three years of blogging

February marked the 3-year anniversary of Buffet o’ Blog.   From such humble beginnings, this site has become the awesomeness that it is today.  🙂  And as always, there is no charge for the awesomeness.

In the past year, we’ve added a few new features that have proven popular, and there’s a few more in the works.  We’re keeping the same random goodness that you come back for, as well as making changes to improve your experience.  So you could say we’re both conservative AND liberal, at the same time.   But we’re not like politicians, because we’re not evil nor trying to take over the country.   (And rest assured, we won’t ever be evil.)

Traffic has continued growing as well.  Here’s a chart, so it looks all official and stuff.

look at the traffic!

As you can see, the traffic peaked in October, then has stayed in the 11,000 to 12,000 range.  I blame it on the economy.   But at least our chart looks better than the stock market…

Here’s the all-time blog statistics, for those of you who are interested in such things.

Total # of posts: 623
Total # of comments: 2,669
Total # of spam comments blocked: 55,053
Total # of page views: 161,241
Best day of traffic: 940 hits (page views) on October 31, 2008.

Last year at this time, we had only 40,740 page hits, so in just the last year, we’ve had 120,501 hits.  Inconceivable!  I’m amazed that so many people have seen and perhaps read some of my ramblings.  Does this mean I’m famous?  Is my blog now officially not obscure?  🙂

The daily traffic has its ups and downs, with Saturdays and Sundays typically being the lowest traffic days.   (I wonder why that is… surely it doesn’t mean most people check this only at work…  😮  But if so, that’s okay with me!)  We’ve currently had over 307 consecutive days (and counting) of 100+ hits, and recently had 143 consecutive days of 200+ hits.  The latter streak was broken during the Christmas holiday, when traffic went down.

Some researchers have said that laughing heartily adds 7 years to your life.  So think of all the people who have been helped by this blog!   That’s all the thanks I need (although I’m not against hearing more compliments, should anyone have any, and I also accept cookies, gift cards, and U.S. currency).  🙂

I wish we were having a big party to celebrate, but it’s just not in the budget this year.   Maybe someday WordPress will allow ads on the blog and by then we’ll be getting thousands of hits per day, and thus we’d make some money.  Then we’ll have a big party.  (And by big, I mean lots of food… y’know, the important stuff.)

And of course, I have to thank you, my readers.  Without you, I’d be talking (writing) to myself.  And that would be sad… but because of you, it’s awesome!  (See the difference you make?  You should feel special.)

it’s time for some research funding!

Some of us on the Buffet o’ Blog staff have joked that we should start a research project and find a way to get funded by the government.   After glancing over just part of the 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act / spending bill, I’m convinced that we should actually do it.  Initially we were just joking, but people are getting big bucks for projects that our government probably shouldn’t be supporting.  Here’s a few examples:

* $360,000 to the “NOAA National Weather Service Pacific Region Headquarters to purchase, install, and maintain rain gages”.   Okay, maybe this one should be funded.   But $360,000 for rain gages?!?  I know, they have to pay someone to install and maintain them.  Still, you can buy a LOT of rain gages and pay quite a few salaries with that kind of money!   And that doesn’t sound like a full-time job for several people…  (On a side note, I was taught “gauges” is the correct spelling, but apparently both are acceptable.  Silly English language!)

* $1,000,000 to “Rhode Island Coastal Resource Management Council for the development of a comprehensive habitat restoration and protection plan for Narragansett Bay and nearby water bodies”.  But that’s not all.  Here’s a related one: another one million dollars to “Save the Bay for a middle-school youth program to study, cleanup, and preserve Narragansett Bay”.  Really?!? A million bucks to a professional group just to DEVELOP a plan seems WAY high, but then to add another million for a middle-school program?  Where’s that money going???   It’s not going to the kids.  It’s probably not going to the teachers.  Someone should watch that program.

* $2,150,000 to Wisconsin for the “Wisconsin Height Modernization Program”.  Is the height of Wisconsin out-of-date?  I don’t know what that’s about…

* $5,600,000 to “The JASON Project”.  I have no idea what that is.  But I’m thinking there should be a “Buffet o’ Blog Project”!  We can call it “The BoB Project” for short.   Our state senators should just put it in there for something small, like $100,000.  Who reads these bills anyway?  I don’t think our congressmen do.   This bill is 1,122 pages long, and they had less than 36 hours to read it before it was voted on.  I need to make some phone calls!

* $400,000 for “Horseshoe Crab Research”.  I wonder if this will involve the eating of any…  I’d like to participate in some type of research that involves lots of eating (as long as it’s not vegetables).

* $1,500,000 to “Auburn University for research”.   Some of the earmarks explain what the research is for, but to put “for research” is very generic.  It seems like there would be difficulty in maintaining accountability for that money…   Hmm…  that gives me an idea for my future “research” project(s)…  🙂

The list goes on and on and on and on.  You get the idea.  If you want to look over the plan, here’s the link.  (Be forewarned it’s a 12MB PDF file.)

Enough rambling about all that.  I’ve got to go now, so I can think up some type of “research” I can do to get lots of money.  Apparently this is the American way, and now that Pelosi and the Democrats are spending money like two-year-olds in a candy store, it’s time for me to get in on the redistribution of wealth!

Fat Tuesday

Today is “Fat Tuesday”.  If you’re fat, then this is your day.  And if you’re not fat, then you’re supposed to try to become fat.  🙂  No, really it’s about Mardi Gras, which literally translates to “Fat Tuesday”.  I don’t care anything about the Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans, but the notion of Fat Tuesday sounds interesting.

Fat Tuesday is always the day before Ash Wednesday, when Catholics and some formal, “liturgical” Christian denominations start Lent, a time of fasting from some item that you really enjoy.  I don’t participate in that.  I’m all for repenting and fasting, but not in this organized way.  But to each their own.  FYI, the date of Fat Tuesday varies each year.  This year, 2009, it is today, February 24.  Consult the Internet or calendar for other years.

Anyway, the idea of eating all you want on Fat Tuesday sounds like a good idea, regardless of whether or not you participate in Lent.  So hopefully you made the most of your meals today.  It’s part of being culturally relevant, or somethin’…

Fortunately, I participated in this overeating ritual during lunch today, even though I didn’t consciously know I was supposed to.  🙂

caption contest, big pizzas

Here’s this week’s caption contest.  This one involves food — big pizzas with lots of meat.  One of the guys in the picture looks like Adam Richman of Man vs Food, but I’m not for sure, because I haven’t seen this in an episode yet.  It looks like they’re in Chicago, where there is much awesome pizza to be found.  (Oh, how I long to return to Chicago for some of their famous deep-dish pizza!)  But back to the point, regardless of who it is, write what may be going on here in this photo.

two men eating big pizzas

(To see the other caption contests, click on the “Say What?” category in the sidebar.)