TRAVEL WITH THE BAYFIELD BUNCH:))

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

BLOGS, BLOGGERS, & BLOGWOBBLES

I am short on photos for today so am including pics from Bayfield's Vintage Car Show last summer.

Seems like there has been a fair bit of talk this past week or so about blogs, bloggers, & blog sites. Pros & cons, thoughts, ideas, & concerns. Egos have been mentioned, privacy issues discussed, & maybe some feelings stepped on. Don't ya just love it when we all get a good old case of blogwobbles going on:))

Let me put the bottom line first.....it all boils down once again to each person's preference of what they want on their blog, how they want it to look, & what they want it to say. When I went looking for a simple definition of a blog I ran into a long confusion of explanations but did find one simple enough for me to understand which said.............

(Quote)" A blog is a personal diary. A daily pulpit. A collaborative space. A political soapbox. A breaking-news outlet. A collection of links. Your own private thoughts. Memos to the world. Your blog is whatever you want it to be. There are millions of them, in all shapes and sizes, and there are no real rules. In simple terms, a blog is a web site, where you write stuff on an ongoing basis. New stuff shows up at the top, so your visitors can read what's new. Then they comment on it or link to it or email you. Or not. Since Blogger was launched in 1999, blogs have reshaped the web, impacted politics, shaken up journalism, and enabled millions of people to have a voice and connect with others." (Unquote)

I generally try to keep an open mind about my blog & keep an ear to the ground to detect any unfavorable rumblings coming from either within the blog or from without. Whenever someone questions something about the blog I always take it to heart & pour a lot of thought into what has been said. Have I missed something, have I crossed a line somewhere, have I offended someone, have I stepped on somebody's toes, have my opinions alienated some people?? Unfortunately, I can answer 'yes' to all those questions but it is those very things that make my blog distinctively mine. Yes, mistakes have been made, but with those mistakes have come progress, understanding, communication, & amazingly enough, a few new friendships to boot.

The recent concerns over an RV site called, RV There Yet led into comments about egos & who's blog is it anyway!! Because a blogger wants exclusive rights to his/her blog & it's contents, does that suggest they have an ego problem. No, I think not. Is it an ego thing because bloggers put stat counters on their blogs to see how many people visit the site. No, I think not. And is adding 'Blog Followers' a self centered thing too. No, I think not. Check out RETIRED ROD'S blog, he just added the 'Follower's gadget today & he's been a daily blogger for a long time now. Y'all might want to go over there & check out Rod's new & quickly growing 'Followers' list:)) I like JERRY'S comment that says, "We are amazed that we have 71 followers, and I do like to mention any new ones, simply to show them appreciation for joining us. As far as number of hits goes, I don't have a counter, but it would be interesting to know. Egotistical? No, but comments are to a blogger what applause is to a singer or an actor, laughter to a comic -- that's the big reward, the only reward of blogging -- a little response from someone who found it interesting, or even found a typo and thought it worthwhile to point it out." And MOTTY'S comment this morning saying, "And Jerry/Suzy - I think you said it right. If we did not care about readers, we could write a journal on our hard drive on word, why even bother publishing it on the web. It is the interaction that creates the dynamics and excitement of blogging.

I often question things on my own blog & that all too often leads to doubting blogwobbles. Being a person of change I am always thinking about changing this or changing that but I have found through comments & emails from readers that they are satisfied with my blog exactly the way it is. I waiver & wobble sometimes as whether to keep it going but am always encouraged by readers comments & emails to keep at it.

I have a visible stat counter on the blog which incidentally tells me that as of right now we have had 123,540 hits on our site. Is it my ego that displays that or is it just something that my little insecure self feels a tad proud of. Should I hide those numbers. No, I think not. I, as well as other bloggers put a lot of time & effort into these blogs & the fact that people actually are interested in mine or others efforts is not something I feel should just be lightly swept under the carpet. And I feel the same way about the 'Blog Follower' application. Would we all like to see more followers & readers? Of course we would. Do we appreciate the blog comments from people? Of course we do. These blogs are put together by people who care about other people. If they didn't care they could just write a simple diary of their daily events, keep it to themselves, & stuff it under their pillow at night. No sharing.....no caring. Lots more to be said on this topic but that's enough out of Mr. Blabberfingers again tonight....................................:))

It was with sadness today that I read about a phone call coming in the early hours of Wednesday morning to a fellow RV couple informing them that their son had just died. It is the second son they have lost. A very sad time for Mike & his family at MIKE & PAT'S TRAVELS

Welcome aboard to our latest blog follower Laura who host's her own forum, Nicest Seniors in Cyberspace. Laura is also on ZOOMERS & you can find her here at home currently building a new website... LAURA'S PLACE IN CYBERSPACE

For more pics of these vintage cars go to our Picasa Web Album at.... VINTAGE CARS IN CLANGREGOR SQUARE....BAYFIELD, ONTARIO CANADA

Judy from TRAVEL'S WITH EMMA identified yesterday's blog bird as a Sandpiper. I have another bird for today's blog that is at our feeders quite a bit but has no colorful tell tale markings. Just seems to be a Plain Jane brown bird. Ok Judy, can you help us with this little fellow?

