Today seems to be Day 109 of the evil flu from hell, though I know it cannot truly be that long. Time is passing so slowly in this unwell state of being. The little things are beginning to irritate. This is going to be a rare negative post. Normally I try to keep the positive on here at the blog.
Bear with me. I support ya’all when ya’all snark it up from time to time, so support me in my snarkiness. ;) And then at the end I talk about politics, which ensures this will be a post everyone will hate.
Houston, We Have Neighbours.
Actually we got neighbours a while ago, I just never mentioned it here on the blog. They are not at all what I hoped for. I had hoped for people who might be friendly, people who might say hello, perhaps people we could become friends with.
What we got is elephant feet. These people STOMP around like elephants. Unfortunately because all the units must be sitting on the same concrete base? It sounds like they are walking right down my hallway. It is freaking me out. It is like having ghosts or something. I don’t even know how anyone could stomp around like that all day – it must be bad for their joints. Can anyone say hip replacement in later life?
I’ll be sitting here writing, the STOMP begins, and I turn around expecting to see.. I don’t know.. maybe a catwalk model doing a fierce walk, or some burly security guard – or even the other half arriving home. Then I remember what the noise is. They’ve been here for about a month now and I still haven’t got used to the STOMP. As yet I have been very good. I have not STOMPed back. But after this week I am tempted. Maybe I need to STOMP so they can realise how noisy it is?
We saw them in their driveway when we arrived home last week. The Other Half went out to get the mail. No hello. :(
Paid Post Insanity
I’ve been having some trouble with a few blogs in my Google Reader. It’s like this. I subscribe to what seems to be a rational, friendly, excellent blog written by an interesting blogger. Then they get accepted into Pay Per Post and suddenly go from posting once per day (or 2-3 times a week) to posting 5-10 times a day. The quality of posts goes from wow, I really enjoyed that post to cringe worthy stuff. I try to keep up. I try to tolerate it.
I write to the blogger and let them know I am feeling overwhelmed. Most other people would just unsubscribe but I try to let them know what they are doing can drive off their readership. Unfortunately most still keep posting insane amounts of posts, even after that. ;( I don’t get that. If you drive off the readers your alexa ranks go down which means you can’t keep being paid. So you might be raking in the cash right now but later you’ll be left without readers and without income.
Don’t get me wrong, I support a bloggers right to be paid for their posts. But I believe more than 3 posts in one day is too many. If you’re hitting me with more than that, don’t expect to keep me as a reader much longer. I’m sorry. I just can’t keep up and the content quality isn’t good enough to make me desperately want to, either. And I’m a fast reader!
The Australian Elections
Oh, someone stab me in the forehead with a fork already. There is nothing I dislike more than a blogger who seems to believe that one political party is better than another one, that their candidate for PM will change the world, make lives better, and fix all the pain in the world simply by getting elected. Good, reasonable bloggers that I usually love reading have apparently lost their minds in the midst of apparent hysteria that their chosen messiah KRudd might be elected.
They have forgotten that 90% of the voters turn up at the polls and think “Am I all right?” If yes they vote to keep the government. If no, they vote for a change. They don’t care about war, poverty, green issues, or the ugliness of one leader VS the other. They are selfish. They care about themselves. Issues, schmissues. Polls, Schmolls. They have a right to be that way, and they each get a vote to do with what they want. That is the reality of elections where everyone is FORCED to vote. These people would not bother to turn up on polling day if voting were optional.
So bloggers, please note. Nothing makes a reader cringe more than someone saying things similar to “Labor is guaranteed to win” “KRudd is our next PM” etc. This assumes facts not yet in evidence. And if it turns out to be wrong, you’ll hate yourself for having said it. It’s like you’re putting a jinx on. If you want Labor to win you don’t want to be putting the jinx on.
