We had our internet router replaced, and the moment filled me with dread. The old router worked fine-ish. Mostly fine. Would the new router work as well? Or worse?

I always assume worse. I always believe that new is bad. Josh promised me long ago that I would never need to drive a new car. He would give me his old one — one I knew would work — and he would take the unfamiliar one. New shoes hurt your feet until they’re broken in. And new clothes make me feel like I need to be careful. And new glasses take weeks to feel normal.

The only thing new that is good from the get-go is new books.

That’s a pretty small category.

The devices took a bit to pair correctly with the router, which went out after a few minutes. It’s clearly currently back up, but it had a rocky start. Just as I suspected it would.

How do you feel about new things?

I am 100% not a fan of April Fools’ Day. Still, I thought Lifehacker’s post about it was interesting because it made me think about how it moved from being a personal holiday (mess with your classmates) to a public holiday (post an obnoxiously confusing joke article online).

They point out: “Traditionally pranks were at least enjoyable for the one doing the pranking, but modern April Fools’ isn’t fun for anyone.” The people making the pranks are not enjoying it because it’s work. And they don’t know how people receive it. And the people being pranced aren’t enjoying it. It’s just a terrible “holiday” all around.

So heads up for tomorrow. Maybe stay offline.

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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 to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.

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And now the blogs…

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

• “Odds & Ends & Updates” (The Road Less Travelled)
• “A Moment with LGN” (The Road Less Travelled)
• “Speaking Up for the Non-Grandmas” (No Kidding in NZ)

Okay, now my choices this week.

If you were blown away by Finding a Different Path’s post last week of her husband’s icebreaker at work, you’re going to looooooooove this update of what they did for International Women’s Day. Your mouth will once again drop open as you read.

Infertile Phoenix marks her eighth survivor anniversary, marking the time from her last IVF cycle when she stopped trying to conceive. She admits: “I had a deep cry for about ten minutes yesterday. If I do not give in and feel it, it will persist for days. So, I went with it and felt it all. And it felt awful. And then it passed.” Here’s to the feelings that flow through you, marking the day and letting it go.

Lastly, Dear John marks a year without her husband, giving John an update on all of the things he missed as they neared the anniversary. She tells him, “I did not picture myself as someone who would make plans for the next time she visited the cemetery, so…thanks for that, I guess?” Sending her deep breaths as she starts the second year.

The roundup to the Roundup: April Fools’ Day tomorrow. 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 March 24 – March 31) 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.

A friend told me about the show Somebody Someplace on HBO, and on the same day, HBO sent an email with a teaser for the second season. We decided to try it because she recommended it knowing that Tig Notaro’s One Mississippi is one of our comfort watches.

Bridget Everett stars as a woman who moved home to her small town in Kansas to help care for her sister before she died, and she’s finding it hard to find her place there long after the loss. She has a job she doesn’t love and a strained relationship with her other sister. But she reconnects with an old friend from high school, who brings her into his friendships with people in town.

It’s the most hopeful show I’ve seen about grief, and Josh and I both gave the first episode a 10, and it has only gotten better from there. Knowing there is a second season coming makes it even better. It’s not the straightforward hope contained in Ted Lasso, but it’s a deeper, more honest, more achievable kind of hope. It’s time well spent watching it.

The article promised to tell me how many clothes the average person should own, something I’m usually not interested to know because I wear the same thing every day. (Well, not the same-same thing. I bought dozens of copies of the same black shirt and jeans or cargo pants, and I wear the same thing for all external appearances daily.) But the twins are thinking about what they need to get as they head off to college, knowing that they’re not going to go shopping while they’re away from home.

It turns out that you need the following:

The researchers found that a “sufficient” wardrobe consists of 74 garments and 20 outfits in total. As an example, they’ve suggested six outfits for work, three outfits for home wear, three outfits for sports, two outfits for festive occasions, plus four outdoor jackets and trousers or skirts.

Regarding the twins (YMMV if you’re sporty), they need eleven outfits for school or weekends, one for exercise, two for festive occasions (one casual, one formal), plus outdoor gear, which feels doable to wrap my brain around. And it makes me relook at all the clothes I’m keeping but not wearing. I think I need to let them go.

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

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We used to DVR @Midnight and bulk watch the episodes at the end of the week. But we never watched the final four episodes. They just sat on the DVR since 2017.

We’re replacing the DVR, which means losing everything on the old unit. So we finally sat down to watch the very last episode, which was the ChickieNob’s very first episode. It was bittersweet to watch old Internet memes and hear the news knowing that comics had no clue how the next six years would unfold.

But it was a good reminder not to save things for a rainy day. Watch the shows you want to watch, read the books you want to read, and eat the chocolate bar instead of leaving it on the shelf to rot.

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Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts connected to businesses or sponsored posts.