Blog challenges, Fascinating Blog info, Somewhat difficult Thank You

​As opposed to other blog postings this one is a real mix🤣…info that should be useful, info that is just for fun, and downright silliness…what’s the point of doing this if I can’t have some fun!

Blog Challenges

Months ago I learned that something called Feedburner (functionality to post blog postings to subscribers and to maintain subscriber database) was to be mothballed (Business terminology) by Blogger.

So I very quickly and carefully panicked and started my research. Soon I found MailChimp software which looked promising. Clearly it targets mail marketing campaigns however I thought it might do the trick.

Moved current subscribers over by importing a CSV file (sounds impressive but it isn’t...a Chimp could do it!) and posted a few blogs.

Now I am learning new stuff...I tend to learn, forget, relearn, forget etc...a vicious cycle! Viewing the Blog posting email sent on your smart phone (used iPhone in my example…phone designers assume the user has some smarts 😂) or on a laptop/desktop results in a significant different viewing experience.

IPhone

Email postings viewed on my iPhone aren’t that great as pictures within the blog do not show up.

If you go to the top of the email posting and click on View this email in your browser you then see:

- Blog pictures

- Subscriber button on top left side. Now considering one receives this blog email as a subscriber why have a subscriber button here? To subscribe your friends? Must be an IT requirement.

- Past Issues button on the top right side. Here you can see past blog postings sent through MailChimp.

If you go the the bottom of the email and click on Read on you get the App version of the email which looks pretty good.

Go to the bottom of the App version of the email and click on View web version and you will see the www.caminolongwalk.blogspot.com web version of the posting, past postings and other info. The font is rather small 🤣.

Web Version 

Email postings viewed on a laptop/desktop are much better!

Same as iPhone click on View this email in your browser and you will see:

- Blog pictures, Subscriber and Past Issues PLUS

- Translate button. This is really cool...when I clicked on this and quickly had the entire posting translated in French. Cyrille please note this! Pri you can translate into Bengali!

- RSS button...no clue what this is for...I clicked on it and it says I don't have any feeds so I will wait for a System Architect to help out here.

If you go the the bottom of the email and click on Read on you get the web version of the www.caminolongwalk.blogspot. com posting, past postings and other info...my favourite view.

Phew 😅 

A current challenge is updating the Blog using an iPhone app only. Apps like Blogg and Blogger Plus are used however these apps are buggy and the resulting look of the blog posting isn't so hot... I editing the draft blog on a laptop to make it look ok. Sooo...while walking...where internet is available...will post blog and then upon my return home will edit as needed (if I can find the time 😂). Hopefully I will find a better solution before then...

Fascinating Blog Info

A reader (President of a multinational high powered consulting company) of this blog (at least I think she reads some posts) is a member of the wwwtravelerscenturyclub.org or TCC. To be a member of this illustrious club you must have travelled to 100 countries and territories as defined by TCC.

Her score - 114 comprises 95 countries and 19 territories. My score - 25 comprises 24 countries and 1 territory (Prince Edward Island…kid you not!). Absolutely woeful competition.🥲 

Considering I have reached the ripe age of 65 my chances are slim to nada of reaching 114! If I visit an average of 2.572 countries per year until I reach my best before date of 100 my score would be 114 as well. Not looking good as I am sure her 114 score will increase!

Things were looking a very bleak until I had an epiphany…MY BLOG and it’s international reach! Now things get very interesting…here are actual stats kept by Blogger.

www.caminolongwalk.blogspot.com has had 51,057 pages views to date. The country breakdown is as follows:

- United States 14.4k

- Canada 11k

- France 4.67k

- Russia 2.68k (NOT BOTS System Architects!)

- Germany 2.07k

- Japan 1.69k

- UK 1.22k

- China 1.19k

- Brazil 837 (Paulo please get more subscribers)

- Ukraine 641

- Spain 494

- Switzerland 477

- Australia 435

- Netherlands 434

- Czechia 321

- Poland 319

- Sweden 229

- New Zealand 191

- Portugal 186

- Other 7.64k

Now Other is the key!!! Assuming an average of 80 page views for 96 new countries and territories (Actuaries critique as you wish...as a uniform decrease of 2 per additional country starting with Portugal at 186 makes this a VERY reasonable assumption) then the www.caminolongwalk.blogspot.com readership is projected to be 115 countries and territories!!! 

Voila I feel sooo much better!!! As per the last section of this post Subscriber readership may well explode and the 115 projection will be crushed! 

Somewhat Difficult Thank You

Normally I have no difficulty whatsoever thanking people…it’s the natural thing to do…however for System Architects 😳. 

Wikipedia defines Systems Architecture as:

A system architecture is the conceptual model that defines the structure, behaviour, and more views of a system. An architecture description is a formal description and representation of a system, organized in a way that supports reasoning about the structures and behaviours of the system.

