It was February of 2011 when Appleattic and this blog went live. Since then there have been many changes in our lives. The site has changed, over time, to reflect those changes.
I began by adding Galleries pages (with slide shows) that visually document people, places, family, and things that we had experienced. Videos came later and added motion to projects and events. I added the Humor Corner to the main page and Pam’s Penny and Photo Archive sections to each post.
Many under-the-hood changes took place over the years. Some were small or not noticeable, but include things like adding rounded corners to the thumbnail images on various pages. Navigation button and footer entries were consolidated into single reusable files, eliminating the need to modify each page when these items changed. Galleries received slide show controls and were standardized. Conversion of the site from an unsecured to a secured site was a major upgrade.
Many people do not realize I’ve also created and hosted web pages for my motorcycle club’s rallies over the years. Here is one for 2021.
Keeping the blog going has been an interesting exercise. This will be post number 454. I have lost track of the number of photos and videos uploaded over the years; these number in the hundreds. There have been close to 55,000 “hits” on the blog page. (Counters for the blog and main page were added after both were established.) A total of 782 comments have been posted. Security software Akismet and Site Lock have stopped dozens of spam messages and hacking attempts.
I don’t know how much longer the blog will continue but it will last for a few more years, at least. It has been an interesting 10 years!
Now, on to other topics.
On Monday I drove to Mason City to get the official results of my CT and bone scan tests. As anticipated, both tests came up ‘clean’ indicating the prostate cancer has not spread to surrounding soft tissues or bones. That is good news! Next up is a meeting with the Mayo Clinic on March 3rd to discuss treatment options.
Continuing with medical news, Pam is suffering from an infected molar that will need a root canal followed by a crown. Right now she is on penicillin and has a Friday appointment for the root canal work. Not good times. The basic dental plan she had signed up for does not cover this kind of work, as Pam has needed very little except maintenance dental work over the years. There goes the stimulus check (if we ever get one).
Inside the house Pam has completed two sections of the stencil in the library and it is looking good! The work is over half done, as the trim painting is completed leaving the rest of the stencils to be painted on two more sections of the wall.
Pam added this bit of decoration over the front hallway entrance:
In avian news, a pair of cardinals are starting to frequent the bird feeder. (Recently we saw four cardinals around the feeder at one time.) I have a hurried shot of this pair feeding on the ground. Taken handheld at maximum telephoto through two layers of glass, well, the quality is not very good. I will get out the tripod and see if I can get a higher quality shot in the future.
Elmo the cat is often photogenic and I took this shot of him sleeping on the back couch. (He looks so harmless, doesn’t he?)
Our frigid weather was not the only weather-related story this past week. On Tuesday our daughter Felicity sent us a text informing us Tulsa was on rolling blackouts and she was without power for periods of time. The South is not equipped to handle the record cold temperatures; demands for power (primarily electric heating and furnace blowers) have outstripped the grid’s ability to deliver. Weather is supposed to moderate in the next few days in Oklahoma and other southern states — conditions will improve. Amazing the human toll the cold has taken in these areas.
Photo Archive
Flowers in Colorado have always been a draw for me.
That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
Pam’s Penny
I can think of at least ten things I would rather spend $1,000 on right now, other than a root canal. Seems about every twenty years my teeth require “attention” – wisdom teeth removal in my 20’s, a molar extraction in my 40’s, and now a root canal in my 60’s. (Yee-hah.) Well, you gotta have teeth.
Major excitement – Jerry added our names to the COVID vaccine list at the local Elma Clinic. The small clinic only receives 100 doses at any given time due to refrigeration issues; who knows when our number will be called? Overall, Iowa has not been very organized re: vaccine distribution. The governor has proven to be totally inept in her attempt to administer this statewide health program. Add COVID stupidity to the Iowa “not to like” list.
Be well. Happy Trails.
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