Just a quick post, to assure all of you I’m still plugging away. There are some anniversaries I need to commemorate.
In the confusion of my hiatus, I managed to miss my one year anniversary of this bizarre experiment. On 10 September last year, I posted my “Greetings from John E.” entry. Since that time, I have managed 74 posts, gained over 5,000 views, and received almost 2,000 comments. The most impressive thing, though, is that I have 160 followers. Think about that. I figured I’d be lucky to score maybe 50, given my wide-sweeping comment-bombing I did, with only a handful being active. Yet even while on hiatus, I have continued to add followers – why, I have no earthly clue. But whether you knew me from comments I left on your blog, or you found me through my friends’ blog, or especially if you stumbled on me some other way, a very large “thank you” is in order. Whether you just read, of comment actively, I truly appreciate your presence.
We will shortly be marking our 6th year in this house. It’s been an … interesting time, plenty of ups and downs, and more than a little drama. And in a couple months, we’ll mark our 11th year living full time in Ohio. Also plenty of adventure. While I can’t say I love being in this state, I have to admit I’ve met some great people here. And to be “frank”, one particular individual (who shall remain nameless) has helped me get an “angle” on things. 😉
And finally, though still a couple months off, we will also be celebrating one year with our newest cat acquisition, Stryper. Yes, that over-10-years-old, skinny, partially hairless, FIV-positive cat (who the vet gave 2 weeks to life, tops), is still alive, much healthier, and playing like a kitten a decade younger. I never thought I’d say this, but I’ve found inspiration in a cat. If he could forgive his maltreatment and work through his health problems to prove everybody wrong, well, I guess I can muddle through in his wake.
So there you have it. I promise more stories to come soon, including a post about our recently-passed Mastiff Sam, as well as more silliness from days passed. Once again, thanks for hanging in there with me. I guarantee there’s a lot more to come, so stay tuned! 😀
A Windy City boy, lost in rural Ohio, just shooting the breeze.
Commentality - Lotsa Comments .... 
Barack agrees, we need to declare September 10th a National Holiday. He is not quite so sure that the day you became a Buckeye should be a national Holiday. He did declare last Saturday when The Ohio State beat Wisconsin as a National Day of Mourning.
Yeah, I’d just as soon let that whole “becoming a buckeye” thing just get lost in the mists of time. Though I’ll thoroughly support the day of mourning WHENEVER that bunch at OSU wins. Can’t support it publicly, though, or I’ll get lynched – the fans are NUTS! Then again, if I ever need somebody killed, all I have to do is paint their car in the yellow and blue of Michigan State, and wait for the OSU crowd to dogpile! 😀
Happy Blogoversary John! I’m sure you have lots of catching up to do. I went away for the weekend & came back to over 300 emails in my inbox. When we made reservations, the hotel assured us they had wi-fi – when we got there you needed a cord & they didn’t have enough for all the guests because some guests were stealing them. So hubby went & bought us a portable wi-fi, but it was still a bit of a pain so I gave up trying to keep caught up. Now I’m struggling to get caught up again.
Yikes, what a pain! Good luck in catching up – I’m pretty close to even again. Now all I gotta do is get some new posts written up. I’m thinking of cheating and doing a photo-caption contest – low work, high payoff! 😀
Stryper can give us all hope! I get encouragement wherever I can. 🙂
You are a very wise person. Thanks for the great comment! 🙂
Nice to read from you John, I’ve been absent but I’m sorta back I believe.
Looking forward to read more of your “adventures”, I’m sorry to hear about Sam’s passing.
Thanks, buddy, and good to see you back, as well. We were considering delaying getting a new dog until after the end-of-the-year holidays, but I think I might start pushing for getting one sooner. We’ll see – our dogs tend to find us, rather than vice versa! 😀
You had a great first year …. and you may not realize how good. Meanwhile, thanks for the reference. Hey … here’s an anniversary-related post that you must see. http://afrankangle.wordpress.com/2013/08/27/on-tributes/
Oh trust me, my friend, I know I did WAY better than most first-year bloggers, and even some continuing ones! And very much better than I had ever dreamed – I figured I’d top out at 50 total followers at best, with maybe 4 or 5 people actually responding. Thanks a lot for the shout out, and welcome back from your hiatus. Now let’s see if we can’t burn up these Intertubes! 😀
More posts about dogs and cats = more comments and followers. See how easy that was?! I should be taking notes.
I recently found that my little female cat has feline herpes. We’re dosing the food with medication that prevents spreading to the three males, and worsening for her. As with humans, it will never entirely go away. 🙄
Oh man, I’m so sorry to hear that. We really didn’t think Stryper was going to make it, and we weren’t alone. My wife took him to the vet shortly after we took him in (when we found the FIV), and for the next week, the vet (who frequents the Wal-Mart she works at) would stop by her station and gingerly ask how the Old Man was doing. He was more surprised than we were that the cat was not only alive, but thriving! Here’s hoping your little girl gives you as many happy surprises as our Old Man continues to!
All in all, it sounds like a good year. Like they say, any one you can walk away from…
Happy blogaversay, John.
Now tell some stories!
Your wish is my command – I’ve got a short one to post very soon, and a post-in-progress that I lost and re-found about Sam. And maybe some other stuff … we’ll see. 😉
I’ve hardly been able to read a single blog these past few months, but even so . . . I’m glad you undertook this adventure. Thank you!
Hey, I’m just glad there’s folks like you out there, willing to read my nonsense! Glad, and more than a bit surprised … and confused … but hey, what’s new about that, right? 😉 (And better late than never, too! 😀 )