Still straightening...

Okay, so we had to replace the big computer. And now I want to thank every single person who has ever purchased SHM. I sock away every penny that doesn't go to the printer or the post office, and I wouldn't have any pennies if it hadn't been for you. Thank you. You're how we paid for the evil creature now crouching on the desk that I officially refuse to dust.

I was stupid enough to try. Just once. Right after the old one was declared officially dead. We cleared a lot of clutter off that work surface in the course of installing the new beastie, and since we're all allergy sufferers, regular dusting and cleaning is a real issue. And the room really needed it at this point. So I kind of snuck my way over, with my surgical mask and my bandanna and my special dust-eating dust cloths. I acted all casual, starting with the bookshelves. (And by the way, I got a lot of grief from my allergy doctor about my insistence on cohabiting with all these books. I'd just like to point out that books are friendly creatures that never commit suicide, no matter how much you dust them.)

So I finally got over to the desk. I dusted the printer that doesn't work with my computer (not that I'm bitter or anything). I dusted the printer that's supposed to work with my computer, but only does so when it feels like it. I dusted computer-related objects that I don't understand and that act all important with their flashing lights and occasional small, urgent sounds. I started to feel safe.

And then I dusted the keyboard to the new computer, and the computer started chattering and blinking and flashing its lights. It was kind of like when you think you're about to die and all the important events in your life crowd into your mind. Except that what rushed into mine was everything my husband has ever done to annoy me, ending with his glib assurances on just how utterly dusting-friendly this new monster is.

Suffice it to say that my husband is now in charge of dusting the desk and all its ominous inhabitants (my relatively innocuous little laptop is excluded from this count), and he doesn't have to do it the same day I do the rest of the cleaning in here, but he does have to do it on something like a regular basis.

I'm sure that's not what you came here to learn, but I just had to mention it.

In other news, it looks as if, starting with the very-soon-I-promise upcoming issue, we'll be putting out a 48-page issue every other month. Our costs for printing and mailing will be going down fifty cents. The price of the magazine will be going down a dollar. Probably a stupid business decision on my part, but it was important to me to be able to bring the per-copy price down for the customer by a good round amount. And what — I’m going to pretend to be afraid to be broke at this point?

It also looks as if we'll be offering half-year subscriptions as an option once we're bimonthly. Still working on the method we'll employ to ensure that everyone gets what they paid for up to this point. We're cautiously exploring the option of whatever cash refunds would be necessary.

And we're also looking at what kind of changes having a smaller page-count will have on regular columns. The kids' section will stay as it is, although it looks as if I'm going to take the ongoing fantasy story online so it can be read for free, commented on, and updated much more frequently. Homeschool Horror Stories may become an every-other-issue column -- we're not getting that many contributions, we've had some negative feedback about it, and I don't want it crowding out articles that might need the length. Money Matters was a nice idea, but it's not something I'm very good at writing and I'm not getting much in the way of contributions to it, so it might be better to just prominently post the fact that we accept money-saver articles on the "Calls for Materials" page. And I'm still pondering the fate of "Hot Chocolate!" and "Here We Go Again..." I'm going back and forth like mad on those crazy twins.

I think that's it for now. Just wanted to let you know that we're all alive and reasonably well (minus the dear departed computer, of course). More news soon.