I have been retired from reporting at The Maui News for over 5 years now, but the blog that started in 2008 goes on.
(For those reading at Blogger, this is a mirror site to the original at www.mauinews.com.)
It is hard for me to know how many readers the blog has but this morning something surprising happened:
According to a chart on the opening page of The Maui News digital site, which lists the most read stories, Restating the Obvious's last 3 posts were the most read on the site.
Dunno what's up with that.
My guess? The lava flow led to more people to mauinews, and some of them may have found your blog interesting...
ReplyDeleteCould be. Every once in a while I have a post that coincides with something hot in the wider blogosphere and I get a spike. But I don't have a good counter. I believe I have around 10 regular readers here and something like 800 at The Maui news version.
ReplyDeleteVery few commenters.
By the way, a personal question: why did you retire? You look like you could go on as long as you wished...
ReplyDeleteI had intended to work until had a heart attack and collapsed on my keyboard. I has warned the young lady who worked next to me to be prepared and showed her the envelope where I kept the epitaph I wanted in by obituary (He didn't suffer fools gladly; he was paid to do it.).
ReplyDeleteBut when my wife retired she told me I had to as well so we could travel and visit grandchildren.
But her health has always been bad and within a month she took a serious turn downward so we haven't done any recreational traveling.
That's why I took job with my best friend who wanted help in his pawnbroking business.
It also was the case that I was going to have to quit reporting. Not many newspapermen are still carrying notebook after their mid-40s. They go into management or PR. Reporting is a young person's game, but I liked it.
However, my hands are so stiff from arthritis that I was unable to take readable notes any more. I was operating on memory alone, a risky and (when I thought more carefully about it later) unethical way of working.
Also, the newspaper business was collapsing around me. When I handed in my resignation, my editor said, "You've saved me from having to dismiss a young person. (Because our union contract favored seniority; as the longest serving reporter I would also have been the last to go. He retired himself shortly after.)
I had intentions to write books but my wife's health has prevented me from taking on any big tasks.
It has gotten so bad, and Maui's hospital has gotten so bad, that we are moving Maryland (close to Johns Hopkins hospitals), where I will become a full-time babysitter for 3 of my grandchildren.
None of the plans I made for my life have ever worked as I intended but everything that has happened turned out better than I could have managed myself. I am a fortunate man.
I intend to keep blogging, and keep in mind that most of the people in the world are nowhere near as well-off as I am.