MediocreMan

For Over a Decade · 16 March 2019

I started writing this blog over a decade ago. (Not this particular post.) Hard to believe I am still writing with so few readers (both real and imaginary).

I used to think I was going to be the next Erma Bombeck or Dave Barry. Not just funny. But funny and popular enough to have a syndicated column. After suffering obscurity since 2007, I do not have those aspirations anymore. I would just like to have a few more real readers. And I would like to stop losing any readers (both real and imaginary).

If you ask most would be writers, they will tell you that they have the next best seller in their minds. The problem is that they never get it onto paper or into their computers. They never send inquiries or seek agents. They just dream of being the next James Michener or Stephen King or Amy Tan or whoever their favorite author might be. Which is the problem. They just dream. I ought to know. I was there for many years. Just dreaming.

Do not get me wrong. I have written lots of stuff since before the start of my blog. The year 2007 was not the beginning. It was just the time when I was getting published in a local small town newspaper. It was the time when I started getting serious. After all, I must have been serious if I started writing one day a week and posting that same day. Right? Maybe. At least I started a writing routine. Which turned into a much more disciplined routine a few years later. That was when I became a real writer. Or at least more than a wannabe. More than just a dreamer. More than somebody who says they want to write. I actually wrote. And I still write. Six days a week. Pretty much every week.

I still have thoughts of having my writing grace somebody’s best selling list. But those thoughts do not take up much of my time. After all, I have too many other things demanding my time. More than enough writing projects to start, edit, and edit some more. More than enough work to do.
I may not ever make anybody’s best seller list, but I do have enough content out there on the internet to garner a little interest every once in a while. Even from people I do not know. And believe it or not, people even buy my digital books every once in a while. (I had two months in a row where I sold a book. Imagine that.)

Still, the part that I find most incredible about my writing is that I have been blogging since 2007. I might have missed a couple weeks in there somewhere, but I have consistently posted something each week since March 2007. I know. If you look back, you will see some that are posted before then, but they were pre-MM. They were written before MediocreMan.com actually existed.

I must say that it was quite fun to have my stuff printed in actual newspapers in the area. It was not a long run, but it was still fun to get comments from people who saw a piece I wrote. Just like it is fun to get comments in the digital world too.

There might not be any blogger awards. And even if there were, I am sure I would not be vying for top honors any time soon. And I know I am not going to be the next Erma Bombeck or Dave Barry. But I am proud of my accomplishments as a writer so far. I am proud to say that I have been blogging and writing for so long. And even if nobody reads what I write, I still consider myself a writer.

So yes. If a tree falls in the woods without anybody there to hear it, it still makes a sound. And yes. If a person writes but nobody reads the words, that person is still a writer. Even if the writer/blogger has had just a few faithful readers for over a decade.

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Palindromic Date · 9 March 2019

I just realized that next year, Goundhog Day (February 2) will be a palindromic date. At least if you put leading zeroes to make the month and day two digits each. (Which technically does not make it a two-digit number since leading zeroes do not count as digits. But that is a completely different story.)

(I actually realized the date was a palindrome a while ago, but the snow, which I do not know if the groundhog predicted, came and gave me some other topics. Which are other stories that I already wrote. But back to the current thought.)

I like to put leading zeroes in my dates. Maybe it is because you need to do that with online forms and such. Surely, it is not because there is any ambiguity with dates. At least not with months. But for some reason, putting in those zeroes before most months and the first nine days of the month seems right to me. I suppose that the practice just lends itself to my way of thinking. Each month needs two digits as does each day. Simple. Or maybe I am just simple. Whatever the reason, I like to do it.

Which is why I noticed that 02/02/2020 will be a numeric palindrome. The number is the same forward and backward. At least without the slashes. I am not sure why I think palindromes are so cool, but I do. Okay. I do know why. They just are. Palindromes are cool. Period.

