You may have been wondering where the LoneWolf has gone these past few weeks. While I’ve been around, I haven’t had much time or energy to post to my blogs, visit other blogs or have fun on Twitter. I’ve been keeping track of e-mail, comments and Twitter followers and replies. Other than that, my online presence has been minimal — I’ve been lurking.
In case you are curious, here are my reasons.
Frustration
It has been a bit discouraging to see the lack of response that my blogs have been getting. I know that things take time to build, but I’m not seeing much growth at all. It isn’t that I’ve quit, but I’ve taken a step back to look at what I could be doing differently. Time is a precious commodity and I want to spend it wisely.
The biggest change that I’m contemplating right now is a pull back from Twitter. I haven’t seen the value that I was expecting from that — at least from the blog traffic side of things. I enjoy the conversations and will continue to use it. However, I will use it less than I have in the past — unless things change.
Health
I’ve also been sick with a touch of flu. It isn’t a major bug, but it has lowered my energy levels and motivation somewhat for the past two weeks. Now the kids and my wife have taken turns with it as well.
On top of that, I managed to pull a major muscle in my upper thigh (playing softball) that kept me sidelined for a week. Then I pulled it again the next week. It ended up with an amazingly ugly bruise that is starting to clear up almost 2 weeks later. At least the pain is gone and I should be striking out again this week.
Weather
Spring in Muskoka is a wonderful time of year. Even with the mosquitoes threatening to carry me off into the woods, it is still a great time to be working outdoors. And there is a lot of work that needs to be done around here. I still need to get my firewood for the winter cut, split and stacked (the muscle pull isn’t helping much with that). The weekly lawn mowing takes up to 3 hours when I get to all of it. Plus, we’ve been doing an extended spring clean (that I expect to continue into the summer) including a yard sale.
And work is not the only thing that drags us outdoors at this time of the year. The WolfCubs love to be outside to play — as does their daddy! We’ve been spotted riding the ATV through the woods, practicing golf, soccer and baseball, playing on the swing …
Work
There has not been much in the way of projects for my contracting business, but I have been busy with some internal projects that have kept me occupied. The major one right now is a new plugin for WordPress that I hope to make available by the end of June or early July. I’ve had an idea for improvements to the FlashFreeze plugin as well. Stay tuned for details.
More work for WolfPawRoad and ElectronicFortuneCookie is in the mix and two secret projects are still on the back burner and need to get some attention.
I also managed to get all 3 blogs running WP 2.7.1. I figured that would be all that it would take to get WP 2.8 out the door — and sure enough it’s here. Less than a week after the upgrade. And at least 2 of the plugins need updating too. Sigh!
Although these types of projects are always going on, I’ve found it a little easier to focus on them as I take a rest from blogging.
Access
Dialup is still my friend out here in the rustic woodlands of central Ontario. For some reason, the company that may be able to provide access to WiFi has stood me up on 3 occasions. If you’ve followed my quest for broadband, then you’ll know that there may be a signal available on the ridge behind my house. However, I don’t want the expense of building a tower if the signal isn’t there (actually, I don’t want the expense of building a tower at all). The company has set 3 appointments so far to come and check but I haven’t seen them yet.
Satellite and cellular seem to be the only available options, but they are both pretty expensive for the speed and transfer allowances. I hope that a tower can be built to provide WiFi in my neighbourhood — I’ve offered to provide some space on the ridge for it. We’ll have to wait and see what happens.
Golf
Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to get in a round of golf yet this spring. With the financial pressures, sickness and injury, the most that I’ve been able to do so far this spring is hit some wedge shots in the front yard with my daughter. Trying to run Howls without being able to play has put a damper on the creative mojo. I do have the firewood to look forward to for physical fitness once this leg heals.
Conclusion
So, if you’ve been wondering (and who hasn’t been 8=) why I’ve been so quiet lately, this should give you an idea of what’s going on. I’ll be more active in the next few weeks. Just listen for the howling …
Related Posts:
Tags: Blogs, broadband internet, Cookie Crumbles, frustration, golf, Howls, LoneWolf, plans, Ramblings, silence, Twitter
Use Articles to Dominate Your Niche!
I feel your pain about the lack of response to the blog. Hopefully things have turned around for you