TODAY'S LITTLE BROWN MYSTERY BIRD

Pepper Anne from LITTLE HOUSE ON WHEELS blogs today about the Dalton Gang's final demise in Coffeeville Kansas.

A note to Janie & John who left a comment on last night's blog. The saying, "Tourists see the world, traveler's experience it," at the end of our blog is not an original saying of mine. I plucked it off someone else's blog awhile back. It was not signed with anyone's name so I felt free to use it. My original line is at the very bottom of our blog & I have signed my name to it. Thanks for the comment guys & all the best in your new full timing adventures & yep, I sure know what you mean by you saying, "some of our friends don't know why we would want to do that."

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A man and a woman were having dinner in a fine restaurant. Their waitress, taking another order at a table a few paces away noticed that the man was slowly sliding down his chair and under the table, with the woman acting unconcerned. The waitress watched as the man slid all the way down his chair and out of sight under the table. Still, the woman dining across from him appeared calm and unruffled, apparently unaware that her dining companion had disappeared. After the waitress finished taking the order, she came over to the table and said to the woman, 'Pardon me, ma'am, but I think your husband just slid under the table.' The woman calmly looked up at her and replied firmly, 'No he didn't. He just walked in the door.'

(There are some blog terms further down)

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Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

OUR BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.

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And, as if this blog wasn't already long enough here are a few 'blog terms' that go along with today's subject...........................

Blogosphere – the collective online world of blogs and bloggers

Commenter – a person who leaves comments on a blog

Comment Spam – comments posted to a blog that are blatantly commercial in nature and/or made for the sole purpose of gaining a link

Spambots – automated programs that post comment spam to unprotected blogs

Trackback – a system that alerts another blogger (by means of a ping) when you link to them

Ping – to automatically send a small packet of data out to actuate something, usually a trackback

Blog Roll – a collection of links on a blog, pointing to other blogs – it usually contains the blogger’s recommendations of other blogs to read

Blogstipation – writer’s block for bloggers

Flame – a hostile attack, often of a personal nature, made using a blog

Sock Puppet – a fake persona used by a blogger to defend him or herself online and/or attack critics

Vlog – a video blog. Used as a verb, it’s vlogging. A vlogger is one who blogs by video

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

MISERABLE WEATHER, WHAT ELSE CAN I SAY:((

THE PEOPLE HOUSE VIEW FROM A BIRD ON ONE OF THE FEEDERS

We have ourselves a totally cold wet miserable day going on here & it sure is putting a damper on what could have been a nice spring so far. Even the sunny days lately just haven't had any heat in the air. I'm still picking up downed branches from the big winds a few days ago. OK, that's enough for Al's Canadian weather report again!!

THIS IS THE COMPLETION OF POPPA GOOSE'S LANDING YESTERDAY...NOTE THE TROUGH OF WATER HE PLOWED OUT BEHIND HIM

Thanks to Judy & Emma along with my cousin Norma & husband Jim for confirming yesterday's front yard bird as a Brown Thrasher. I cracked off a couple quick pics two mornings ago of another bird over in the pond & I'm guessing it might be a Common Snipe according to my little 'Golden' bird book.

A SOLITARY SANDPIPER (click to enlarge)

Another broken bird feeder on the ground this morning so I suspect we have a raccoon coming in the night now. I generally hang the feeders on 'S' hooks but the coons just yank on the fishing line & jerk the feeders until they come off the hooks so today I replaced those hooks with something called 'quick links' & that should put an end to that. However, knowing the animal world as well as I do it is for sure they will figure it out & outsmart me as usual.

INLINE 'S' HOOK QUICK LINK

Just read in Jerry's blog, OUR LIFE ON WHEELS, late this afternoon that his Doctor has just scheduled him for a complete right knee replacement on June 2nd. He has been wearing a brace & putting up with a painful knee for quite awhile now. That only leaves him & Suzy three weeks to bake up an enormous big batch of recuperative cowboy cookies for post op care. With a new knee Jerry might just sweep away all competition at the solo 'Bouncing Benson Butt Boogaloo & Break Dance' contest this summer too.

