The AJ Chronicles: 24 May 2024
Odd jobs, car insurance problems, diabetes clinic, Medium statistics, and recent Medium stories
![A collage of four images. Bags and boxes of tools on a gargage floor, a light fitting, and two graphs of Medium read statistics. A collage of four images. Bags and boxes of tools on a gargage floor, a light fitting, and two graphs of Medium read statistics.](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa2ad842f-5cd0-4d67-a927-e381759243ec.heic)
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Recent Moments
Medium Stories
Recent Moments
I finally did the odd jobs at Stephanie’s house 🛠️
Car insurance problems for me 🚘💷
Car insurance problems for Stephanie 🚙💷
Diabetes clinic appointment 👩⚕️
Medium statistics 📊
1. I finally did the odd jobs at Stephanie’s house 🛠️
This week, I tackled the jobs mentioned in The Complexity of Father-in-Law Approval and Home Projects on Medium.
In that story, I was quite apprehensive. Here’s a reminder:
The room has just been decorated, and there is a chance I might happen to drill between two bricks. That would lead to more drilling of her newly-decorated wall, to find a secure fixing.
And that’s exactly what happened! 😂
The first two holes I drilled for the mirror both went into the mortar between the bricks! That meant I’d found a horizontal mortar line, so I tried again slightly higher.
My second attempt was luckier because only one hole missed the brick, meaning I’d found a vertical mortar line.
Once I had those reference points, I used a tape measure to avoid any more misses.
And it worked! I ended up with two strong and secure fixings. (We won’t mention the extra holes — but at least they were hidden behind the mirror!)
Next, I mounted a tiny decorative shelving unit on a lath and plaster wall. I’d been dreading touching that wall, but the item was so small and light that screwing directly into the laths was more than enough.
The final job was to replace a missing ceiling rose on a light fitting.
My fiancée also handed me a light shade her daughter had chosen, and I was surprised how heavy it was. It was almost too heavy to be suspended by a cable.
I had two different brands of replacement light fittings and hoped one of the roses would fit the existing base on the ceiling. They were slightly larger, but I managed to use one of them in the end.
It was such a relief to finish those jobs, and Stephanie was pleased.
2. Car insurance problems for me 🚘💷
When I received my car insurance renewal quote, I went online to check the details.
I had to edit my occupation, having recently registered as self-employed. (My Medium earnings for the previous tax year exceeded the £1000 threshold.)
I also had to specify what industry I work in. The list of options was long, but there wasn’t a good match for online writing.
After making the change, a message appeared saying they could no longer cover me! Perhaps they thought I was a journalist and therefore a higher risk.
That’s when I tried a price comparison site I’ve used for years — confused.com — and found another insurer willing to cover me.
It was 25% cheaper, too!
3. Car insurance problems for Stephanie 🚙💷
Having successfully reduced my car insurance, I helped Stephanie with hers.
After finding a lower quote on the comparison site, I clicked to go to the insurer’s website where it took ages to edit all the details.
After all that effort, they said they could not provide a quote! I spent an hour trying different options, but it was still rejected.
We had to settle for a more expensive insurer — but it was still lower than her renewal quote.
4. Diabetes clinic appointment 👩⚕️
My son had his quarterly clinic appointment for type 1 diabetes this week.
He was diagnosed as a child in 2020, and this was his second appointment as an adult since turning 18 this year.
Before he transitioned from child to adult services, the hospital was inconsistent. Sometimes they ignored me and I stayed in the waiting room. Other times, they insisted I had to see the doctor with him.
This time, at his request, I accompanied him to the hospital. They asked if I was going in with him, but I stayed in the waiting room and he went in alone.
I hoped a one-to-one conversation between him and the staff would make things more focused. (In the past, I’ve told them about how he mismanages his condition, but it has not helped.)
Afterwards, they sent him for a blood test. He wanted to skip it and go straight home, but I persuaded him to do it.
5. Medium statistics 📊
Fewer claps?
I was sure many of my stories used to get more than 1000 claps, whereas recent ones rarely reach 500.
After checking, I found my older stories had fewer claps than I remembered. (Then again, claps keep disappearing during Medium’s ongoing bot cleanup.)
Fewer reads?
My gut tells me I get fewer reads on Medium in recent months, but maybe I’m wrong about that, too.
Boosted story 2 was a pleasant surprise in November 2023. But I never expected December’s Viral story, which made November’s boosted one look relatively small.
The effects of that viral story continued into January 2024. Then I was lucky to have boosted stories in February and April.
None of my boosted stories came close to my viral one, which was not boosted, but they still had a big impact on earnings because boosted stories are worth more per read.
(If only the viral story had been boosted…)
It’s hard to shake off the feeling that I’m no longer doing well on Medium, especially when I see other people getting thousands of claps within 24 hours of publishing.
Seeing falling numbers over several weeks is worrying, but it can take weeks for the stats to return to normal after a boosted/viral story.
I need to stop sweating over the statistics and be grateful for the handful of successful stories I’ve had.
Thank you for reading 💛
Alan
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Medium Stories
This week’s stories cover a wide range of topics: grief, autism, Medium, and technology.
I’m Not a Doctor but Part of Me Feels Guilty That I Could Not Save My Wife From Breast Cancer
If I could go back in time with some knowledge, what would I do?
Perhaps I still carry guilt in the back of my mind, as though there must have been something more I could have done, even though the doctors could not help.
A Cruel High School PE Teacher and an Undiagnosed Autistic ADHD Child
My teacher was a bully, so I never enjoyed sports
He held me upside-down by my ankles. My head was just above the hard, frosty field. He let go, and I dropped to the ground.
The Medium Comment Glitch Continues
I’m exaggerating a little, but it seems half of Medium has already written about problems with notifications not working correctly in recent days.
Remembering the Acorn Archimedes and the First ARM Chips
The ARM CPU architecture is now used in billions of products such as smartphones, and the Archimedes was the first computer to use it in the 1980s
In 1985, the first ARM1 chip was built. It consumed under 100 mW and provided 25 times the performance of the 6502-based BBC Micro.
“I need to stop sweating over the statistics and be grateful for the handful of successful stories I’ve had.” This is such great advice for all of us!