Lately I have been experiencing a writer’s block, as well as increasing annoyance with managing spam. Both of these issues together have made it difficult for me to get onto this blog and…
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\n…write anything.<\/p>\n
The latter first. Each day, this blog is attacked with more than 100 spams for “comments” most of which are riddled with links likely to malware sites. <\/p>\n
I have five different plugins to capture them, and for the most part, the plugins work and direct these stupid things into a spam folder. However, each day I have to empty it because otherwise, it builds useless junk into a folder on the server and takes up storage space that I do not want even one byte of that junk to occupy.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, no spam becomes visible on this blog because I always moderate comments. That means that any comments come to me to approve before posting. That also allows me slight editorial capability, because while I truly enjoy comments from real people, there are some comments written in such poor English that I have to fix it so the comment makes sense. That helps others understand what was said. <\/p>\n
But back to the writer’s block. I find that I write on this blog more coherently when I have time to think, to do research from other websites, and to expound upon ideas as they come to me.<\/p>\n
Finding the time to sit and think is more difficult. I used to “blame” my lack of time to write on caregiving for my spouse, but now that he is more stable, my time is devoted to sharing fun with him. That’s a good thing, but also takes me away from pondering and writing.<\/p>\n
Also, I am fully engaged at work. I hit the ground running at 0530 each weekday, and keep going non-stop all.day.long. I used to write on this blog on my lunch hour while eating what I brought from home at my desk. But lately I have not even had time for that. I have found that when I stay at my desk, even on personal time, other people come to ask questions, seek advice, or ask for guidance. I am therefore pulled back into working.<\/p>\n
So for the past month or so, I have gone to a break room to eat lunch in peace and read the newspaper, a professional journal, or even a book. Or on nice days, I will go out for a walk. Doing something else other than work during the lunch hour is an important “refresh me” break.<\/p>\n
When I get home from work, my spouse requires and rightly deserves my full attention. I continue to fulfill my promise to him NOT to open my laptop and “play” on the computer in the evenings after dinner. He hates that. But that also exacerbates the situation with “lack of time” to think and to write.<\/p>\n
One more important thing: I have been blogging for over five years now. Of course I remember what others except the most loyal, long-term readers know — what I have written and blogged about before. I dislike repeating myself, so it is harder and harder to think of new material on which to write when I think I have written about it before. <\/p>\n
However, I may consider repeating some of the more popular previous posts, because some people may not have the length of memory that I do (about this blog) and therefore some of my earlier posts may be new to others.<\/p>\n