Mystery Solved ... Sorta

As you may recall, I puzzled last year over not one, but two mystery magazine subscriptions that no one came forward to claim credit for.

"Outside" started arriving followed shortly thereafter by "Men's Health." Now I'm up to my ears in magazines and asking, "Why me?"

Well, I finally called "Men's Health" this morning to find out. The real culprit: Reserve America.

It seems that when we made our reservations for camping last May at Mount Greylock the folks at Reserve America pegged us for a couple of gift subscriptions — or at least that's what the customer service woman at "Men's Health" suggested.

It still doesn't make a lot of sense. At any rate, I cancelled "Men's Health" but think I'll keep "Outside" until the subscription runs out.

Magazine Gremlin Strikes Again

It happened again, and as you can imagine, the second time is even more unsettling than the first.

I'm talking about my mystery magazines. A few months ago, I wrote about receiving Outside magazine in the mail without warning, and no one came forward to take credit for a gift subscription or an accidental subscription or a fit of drunkeness or loss of sanity (other than my own).

And I swear, I didn't subscribe to it myself, though I've been enjoying reading the magazine, nonetheless.

Well, I come home from work yesterday, and Liz informs me that I've received the latest issue of Men's Health.

Say what?

And again, I don't recall ever even considering subscribing to Men's Health — not because I'm already healthy (far from it), but because I'm a geek, and geeks read the New Yorker and the Atlantic and maybe Outside (for the fantasy life), but not so much Men's Health.

That said, the latest issue has a nice cover article on Barack Obama. And it's billed on the cover as the "Special Wealth & Power Issue." I could get into that.

Hey, I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth, so I'll read the dang magazine. But it's time I got to the bottom of this crazy mystery.

Who is the magazine gremlin?!? Show yourself!!!

Mystery Magazine

We received a surprise piece of mail this week: the August issue of Outside magazine.

It was a surprise because I haven't subscribed to Outside, at least not that I recall. Is it possible I could have sent away for the magazine and then totally forgotten? It surely wasn't Liz, because she thinks I get too many magazines already.

The most likely scenario is the phenomenon of the gift subscription. My buddy Kyle got me a Runner's World subscription a while back, and I returned the favor by sending him an Atlantic Monthly subscription. Keith is a fan of Outside, so I figured he must have been struck by a sudden fit of generosity. Not so, says Keith, though he's willing to take credit if no one else does.

So if anyone can solve this mystery, please let us know. The subscription is much appreciated. Now I can pursue my life-long ambition of becoming an unwashed, Everest-dreaming, surfboard-carrying, gear-grinding Sherpa of the soul.