
Most people would read this headline and think it refers to having reached the momentous occasion of having blogged for one year.
Unfortunately, that is not the case here. This headline refers to the fact that it has been exactly one year since I wrote my last blog post.
I wish I could say I was busy, but I don’t think I have been any busier than when I was blogging every day for 2,647 straight days. (And along the way, breaking Cal Ripken’s consecutive game streak of 2,632.)
I guess I can just chalk it up to inertia.
But I wasn’t completely removed from the wonderful world of blogging. I would occasionally try to catch up with some of my favorite bloggers, but inertia struck there once again.
The one thing I did stay up with, and this may come as no surprise to many of you who know my habits, was checking my blog stats. As you might expect, they have dropped off considerably, but not as much as I thought they would. I guess Google has not yet figured out how to keep unsuspecting searchers away from complete blather. My sincerest apologies for disappointing people who thought they might learn something when clicking on one of my blog posts.
But really, what were people expecting when they click on headlines like:
- If I Eat 44 Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches Every Day, I Might Live Forever…
- How a Scottish Shower Is Helping Me Become a Man
- If I Deactivated My Facebook Account, and No One Cared, Did It Really Happen?
Unfortunately, it’s time to start once again with all the click-bait headlines and low-quality blog posts. Despite all the overpromising and underdelivering that was a hallmark of my website, I didn’t realize how much I actually relied on all the income I earned from blogging, and my savings account has gotten dangerously low since I stopped.
Apparently, every time someone likes one of my blog posts, I earn one-billionth of a penny.
So please, hit that like button, even though we both know what you just read is a bunch of blather.

It’s good to see you here again, even if it is briefly.
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Thank you – it’s good to be back!
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Hi Jim!
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Hi Jeff! I am still enjoying the Guinness NA, by the way…
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Me too, but during the warm weather it’s usually Brooklyn beers.
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I’ve been to the Brooklyn Brewery, but I don’t think I’ve had one of their NAs…
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Hi Jim. Some of us regulars stayed around for this moment. Now I feel like my life is complete, and I can drop the mic and walk off into the sunset.
How was the wedding? I hope your son and his bride had a beautiful day.
My big news? I got a pacemaker (low pulse) four weeks ago. Now I’m beating away at a nice even 60.
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I’m glad I helped to make your life more complete – you must have already been really close 🙂
My son’s wedding is two weeks from today; we are quite excited!
I’ll have to search through your recent blog posts to see if you have written more about your pacemaker; I hope it is not too bothersome…
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Blather is better than silence.
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some people may not agree…
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Wow! You get a nanocent for each like? One day….
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yes, I am patiently waiting for that “one day”…
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It’s lovely to see you again, Jim. I’ve missed you.
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thanks, Norah; I am happy to be back!
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so nice to see you and your blather, Jim
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thanks, Beth. I am looking forward to becoming part of the blogging community again. I hope your school year is off to a good start!
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my last one, and yes )
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congratulations! I am sure it will be bittersweet…
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Is it really a year? Wow! Happy Birthday for Wednesday past, by the way. Great to see you back again, and I hope you stick around – we all need a regular dose of blather in our lives!
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Hi Clive, thanks for the birthday wishes! I am looking forward to learning mroe about new artists and songs from your blog posts. I’ve been thinking about the past few months as I watched Taylor Swift become a global phenomenon – you saw it coming!
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Hi Jim. You’re welcome – I was reminded when I was putting together yesterday’s post!
Hopefully you’ll find some more new ones in future posts, as it always pleases me when I find someone that people didn’t know of. I don’t think I can really claim any credit for Taylor Swift, though – she was a big star before I began blogging!
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Top quality blather, sir!
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thanks; I’ve mastered the art of blather!
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Well hello again nice to see you 😁
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thank you!
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A year has just become a rounding error in my attention span, but welcome back.
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thank you!
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Hello, hello. So nice to hear from you again.
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Welcome back blogger!
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thank you!
