716th Friday Blog Roundup

103 days after we got back from our last trip, I organized the photos and uploaded them to a photo printing site.  I’ll admit that I’m a bit slow on the post-trip photo-album-making front, but the pressure was on.  Oh, not because the kids were asking when I was planning on getting around to making the album but because I had a fantastic coupon.  I needed to print almost 400 pictures, and it was going to come out to close to $12 plus shipping.

It took me two hours to organize and upload and order the photos.  I went to check out… and shipping was $34.  SERIOUSLY.  The pictures were $12 but the lowest shipping option was $34.  I could bump it up to $76 and get the pictures in two days, or I could pay $34 and get them in ten.

I deleted the pictures, closed the account, muttered in frustration, and then posted to Facebook.

People suggested other photo sites, so I went with the first name I recognized.  Once again, I uploaded the photos, applied the special coupon they sent just for signing up, and went to check out.  The pictures were $17.  So more than the other site, but that’s fine.  But the shipping was $29.  If I opted to pick them up at a store, the cost of the photos rose to $46, but I had no shipping costs.  So I could pay $46 and have them sent or I could pay $46 and pick them up.  My choice.

In the end, I paid the $46 because it came out to 12 cents a print.  They arrived quickly, and they look gorgeous.  The colours are so vivid.  But I’m really cranky with the bait-and-switch of “5 cent prints!” to “Oh, did we forget to mention $30 in shipping, too?”

Clearly the answer is to do enormous orders at once so I can use a free shipping code.  But I’m feeling really done with photo services right about now.

*******

Stop procrastinating.  Go make your backups.  Don’t have regrets.

Seriously.  Stop what you’re doing for a moment.  It will take you fifteen minutes, tops.  But you will have peace of mind for days and days.  It’s the gift to yourself that keeps on giving.

As always, add any new thoughts to the Friday Backup post and peruse new comments in order to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.

*******

And now the blogs…

But first, second helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week.  In order to read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• “To Those Who Know The Heartbreak Of Pregnancy & Infant Loss–Your Story Is A Blessing” (An Unexpected Family Outing)

Okay, now my choices this week.

My Perfect Breakdown has a frank post about the financial disparity (sometimes) between birth parents and adoptive parents.  There were rules about the exchange of money during the adoption itself, but there is no formal guide for the years after as both families remain knitted together through open adoption.  Do you help with bills as you would any family member?  Is that not the case with this relative?  She writes, “What I do know is that this all comes back to the fact that open adoption has no rule-book. We have no idea what is right or what is wrong, so we are just doing what feels right to us, while trying to speculate what would also feel right to Little MPB’s birth-mother.”  They’re all good questions without simple, black-and-white answers.

Life Without Baby has a post about navigating envy when a family member is pregnant.  She talks about how your comfort level in dealing with that envy may be tied to the way they conveyed their news.  Are they sensitive to the fact that it may be difficult for you to hear their news and give you the space to ramp up to excitement?  Or do they spring it on you, demanding that you squelch your own feelings and put theirs first?  Join the conversation happening in the comment section.

Lastly, By the Brooke went to her reunion and marvels about how things changed.  She explains, “I think after Eliza died, I felt that I would always be the Worst Case and Unluckiest and Least Successful. And now that doesn’t really feel true–but it also feels like such comparisons or superlatives are pointless. I spent ALL of high school comparing myself to other people and feeling like I didn’t measure up.”  The night is wonderful, and it’s an important reminder that things change.  That how you feel in the moment is not how you’ll feel always.

The roundup to the Roundup: Photo sites are making me cranky.  Your weekly backup nudge.  And lots of great posts to read.  So what did you find this week?  Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between October 19th and October 26th) and not the blog’s main url. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week?  Read the original open thread post here.