If you know a young person searching for the ideal career please tell them about the System Architect career. High salaries easily in the 6 figures (8 if you count decimal places for cents)...with main skill set requirements -  ability to draw clouds, various other shapes with intersecting lines and arrows...the more the merrier. Must be able to talk constantly and confidently at all times whatever the subject matter. That's it!

Blog Issue

The web version of the blog lost the ability for adding new subscribers when Feedburner disappeared. Disaster!

I scoured Mail Chimp and found under Signup forms Embedded forms "Generate HTML code to embed in your site or blog to collect signatures"

I hit Select and then Copy Code...a whole bunch of lines of gobbledygook appeared.

Next I went to Blogger and found an HTML/JAVA Script gadget and hit Edit. I then pasted what I had copied from Mail Chimp in the available area AND IT WORKED! As John Cleese of Monty Python would say "Bloody Brilliant".

I tested this out by adding an email subscriber and went to Mail Chimp and YES I now had this new Subscriber in the database. 

Incredible...except I had a minor problem as Email required * and * Indicated required were so faint in the Subscription Form that they could barely be seen.

What to do? So I thought why not contact Greg and Cal (NOT their real names) ; System Architects who might be able to help me. A little background on each of these fine gentlemen.

Greg - Worked with Greg over the past 10 years of my career (at the Insurance company that bought another Insurance company and then changed it's name to the bought company 🤔) on numerous IT projects.  Greg is a marathon runner who in 2002 ran a 2:41:59 marathon...that's super fast! I always enjoyed working with Greg...he knew stuff and more importantly was not shy about letting you know he knew stuff. Greg could be counted on to voice his opinion on most everything including Business functionality. Sometimes I helped Greg float down from the clouds that he had drawn back to solid terra firma.

Cal - I never worked with Cal...so he may well be the exception to the System Architect mold. Cal has a PHD in some esoteric subject...Object Oriented or something or other and author of 3 best-selling novels. Long time friends we share something unique...we each have 3 daughters! We have golfed together on numerous occasions...Cal is let's say is more disciplined about golf in that he actually studies how to improve. I kind of wing it based on past experience...result is I have a few spectacular shots however many very erratic ones. However my new golfing buddy Ken agrees with me that my first hole-in-one will happen this summer! Ken has 2 holes-in-one! I witnessed one years ago golfing with a former GWL president!

I was very nice and courteous of course with my request to said System Architects...

"If one or both of you can help me out successfully I will certainly give you credit in my next Blog posting...planning a Camino mid-September assuming “He who shall not be named” does not come out again as a Genghis Khan variant. 

 

If you cannot help me rest assured that I may comment about the practical knowledge that high priced System Architects actually have.

 

No pressure!"

Well to my great surprise and delight I received a quick email from Greg...unbelievably Greg acknowledged that he did not know but would ask his wife who teaches computer science.

Next day I received a small addition to the HTML code color:#777 ...I actually went into the code myself...made the change and voila the two problem areas are much darker. Apparently if I go to a hex to rgb calculator WHAT??? I can get different colours. Tried that...too much trouble.

That same day Cal responds with replacing a dozen or so lines of code with different code. I was really impressed as I had no idea Cal knew how to code HTML or whatever this code was.

Now I had a major challenge...cut out code and replace code. Brilliant solution...placed an * just before code to be cut out...highlight offending code...cut it...and paste new code after * and finally remove the *. Dawn and her sister Marian post blog quickly suggested a much easier alternative way I could have approached this however...I did it all by myself🤣😀.

With Cal's changes I was very worried about going live as I had visions of the entire Blog being destroyed with no disaster recovery plan in place however Cal's solution worked perfectly!

I now had two Subscriber boxes and considered leaving both in the hopes that a subscriber would double up however decided one was enough! Currently there are 110 subscribers to the blog...making it one of the most followed blogs ever!🤣😂

So a heartfelt Thank You 🙏 to both Greg and his wife and Cal....your quick, accurate responses saved the day! 

Next blog and likely one of the last ones prior to actually leaving will be focus on the many changes required for Camino 2022...OIE Portuguese Camino cannot be repeated. Older and wiser...at least that is what is supposed to have happened 🤔

Late breaking news! Cyrille the young whippersnapper Frenchman pilgrim with whom I walked 19 days on the Via Podiensis in France in 2013 and then 9 days on the Camino Frances and Finisterre in 2014 has decided to join me for 5 days on the Camino Salvador in late Sept 2022. 

Cyrille's rationale is that he cannot let "un petit vieux" walk amongst wild chickens afflicted with avian flu (they scare me a bit) alone. He indicates he owes it to my grandchildren Rose, Elodie and Rishi to ensure their Papi returns safely home which then allows them to join him on a future Camino adventure!

Sounds like sound reasoning to me! Look forward to it Cyrille! "Georges grouille toi bien et vient nous rejoindre...la vie est courte mon vieux...je te promets que je ne parlerai pas des chasseurs!"

Adios

Guy