Statistics (or Why I'm Too Lazy for a Really Good Post Today)

Alright, alright. Everybody settle down and take your seats.

The Sarge has been rather lazy this weekend. A flurry of activity on the 19th (Ma Vie Militaire Part II) and then Part III yesterday. But no posts on Thursday or Friday. Usually those are the days I really feel like writing. This weekend? Not so much.

While the graph above is taken from my overall blog statistics as of today. It also kinda sorta is a pretty good chart of my relative energy levels this past week. Yes, I am like a diesel boat which has been submerged for far too long. Batteries are getting really low, most of the crew has been sent to their bunks to conserve the dwindling supply of oxygen and to prevent a greater build up of carbon dioxide in the boat's atmosphere.

And everything smells kinda moldy and funky. That has been my mental state the past few days. I'm running on fumes.

Normally I get that way during the week. It all starts with the Monday morning 0400 wake-up. Sea and anchor detail is at 0445 and I'm usually wheels up no later than 0515 for the long haul from the shores of Narragansett to the banks of the Merrimack River. (For those of you of a literary bent, yes, I like mixing my metaphors.)

Monday is a ten hour day. As are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. So normally by Thursday afternoon I'm beat. Then it's time to fly a reciprocal course and return to Chez Sarge. Normally the morale boost of just being home is enough to get me pumped up enough to post on Thursday night. Not so this week.

Maybe I'm feeling my age, maybe I'm just not eating right. My number one theory right now is that the temperatures in the high-90's at the end of the just finished week were rather enervating. I'm sure Buck out in Portales is chuckling. These would be "cool" days out in his neck of the woods. But as I'm Northern-born and Northern-bred, very hot temperatures wear me out quickly. My preferred temperature range is mid-40's to low-60's. Oh well. All that being said, I think I'm just naturally lazy.

Why do something today when it can be put off 'til the morrow? Or something like that. In the Air Force I was a blur of activity while on duty. Sort of a cartoon Tasmanian devil. Off duty, more like a three-toed sloth. And as time rolls on its flight, the sloth side of my Yin and Yang seems to be pushing its way to the head of the queue. I really have to fight it. The Missus is a big help in that area. She pushes me constantly with a seemingly never-ending list of "this has to get done today" tasks.

Well, enough of that.

Talked to the WSO last night and had another example of how old I'm getting. We were discussing my grandson's bee sting. Yes, the Big "O" stepped on a bee out in sunny California and got stung for his troubles. Seems it was his first. Upside was that he's not allergic to the little buggers.

So the WSO begins to relate the story of her first bee sting.

Now I need to remind you that I was born and raised in the Green Mountain state, long before it became the liberal wasteland that it seems to be today. (I know that there are still small pockets of conservatives and libertarians here and there. But you have to admit, Vermont is a very liberal state these days. Good Lord they have a socialist congress critter!) Back on point, having played in the woods and glens of my home state as a child, I got stung more than I care to remember. The little critters are very particular about who's in their air space around the hive.

So the WSO is regaling me with her first encounter with a flying, stinging beastie.

The WSO: "Yup, I remember my first bee sting, (and here's what I heard), it was in Pre-School." (Which is perhaps a reasonable assumption, given my upbringing.)

The WSO: "We were doing a firemen's carry across this field..."

Me: "What? Why on earth were they making a bunch of pre-schoolers do a firemen's carry?"

Long pause. I could picture the WSO with an odd look on her face. Which I get a lot.

The WSO: "Dad. I said SERE school. Not Pre-School."

Me: "Ah, that makes a lot more sense."

So yes, they don't make pre-schoolers practice the firemen's carry. They do make aviation types practice that at Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) school.

To the WSO it was Dad being his goofy old self. To me it was another case of "Is my hearing shot to hell or am I just not paying attention?" The Missus thinks it's probably a bit of both. And she's probably right.

But as regards blogging, I am approaching my 3,000th page view. Not really a lot but it's somewhat gratifying that I seem to have a core audience who like my stuff. Heck if I get 10 people to check out Chant du Départ a day, I feel good about it. As long as I remain entertaining I guess someone is willing to read my (sometimes) nonsensical ramblings.

So with that, time to bore you with some statistics. I get a kick out of seeing who my audience is. And I'm here to tell you, the Old AF Sarge seems to be a global phenomenon. On a very small scale granted. But still, I have a global audience. Here's the stats to support that.

All Time as of 24 June 2012
United States 2,493
United Kingdom 135
Russia 80
Canada 35
Germany 23
France 18
Mexico 14
Spain 11
Indonesia 10
Austria 9

Month as of 24 June 2012
United States 620
United Kingdom 79
Canada 11
Germany 10
Russia 10
Mexico 8
Netherlands 8
France 7
Indonesia 7
Costa Rica 6

Week as of 24 June 2012
United States 143
United Kingdom 26
Venezuela 5
Bahrain 4
Canada 3
Indonesia 3
Mexico 3
Austria 2
Germany 2
Russia 2

I kind of wonder if those four Bahrain hits came from Tuna while he was out that way.

Note that my audience seems primarily an English-speaking audience. the US and the UK show the most hits. Though in the "All Time" category, Russia is right up there at number 3. Apparently I have a few fans in the Rodina. (After all, I am a big fan of  Пётр Вели́кий. That's "Peter the Great" to you Anglophones.) I do have friends in both Canada and Germany, perhaps they're spreading the word.

The hits from France? I picture people doing a search on "Chant du Départ" and upon reaching my blog saying, "Zut alors! Again I try to find the words to this song and I keep getting this stupid website en Anglais. Nom du chien! Sacré bleu!" Or maybe they recognize a kindred spirit whose French blood will sometimes bubble to the surface. Doesn't matter, "Je vous remercie mes amis".

So that's it. Another rambling semi-organized post but it's all I've got.

Oh, one more thing. Apparently my readers' all time favorite post is "Uncle Smitty's Hamsters. The number of hits on that one surpasses all others. Now I admit, I liked it a lot. But really, that's the favorite?

The WSO's theory: "Hey Dad, maybe people are googling 'hamster reproduction' and that post comes up!"

Hhhmm, could be. Who am I to question the success of "Uncle Smitty's Hamsters"?