Why I Feel Guilty About Not Reading All of Your Stories,

I hope you understand why.

Photo by Richard Horne on Unsplash

There are just so many hours in a day when I read stories on Medium. I prioritize the stories from writers I frequently engage with and subscribe to. However, there are times when they publish something that does not pertain to me. I don’t want to give them fake engagement, so I don’t read the story, and then I feel guilty about not supporting them.

I am retired. I don’t have to work to supplement my Social Security and pensions. I am enjoying my “Golden Years”—or, what time I have left. Part of being retired is the freedom from the unnecessary stress that often comes with a full-time job.

I have chosen writing on Medium as one of my hobbies, but not the only hobby. I write to share my thoughts and opinions and, most importantly, to keep my mind active. I don’t need the money, but who doesn’t like a little extra spending money?

But like many on this platform, I get caught up in the rush to produce, earn more money, compete with the “big” accounts, or solve the mystery of the Medium algorithm. I don’t want to get back into another rat race, and I get upset with myself when I begin to stress out over what I am or am not doing on this platform.

I don’t need to worry about any other goals other than staying healthy and alive. I don’t need to improve my productivity or set any new career goals. I also don’t need self-improvement courses or self-help tips. I am not saying stories about these topics are not helpful, but they are not for me.

As far as “side hustles” go, I guess you could call my Newsletter, Steve Sovie’s World, a side hustle. But for me, it’s like an experiment or a new toy. It will not make or break me as a writer or content creator. I do enjoy reading what others are doing regarding their efforts to improve their writing or earn a little extra money, but I don’t intend to change direction at this point in my life.

When I don’t read specific articles on the topics I have mentioned above, I feel guilty, but I am not inferring I don’t support the writers or that what they say is unimportant. I’m just an old guy passing the time of day, spouting off about politics or whatever is on my mind on a particular day, maybe wishing I had the youth, energy, and abilities to write for a career. So please don’t take offense if I don’t read every one of your stories. I hope you understand. Thank you.

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There’s One Person Who Could End World Hunger,

But would he do it?

Photo by Tucker Tangeman on Unsplash

According to the UN World Food Program, it would take $40 billion a year to end world hunger by 2030. That’s a lot of money. But it could be possible if the wealthiest countries in the world and the billionaires of the world contributed.

There is however one man, who could afford to wipe out world hunger, all by himself, and still have enough money left over to remain a billionaire. Yup, you’re right, it’s Elon Musk. But would he do it?

According to Investopedia Elon Musk is estimated to have a net worth of $335 billion. After contributing $240 billion over the next six years, he would still have $95 billion left, even after paying $130 million to have Trump win the election.

Musk, in 2001, has set up the Musk Fund Charity, but according to Philanthropy News Digest, Musk hasn’t even given away enough of his $7 million charity to qualify for tax breaks. His charity doesn’t even have any employees! According to Forbes 400 List of the wealthiest Americans, Musk gives less than 1% of his wealth, the least of any of the contributors. This is like a person earning $500 per year donating less than $500 a year to charity.

I just thought I’d point this out to people who think billionaires running our government will have your best interests in mind when they get their big tax cuts. Remember him when you file your income taxes.

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X is Sinking Faster Than the Titanic

Are you jumping ship?

Photo by Jason Mavrommatis on Unsplash

X, formerly Twitter, is one of the largest social media sites on the Internet, but it is undergoing some changes. Since Elon Musk bought X and turned it into a misinformation platform, exposing extreme Conservative and racist rhetoric. After Trump’s reelection, X’s membership has been dwindling at an extraordinary rate.

I have been on X for quite some time and had 14K followers at one time. I wasn’t an avid follower, but I checked political happenings there on a regular basis. I occasionally created a post, which usually went unnoticed. I also shared my Medium stories on X, which, once again, fell on blind eyes.

Today, I checked the number of followers I now have and noticed they have dropped to 12K, having lost 3K followers. I am not bothered one bit, as I plan on soon leaving the site. I have signed up for BlueSky Social Network, which is similar to X but a more comfortable platform for me to share my political and societal views. I probably won’t do much better sharing my stories here than I did on X. I also don’t plan on spending much time there.

Are any of my fellow Medium members also members of X, and do you plan on staying or leaving?

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Have You Ever Wondered About What Your Fellow Medium Members are Really Like?

Profiles can’t reveal everything.

Photo by Julia Fiander on Unsplash

Last night, having trouble falling asleep, I began thinking about some of the people I engage with or have engaged with during my many-year journey on Medium. Do I really know who they are or what they stand for? Do I know how they spend their days, on or off Medium? Do I really want to know?

Most people I knew or interacted with when I first started writing here have vanished. I don’t know if they went elsewhere to write or quit this platform. I have remained in touch with only one of my acquaintances from the early days.

Presently, I can count on one hand the number of writers I would consider to be “friends” with, much like most of my Facebook “friends”. I think they know who they are.

I mostly learn about people through reading their profiles, but many times, these profiles don’t give an accurate picture. I truly get to know people when I read what they publish or through their comments.

I have discovered that a few people are not who they say they are. In one instance a fellow writer I read and followed, turned out to be rather homophobic. I am gay and liberal, and I don’t try to hide that fact. After publishing a few posts advocating gay rights, I noticed this person quit engaging with my stories. He suddenly started publishing stories where he pointed out that he was a “normal straight person”—a red flag.

Conversely, I got to know a writer, by whose profile, appeared to be a quiet and meek individual. But, in time, after reading her stories and comments, I found out she was really a liberal firebrand. I’m so happy I connected with her.

