And, and, and

Okay. This is going to be a bit of a whine but also a bit of an explanation as to why the posts about the summer in Scotland and Iceland have been so slow in coming.

I said in the post I just uploaded that I’ve been in the shop having a good time, and that’s true. The part I didn’t tell you is that I’ve been procrastinating. That will be no surprise to some of you. There are a bunch of annoying little things, mostly to do with technology, that have dampened my enthusiasm for getting on with the posts about the summer.

There’s always the issue of how to handle photos, not necessarily which ones to put into the blog, but where to store them, how to access them, and how to coax them from wherever they happen to be hiding into the blog. I’ll spare you the details except to say that I work on a Mac and it wants to have absolute control of where I store my photos and how I handle them. The blogging software I use is a Google product and Google wants to have absolute control over where I store my photos and how I access them. I use my Android phone a good deal and Google is happy with that. The Mac? Not so much. I also used a regular camera on the trip and have two sets of photos to wrestle into some sort of order. I know: it’s a first world problem and I could solve it by using one device to take pictures and sticking with one platform or the other. Only one problem: I don’t want to! I like the Mac and the Android phone. I don’t want to change the software I use to publish the blog partly because I’ve been using it for 15 years.

I don’t seem to think in the same way as the folks who are responsible for photo and blogging software do. I set out to do something that seems like it should be simple and it turns out not to be. I want to be able to search for a photo by date and not lose it. To do this I need to download the photo and then upload it. The thumbnails are so small I have to guess at which photo I want or write down the number. Once I figure out where a photo is and manage to get it into the post, why can’t I drag and drop it where I want it? It’s way easier to write and post a blog entry within a couple of days of when I take the photos on my phone. I’m a bit late for that on the Scotland to Iceland story.

Another thing that drives me bats is how to notify you when there’s a new post. I could solve this one by just setting up a regular schedule for writing and posting and sticking to it. Then everyone would know what to expect. Again, I don’t want to. I enjoy writing the blog, mostly, and I don’t want it to become a job. I tend to write when I want to say something and that’s not always predictable. If anyone is going to read the blog I figure it’s only fair to let you know that there’s something new to look at.

When I do send an email notice some of you get it and some of you don’t. I’ve tried several different ways to notify you. Some providers seem to think I belong in the spam folder. I’m okay with that but I’d like you to have the chance to decide rather than having them decide for you. Some of the methods I’ve tried result in my messages bouncing back. I don’t even make it to the spam folder. I’m looking into another way of notifying people but that isn’t without its own issues and it’s another thing that gets in the way when I think of writing a blog post.

So there you have it. I’m hoping that by acknowledging all these little irritations I’ll feel less like running and hiding whenever I think of producing content for my few loyal followers. In my ideal world the technology would be easy to use and would be at my service. I feel as though I’m at the service of technology. At this point I’m tempted to forget about the rest of the Scotland to Iceland trip but I know some of you want to read about it and I promised I’d cover it in the blog. There are some good stories to be told from that trip so stay tuned. I appreciate your support.