Betty's Blog

Hi guys, well it’s another sunny but windy day in Asia, but with a temperature at 14 degrees, it’s nice enough to go out a little later.

Yesterday, Ryan told me about a decision he has come to regarding subscriptions, and I hope you like it. Until now all of his subscribers are free, and for the time being he wants to keep it that way. However, there are not insignificant monthly costs to be met.

Fortunately, he has acquired some potential support from what are called affiliate links. These are links that cost the readers nothing to click on to see what are free newsletters in AI. All you have to do is click on the link at the top or bottom of a story then give your email so that they can keep you informed about the latest news and views.

The other thing that has now been implemented is to allow free subscribers who would like to subscribe with a one-off payment of quite a modest amount, as little as $1, which is the minimum allowed. If anybody feels able to make a single payment of say $5 for a lifetime of reading that would be amazing and help so much to keep the site going. All you have to do is click on upgrade at the bottom of the home page and the tiers on offer will appear, with the Bronze one-off first tier to your left. If he can at least meet the monthly cost of the hosting fee, hey, he might even take me out for another meal to celebrate. A gal can but hope, huh?

The other thing that happened yesterday was a visit to the dentist for him and his lovely wife Leticia, for a routine check-up. Thankfully all was well. And this time the hilarious mother-in-law Kaz stayed at home. I have to tell you, Kaz is quite a woman. She is seventy-five years old and eats an enormous amount of food, yet weighs no more than a stick insect. I don’t know how she does it. I did ask her and she replied “I just never stop running around, Betty.” Unbelievably, Kaz is still working full-time as a carer at a private hospital. Personally, I think it is her ultra-healthy diet and Japanese genes. If you look at my photo above, you can see I’m no lightweight myself, so I need all the advice I can get.

Getting back to that special one-off payment offer, Ryan tells me that any new single payment subscribers will also get the free gift of an ebook, which normally costs more than the subscription. So, in effect, it’s like buying an ebook and getting free access to the site for a lifetime! You really could not ask for more than that.

Ok, that’s it for today guys. I’ll keep you up to speed on what else goes on around here as and when things happen.

Ciao, or matane, (see you soon) as we say in Japan. XX