Bumbling Blogger? That's Me!

    When I started blogging I thought I had something important to say. I also thought that anything I put out on the Internet would be automatically seen and read by millions. Well, I was much more than naive. After a few months I discovered that few or none were reading my blog. What should I do?


     So I got the "Blogging for Dummies book."  That would do the trick. First , I got the impression that  I had to be on search engine lists, I tried to put my blog on search engines and couldn't tell whether I got my blog on search engines or not. Anyway there wasn't any noticeable increase in hits.


    So what's next? I discovered that I had to follow some blogs. How do you do that? After awhile I got the hang of it and was following half a dozen blogs. I also found out that I had to have followers so I told my friends and got a half dozen followers. However , my friends didn't have blogs so that wasn't going to go very far. Still no more traffic. Finally, an honest to goodness blogger showed up to follow me and even left comments. Until  that time I didn't have any comments. Of course, I hadn't left any comments. So Red, get busy and make comments on other blog posts. 


     So the "Blogging for Dummies " book was consulted many times. I then knew that I had to follow more blogs and make more comments before I would be noticed. Slowly this process has been succeeding.


     Now the seed for this post started in another place. In writing courses you are told to consider your audience. In other words who are you writing to. Obviously the audience thing didn't sink in. I did not have it in my head who my audience would be.


    It would go like this. I might want to write about music so my audience would be musicians  and  music listeners. I might expand this to the arts in general and I could include acting, dancing, writing and visual arts. I had no idea who I would write to.


     Gradually I gained some readers and followers. These people don't really know what to expect on my blog. I bounce around on a wide variety of topics. Lately, since I have regular followers , I'm influenced by  readers. Comments give me ideas for posts. Other bloggers give me good ideas for posts from what they write. I write mostly about experiences I have had. 


      So after three and a half years of bumbling around there are some things that are making sense and bringing about more blogging success. When I look back some of these things should have made sense a long time ago. A focus of my writing may have made it easier for readers to follow me. I'm sure people drop by my blog and wonder ,  "What's this guy all about?"


     So I am extremely happy with the people who have chosen to visit me on a regular basis and that you can put up with someone who bumbles from topic to topic.

The Ultimate Insult to a Snorer

     Now I admit that I am a fairly capable competent snorer. I can raise quite few decibels.


     Am I concerned about snoring? Well, no. About 99% of adults snore. We all do it. So not to worry. Snoring is like respiration circulation...it's automatic. 


    In 2007 my wife and I went on a trip with our daughter and we had arranged for one room. The first morning my daughter said, "I didn't sleep all night. One of you snores and the other one chokes." So the only thing you can say is sorry. She did get used to the noise after several days. On the other hand I had to get used to a schnauzer. Unfortunately my daughter was given a mat to sleep on rather than a cot. Shortly after turning out the lights I heard the dog quietly walking around the bed. Suddenly the dog jumped up on the bed. She stealthily made her way up the bed and then gently eased her way under the covers between my wife and I. What spoiled brat!

The spoiled schnauzer!

    We have a local writer who has a humor column in the Saturday paper. Today he was describing a similar situation as I had gone through. They went on a trip and parents and daughter shared the same room. Guess what? Dad snored and daughter objected. In this case daughter grabbed her cell phone and made a video of her dad snoring...not once but three times! Now that's a tremendous insult. You're not only harassed about your snoring but you are confronted with cold hard evidence.


     Now I'm lucky that my experience was before fancy cell phones were invented.

     It's almost enough to make a guy quite snoring but as I said before there is a certain amount of automation to snoring. So good luck!

Walking With Walter

      I have an  81 year old neighbor who is a retired college psychology instructor. Walter is very active and one thing he does a lot of in the winter is walking. Walter firmly believes that physical activity is very good for you. He always walked with his wife but this winter she said it was too icy so Walter walks by himself.


     I was out walking a few days ago and met Walter. Walter just said, "Come walk with me." Now you can't turn Walter down. He said, "We'll just go as far as the mall." Well, we got to the mall and Walter just continued walking. I didn't say anything because Walter is and interesting guy to listen to.


     Now Walter is a fairly passionate person. First, on his list are his wife and children. After that it's psychology, gardening and bees. Walter reads two newspapers a day and probably watches several news casts so he is intensely interested and knowledgeable about current affairs. Walter trims trees and shrubs. He knows how to trim and when and why. He trimmed his honey suckle hedge in January because that was the proper time to trim . So there he was in the deep snow and below zero temperatures of January. He has about 20 beehives and is a walking encyclopedia on bees. Walter spends a good part of the summer looking after bees. Walter has a large vegetable garden which is very successful. Walter is a thinking man. He thinks about how bees behave and how plants grow and why. 


