John’s Blog

I think it’s time to acknowledge that the “family” blog is a failed experiment. I plan to keep posting articles for fun and posterity. Plus, it’ll be handy if anybody asks me, “What’ve ya been up to?” Answer: “Check the blog.” However, it’s clear the family at large has little interest in this form of communication. Two members actually sent me explanations of why they would not participate. Some hopes and notions I entertained have been laid to rest, and I’m content to move on. For me, it wasn’t all about the blog, of course. It was a metaphor with a mission, but now it is just a blog.

Comments remain open, naturally. It was ironic (indeed, gratifying!) to see three new comments this evening as I was contemplating the future of the blog. If anybody wants to set up their own blog, I’ll be glad to offer advice, and there are cool things like RSS(Really Simple Syndication) feeds and aggregators that can tie blogs together (although I’m not quite up to speed on such snazzy features yet).

p>. John :shrug:

Tornado Alley

After a mild sunny day we spent most of the evening watching the TV meteorologists on most every channel with their radar displays and other visual aids showing where the dangerous storms were. They appeared to be on us and all around us but, luckily, they were just all around us. Got buckets of rain and lots of lightning, but not much wind or hail. The tornadoes went north and south of us. We did, however, at one point prepare the downstairs closet under the steps for hasty retreat, just in case. It was, I think, May 8 last year when the twister hit a few blocks away. Ahh, life in Tornado Alley! Such a thrill.

And then as I lay in bed reading at 1:00 a.m. there was a huge bang and the back yard lit up like a flare had gone off. That got the adrenalin going! Obviously a transformer, but not one affecting us, as our power was on. Looking out the window, I could see the pole next door, shooting fire and sparks into the air, and into the trees. Like one of those Fourth of July fountains, with roman candles in it. Kinda cool, actually, but obviously hazardous. So I called the police, and then went next door to see if anybody was home. They were, and had already called. Then the police roared up with lights flashing in front of our house, so I pointed them next door. Then the fire truck roared up with lights flashing in front of our house, and I pointed them next door. Then I went back to bed.

p>. :fright:

WordPress 1.2

WordPress version 1.2 was finally released this weekend. I’ve upgraded the blog to the final release. I’ve been testing the betas and release candidates on the home computer along the way, and things seem to work okay there. The “save and continue” feature is now working, so that people can preview what their post will look like before they actually post it. I’m sure that this has been a much desired feature among family members.

p>. – JC – :jesors1: