“Have you no wit, manners, nor honesty, but to gabble like tinkers at this time of night?” (Shakespeare’s 12th Night – II.iii.88-9)
I got in last night, kind of late, and before I ever left, off to my “other offices,” I had uploaded a placeholder for the scopes. A little experiment, just to see what kind of numbers it turned out.
I knew that I was going to teach a Spartan astrology class last night, just filling in for an ailing Pisces, and I was aware it might run late, hence no time for the scopes. I’ll see if the placeholder worked when I read the stats this morning.
“But why can’t I read the scopes a day early?” Indeed, good question. Thank you for asking. Spend $5, get the scopes delivered via email. As of now, that $5 is still optional, not required-yet.
> Got your scopes in email today.
> Well, you have been right for the past 2
> weeks for me.
But when those “beta-copy” scopes hit the wires on Wednesday, it’s bad news around here. I get a number of “mail box is over quota” and “I’m out of the office” or “no longer works here” or “not a valid email address” or similar responses. Only three or four yesterday, but that takes administrative time that isn’t spent walking, writing and drawing up charts.
I had to pick a time to publish the weekly scopes. I chose the cusp between Wednesday and Thursday, Austin [Central Time Zone>, as the time. Why not a day or two earlier? Indeed, why not just publish all of next year right now? Wouldn’t that defeat the purpose of a weekly column?
There’s a handful of readers who figured out that I occasionally drop the scopes in a day early. That’s for my convenience, not for the reading public.
I missed a deadline once this year, wasn’t around to make sure the scopes hit the wire on time. (There was a series of free midnight movies at the Alamo Draft House.) Never ceases to amaze me how much folks can bitch about a free horoscope that isn’t delivered on time.
The chart template I use – you know, I actually use a real set of astrology charts when I write the weekly column – runs from 12:01 AM (00:01 hours) Thursday to 11:59 PM (23:59 hours) the following Wednesday. Since I use Austin time, I mean, it’s where I’m located, all the planets’ ingress and egress relate to local time. I had to pick someplace, and I chose where I live.
I could pretend to be something of a global person, but then I figure I would lose touch with the people, personalities and places that I’ve learned to enjoy in this life.
It was this year that I dropped the monthly scopes (too much time, not enough revenue), and I switched to a Thursday publication date (targeted at the “alternative” press weeklies), places that usually publish on Thursday or Friday. Want to see the scopes on Wednesday for free? Get your local alternative weekly to pick them up.
And want a day-by-day version? Order a transit report. Wheedling, begging, cajoling, or outright outrage and complaining, none of that is particularly attractive, nor will it be tolerated, unless accompanied by large amounts of cash.