CAN YOU SEE THE CLOUD GOOSE/ROADRUNNER HEADING ACROSS THE SKY FROM RIGHT TO LEFT

While Kelly was talking on the phone tonight the line went dead. 2nd extension went dead as well so we suspect an outdoor problem. The phone tech is coming in the morning. No charge if a problem is found outdoors but $85 if the problem is found indoors!!

Ok, gonna keep it short tonight. The way I figure it, the less time you spend here the more time you can spend on someone else's blog. And just minutes before publishing the blog tonight I got off a quick, but poor shot of this furry bird feed raiding culprit outside the window quickly disappearing down the tree & into the night.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( What are seniors citizens worth? They are worth a fortune, with all the silver in their hair, gold in their teeth, stones in their kidneys and lead in their feet.

As for myself, I have become a little older since I saw you last and a few changes have come into my life since then. Frankly, I have become quite a frivolous old gal. I am seeing five gentlemen every day. As soon as I wake up, Will Power helps me get out of bed. I immediately go to see John. After that Charlie Horse comes along, and he really takes a lot of my time and attention. When he leaves, Arthur Ritis shows up and stays for the rest of the day. However, he doesn't like to stay in one place very long, so he just takes me from joint to joint. Finally after such a busy tiring day, I'm really glad to be able to go to bed with Ben Gay. What a life!!

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Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

OUR BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.

Monday, May 10, 2010

TODAY I DID BATTLE WITH A SANDWICH MACHINE!!

POPPA GOOSE TOUCHES DOWN ON THE POND THIS MORNING

We will drop below freezing tonight again so I'll leave a touch of heat on in the Motor Home just in case. Had I thought to do that about 3 weeks ago when we had an unexpected nasty couple of cold nights we wouldn't have had to replace our kitchen taps in the rig last week!!

SOME OF OUR FRONT YARD BIRD FEEDERS

Had a mobility van run this afternoon so that that thankfully took up a couple of hours. Had to take a fellow to the hospital for X-rays so while there headed for a sandwich in the cafeteria. Of course the cafeteria had closed 5 minutes before I got there so I was left to do battle with a stupid sandwich machine in the corner. Machines were just put on this earth to drive people like me bonkers. By the time I figured out all the instructions & put my money in that miserable thing I had to enlist the help of 1 nurse & 1 member of the kitchen staff to finally help get my darned turkey sandwich out of there. A gas pump & that sandwich machine must be cousins because they have a lot in common!!

AM HOPING JUDY & EMMA CAN ID THIS BIRD FOR ME (could it be a Brown Thrasher?)

My little blurb about 'so how was your trip,' in Sunday's blog brought in a few responses & I think JERRY summed it up very well when he said, "Gypsy is 100% right. Family doesn't understand or want to know, usually. Our kids, though, do read the blog most times, and they never ask! Old friends drop away like flies! We have a couple of folks that follow us, but everyone else is gone. The fellow bloggers are the ones that keep us going, and we hope our following helps others." Well said Jerry:))

BLUE JAY ON THE BIRDBATH

A friend in California had an interesting Facebook response to mine & other bloggers concerns regarding 'RV There Yet.' He writes, " i just don't understand why people are so egotistical about building a huge number of followers and having a huge number of hits." I think he has a couple very good points there & may have planted some seeds of thought in my mind about some possible blog changes in the future.

MOURNING DOVE >

And about my frustrations with being stuck at home for the summer I received a Facebook message from another blogger friend who in part said, "The truth is, I have been ready to get going literally 2 weeks after arriving home." So nice to know that I am not the only one who has this problem every year when we come home. Thanks John:))

And another friend from Stratford sent an email with his response to my Sunday blog in which he simply said, " Big Al: After reading your blog this morning, all I can say is I hope you found out who peed in your Corn Flakes! " So, there you have it, different strokes for different folks. And I had better be keeping a darned close eye on my corn flakes too!!

ROSE BREASTED GROSBEAK >>>>

Noticed some fellow bloggers have been using something on Facebook called, 'Networked Blogs.' Looked interesting so I decided to pursue it. Well, that was quite a journey through a muffled maze of menus with many twists & turns along the way. Click this, choose that, enter this, click next, etc. etc. By the time I had finished & emerged out the other side of the maze I was burning the midnight oil & just as confused as when I started out. I'm sure I did something & made some changes here & there but I'm not sure what it was that I all changed. Oh the joys of this blogging adventure I am currently on................10-4!!

GROANER'S CORNER:)) Throughout the centuries, mothers have been given their children plenty of good advice and notable quotes. Here's just a small sampling:

PAUL REVERE'S MOTHER: "I don't care where you think you have to go, young man. Midnight is past your curfew!"