Here are some short palindromes:

Racecar.
Madam I’m Adam.
A man a plan a canal – Panama.
Able was I ere I saw Elba.

Cool, right! (That was not a palindrome, by the way.) I am always amazed when words and numbers are palindromic. (Which if it is not a word, ought to be. Sometimes, okay usually, I hate spell checker on my word processor. Although it is nice when it tells me I spelt something wrong like spelt. Unless, of course, that word happens to be correct in British or some other form of English that might be in my dictionary. Or if it happens to be some form of grain.)

Now, where was I? (Sometimes I get confused when I put in parenthetical thoughts. Which by the way are fun in and of themselves. And have you ever noticed that whenever I say, “But that is another story,” I usually have not subsequently told another story. Must be frustrating. Ah, but that is another story.)

Where was I again? Oh yes. Amazed.

I am always amazed when words and phrases and paragraphs are palindromic. (No parenthetical thoughts here.) But I am also amazed when numbers are. Palindromic, that is. I might even have commented on a palindromic date some time in the past. (Probably 01/02/2010.) But I do not remember. All I know is that February 2, 2020 will be a numerical palindrome.

02022020. Not quite as fun as racecar. But still. It is a palindrome. 02022020.

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Snopocalypse 2019 · 2 March 2019

Snopocalypse 2019 has been quite the adventure.

I remember when the weather people used to be about 50 percent right. They said snow was coming, but it never did. Or if it did, there was just a dusting. People would be all worried about the big storm and a few flakes would fly. “That’s it?!” was the response. Or the opposite would happen. The weather folks would say the storm might give us a few drops of rain, but a monsoon hit. Those were the good ole days of weather prediction. Spin the wheel and just give the prediction with confidence and conviction. People thought you were a crackpot anyway.

Not so today. Today, weather predictions seem to be right on. To the inch and within a few hours. Or maybe a day. Those weather satellites and computer models seem to be getting better and better at predicting what storm is headed our way.

I for one am glad of that. After all, if the predictions had not been so reliable, I might still be stuck at work two weeks after the first storm hit. We all went home a little early. Right before the clouds dumped snow. And that ended up being the light day. Just a couple inches. Who knew the snow was going to keep coming for a couple weeks? I suppose we all did because the weather people told us so.

Still, even though they told us, I did not think we would get that much snow. Wow!

I like the snow. I like going out and breathing the fresh air after it has snowed a few inches. Or more. And I actually like to shovel the driveway and get everything ready for when the snow stops and we can get in our vehicles and drive again. Besides, when you shovel the driveway and the walkway every snowfall, they are easier to maintain if the snow keeps falling. And falling and falling. So far during Snopocalypse 2019, I have shoveled three or four days.

Believe it or not, I have had fun shoveling.

Part of the reason I have had so much fun shoveling is because I have made a couple time lapse videos of my quest to keep the driveway and walkway clean. I even made music on the first one and a soundtrack for another. And I have a third one done as well. (All are on YouTube.)

Besides the videos and being able to be creative, I have staved off cabin fever and boredom by going outside. Shoveling the snow has been a welcome relief to boredom and the snoredom that our kids seem to have been afflicted with. It used to be that we would all go out and tromp through the snow or go sledding or make snow forts or igloos. Now, they sleep or play inside on their computers. I just go outside and dig us out. Dig, dig, dig. Quite refreshing.

It is also a good workout. The snow we have gotten is heavy. Each shovelful has been a challenge to move out of the way. But it is helping me get in shape. (Yes, round is a shape.) Shoveling is helping me stay fit. And sane.

Thankfully, Snopocalypse 2019 has only affected the roads and sidewalks. Which means we have not gone on many adventures in the vehicles. But at least I have avoided cabin fever and snoredom. I have not been bored one bit during our two weeks in the house (with a couple breaks).

Maybe it has not been the most outrageous adventure, but Snopocalypse 2019 has been a great time. Especially, for those of us who were prepared thanks to the weather people and for those who like to dig.

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