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My first column of 2021. I’m upbeat.

2020 wasn’t that bad, for me. But for friends losing their father at his home or their uncle in a nursing home, it was awful. I have friends who got covid and are alive, but still weak and have no taste or smell.

The best thing we can do for ourselves is to be bored, not let our guard down and not be depressed at minor things — like how awful today has been — except it’s edging back after an awful opening and collapse. Here are the three indexes today until — 3 PM.

More industries booming

+ Tattoo artists around the country say that as protests took off this year, requests to remove or cover up racist tattoos did, too.

+ As more of us flee the cities to the bucolic country, so my local free giveaway…

… has a wonderful ad for my favorite Generac (GNRC)

Am I missing New York City?
A friend asked me “Was I missing New York City?”
I answered “Yes” and “No.”
He was not impressed with my answer.
My “logic” is simple: If you want a peaceful life, love where you are.
Remember the Stephen Stills 1970 line, “If you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with.

I’ve never seen this. It may not be New York City. It’s shot by Sean Rowley, Wildlife Photographer of the Year.

This is from Indonesia. I’ve been there, but not seen this:

If you can’t travel at present, look at some great photos. For the other 42 winners, click here.

Streaming TV is exploding

My “easy” solution is to dump your cable TV and your DirecTV, buy a Roku for each of your TV sets and subscribe to YouTubeTV once for $64.99 a month. Think of YouTubeTV as a replacement for cable TV or DirecTV. It has local channels and national channels — but not HBO or The Tennis Channel (drat).

Then there’s AppleTV, Amazon Prime, Disney +, HBO Max. Think of them as movie channels, each with their own monthly fees and millions of new and old movies to watch. Confusing.

The nice thing about Roku is you can access anything you want. Just pay the extra fees. With Roku you pay one-time for the Roku box and remote — unlike DirecTV, cable channels and FiOS where you rent — never own –their various, ridiculously large boxes. With Roku you easily get into Netflix, which I love.

I own stock in every one of them — Amazon, Google (YouTubeTV), Apple, Roku, and Netflix.

FuboTV is another streamer. I can’t figure out what they do or charge, except they seem to appeal to Spanish speakers.

Today, I read that Discovery+ is launching next Monday with “homier” fare — cooking shows, nature shows, home improvement shows and  unscripted programs from HGTV, the Food Network, TLC, ID, Animal Planet and the company’s flagship, Discovery.

Today’s NYTimes reports that Discovery CEO David Zaslav is wagering that people are now ready to subscribe to a streaming service filled with the kind of thing you can watch with one eye while folding the laundry, paying bills or scrolling through social media.

Who folds laundry?

I dry my laundry with three tennis balls. Bingo, no wrinkles.

If your hands are being cracked by the cold weather.

Or by tennis, this stuff is really magic.

Only $6. Click here.

If you see these in your supermarket, buy them.

They’re the best. They’re my latest addiction.

Here are a couple of funny videos. Enjoy.

Proof positive. Cellphones cause headaches

A final wish for 2021

Vaccine shots

My friend is getting his vaccine shot this Friday. He’s ecstatic. He lives in Colorado. Lucky fellow.

I’m hoping for mine some time before Christmas, 2022. I’m in New York State.

Tomorrow I want to write on what you can do to not be hacked — unlike the Federal Government.

For today, please change your bank’s password and ask your bank if you can get “two factor authentication.” Chase gave me two factor using RSA tokens. Makes me feel much safer. Thank you Chase.

See you tomorrow. — Harry Newton