Sometimes, I wonder what some of the people I engage with do when they are not on Medium. Do they have a full-time job, a family, hobbies, etc.? There are writers who seem to be on Medium all day and all night long. They seem to be pumping out stories like a machine gun. Are they real people? Are they one person or a combination of people?

I didn’t intend to mention any names here, but I feel I must do so. I often wonder if he eats or sleeps or if he is a real person. He is quite a prolific writer, editor, reader, highlighter, and commenter, if he does indeed exist. I’m talking about Marcus Musick. He is what his writings and profiles say he is.

There are many wonderful people on this platform who we will never get the chance to know. I only wish there was a way to connect directly to them, such as a direct messaging option, other than leaving a private note on one of their stories. It would be nice if we could follow someone by seeing what interests or passions they have, instead of Medium suggesting articles to read. But I guess that is asking too much of Medium.

What do you think?

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How Do You Ruin a Perfectly Good Day?

Contact the DMV!

Photo by Yosh Ginsu on Unsplash

Today started off well. The rain had stopped, and the sun started peeking through the clouds. I felt energetic and made my way to the gym. 

When I came home for lunch, everything started going downhill. My husband told me that we never received the new vehicle registration for one of our cars. Since it was registered in my name, he asked me to contact the New York State DMV and get a copy. This sent shutters down my spine. Contacting the DMV is like running full speed into a brick wall!

I got onto my laptop and pulled up the DMV site. I logged in, and naturally, it said, “Incorrect user name or password.” Okay, I’ll say I forgot my password. Good. That didn’t take long. Finally, I was able to sign in.

All of my personal information, including my phone number and address, was correct. Great, I’m back in business. Now I have to check my registration. I click on “Vehicles,” and guess what? According to the DMV, I don’t have any cars! 

Then I remembered I had this same problem two years ago with the same registration. At that time, they discovered I had two DMV accounts, one with my middle name spelled out and the other with just my middle initial. The DMV representative told me she would merge the two accounts so I wouldn’t lose any information. Well, apparently, that never happened.

Now, I have to start all over with the same bullshit. There is no way to address the problem using the website, so I have to call. Calling the DMV could take years! After several unsuccessful attempts, I realized today is Veterans Day, and the office is closed! Oh great, tomorrow’s ruined too.

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Sharing Your Stories on Linkedin

Is it worth it?

Photo by Abid Shah on Unsplash

In my continuing quest to get more eyes on my stories, I have promoted my work on Facebook, X, and my personal blog. Some time ago, I heard that some writers use LinkedIn to promote their articles, but I never gave it much thought.

I rarely get views from using Facebook, and I think I’ve only had one view from sharing with X. I recently started a newsletter with Kit in an attempt to gain more readers. So far, that has not been fruitful. I’ve also changed my Facebook to the Professional mode.

It wasn’t until I received a great comment on one of my stories by one of our noted authors, Tyler Lubben BBA, who said he had used LinkedIn and gotten good results.

I’ve had a LinkedIn account since I was employed as a Cytologist, but after retiring, I rarely, if ever, used it. I have thought of promoting my stories there, but they didn’t seem to fit in with all the medical and hospital posts. To this day, I still get job offers, even though I have been retired for over 10 years.

Since I am retired and not interested in returning to work in my former career, I decided to close my professional account and open a new one devoted to promoting my Medium stories. I only created my new account yesterday, so I’m going to have to wait a while to see any results.

I’d love to hear from anyone who has had any experience using LinkedIn to share their work.

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If You Refuse to Stand Up for Your Rights,

Don’t expect others to!

Photo by Neil Thomas on Unsplash

I have always prided myself on advocating for the rights of others, especially immigrants, people of color, women, the handicapped, and, of course, the minority I belong to, the LGBTQ+ community.

For the past two years, I have listened to Donald Trump denigrate and demonize these very sane people. He has mocked a handicapped reporter called Latino immigrants, rapists, murderers, drug traffickers, and patients released from insane asylums.

He has bragged about banning abortions and taking away a woman’s right to control her own body. He and Vance have viciously attacked transgendered people and stoked fear of them among the electorate. He has accused Haitian immigrants of eating our dogs and cats long after the accusation was proven to be a lie.

He has referred to his female opponent and other female politicians as bitches, weak and of low intelligence. He hosted a large rally in Madison Square Gardens where no policy was discussed except for the mass deportation of immigrants and the advancement of hatred and bigotry.

The election is now over, and although millions more people registered to vote, there were millions fewer votes than in 2020. It has been reported that more than 20 million votes vanished and were never counted. This is strange, but I’ll leave this for others to ponder.

As we all now know, Trump won this election. And who were the ones who helped him win? Latino and white suburban women. The same ones he has spent over two years attacking as garbage and as poisoning the blood of our country. The same ones he has told that they are not able to determine their own reproductive health.

Sure, Trump got the vote of young males, thinking a vote for Trump would prove their masculinity. They didn’t have the balls to stand up for their wives, sisters, and daughters.

Let’s not forget those poor, uneducated people who voted for Trump because they thought he would pull them out of poverty. Here’s some news for you: According to Barron’s, Elon Musk’s wealth grew $26.5 billion the day after Trump was elected. What will your bank account look like next year?

Like millions, I am saddened by Trump’s win, but I am also pissed off by the stupid, ignorant people who voted for him. Yes, those are the people I have been fighting for for many years. It reminds me of the Jews who supported Hitler before the Holocaust, thinking he would take care of them. Well, he did take care of them -10 million of them!

If you are one of the minorities mentioned above who voted for Trump, I can no longer fight for your rights. If you can’t stand up for your own rights, don’t expect me and others to. You have to win back my trust.

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