PAgent’s Progress

You might note that I’ve added a “tip jar” to the lower right sidebar. I’ve been thinking about doing so for a while. As most of you know, this blog, “flotsam” and “nonobvious” are hobbies. I don’t depend on them for income in any way. On the other hand, they do require hosting and other services, and they take up a certain amount of time and energy. I’ve always hoped I could at least make them break even so they weren’t a net negative on our balance sheet.

I’ve tried Amazon ads, I’ve tried Adsense, and most recently Project Wonderful. None has generated more than a couple of bucks in revenue. So, at least for the sake of completeness, I thought I’d try the voluntary support model.

This was a bit difficult for me, considering my attitude toward the folks that sit on the sidewalks all day with “Please Help” scrawled on their cardboard signs. But I honestly DO put quite a bit of effort into these sites, all three of them, so you can’t say you aren’t getting something out of it. Maybe it’s something with no value to you. That’s fine. But you’re at least getting something.

Similar tip jars are now up on flotsam and nonobvious, and for those sites the Project Wonderful ads have been removed. I will continue to put Adsense ads on the RSS feeds. Even though they accrue pennies with all the speed of a stalagmite forming, they are nevertheless generating pennies. If the tip jar should (against all expectations) prove lucrative, I’ll be happy to remove them as well.

Update: Screw it. I’ve taken everything but the Project Wonderful ads down. Consider it all a failed experiment.

My beard trimmer died. By “died” I mean that the battery would no longer hold a charge, and even when plugged in it could barely manage a lethargic and hair-pulling blade oscillation.

So, when I saw a beard trimmer kit at CostCo, I immediately purchased it. At $19.99, a steal!

Here is my new acquisition:

I had thought the box was suspiciously light, but it was only after I opened that I saw the packaging idiocy inside:

Oh, Remington. Really? In this age of enlightened thinking about the environment, wise use of natural resources, and increased transportation efficiency, you committed this crime against common sense? Why on earth wouldn’t you ship this product in a box more commensurate with its actual size?

You can tell a lot about a man’s progress in his career by the shoes he wears.

For instance, when just starting out, fresh from college, he probably saved up for a pair of “interview shoes”, nice and shiny, and respectable, but certainly not high-end.

As he matures in his career, he might start wearing higher-quality shoes. They would certainly come from a well-known brand.

If by chance he becomes a successful professional with a six-figure-plus salary, he might adorn his tootsies with shoes from an expensive European designer, crafted from the finest leathers, guaranteed to age like a fine wine.

But oddly, if he has a whole LOT of money, you might find him wearing some dodgy-looking slipper-shoes that look as if they were hand-stitched by some hermit living on top of a mountain in Paraguay.

But that’s only because they WERE hand-stitched by some hermit living on top of a mountain in Paraguay. And if you haven’t heard of them, you can’t afford them.

As of right now, PAgent’s Progress is running the latest version of the WordPress theme Talian Reloaded by Steve Arun.

I would love to change to a new theme, explore new aesthetics, and shake things up a bit, but it’s taken me years to get things running the right way with Talian, and I’m not in a hurry to screw with it. As it is, implementing my custom code in the new theme was largely painless.

Expect the sidebars to be funky for a while, as I decide what to keep, what to toss, and what to add.

Please let me know if you see anything wonky.

Thanks.

Just a short post to let you know that ‘nonobvious’ is fully functional again, and three new strips made during the interregnum have been uploaded.

We now resume regularly scheduled programming.

Damn it, if videos like this keep getting made, we’ll NEVER stop people from moving here.