More Please

I see that our posting volume has decreased significantly over the past years ( we started the blog at the end of 2008, and pro-rated would have written 360 posts that year). 2009 was 106, 2010 was 88 and we are sitting at 68 now.

It's not like we have less to say ( just ask the family), its just that we have been busy, I guess.

However, that is not fair to all of you who faithfully follow us, hoping for a tidbit to enliven up your day.

So therefore I shall endeavor to write more in the month remaining, similar to the experiment back in August, where we managed to get out 17 posts. Hopefully we can to around 20 for December, to at least stay current with last year's output.

Then we will have something to shoot for in January, 360 posts.

Right.

Green Friday V

Once again i had the opportunity to indulge one of my favorite pastimes,shopping on Black Friday. this year's appliance that I decided to use for my quest was a deep fryer, to aid in my newest food obsession, making Kibbeh. Last year, after spending all morning looking for a waffle maker ( and you all know how THAT turned out). So as I was finally successful at Kohls, and as they were opening up at 12, I decided to go there first.

So off we went at 11:45 to wait for the midnight opening. Once again me and Bug, as well as a friend of his. We waited on line for the fifteen minutes, and then stormed the doors as they opened. I got the deep fryer,which seemed to take all the wind out of my sails. However, I went home to bed, with dreams of other fantastic deals dancing in my head.

The next morning it was off to Walmart ( of course0) for many items I don't really need, but at least the store was relatively empty, as it usually is at that time. Then it was off to the mall, and all the usual spots, Staples ( for the annual Bluetooth) , Brookstone, Bed Bath and Beyond, Radio Shack and the Apple store, where the computer i was planning to get anyhow (and the one I am writing this on) was on sale for $100 off.

After that we went to Sears to pick up my annual radar detector, and then to Home Depot to see if they had any more flashlights, since I only have about 30.

As I walked int he store, I picked up the flyer, but nothing really caught my eye. Then I saw, by the tractors, one grill. I told the boys with me, let's go look at that grill.

I had been looking for a new Weber grill all season, but then never seem to go on sale. I wanted to upgrade from my old ( about 17 years) one, which goes for $400, and the price for the next level is $500 ( but the DO last a long time). I saw that it was indeed a Weber, and it was the second level up, as well as being stainless, and having a side burner as well ( Also, all Home Depot Webers come with cast iron grates, a $30 upgrade over the regular porcelain coated ones). It was indeed on sale, reduced from $630 to $400. As i had wanted one, had lots of people to help me carry it, and was in buying mode, I picked it up and danced home (figuratively) with it.

As that was the big score of the day, and it was getting late, I curtailed the rest of the shopping to picking something up in Costco and proceeding home.

So I can catalogue everything for Lovey to return.

Public Transportation

I was in the City on Friday, down on Water Street, and I needed to go to 1st Avenue in the 20s to catch a ride home. So I decided to take a bus that would go up the east side, since the trains involve a lot of cross town action.

As I approached the bus stop, I saw ahead of me a bus in the travel lane parallel to the bus stop. ( It didn't look as if the bus had stopped there). However, this did not really compute in my brain until later. I figured I would catch the next bus. So I was waiting by the stop when a bus again pulls up to the light in the travel lane. I call out to the driver and ask why he isn't stopping and opening the doors, he shouts back ( without opening the door) that he is an express bus. So I ask him where the stop is for the express bus, and he indicates that it is further up. Mind you, this is all shouted through a closed door and window, without a doubt heard by all the people in the bus enjoying this drama.

So as the light turns green and the bus pulls away from the light, I take off, all short and fat of me, to run as many blocks as it might take to catch this bus, since the idea of an express appeals to me, as my ride would be ready to leave within a half hour. So I run the first block, and I see that the bus pulls in to the following block. I try valiantly to increase my speed, but it is a losing proposition ( see: short and fat above). However, the bus is still there when I stagger up to it, so I hop in the back, as I have no more strength to make it to the front door, and continue my stagger to the front to pay.

I then realize, to my great consternation, that this is one of the new express buses where you pay outside, similar to a subway. The idea is great, in that people just get on and off, and there is no delay for the passengers to pay the driver. However, this does not work so well for me, as I have just jumped on the bus.

So I ask the driver, oh, I have to pay outside on this one, and I jump off the bus, and look stupidly at the three machines there, in my extreme haste to (1) not have the driver leave me there, and (2) not unduly hold up the bus for all the passengers already on the bus who actually know how to use the new system.

However, as I am both out of breath and discombobulated, I just look at the machine. The driver then shouts to me to come back, I run back to the door, and he tells me push the button on the blue. That is all I hear as I charge back to the machines, since the third one is kind of blue. However, that is (probably) for credit card transactions as is it a different machine than the other two.

So now the driver has just about had it, and he shouts once again at me to come back. I zip back, and he tells me "Go to the first machine, push the button in the middle of the BLUE panel, put your metrocard in on the RIGHT, and take your receipt on the LEFT, don't worry, I'll wait for you." (He really was a nice and patient transit employee.) So reassured and properly directed, I ran again to the machine, pushed the button, slammed my card in the slot on the right, hopped a bit waiting for the receipt ( Three seconds, maybe?) and grabbed my card and the receipt, and dashed back on to the bus.


To the thunderous applause of all the passengers.


Who I then had to walk through, to get a seat in the back, nodding and bowing, thanking them and apologizing.


When I finally sat down, some kind soul, trying to be nice, told me not to worry, but managed to make it even worse by telling me that he watched and listened to the whole event for two blocks ( I assume that included the original shouting through the door) and saw me running, and really didn't think I would make it.


Next time, I think I'll drive.

8000

While we have been away celebrating the holidays and not posting, we went over the 8,000 hits mark. Maybe the way to generate hits is to actually not post anything, and just have everyone come and look. I have researched the timing from 7,000 to 8,000 to see if this theory holds up. Actually, the numbers are interesting in how they trend.

First of all, keep in mind that in August we attempted to post almost every day to see if it could be done, and if it would create more traffic. With that in mind, here are the numbers.

It took 143 days to go from 6,000 hits to 7,000. During that time , we posted 39 times, an average of one every 3.6 days.

It then took 231 days to get to 8,146 (since I haven't checked the site in a while, apparently, I am not sure when we got to 8,000). During this period we posted 48 times, including the August experiment. That comes out to one post every 4.8 days. ( I feel like MBB with all my percentages)

So the theory of posting less often would seem to bear this out. However, as we post in bursts, it isn't really fair to use this analysis, so I propose a different one.

In the 6,000 to 7,000 time period, there were ten (10) posts on waffles, that comes out to 14.3 days per waffle post. In the 7,000 to 8,000 period, I think there were two waffle posts, that comes out to 115.5 days per waffle post. So the more waffle posts, the faster we get to the next level.

I see the trend folks, BRING ON THE WAFFLES!