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I’ll bet you’ve retired from teaching so that you can devote yourself full-time to blogging. Such an excellent choice, and a brave decision. I’m looking forward to more enlightening posts from the man who topped Cal Ripken.
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thanks, Tippy. I am looking forward to reading your always entertaining posts. And in a coincidence, I just gave my retirement notice this past week – but it is still a few years off. Summer of 2027…
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That’s a ways off. I imagine you must really love your job.
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we have a phased retirement option, which seemed like a nice way to ease off into the sunset. I do enjoy my job – it’s certainly easier than blogging everyday…
On a completely unrelated note, I just read Empire of the Summer Moon, a nonfiction book about the Comanches. As it described what the west used to be like back in the 1800s, it reminded me of some of the posts you have written.
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Phased retirement seems to me like a better way to leave the work world than the abrupt jumping off of a cliff that most people seem to do.
Sounds like a fascinating book. In fact, I’ve included a few tales about the Old West in my current series about Alaska.
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looks like I’ve got some reading about Alaska to do…
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Perhaps you should retire sooner, so you’ll have time.
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I just checked and noticed you’re up to part 10. I’ve got a plane ride this week, so this may be good reading material. I’ll try to squeeze it all in before I retire…
I also noticed the new layout – very nice!
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Good. I’m hoping my blather will inspire you to write some blather of your own.
Thanks. I like the simplicity of the new layout. It better matches my simple mind.
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It looks like it will be a slow easing back into blogging. Starting with comments now, reading other blogs, and then posting one of my on on occasion.
I’m too lazy to change my web site design, and I was happy to discover that I could still use the classic editor and not the block editor!
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I understand. Blogging can be a big time suck. Better to ease back into it.
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I seem to be taking the easing to the extreme…
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You extremist, you.
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Blogging is like quicksand. Its hard to get out of. Welcome back, Jim.
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Thanks, John! You’re right, I just couldn’t resist the allure of WordPress…
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Hi Jim, it’s nice to see a post from you.
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thanks, Robbie! I hope all is well with you!
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⭐️💖
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Welcome back, Jim! I kind of took a year off but posted sporadically a few times to let my readers know I was okay. I moved from Southern California to Oregon to be close to my daughter’s family. It was a stressful year.
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Thanks, Miriam! I probably should have done the same with an occasional post now and then, but that inertia stuff is pretty powerful 🙂
Congrats on your move – I hope you have settled in nicely.
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Good to see you back- even if it’s just once a year Your pay is like mine for streaming
Sent from the all new AOL app for iOS
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thanks, Bud! this passive income stuff is hard 🙂
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🎈🎈🎈 WELCOME BACK!!! 🎂 You have been MISSED!!! Your wit and blather keep us all balanced, so without you we’ve all been unbalanced even more than before! So good to see you again … oh, and since I brought the cake, see if Carolyn will bring some of her peanut butter ice cream and we’ll have a party!!! 🎈🎈🎈
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Thanks, Jill, for providing a big part of the motivation for coming back! I’m looking forward to reading your insights regarding the latest nonsense in our political system. And I look forward to reading Carolyn’s fun posts. I wonder if she has dropped me as a character?! I’m also looking forward to the party!
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Awwww … I’m happy to know I helped convince you to come back! Though my latest insights into the nonsense taking place these days in our political scene might just make you want to run for cover!!! But, Carolyn’s will always offer some fun balance to my darkness! PARTY!!! 🥳 🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈
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You made me realize how much I missed it! Yes, you and Carolyn are the perfect combo!
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😊
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What a surprising treat. Almost as big a deal if Cal Ripken had come out of retirement.
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Now that would be worthy of a blog post.
And on a side note, fingers crossed the Mariners make it to the playoffs!
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The Mariners seem to be doing their best to blow it!
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I guess the Mariners are lucky in that the Astros seem to be doing the same thing!
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Welcome back to your self deprecating humour. Always the best kind. Cheers, young James!
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Thanks, Peter. Hope all is well in Govanhill. Cheers!
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Welcome back.
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thank you!
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Welcome back Jim!
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Thanks, David! I hope all is well with you and your family!