A Positive Note
There is only one good thing about elections. There is only one man I would ever consider a God of Politics and a politician he ain’t. I’d vote for him though. I look forward to election night and spending the evening with him. I’ve seen him on TV a few times already and he has me all excited. Antony Green is an intelligent man who can make an election downright sexy. I wish you had such a man in the USA, my American friends. Do you?
I wish the one we have in Australia would sit down to have some decent glamour shots taken of himself because I can’t find a blog worthy photo. I’ll try and get some screenshots on Election Night. This time two weeks from now I will be preparing myself for the evening of such incredible televisual delights from the ABC election coverage that one gets to experience once every four years on Federal Election Night. Fellow fans of Antony Green will agree – we do not hold elections often enough!
I just love Anthony Green. I am not sure why, but nothing says to me Australian Federal Election like he does. I am supposed to be going to an election party on Election night, but if they don’t have the ABC coverage playing, I won’t be there. I can’t miss my four yearly fill of Anthony.
You’re allowed to be snarky once in a while. But after this your quota is used up for the month. LOL. If your neighbors moved in after you then maybe you should greet them first. The stomping might be furniture re-arranging or something. I’m just playing devil’s advocate here because you may have already been feeling a little negative with the elections and all. ;) I like how you try to let the bloggers who you read know when they are potentially irritating their readers. They are lucky they have you and if I ever get to the point of doing paid posts, I will definitely keep that in mind so I don’t over-do it. Hope you feel better soon. What a long time for the flu! Hugs and hot water bottles to you!
Hi Snoskred, I’m so sorry to hear of the bad stuff this week. Flu’s bad enough, but when you add stomping to the mix, well, that’s just hell on steroids. When I used to live in an apartment it always amazed me how inconsiderate people could be with either walking/talking loud or playing their stereo as though they were the only ones in the complex. For the love of Pete!! From then on, I vowed to never get a first-floor apartment.
Hope it gets better for you real soon!
I hear you on the low tolerance for neighbors. We have people downstairs with a major thumping bass that the apartment management won’t discipline because they work here. Also, another neighbor has an affinity for weed that we can smell all over the place – in the apartment, outside the apartment, etc – but we can’t figure out exactly where it’s coming from, because that’s one that management does want to deal with. Grr. Neighbors suck sometimes, especially in Vegas.
Wow, snarkiness AND politics. Obviously the brain is still working even though the body is unwell. The snarkiness is forgiven, everyone has their off days and since you’ve been sick forever I can understand you being cranky. The politics I have mostly ignored. I still haven’t decided who I’ll vote for. Neither main party seems to be offering REAL solutions to the problems of the common people. They just seem to be trying to outdo each other with blame laying. I’d like to vote for whoever promises to build water catchments in tropical flood areas (and other heavy rainfall areas) and pipelines to bring the water to the rest of the country. There are many other issues I’d like to see promises on, but would they be just promises with no results, like so many other pre-election promises? I’ve lost faith in our “leaders” who seem to do not much more than jaunt overseas and line their pockets with the taxes we are all paying.
On the neighbour issue, I can’t help with any suggestions. I’ve lived in my unit for almost 5 years and the neighbours change fairly often, and being uber-shy I don’t get to know them. I will say that my bedroom shares a wall with the bedroom next door and since I go to bed early I have bought several pairs of earplugs so that I’m not kept awake at night. Luckily mine is an end unit so I only have a neighbour on one side.
P.S. I’ve been eating my very own cherries for a couple of days now.
I don’t like paid posts generally, but when people swamp their blog with them, I just unsubscribe. Mostly I read blogs to get people’s take on their world, not to read them spruiking some advertiser’s products. When you see paid posts to personal posts running at several to one, the blog is not worth reading as far as I’m concerned. Especially stupid to me is when Australian bloggers promote products and services that aren’t even available here, and which surely they are not placed to express an informed opinion on.
I hope you feel better soon.
The excessive paid posts don’t bother me as much as they used to. I know some of my buddies need that money now. If it is excessive I just bypass I’ll only read what I’m interested in. I do the same with my newspaper. Some of them do write their paid post in a way where I actually like reading what they have to say. They bring their personality into those posts.
