Now Hear This – 8.

This little missive has been sat hot to trot for a couple of days now, but the last one was still getting the odd hit, so I have left it until today, with only a few minor adjustments and this intro, if you have been reading the blog for a while you know what the format is, you have asked and now I am answering ………AGAIN!

Saddest Moment of the Blogs: To be honest it has been an email I received about 4 days ago, most of you abuse the name game when its in play including a young man who I abused in return from Finland called Nils, to be honest over the last few years I have conversed a few times and although English is not his first language, he has always been a pleasant chap, the email I received from his account but written by his mother, was to inform me that Nils had passed away, she explained that Nils was bed ridden after an accident (some 14 years ago) and his one pleasure was the blog as he amused himself by guessing incorrectly the name game, although his mother says he knew who most of them were he just enjoyed the abuse/ribbing he got from me, Nils followed me over from Myspace  and was one of the original followers, although I wasn’t aware of his health conditions he always came across as a happy go lucky soul, he will be missed , but thankfully he is no longer suffering and hopefully his family will simply remember the good times.

Do you write the same way: By and large that’s a big fat yes, I do usually, its all drivel and then its polished into shiny drivel although occasionally I do let my inner freak loose and then I occasionally do a blog off the cuff.

What’s the biggest surprise that you have received from the blog: To be honest , it’s the numbers of readers the last few years have seen massive leaps in the readership, I doubt its sustainable purely because I’m not consistent enough, I’m happy if we hit triple digits but some of the blogs have attained a much higher hit rate than that, the numbers for last year were six digits with over 111000 hits, I know this year wont be anywhere near that unless I can shake a magic wand but being as honest as I can the numbers are mind blowing, I don’t always engage with queries but the heart felt comments to some of the blogs have been a god send.

What are the most popular countries: To be honest it hasn’t changed much since the last time I was asked this, the countries have just moved about a bit, Sweden has replaced Germany at the top whilst Germany takes the number two slot, Japan is third, the United Kingdom  is forth, Canada has got a few more readers, but Australia has come into play as well, some countries/readers come late to the game then they must binge read and that boosts the numbers, the highest total on a none blog day had been around 4500 hits.

Do you have many fans and readers: I was going to tie this one in with the previous question, but I can’t, I don’t get individual’s data I can just see countries metrics for the blogs, some people write and tell me that they have favourites, no I’m not going to name them, go back and read them all, some people have suggested that I try and monetise the page, I think not I have a couple of friends who went down that route, you have to stick to a strict schedule, something I have a tendency not to do several times a year.

Will we see the return of The Tee Hee Club: I do believe that the answer to that is a big fat yes, the world has moved on (sadly) but at some point I know we will all get together, people have lives to live, the issue that we have is that the wife is our driver, and she has had a shit 18 months, so at the moment its baby steps, but rest assured we do intend to climb back on the social circuit to see peeps and for me to blog in code, as that was what really started this blog, I miss my friends enormously, but the world keeps turning, and we follow its tide!

There are not too many boat references of late:  Its not something that was or is not done intentionally, its all part of the drivel that flows from me, sometimes there will be an abundance and others one if you are lucky, someone said that they admired my style, pfft if I had a style I could do it professionally.

Any abuse lately: Next to none and that’s the way that I intend to keep it, any real abuse I simply block them from sending emails or messages, its not what the blog is for, its here to help me with my sanity from time to time simply because it’s good to write. I did get some abuse for these colours don’t run; however, I believe it was simply trolls trying to get me to rise to the bait, read the blog I didn’t then and I have no intention now, let it go move on, I feel a lot happier by simply ignoring stuff, I still get my moments when it affects me but by and large I’m ok!

Have you peaked: Hell, no and then maybe I have, I could never be the judge as I only publish what I think hits the mark, which is why sometimes I tend to dry up like a river in Africa, I am probably way more critical than I need to be, it’s something I do for fun, but I still want to be good, I do have an ego (allegedly) too feed, if I have peaked I don’t care because I am enjoying what I’m doing I know some of it is good, some could be better and some (when I look back for historical purposes) are cringeworthy, its one of the reasons why I don’t look back that much.

Any new favourites: Sorry no, I write them and then try to forget them, or is that simply the dementia kicking in, I’m not sure, I have been doing a bit work on the pages and detailing what some of them are about for something else and at times I struggle to remember details, until I read the blog, I’m not against reading them, but only to check facts or to remove something, there is only one blog that has been removed completely as it’s not how I view the event anymore and no I’m not naming it, life’s too short to worry over silly little things like the written word.

