Ponderings of 20k

I've been pretty busy with the funeral, visiting and so forth the past couple days, so sorry about not being around here. This blog hit 20,000 yesterday, and of course, being the semi obsessive I am, I noticed. I started this blog in 2004 and didn't do much with it, and the code for Sitemeter expired at some point. I really don't remember when I renewed the code, but I finally did get into posting to the dern thing again in July of 2007. It took until July of 2008 to get 10k hits. It has only taken about four months to get a second 10k, so traffic 'round here is increasing.

When I started posting again, I felt like I might have something to say, but I wasn't sure exactly what. I'm not really into posting about politics because I don't care to do the research it takes to be knowledgeable about any aspects I might consider covering. Most of the political stuff I opine about is usually the "yeah, me too" variety. It seems I prefer to write little nostalgic vignettes, post political cartoons that tickle me, and funny videos. I also put up stuff that shows up in my email inbox that catches my eye. I also used this blog as a news source so I could more easily keep people informed about my hospitalization and recovery.

I enjoy irony, and I find humor in it. So, it is ironic what really drives traffic here. Cycles was and probably will be the best thing I've written. Having some of the more popular bloggers link to that definitely drove traffic for a while. Whether I've got anything like that in me remains to be seen, as far as I'm concerned. The other little stories I tell seem to be theraputic for me to write and most of you who come back seem to enjoy them, so when the mood strikes, I'll keep writing that brand of scribbling.

But, it's funny what really drives traffic here, and that is Google. For a long time, and even now, a post I put up about pulling the fan motor and cage from my pickup has drawn visits. There was no usable information I could find with my best Google-Fu on the subject, so I put up the post so people could find the process to remove the parts. A post about custom harvesting has and still does draw hits - mostly from people looking for specific information regarding pricing and availability - which had nothing to do with the article.

But the two posts that have drawn the lion's share of traffic were not anything I wrote from my heart, or anything interesting about life around here, rather it was something tossed up from the ol' email inbox. The first one was about a non profit in Canada called World Harvest for Kids that collected 100 combines in a field to cut it at once for a world record and great photo opportunity. I guess I was ahead of the curve, because there were a lot of people looking for that and found me. Later, traffic really rolled in when a couple forums seemed to consider that post to the the font of wisdom about the subject and linked it. I had no idea combine forums had so many eyeballs. After that ran it's course, someone started sending out an email with some of the pictures claiming it was "how harvest is done in Norton, KS." Since the wheat was swathed and windrowed, and we don't do that this far south, it was someone trying to hoax a bunch of ignorant people. I even had a reporter from the Norton area email me about it for an article he was writing. I asked him to email a link, but he never did. Another reason to love the dead tree media, I guess.

The next one was a post about photoshopped sports cars made to look like body kits on Smart Cars. Another case of being ahead of the pack. At the moment, that one brings the most traffic of any single post. For a long time, incoming links were directly from Google or other search engines, but lately it's been linked on a Danish (I think it's Danish, at any rate) forum - apparently the goofy email has reached Europe now and people are looking for information.

So, I think it's pretty whimsical that something I put some effort into writing; that I've emotionally invested myself is blown out of the water by something I saw as humorous. Keeps me humble, I say.

But, I'm not really all that invested in traffic, per se. Yeah, it's neat to see who is searching for crazy stuff, and where the eyeballs are from, and how many people are looking at my thinking. But, if I did get a big load of traffic, I'd be obliged to post more often and probably improve the content. I don't have time for that - it seems my real job, the one that pays the bills - requires a large chunk of my day. Weekends are usually the best time for me to post, and that is the worst time for drawing traffic, "they" say. Besides, we all know that most of the regular readers we have are fellow bloggers . It ain't a growth industry. Incestuous, yes. Fresh faces? Not so much.

So, I'm gonna keep on doing what I've been doing. I'm not going to convince a hoplophobe that they are wrong, or that a far left liberal viewpoint is basically supporting socialism. I know I'm wasting my time and that I'm preaching to the choir for most of the regulars who read this stuff. I'll just keep on writing what trips my trigger, and visit all your blogs - trying to add something in comments occasionally, and enjoy the "small" worldwide network I'm a part of.

And I'll laugh when Google sends me a buttload of traffic about next to nothing, 'cause it seems to be Situation Normal........