One Reason I Haven't Moved to Substack

I've thought about it, not because I expect I'd make a bunch of money there or anything, but because it looks like a pretty useful platform (although, never having used it, I don't know how user-friendly it is on the back end where posts are authored/edited, etc.) with nice hooks for getting noticed/read (recommendations from other users to their audiences, etc.).

And, recently, I got a notification from Substack (where I'm a reader) that someone had pledged a pretty nice monthly contribution if I started writing there.

But there's one feature I keep waiting for (I just checked this morning) that doesn't show up.

It's a feature that I think would specifically attract "small earners" like me. People who are knocking down double-digit, rather than triple- or quadruple-digit, earnings per month.

That feature is being able to use your account balance to pay for your own Substack subscriptions.

That is, suppose I knocked down $10 a month for my own blog there, but instead of letting that balance build up until I wanted to withdraw cash, I could just subscribe to two other Substack publications, and the money would automatically be paid from my Substack balance instead of being paid for by debit card, PayPal, whatever.

That's not an unusual feature with "content creator payment platforms." Patreon has had it for years, and I've used it for years. It makes my life simpler and means less money going to payment processor fees by "well, I withdraw my money from Patreon, then I use PayPal to pay each of these x creators, and maybe those creators are withdrawing their money from Patreon and then paying it back in to other creators, etc."

It just doesn't seem like it should be very hard to implement, Substack is a "mature" platform (having been around for eight years now) that presumably has a team capable of implementing it, and it would also serve the purpose of keeping more money in Substack's system for longer, probably producing interest earnings for them.

So why isn't it there?

Wordle 1718 Hint

Hint: It's used to make (among other things) bed sheets and "paper money."

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First Letter: L

Fun and Interesting Weekend Trip

I spent the weekend at the 2026 Atlanta Classic backgammon event. Good time!

Why didn't I let people know I'd be in Atlanta so that I could get together with area friends? Because it was one of those things where MY schedule was unknown, and where the schedules of my traveling companions (reader GregL and someone else whom I won't name because I didn't think to consult  about naming) were even MORE unknown.  I couldn't know in advance where I would be, or what I'd be doing, at any given time, so I couldn't commit to seeing anyone either at the venue or elsewhere on a schedule I could expect to keep.

This was my first ever IRL backgammon event. In fact, I played more games of backgammon on a physical board (as opposed to online or on computer) this weekend than I had in my entire life before that.

I entered the "novice" tournament because I saw no reason to over-estimate my abilities and put down entry fees on something I'd quickly be eliminated from. These were events with substantial purses (well into four figures per tournament) and entry fees to match those purses; the people who play at that level are so far out of my league that it would have just been pitiful. I got to meet some of those people; there were a few who were definitely Big Deals in the backgammon community (which is just as quirky in its own ways as other niche/hobbyist/gaming communities).

In the low-entry-fee "novice" tournament, though, I did much better than I expected to. I doubted I'd win a single game, but I won three three-point matches and lost two, tying for second place. The winner got to a 4-1 record, meaning she could not lose versus other players' records, so the tournament automatically ended (I'm told this is a tournament scheme called "Swiss Rules").

Interestingly (at least to me), the only match the tournament winner lost was to me. There was no purse, but the winner did get a cool trophy.

In the in-between times, the three of us were able to eat at the original Chick-fil-A location (which is attached to its still-operating predecessor diner, the Dwarf House), maybe 1/4 mile from the event venue, and GregL and I managed outings to the spot where Margaret Mitchell was killed, and to Stone Mountain:

The trip was somewhat exhausting, and not just because of the 1 mile (each way) hike with an 850 meter elevation change at Stone Mountain. Since news and politics is what I do, I really needed to get some work done when Trump picked this weekend to launch Operation Forget About Epstein, Here Let Me Help with You Do That With an Iran Distraction. And I had to do that work on a laptop, which I don't like much. But it all worked out.

We got back to Greg's house about midnight last night, after which I had about an hour of motorcycling to get home, and went right back to work. I ended up with about two hours of sleep, so there's probably a nap in the cards today.