Stateside Visit
Pickup at RDU, August 2026
In August 2026, Skeeter made a trip back to the states to visit family. This trip was neither announced on social media, nor was it the subject of any online post. This was designed specifically for family -to-know only, and it was about two weeks in duration. The journey was a 3-point excursion, from Dublin to Raleigh, then Raleigh to Hartford, then back home to Dublin. The trip of course coincided with the height of summer in North Carolina, which saw tempuratures of 37 degrees (do the math). Temperatures were cooler in Connecticut, but were as typically uncomfortable as ever due to humidity.
The first leg of the trip was made specifically to celebrate older sister Sandy's birthday, and to see several grand nieces and nephews. Skeeter and his mum made a day trip to Pinehurst and visited a local Irish pub, which thankfully lived up to the reputation that only Irish pubs carry. A lovely night out was had at a local cidery and a birthday dinner at a local Italian eatery that thankfully excels at gluten-free pizza.
The trip to Connecticut involved a visit to the local Bricks & Minifigs, to retrieve Skeeter's "Southington 1975" model. It has since been disassembled and bagged, and a third of the bricks have been safely returned to Ireland. Old people were not stolen from in this operation.
Skeeter hopes to make stateside visits an annual tradition. Skeeter himself was not available for comment at press time.
Living Analog: Mixtapes
The trendy but useful "We Are Rewind" portable cassette player.
Earlier in 2026, Skeeter endeavored to adopt more modes of analog living, in part to reduce risks of phone-induced tendonitis, but also to aid in sabatoge big-tech's ability to build his data profile, which we all know gets bought and sold on the regular. But one item that Skeeter was missing from pre-internet eras was mixtapes. Having sold almost all his custom mixed cassettes prior to the move across the pond, he was searching for a musical alternative that would not involve streaming services, a phone, or an iPod of 1000 options.
His analog weapon of choice ended up being a We Are Rewind portable cassette player. Built with a tough aluminum exterior, the device boasts bluetooth capability and recording functions. Prior to his trip to the states, Skeeter acquired one of these performative devices and set about making a few tapes to enjoy on the seven hour flight.
Skeeter reports that playback functions meet all expectations. The recording functions do leave a little bit to desired, however. In it's maiden voyage, the We Are Rewind machine recorded from CD's played via laptop, and from Windows Media playlists. For some reason, tapes that are recorded seem to exhibit variable speed at the time of audio capture, sometimes leading to dodgy playback. However, in the spirit of being analog, the variableness is somewhat acceptable though considerably below average when compared to historic accuracy of legacy tape recording devices.
Skeeter's favorite mixtape involves 80's tracks which simulated recording off the radio. In this case, Youtube was the radio. Skeeter will not confirm whether or not this is considered pirating.
SkeeterBook to be Retired
Effective immediately, Skeeer's "Skeeterbook" section of his website will be decommissioned. The move is not entirely unexpected, given his widely promoted distate of social media websites.
"Skeeterbook was meant to be my own answer to social media. I dubbed it 'asocial media' due to its intended lack of comment sections, so that I could post things in peace and quiet," said Skeeter in a statement. "However, the ease in posting to Skeeterbook was lacking and it really was a time sink that I just cannot afford. Besides, even with a built in RSS feed, I don't think anyone was really looking at it."
"I could expound for days as to why my friends should quit social media, and for more days as to why they won't. It is just my opinion that if even half of my friends made their own websites, the world would be a lot better place."
With the demise of Skeeterbook, what will be the main channel for keeping up with the lad? "First and foremost, my news page. Skeeter Times will run as a pseudo blog, hopefully on a monthly basis going forward. Daily or weekly updates can be found on my Gemini capsule.
Does this mean he will be walking back his use of Facebook as "for occasional digital postcards going forward"? He replied, "You know, Facebook and I have been involved in a protracted separation that ultimately will end in our divorce. The less I use it, the better off I will be. Friends know how to find me. It's not like I haven't left them a breadcrumb trail.
At press time, Skeeterbook
was already found to be offline.
The Skeeter Times © Copyright 2026 David Bielski Jr.
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