Are you still angry:  Not like I used to be, I still get annoyed, mad, angry (please delete as you see fit) but nowhere near what I used to be, the older I get the more mellow I become, now the wife that’s another story, or is it simply because I’m in her life, who knows answers on a postcard……….

Biggest Frustration: Technology, always technology I have a couple of good ideas for some books, but the self-publishing companies are simply getting to be you have to have a degree in engineering just to log on, its my cross to bear and for once its not going to sink the boat like it would have done in the past it is what it is, I’ll get over it.

Have you lost many friends because of the blog: If I have I haven’t noticed, my circle isn’t massive, so I think I would have noticed, in total over the last 14 or so years I think I have banned around 16 people, hey people live their own lives, enjoy what you have while you have it, as long as you are happy and are not crapping in someone else’s teapot (or mine for that matter) it’s all good.

Biggest issue/ What do you ponder/ Do you feel old: Out of over 200 queries that make up this blog, these three seem to roll backwards and forwards and have some sort of tenuous link between each other, so please keep all limbs inside at all times as its going to be a bumpy ride, do I feel old, god yes I do, I feel like life has ran past me and twatted me with a bloody big stick, and how did that happen I haven’t got a bloody clue, its sneaked past and I wasn’t paying due care and attention, no surprise there then, what do I ponder, well I guess its how the hell did life get past me, I honestly have no Idea, well I do but I simply don’t wish to dwell on it, because it would probably tip me over the edge, my biggest issue, Mortality, I know I wont live as long as I have lived, but if I’m lucky I might have ten years I would love a damn lot more, but with health issues its not looking as good as I would like it, at this point 14 years ago I would have had a fatalistic attitude and go so what I’m going to die, well I am, but not just yet ……..pretty please, I would like to get the last 18 months behind us and for us to have some semblance of a life while we still can, health is the biggest issue for both me and the wife.

More Historical Blogs: I have discussed this many times here and in other forums, I will do them when I feel I can do them justice, and not before, out my band of friends that most of them involve, there’s only 6 of us left (out of over 30) I don’t want to force anything,  as I want the feelgood factor to be involved and not to be maudlin, I feel as some of the historical ones are some of the best blogs I have written however they have to be organic and come naturally, the feel good factor is the most important piece of the historical ones.

What was the response to The Whalers Dues: Probably disappointment, I had set it up to fail as it was probably the angriest blog I ever did, but by the time I had published it I had sanitised it to the point that there wasn’t a trace of bile or venom in it, almost 16 months after the event, it was written and rewritten over a dozen times, I wish I had the balls to publish the original, yes I still have the draft, over 22000 words, easily the longest blog I have done but it was a nasty piece of work and although I wrote the original I didn’t see anything of me in it.

Has the Blog Grown: Yes and No at times the numbers have been massive, and then I will do something which at the time I think is phenomenal, but it will be lucky to do 10% of the numbers that crap ones have done, writing wise it has, its still not where I want it to be, I wish I could afford the blog more time and be slightly more professional (ok a lot more lol) but I’m happy with it and that’s what matters, I do occasionally listen to something as a critique, I won’t change it completely but if it has merit I will indeed take notice, you might not notice the difference but I do!

Name the Girl who buried your heart out on the moors in the “Girls” blog: 62 of you have asked this question in the last 4 months, and the answer is a resounding no. I have an idea of a blog but I will never ever name her, if you read the blog and went to school with me you would know who it was anyway, the answer is no now it will stay NO NO NO NO, enough said!

Are you happy: sometimes I am, not all of the time, I want to make the wife happier, that would be the thing to cheer me up, having said that I have answered this before and this is a better answer than I have given previously!

Where to from here: Who knows, I certainly don’t, as long as I’m happy with it I will keep doing it sometimes numbers will be up sometimes they will be down, I am simply going to go with the flow, it’s all I can do, I strive to be a better person every day, as long as I can do that, as long as I don’t bring to anybody in my life/circle/planet, I think that will be a good thing.

So, there you go number 8 in this series, I have a few on the boil and as long as I can keep doing happy stuff, well for me anyway, I will keep on plodding away, the next blog will be along soon enough, will be a Four on the Floor musical blog, a review of sorts, stay safe stay alive, keep spreading the disease, why? Well because you want to, until then …...Toodles!