Back in May of 2011, I posted an infographic about how sitting is killing you. At the time, I was posting a couple times a week, averaging about 3-5 views a day (basically, nobody was reading my blog at the time); I wanted to blog, but I wasn’t serious about blogging.

I didn’t really notice it until I looked at my stats page on the iphone app a few months back, when I made my triumphant return to the writing life, that the aforementioned post had singlehandedly gotten Rob’s Surf Report 157 views the day I posted it, because someone had shared it to Reddit and it had gone micro-viral. It was amazing. I shared this with a friend of mine who was trying to get back into blogging, saying “I want to work on getting numbers like this legitimately – as in, I want to earn them and exceed them.”

Well, I would like to say that this marvelous community does not disappoint, and writing and blogging daily has paid off, because yesterday – on my birthday no less – I was incredibly stoked to see that by 6:00 pm I was inching steadily toward 150 views. Even if I don’t hit it, I thought, it’s still very close. I was even more excited still to check my stats again after we had dinner. . .

I read the Daily Post. Not too long ago, there was a quick tip on ignoring your stats. I can’t help it, though, I keep my eye on the stats every day and I never judge myself by my numbers; but I do like to see that I’m keeping a steady flow of traffic and increasing my readership. I want to share the Surf Report with the world!

So after we opened presents, I checked my stats again and found that the site had exceeded the record by ten views. Finally, I had beaten “the fluke”, as I thought of it, and this was very exciting to me. I did my best to contain myself, as I prefer to keep a low profile on the pursuits of my digital life when we’re at the in-laws’ doing family stuff. I wanted to go “woo-hoo!” Now, it wasn’t butterflies-in-the-stomach, giggling, can’t-wait excited – butterflies are something I reserve for nervousness, giggling is not something I do when I get excited, and not being able to wait – well, that’s for getting large cash payouts. So what’s a boy to do when a prompt like today’s Daily Post prompt comes up?

I’m telling you that I had the absolute best birthday of all time yesterday. I had caramel rolls in the morning with my lovely wife. Then I went for an hour-long run, during which it began to rain; I crouched under a tree for about fifteen minutes, then made my way to a restaurant awning for another fifteen before it cleared to where I could resume my run. It was the first time for that, and it wasn’t that bad – then I donated plasma while simultaneously blogging, which was a first for me, and was only a little weird. Then I picked the wife up for lunch at Paradiso, where I ate for free. After dropping her off at the car so she could go rummage saling, I returned my Dad’s call and talked to him, which is always nice. Then I popped off a couple more blogs before going to dinner at the in-laws’.

In terms of presents, I got some hand tools in the bit driver family, some money for new work boots, car seat covers that I have been eyeballing, a lovely little die-cast Ford “woody” station wagon with a surfboard glued to the top, and the Geonosian cannon I have had on my wish list for quite a while (because yes, I’m a bit of a Lego junkie.) But the best present of all was when the date rolled over, and I had seen Rob’s Surf Report meet and exceed “the fluke”, and the record now stands at 180 hits. The wonderful WordPress community helped make this possible, and for that I am grateful, and excited to see what the future holds for Rob’s Surf Report.

So thanks to all who came and saw and read yesterday, and thanks to all who have come before and to all who will ever come. I have proven beyond a doubt that perseverance pays off.

🙂

This post was prompted by today’s Daily Post prompt.

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