Arsbars.comThe Real Arleigh Jenkins

My main job within various websites for the past few years has been to analyze data. Data that was found within the analytics of visitors, trends and audiences. From this data it was my job to than manipulate or “milk” the website to create more audience and visitors.

In all that backend development and crunching I lost the feel and excitement for content. Nightly I would spend time filtering spam, checking plugin updates, and compatibility issues. Content became something that needed to go up, not something that was exciting for me. I haven’t been excited to sit down and write in a while because it became a job to talk but to talk the way the search engines would read – not how I would write.

RSS Readers or Real World WWW

Recently I’ve spent sometime reading my favorite websites outside the standard RSS feeders and back on the world wide web.

I was, pleasantly, surprised that some of the most creative and entertaining sites were well designed, but designed to catch your eye and then allow the content to do the speaking.

You Don’t Have to Be Best in Class

For the past few years I’ve been so worried about having the best in class in everything I do, I stopped cold-turkey in many of the things I love. Writing to write, taking a photo for the joy and recording podcast for the love of talking to others. I was left learning all the trends for social media, social marketing, analytics and SEO, which benefits me to know but was never my goal when creating my own websites.

September Goals

My goal for September is to create content.

It may end up crappy content but my hope is two fold. 1. Get used to creating more content over directly associating content with SEO or targeted audience. 2. Somewhere in the crap there should be a gem or two.

Podcast will be posted.
Photos taken
Reviews wrote
Miles ridden
Journals filled

Content is Still King

Once I kick this content goal, the next step is creative content. The articles, photos and thoughts I am known for.

This morning I rode my daily bus, the 77X from Davidson, NC to Uptown Charlotte.  The ride started pretty average, I put my bike on the front of the bus and off we went.  The bus route goes through Cornelius, and then to Huntersville.  Huntersville is the big bus stop that we pick up most the riders that fill up the coach bus, so we sit there for a few moments to gather all our little riders.

After everyone is loaded up, the bus driver goes to drive away and the bus shuts down.  It sounded like someone pulled the power plug on the Death Star.   A look of panic swept across the business attire bus and then silence.

The lovely bus driver started up the bus, the bus’s voice talked through the basics of driving a bus (really?) and we went on our merry way.

Then the horrid ringing began.  A horrible, high pierced ringing from the bus driver console.  As we merged on to 77 southbound, the noise was miserable to all on board and the bus driver must of been popping a blood vessel!  Well it must of been distracting her, as 5 minutes into the ride on 77 we came to a screeching (literally screeching) halt with my poor bicycle on the front of the bus within hairs of rear ending a vehicle.

HOLY SHIT.  Whiplash, bike almost sacrificed and everyone on the bus in terror.  Oh, and the noise is still screeching.

The rest of the trip was pretty average, but there was a stir of whispers and cell phone texting for the remaining 15 minutes as well.

Dear Charlotte Area Transit System

Please check over your buses better, and maybe put the bikes somewhere other than on the front????
I’m sorry, I don’t plan on rereading this post and it is fully a rant, but jeebus.