Blogging

New computer

~ beetleypete ~ 53 Comments

The new PC tower has just arrived.

I am going to devote tomorrow to setting it up. I just realised how many other things I need to do. All the passwords to everything that are automatically saved on here. Bookmarked sites, and favourites too. And the various programmes like antivirus I already have set up on this one. Been writing down a lot of stuff in a notebook, and have also backed up the photos and documents onto a portable hard drive.

Fingers crossed I don’t end up throwing it through the window!

If I am not around for a while after today, you will know why.

(And of course, this old PC has decided to work perfectly well now!)

Comments

~ beetleypete ~ 34 Comments

Six comments I have left this morning have not appeared.
I might be in ‘Spam Jail’ again.
Please check your folders, and let me out on bail.

I have really had enough this week, to be honest. Keyboard malfunctions, PC crashes, and now this.

Fed up! Seriously.

(Mary, Fraggle, Nicholas, Lara, Rachel, Wilma, Roland, and others)

Seems to be on .org, .com, and self-hosted sites. WP sites appear to be getting through.

Pete Van Winkle

~ beetleypete ~ 89 Comments

Apologies for the lack of a new serial episode. (Or anything else worth reading)
Despite managing a temporary fix on the keyboard, I have been afflicted with something similar to whatever ails my computer.

Lack of reliable function.
A tendency to stop on a whim.
The general wearing out of parts.

Just like my once-trusty PC, I am a Windows 7 man, in a world ruled by Windows 10. The tiredness and fatigue that started out as a lot of over-long sleeps has degenerated into a zombie-like state where I have no enthusiasm to do anything. Even the slightest regular task, like gving Ollie a nice long walk, now feels like walking on Mars in a spacesuit, and leaves me shattered. For the first time I can remember, I had to take to my bed at 3:30 this afternoon, drained by a 90-minute walk with my dog.

Were it not for my next-door neighbour deciding to cut her lawn with an exceptionally noisy motor-mower, I may well have been sleeping now. It is still daylight, and only 5:40 pm, yet all I can think of is getting dinner eaten soon, then going to bed as early as possible after that.

I am considering checking with Ancestry DNA, to see if I am related to Rip Van Winkle. If so, see you in twenty years.
(If you don’t know that story, here’s a link. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rip_Van_Winkle )

I will do my best to keep up with your posts and comments, but if you wonder where I am, it’s a safe bet that I will be in The Land of Nod.

Best wishes to you all.
Pete.

Featured Blogger: Don Ostertag

~ beetleypete ~ 30 Comments

Here is a link to Don’s latest post. He has some great stories about a life behind the scenes in the theatre world.
Based in Canada, Don’s blog is always packed with humour, and a joy to read.

https://donostertag.wordpress.com/2020/03/18/shari-lewis/

This is Don’s own bio.

I am in my lower 80s. My legs are in their late 90s. My beautiful Mexican senorita, now senora, Georgina, (Gina), and I have been married over half a century. (57 years) We have 5 sons, 4 daughter-in-laws, and eleven grandchildren. My wife raised 5 sons and one husband, and now is using her talent to help out with our grandchildren.

I am retired. I have had a great many occupations over the years; but for the last 45 years of working , I had been a union stagehand in the Twin Cities. While stagehands often work into their 80’s, (I knew one in Boston that was over 90), common sense and my aching body told me to get out. I had way,way, too much fun in my youth, getting bucked off horses, getting busted up in football, and getting bounced on the ground at the end of a parachute jump, etc.. If I outlive my 401K, and my bad luck with Powerball continues, I’ll probably be greeting people as I gave them their shopping carts at the near by big box store. But for now, I’m retired.

I never got into trying to hit balls into holes in the grass. Although I lived in the woods and lakes when I was young, hunting and fishing don’t appeal to me anymore. I love fields and flowers, but my knees no longer approve of gardening. TV grows old after you watched the same episode of NCIS for the umpteenth time, and the MN Twins keep losing. I do read and read and read. I always have my Nook within reach. And I write.

All my life I enjoyed day-dreaming, watching people, and writing. More important, my body doesn’t mind my remembering and my writing. This blog is a small example of my writings.

I hope you enjoy reading them half as much as I enjoyed writing them. For the most part they are true stories. Well, as true as I remember. After all, many of them happened a long, long time ago.

Please visit Don’s blog, for something different and very enjoyable.
https://donostertag.wordpress.com/

Self-Isolated Blogging: An offer

~ beetleypete ~ 97 Comments

With doom and gloom all over the news, and a lot of very worried people unable to get out even to go to work and socialise, I am trying to think of something positive to offer via the platform of blogging. Facebook and Twitter can be a diversion, but they are also sadly also packed with negatives, scams, and sometimes downright meanness and offensive remarks.

So, back to blogging. Here is my offer, which is of course completely free, and has no catches.

(To contact me for any of these, use petejohnson50@yahoo.com )

Guest Posts.
If you are writing more than usual and hoping to reach a new community or a wider audience, send me a guest post to be published here.
Under 2000 words please, with a short personal bio, and a link to your site.

Book Promotions.
Many people may now have more time to read, so if you want to promote your book on my blog, then send me an email.
Include a cover photo, a short synopsis, and any links to free offers for the book, or sales links.

First time bloggers.
Now is the ideal time to start that blog you always thought about, but never had the chance to get around to. If you are a new blogger, I can help.
Send me a link to your new blog, and the first post. I will put up a post here and include those links.
***Remember*** if you are just trying to sell something, or spam anyone, it will not be posted, and will be spammed by me.
Genuine bloggers only will be featured.

Blogging help and advice.
If you have just started out, and are finding it all confusing, wondering about tags, media, categories, and so on then contact me.
I will do my best to help, and if I can’t, I will ask the whole community if anyone can assist. Also, you might like an outsider’s opinion on your blog.
If that is the case, then send me a link and I will look through your blog to hopefully offer tips.

Blogging is a safe and rewarding way to communicate during this time of social isolation. It can make you feel connected, help dispel panic and fear, and hopefully settle your mind.

It looks like this will go on and on, possibly well into next year. So my offer is not time-limited.

Another Blogging Absence

~ beetleypete ~ 95 Comments

Regular readers may recall that it is my birthday next week.

I am going away for a few days, to celebrate by visiting friends and relatives. Ollie will be coming too, so don’t worry about him.

As a result, I will not be online very much from Friday 13th until Tuesday the 17th.

Obviously, there will be no new episodes of the fiction serial during that time, or any other posts from me. I will also be unable to comment on your posts, or answer any on mine.

Once I get back on Tuesday, I will do my best to catch up.
But it is unlikely that I will be keeping up with any of your posts, so my apologies in advance.

I like to let you know, in case you think I have died! 🙂

Best wishes to everyone, Pete.

The Evolution of Blogging

~ beetleypete ~ 23 Comments

I started blogging in 2012, and used to think I knew a lot about the subject. But then I read this! Check out this great history of our blogging world, thanks to Nick Rossis!

Nicholas C. Rossis

I have been online since 1985. I was one of the first members of the BBS (Bulletin Board) scene in Greece back when we connected to a server using landline modems. I still remember my thrill when I finally got my hands on a 9600 bps modem and could download pictures as well as texts.

In 1995, I developed my first website. Even then, I had identified a need for regularly updated content. While some pages were meant to be static, there were news and events to share. Web developers usually met this need by introducing a News page and placing there any related items. As the new millennium approached, we started placing some of these on the home page, too.

Out of these News pages came blogging. Nowadays, 25 years after I developed my first website, most of my living comes through freelance writing for company blogs.

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