Day: April 7, 2011

The Evolution of bigsurkate

Today, I found out quite by accident that WordPress has been running google ads on my blog without my knowledge and without payment to me for the last couple of months. These ads are completely hidden from me, although at least one reader in Fresno (my blogging buddy and friend Firefighter Mike) can see them.

I guess I’ve hit the blogger big time or something. I don’t like the fact that I have no control over these ads or which ones are displayed. I don’t like that it might look as if I am endorsing or giving preferential treatment to one local business over another. I am trying to find out how to resolve that and the lack of payment for hosting advertisements.

One way, is to sign up for ads myself, which I just did, but I am not sure that is the best way. I don’t know that I will have much, if any, control, and I would still have to share advertising profits 50/50 with WordPress. I have been proud of the fact that bigsurkate has been commercial free, completely independent and self-sufficient. That might have to change in order to keep blogging.

Another possibility is to migrate my entire blog over to my own site with an independent host. I can have that done for $99, and save all content, and supposedly my standing with google. This is a bit expensive, and I am not confident about the loss of content. As to standing – well that is both a blessing and a curse, so not a particularly big issue, unless I am selling advertising space.

So, in the meantime, bigsurkate is evolving and changing, but the content will not change. It is not going anywhere, or if it must, you will be redirected.

April Showers

1:30 pm – had snow flurries today, but nothing stuck. The is as advertised – sunshine, then quickly it clouds up.

9:00 am – Frankly, I expected to have the morning to get things “ready” for this afternoon’s storm, but that was not to be. I only had a few things out in the rain, which I took care of immediately, and so far, it has not been a hard driving rain. Still, it is not really welcome with our highway being so fragile.

Fortunately, this is what NOAA has to say: “SHOWER ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE ALL DAY…WITH COVERAGE INCREASING SIGNIFICANTLY BY THIS AFTERNOON. HOWEVER…EVEN WITH COVERAGE INCREASING…THE RFC 24 HOUR QPF FORECAST FOR TODAY IS BETWEEN A HUNDREDTH OF AN INCH FOR MUCH OF THE NORTH BAY…TO NEAR TWO TENTHS THROUGH THE SANTA CRUZ AND SAN LUCIA MOUNTAINS.”

CHP is listing no closures except Rocky Creek (MPM 60)