I have seen some of my blog buddies create review based websites that have done well. They churn out a lot of posts per day. Their reviews are spot on and they mix personal reviews along with paid reviews. I check the ones I’m interested in.
Occasionally I have done a lot of posts on my alternative healing, recipe website, and technology website. My readership actually increased. The posts were all top quality. I was giving away something free, mainly recipes. I just had a lot to say now I normally save them for advanced posting simply because I’m extremely busy and I don’t always have the time to post every day on all my websites.
However on my photography website when I’m on a roll I’ll post several photography pictures each day.
Hope you get well soon and your neighbors lighten up (figuratively and literally).
WRT paid posts…I think it’s possible that when bloggers switch to that they are expecting more search engine and referral traffic than subscribed. Not always,and I don’t know which blogs you mean. But…it’s possible they are expecting a predominance of traffic through a different route than the typical loyal, subscribed reader.
Julie
Using My Words
You certainly gave me a lot to think about during this tense week. I hope the flu goes away. Hope you’re remembering to drink fluids (ginger ale) and have chicken soup. I read it really does do something for the stomach and body.
So sorry about the neighbors. Maybe there is something you can do with the house to help. I know they have sound absorbers which may eliminate some of the noise. Good luck, that could be very nerve wracking.
Thanks for the thoughts on paid blogging..they were really worth thinking about..
Dorothy from grammology
remember to call your grandma
I bet it feels great to have a bitch :)
Sorry you are still feeling ill :(.
Did you husband say hi to them? Because maybe they are thinking the same thing as you. I ma currently having problems with a housemate. I say hi and sometimes get a hi back but mostly I ma ignored and looked through and she has been leaving mess, arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I say stamp and stamp and stomp and bang until all your anger is released but it’s probably not the correct thing to do :).
I want to be involved with politics but find the politicians just inbearable to listen too!!!
Hi Snoskred,
I hope you are feeling better soon.
Snark away! I love reading a good bitchfest plus, it does you good to get it off your chest.
I’ll bet with your STOMPing neigbours, you’re wishing that you had acerage in the country. Don’t think I need to tell you just how peaceful that is!
I voted…in your poll that is!
Personally, I wouldn’t have time to read more than three posts per day. Two seem to be reasonable and the format that you often use is how I’m liking it! Any more would seem like a bit of a chore, for both the reader and the writer.
I like the snarky snoskred! Nothing like a good vent every now and then ;)
Like you, I got new neighbours recently and am really missing my old ones. The previous couple were in their 50’s and from the country. We used to have regular chats over the balconies and, for me, it was like having surrogate parents living next-door. The new neighbours (who I assume are a couple, can’t confirm because they don’t seem to be able to communicate outside of their apartment) seem to do nothing but argue and hide when I go out onto the balcony. Here’s hoping they’ll be temporary – on both sides of the comment!
I think Obama is kinda sexy…
Our neighbors are four single guys. Who play club music. In the kitchen. Because nothing says Sunday night dinner like thumping club music.
Riayn – I completely agree. Antony Green IS the best known symbol of the Australian Federal Election. ;) Only 12 days to go, I can’t wait!
Teeni – I think part of the problem is a lack of furniture. They came over from WA and clearly didn’t bring much stuff with them. So there is nothing in there to soak up any noise like we have. ;) But the foot stomping is more about the way they walk. There are some people who just walk loudly. It wouldn’t matter so much if we were all on separate concrete slabs.
Mark – the stomping doesn’t bug me half as much when I’m feeling well.. ;) I agree re the inconsiderate people, I always try to keep the noise down as much as possible. ;)
Kirsten – I hate the smell of weed myself, it just is stinky. :( The management should do something about the bass because they wont have many tenants left if they don’t. People do move due to noise, I think it is possibly the number one reason.