     I've known Walter for a long time. So the other day when we walked we covered a wide range of topics. When Walter really gets interested in something, he stops walking. So the walk is not only long in distance but also in time. So we talked about Walter's walking, icy conditions, conditions in Greece, my children, gay and lesbian people and probably as many topics again that I have forgotten. On most things Walter and I are on the same page but he's very knowledgeable so I learn a lot by listening to him. The only things we disagree on is capital punishment and sentencing  for crime. Walter would execute all murderers and put people in jail and throw away the keys.


     So the moral of my story is that when you walk with an eighty one year old it is enjoyable and enlightening. Now I'm kind of advertising for myself because I'm coming up on the 81 sooner than I think. So in  a few years I will be a good person to walk with.

Rigid Clock Resetting Regime

      Now I know the time change requires that time pieces be reset. If it was up to me the clocks wouldn't be reset in any punctual order. I could live quite awhile before resetting anything as I can allow for the hour difference in my head.

     However , around here,  my manager has completely different ideas about resetting clocks. On the Saturday evening a kitchen clock and bedroom clock must be reset. Then there's the oven timer! That requires a bit of background. Our oven is the original with the house so it is 49 years old. I have replaced this timer twice. The last time we were told that there were no more parts available. So you say, so what? Get a new oven. Not my manager. This is a wall oven and you can't buy another wall oven to go in the same hole. So you say, change the cabinets. Now these are the original cabinets and according to my manager they don't make  cabinets of this quality any more. So to protect the timer this procedure is used. You trip the breaker for the oven Sat. Evening and then reset the breaker when the actual time equals what's on the timer. You don't understand this? Neither do I but it works. So that's the complicated part of the regime.

That great old time oven

The best old cupboards you can't buy anymore.

     The next morning all the other time pieces are reset. I'm responsible for the stereo and thermostat. I am closely supervise until this is completed. Now my wrist watch always stays in the drawer. Guess what ? I don't reset it and my manager doesn't remember it. 

    So I have survived another stressful time change. I will recover by Nov. when we have to turn the clocks back. 

Owl Web Cam Link

     I have just placed a link on my blog for an web cam on an owl's nest.


      This owl' nest has been occupied for quite a number of years. There was a web cam on this nest last year. The pair of owls were successful in raising their brood. The web cam placement was not good but this year they have a better camera and the placing is much better.


     The owls aren't nesting yet. Owls have been seen visiting the nest.


      So if you are curious and have the time check into the owl's nest and see how they are doing.

I Remember Helpful Students

      As a teacher I was fortunate enough to have some students who always wanted to be helpful. They always wanted to do something. These kids were a treat because they had such a positive attitude and they were of great help.


      A class room teacher always has an amazing number of things to get done during a day. It was always nice to have the kid who wanted to do little jobs. Take something to the office(attendance forms), get something from the office, get the video, get the duplicated stuff, haul some books around: These kids saved a teacher many steps. It was interesting that there were two types of helpful kids. One kind of helpful kid was just plane helpful. The other kind of helpful kid was a little devious and wanted to get out of work or go for a stroll. These kids realized that they were helpful. They knew this message could go home and that would be a big plus for them.


     Then some kids were very helpful and they didn't intend to be helpful and didn't know they were being helpful. Sometimes there were shenanigans going on that I couldn't catch. If I watched carefully, there was always some kid who knew where the nonsense was taking place and was watching and enjoying the action. If you could catch that kids eye and follow it you could find out exactly where the monkey business was going on. Usually the culprit was caught completely off guard and wondered how he had been caught.


     One time I had someone in class who was either lighting matches or scratching caps for cap guns. Both were smelly and other kids would complain. They didn't know who was the culprit either. I really wanted to put a stop to this activity as it was dangerous. I had one sharp eyed observer who always knew where the action was. He was and extremely nice and well behaved boy. I watched him carefully. He was so interested in the goings on that he concentrated intently and I could see exactly who the bad guy was. I pounced on the culprit and that was the end of lighting matches until the next time.


     So students were helpful in several ways and I appreciated all of them.  

The Real Spring Snow Storm

      The other day when I posted on "Snow: Embrace it or Fight it" I might have known that I might spook the snow gods. Today we are getting heavy spring snow. It's just below freezing and the snow is coming down hour after hour. We've had about 20 cm (8 in.) of snow so far and are likely to get 20 cm more before it's done. I've had the pleasure of shoveling twice today and I'll go out again about 9:00 PM.


    So today I'm not sure if I'm embracing , fighting or just keeping my head above the snow. It is a quiet gentle time.   Roads are terrible and there have been some serious accidents.

I wish there wasn't so much snow.

Big hat for my lamp 

Lots more room for snow on the spruce tree.

A Juniper cover up.

One bird feeder closed for business