. I could record it of course but I'm not sure when I would find the time to watch. 

I've also recently been using my Google Chromecast much more than my Amazon Fire Stick. It's been a very long time since Amazon and Google fortunately settled their differences and we can now cast Amazon Prime to Chromecast. I've found that Amazon Prime works as well if not better on Google Chromecast. The episodes, for example, play all the way to the end and through the end credits before loading the next episode; something we classic Doctor Who fans appreciate. With fire stick i had to either hit the "return(?)" button before the next episode or give up on watching the end credits. I also don't often "binge" watch, instead watching one episode at a time. Amazon fire stick can also be temperamental at times of heavy internet traffic. 

I'm holding out hope that YouTube TV will come out with some tiered pricing plans before my bill officially goes up in late August, but regardless they remain my best option for streaming live TV. For the record, I am committed to streaming. I don't want to return to rain outs of satellite or have people in my house hooking up cable and internet. That would also involve changing mobile providers and I'm happy with the status quo. I may just have to bite the bullet on the price hike although Google may lose a lot of customers over this.