When To DotCom?

I’ve been using the dotwordpressdotcom free site here since ’13. In that time I’ve only used about 17% of the 3gigs of allotted storage space, so I’m nowhere even close to getting near that (and to be honest, if I was more careful with some of my monthly Roundup&Rambling main pictures, I could go even longer). But at the back of my mind the question of when/if to go straight up dotcom has been nagging me for a good year or two now.

The cons, at the moment, are far more than the pros and I’m writing this out so I can easily see the facts without the emotion.

PRO’S:

• 6 gigs of storage space
• No wordpress inserted adds for any reader (which would only affect those who don’t use adblocker software)
• Support directly from WordPress staff (7 years here and not really needed it yet though)
• Ego. Bookstooge.com would swell my head like a watermelon. “Oh yes, I have my own website. I’m that important, you know.”
• Some random thing I could do that I can’t right now but don’t even know about?

CON’S:

• $48 for the initial stuff
• $64 a year after the first year to keep the dotcom and 6gigs of space
• I don’t need space yet.
• I’ve seen so many other bloggers have problems, either with going back to dotwordpressdotcom or even the just the dotcom.
• Comments. Too many bloggers who’ve I’ve seen go dotcom have huge comments issues, most to the point where I stopped following them when they couldn’t/wouldn’t solve the issue. I don’t want to futz around, I just want things to work.
• I’m still bound by the WordPress.com TOS. Which means those illegitimate rats can yank my website at any time for any reason (seriously, go read the TOS. It is vague as all get out. I was banned from the wordpress forums for stating this to another user, so I am not very charitable on this issue)
• I don’t want or need a new theme and I have no desire to play around with my site. I did enough of that at blogger and then at booklikes and I’m done. I’m at the stage in my life where I just want things to work, period.
• Did I mention $64 a year? I ran the calculations, and with deals, that is between 40-50 energy drinks a year. I could have an energy drink every Sabbath morning or I could have a dotcom address. hmmmmm….

For the time being, I’m just going to hold my horses and not make the move to dotcom (by the by, can you believe that dotblog is more expensive than dotcom? That’s just stupid in my opinion). I know several of you have made the move and I’d interested to know if you’re self-hosted, with wordpress.com and what your experiences have been like.

The Bookstooges on Vacation, Part Ace

Vacation has been great so far. The flights down to Georgia went as smooth as could be. Saturday we went to the Hiram SDA church for Sabbath and then my sister and her partner came over for the afternoon/evening and we visited for some time. Sunday we went over to their house and hung out by the pool all afternoon. After a late dinner we rolled home and rolled into bed.

My sister and her partner both have rescue dogs. The little guy’s name is Benjamin and he’s about the size of both my fists. He’s a tiny little guy and I just wanted to pick him up and throw him in the pool like a football. Thankfully, I resisted temptation. Buggy, on the other hand, is a pit and not a tiny little guy. He’s as friendly as a pooch and would practically beg you to throw his rubber bone into the pool so he could go chasing after it. Of course, then he’d come back and shake himself right next to you, so you had to decide if it was worth it 😀

Monday we went to the Atlanta Aquarium. We all met at 9am and caravaned into the metropolis. We got inside a bit after 10am. I was done by 11:15am. After that I sat on a bench and let others do their thing. We got home a bit after 2pm. I took a nap because I was tired out from being around so many people. And that was WITH the aquarium having a strict covid protocols for how many people could be inside at once. I don’t think I could have done it otherwise. Here’s a gallery of a pix:

And now, it is 5pm Monday afternoon. I am sitting on a wonderful couch, drinking a Rockstar, looking at blue sunny skies out the window. Tomorrow is going to be a Do Nothing kind of day. So far, this vacation has met, and exceeded, every possible expectation I’ve had. I don’t want to brag, but I think we’re the King and Queen of Vacation right now.

ps,
this block editor? still not liking it.

July ’20 Roundup & Ramblings

Raw Data:

Books – 12

Pages – 4658

Words – 1673K

Average Rating – 3.13 Stars

The Bad:

Kingdom Come – 1 Star Graphic Novel

The Kingdom – 1 Star Graphic Novel

The Good:

The Jupiter War – 5 Stars of Ultra- (Space) -Violence, In Space!

David Copperfield – 5 Stars of Dickens.

Movie:

Instead of watching one movie, I decided to watch four anime series. I won’t be doing that again. With each series being 5-6hrs long, it simply required too much of my time. Don’t get me wrong, for the most part I enjoyed myself, but that was seriously dedicated time that I’d rather be able to spend on other things, even if it’s nothing but goofing off.

This month I watched:
1) Big O, Season 1
2) Tenchi Muyo, OVA
3) Big O, Season 2
4) Record of Lodoss War OVA

Miscellaneous Posts:

With all of my anime posts, I didn’t write nearly so many non-review posts this month. Here’s the short list:

• Independence Day
• A History of ….. Magic the Gathering
• War in Heaven Quote
• #MusicMonday – Record of Lodoss War OVA
• Funny Food Figures
• ♪Give Me a Ticket for an Aeroplane, ♪Ain’t Got Time to Take a Fast Train♪

Personal:

While my average rating was way down and I had three sub-2 star reads, I actually felt like I enjoyed my reading just as much as the previous month. No idea why, but I’m thankful for that because sometimes 1stars can just suck the very life out of one’s bookish existence.

Most of the month I was focused on getting ready for our vacation. It is amazing what you can plan even with lots of things being restricted. Throw in the fact that I haven’t gone on a week long vacation in I don’t know how many years and there is a lot of shopping that needed to be done.

Cover Love:

Come on, we all knew this was coming. Even with a McKillip/Craft in the running, Lime Light, another Arcane Casebook entry, takes this hands down. Whatever money Dan Willis spent to hire Mihaela Voicu has been totally worth it in my opinion!

Plans for August: (LOTS)

I am hoping to read the Big O manga. Fill up those Manga Monday slots and possibly some extra as there are 6 volumes.

Watch ONE anime movie. Movie, not a series. I need a break from that much screen time.

Do two #6Degree posts. The one I missed in July and then the one for August.

Some Vacation Pictures and probably a Vacation Post or two.

Master the Insidious Block Editor and write every post for the month using it. And blog about it. What’s the point if I can’t complain like a baby?

Work on the blog. So if you get posts emailed to you, expect a potential flood of incoming old reviews. You have been warned.

Switching Back to the Classic Editor

I don’t know if this will work for everyone but it is worth a shot. If you have been switched over to the block editor against your will, see if this works to get back. I know that I have NOT been forced over to the Block Editor even though it was trumpeted all over my homepage that June 1st was the day it was going to happen. Whatever the reason, it hasn’t.

I use chrome so if you use a different browser things might look a tiny bit different in the pictures below.

 

Step 1:

Start a new post while being terrorized by the block editor. I personally authorize any use of force you feel necessary, all the way up the nuclear option. We will not be held hostage by damnable traitorous terrorists! Or self-important computer engineers with their heads up their fundaments.

Step 2:

Over on the top right, there are 3 dots. Click those dots. See picture below:

 

Step 3:

Scroll down to the bottom and click on the “switch to classic editor”. See picture below:

 

That should do it. I’d be really interested to hear from those of you who were forced to use the block editor to see if this works for you. I’m also including a link to the forums where you can voice your complaints about the block editor.  I’ve complained and I’ll probably go back and complain some more.

Complain About the Block Editor!