MARY, MARY, QUITE CONTRARY'S MOTHER: "I don't mind you having a garden, Mary, but does it have to be growing under your bed?"

MONA LISA'S MOTHER: "After all that money your father and I spent on braces, Mona, that's the biggest smile you can give us?"

HUMPTY DUMPTY'S MOTHER: "Humpty, If I've told you once, I've told you a hundred times not to sit on that wall. But would you listen to me? Noooo!"

COLUMBUS' MOTHER: "I don't care what you've discovered, Christopher. You still could have written!"

BABE RUTH'S MOTHER: "Babe, how many times have I told you -- quit playing ball in the house! That's the third broken window this week!"

MICHELANGELO'S MOTHER: "Mike, can't you paint on walls like other children? Do you have any idea how hard it is to get that stuff off the ceiling?"

NAPOLEON'S MOTHER: "All right, Napoleon. If you aren't hiding your report card inside your jacket, then take your hand out of there and prove it!"

CUSTER'S MOTHER: "Now, George, remember what I told you -- don't go biting off more than you can chew!"

ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S MOTHER: "Again with the stovepipe hat, Abe? Can't you just wear a baseball cap like the other kids?"

BARNEY'S MOTHER: "I realize strained plums are your favorite, Barney, but you're starting to look a little purple."

MARY'S MOTHER: "I'm not upset that your lamb followed you to school, Mary, but I would like to know how he got a better grade than you."

BATMAN'S MOTHER: "It's a nice car, Bruce, but do you realize how much the insurance is going to be?"

GOLDILOCKS' MOTHER: "I've got a bill here for a busted chair from the Bear family. You know anything about this, Goldie?"

LITTLE MISS MUFFET'S MOTHER: "Well, all I've got to say is if you don't get off your tuffet and start cleaning your room, there'll be a lot more spiders around here!"

ALBERT EINSTEIN'S MOTHER: "But, Albert, it's your senior picture. Can't you do something about your hair? Styling gel, mousse, something...?"

GEORGE WASHINGTON'S MOTHER: "The next time I catch you throwing money across the Potomac, you can kiss your allowance good-bye!"

JONAH'S MOTHER: "That's a nice story, but now tell me where you've really been for the last three days."

SUPERMAN'S MOTHER: "Clark, your father and I have discussed it, and we've decided you can have your own telephone line. Now will you quit spending so much time in all those phone booths?"

THOMAS EDISON'S MOTHER: "Of course I'm proud that you invented the electric light bulb, Thomas. Now turn off that light and get to bed!"

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Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.

Sunday, May 09, 2010

SUNDAY....MY LEAST FAVORITE DAY OF THE WEEK

BLUE JAY

Even as a kid I always thought Sunday was the most boring day of the week & now here it is over 60 years later & my mind hasn't changed one little bit!!

PLEASE DAD, CAN I HAVE SOME MORE

Decided to set up a web cam today in the sun room & planned to stream some live video of our front yard birds. Well, easier said than done of course & that was only one of the computer frustrations I wrestled with today.

A FEW MEMBERS OF THE FRONT YARD GANG

Did battle trying to change the weather gadget on our blog from Douglas Arizona to Bayfield Canada today & of course that little task thwarted me at every turn. Kelly later did it. Rick & Paulette's blog didn't show up on our 'Blogs We Follow' this morning & we have not yet been able to restore the link. Some days ya just can't win for losing.

While repositioning some birdfeeders this morning one of my knots 'failed' dropping the feeder to the ground & breaking it. Birdseed all over the place but I did manage to sort of fix the feeder with duct tape, staples, & glue. Did I mention it was Sunday!!!!

THE SMALL SLEDGE WAS MY LAST RESORT IF THE OTHER 3 FIXES DIDN'T WORK!!

And, keeping things positively on a negative note, here's something that might apply more to Snow birder's than Full timers but ever notice how when you get home in the spring friends & family say things like, "did you have a good trip, can't wait to hear all about it." That last question is generally a mere formality on their part. It has been our experience that friends & family here at home really don't give a hoot about our traveling exploits.

HEY BAYFIELD BUNCH, HOW WAS YOUR TRIP....CAN'T WAIT TO HEAR ALL ABOUT IT

The only people who have a genuine interest are fellow RV folks & you people out here who read our daily blog sometimes. If family & friends were really interested in our travels they would simply follow the blog, but they don't. So, when someone says they want to hear all about our trip we have learned to just take that statement with a grain of salt. Besides, how do you tell someone in 30 seconds or less what you have been seeing, doing, & thinking, for the past 5 or 6 months. And 30 seconds is about all the time a person is really interested in listening after they ask the question......."hey, how was your trip, can't wait to hear all about it. IMHO of course:))