River – totally with you on the loss of faith. I don’t see anyone who is providing solutions – they just like to place blame. ;( And YAY for the cherries! ;)
Ian – I have found some incredible products by doing paid posts. I ordered a whole bunch of “free” printing stuff just last week after doing a review on the old blog – there is this fantastic website called vistaprint.com.au where you can get free business cards, sticky notes, rubber stamps, a whole bunch of great stuff and all you pay for is the shipping. I got about 10 different free things for $13.00.
I think the problem is, some advertisers do not want actual reviews. They want to buy links. Many of the bloggers have got into the habit of just doing an advertising pitch, not an *actual* review. I found that a problem when I ordered my own reviews of this blog. But at no time should anyone be doing 10 posts a day with half of them being paid posts and expect to have readers when they’re done. People just won’t stick around for that.
I can review a US site, I’ve done it before and I suggested that they should offer services to Australians – the owner of the site replied in the comments section and thanked me for that feedback. They’ve since gone on to do what I suggested. So I think there can be benefits if it is truly a review they are looking for. ;)
Opal – I know what you mean, and I agree – I tend to overlook because I know people need the money. I enjoy well written paid posts – you do some of the best ones. However there comes a point where some bloggers cross a line and stop providing any readable content at all. One of the reasons is they are trying to do too much – can you imagine doing 4 paid posts with a non paid post of 3-5 lines (which you can tell is quickly written and just there as filler) on either side on your blog in the space of ONE day, equalling 10 posts? Would you ever do that as a blogger? I have the feeling I know your answer would be no. My answer is no. The most paid posts I would ever do in a day here on this blog is one. That would = 3 posts – the thought of the day, the paid post, and my regular non-paid content.
The worst of it is, I’m in PPP. I can see they are being paid $5 per post. So they made $20 bucks out of writing 10 posts. They probably spent 3-4 hours doing it. They’re not getting paid enough to justify the effort.
Julie – In general they have built up their traffic in order to get into the paid posting program – then they go and lose it by trying to do too much. I’m happy to read good posts – regardless of whether they are sponsored or not. But creating good content takes time – we both know that. If I am getting paid the amount I ask for a review – here on this blog it is currently $50, I generally spend 2-4 hours on JUST ONE REVIEW. If someone wanted to pay me $5? I’d be done with it in 10 minutes, maximum. And I think that is exactly how those bloggers are doing those posts, too. They read like they were written in less than 10 minutes.
Dorothy – I have freshly made chicken soup now, and I have been enjoying it greatly. I’ll see what I can find out about sound absorbers. ;) I never heard of them before?
Forest – Yep, he said hi and even waved. And he’s not scary looking. So I don’t get why they didn’t reply. Maybe they just don’t want to be friendly. :( I do feel like if I stomp around maybe they’ll realise I can hear their stomping..
Tiffany – Thanks! It did feel good to get it out. ;)
The Duchess – I find one quite short post and one longer post is not too offensive to people’s sensibilities. ;) From time to time I do put 3 posts, and I feel like I am pushing a line there, but often the middle post will be a sponsored post and I made a promise to my readers that I always follow that up with non-sponsored content. Maybe that is something I should reconsider. :)
Flametree – Ouch – those new neighbours sound very unfriendly! I hope they are short term – by the sounds of the amount of arguing that is fairly likely I guess. I’ve been blessed with some wonderful neighbours in my time, some very similar to those you used to have there.
Emily – Obama is downright hot. I hope he gets the nomination because I personally am not keen on Hilary, but maybe that’s just me. And yes, nothing says Sunday night dinner like thumping club music when you’re a single guy, I guess! ;) They really think thumping club music is for all occasions. ;)
Thanks for the comments all! ;)
Snoskred
Well I just wrote a huge long reply, but it got lost. :( Sorry everyone! I don’t have the energy to do it again, I spent loads of time on it. WordPress, what happened? I thought we were friends. ;(
Thanks for your comments, everyone. They are much appreciated.
Cheers!
Snoskred