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Jim!!! I’m so glad you’re back. I remember that day a year ago. It’s quite a feather in your cap to share Cal Ripken’s record. Your blather is a delight. Really. Have you come across Halle Roberts (one of my preschoolers a zillion years ago) at school? FYI, Pete Springer and I are in contact. My class just wrote him a big get well letter.
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Hi Jennie! It’s great to hear from you. Pete mentioned to me about his pacemaker – I’ll have to read his posts to find out what’s going on. But how nice of you and your children to send him a get well letter.
I have not come across Halle yet – I will keep my eyes open!
I hope all is well with you and your children!
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Hi Jim! All is well. Speaking of anniversaries, this is my 40th year teaching preschool. Yikes! Is your wife still teaching preschool? You’ll enjoy my post on the letter the children wrote to Pete, and you’ll want to read Pete’s post on his pacemaker. Best to you.
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Congrats on number 40! What an impact you have had on so many lives during that time. I am in my 38th year, and the plan is to retire in 2027. My wife is still teaching preschool, and still loving it.
I just read your post about the letter to Pete – wonderful for everyone involved!
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You’re one blogger I always look forward to. Welcome back.
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Thank you, Daniel! It feels good to be back.
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Jim, it’s wonderful to read this recent installment of blather. Perhaps your words will motivate me to better engaged with other bloggers and their posts. Best wishes to you and your family in Nova country.
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thanks, Richard; it’s good to hear from you. I hope all is well with you!
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Nice to see you pop by Jim. 🙂
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Thanks, Debby! I hope all is well with you.
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Thanks Jim. I’m doing my best. 🙂
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I’d expect nothing less from you!
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🙂 🙂
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Never over-publicized! Never a disappointment! I love your interesting observations and say to just write when you feel like it (not that I follow this advice, but I can still give it!).
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Welcome home young man! I missed your rapier wit. You may have noticed, I have been absent as well. I had to return to congratulate you on your anniversary and contribute. I hit the ‘like’ button twice!
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Hi Brad! It’s great to hear from you. I hope all is well with you. Do you plan to start posting again?
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Great to have you back Jim! Its a sunny day now. 😎
Though I may need to get extra padding for my head now. LOL!
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thanks, Carolyn. I look forward to those head smacks! 🙂
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“Haha!”
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I can’t imagine trying to come up with a new blog post every day for as long as you did. And since it’s been a couple of months since you put this out, Jim, I’d say that maybe a blather or two might be called for. Just a thought. Anyway, I’d just discovered your blog and then poof! you disappeared. Hope to hear from you again, soon! Mona
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thanks, Mona!
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thanks, Mona! I do hope to get back to blogging regularly again, I appreciate the encouragement!
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As I have been on a blogging break and am still not back fully just a couple of times a month I missed your anniversary I just saw comment on Clive’s blog and clicked so here I am…Nice to see you even if it was brief hope you and your family are keeping well, Jim 🙂
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Hi Carol! I am trying to join the world of blogging once again. I hope all is well with you!
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Look forward to reading your posts, Jim.. We are well thankyou 😊
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Glad to see you pop up in a comment on my blog! I have been way behind reading others post and about 7 month late to read this post! My only excuse is that I retired to start doing things that I love such as blogging and catching up on everything but now that I’m retired, I don’t have time to do anything🤷♀️🤷♀️
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No worries! As you can see, I have not been blogging too much 🙂
Seems like you are enjoying retirement!
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Yes. We are in the process of moving from Iowa to North Carolina…slow going! Enjoying the grandkids too!!
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best of luck with the move!
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Thank you!
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Hi Jim, I had a comment from you so I came to see if you’d posted anything new. Still keeping up the silence I see.
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thanks for checking. I am trying to ease back into blogging by just reading and commenting on others’ posts. maybe in a couple of months…
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Happy to oblige, even though it’s at least a year since I visited – for which I am truly sorry. The quality of your blog posts, actually, is good – I used to enjoy them very much. It’s my fault – too few hours in the day. I hope you keep blogging!
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