A change of heart

Dear reader, I really thought I’d shut this blog down for good, but I was wrong. I’m going to give you the reasons why I made that decision, & why I’ve changed my mind. Hope you understand.

There are a couple of boaters who’ve previously made it clear they weren’t happy with the fact that a marina based boater, aboard a widebeam. (God forbid), should be up at a steady number 5 in the top ten blogs on the UK Waterways Ranking Site. Nobody else bothered, except them, who appear to think they’re the higher echelons.

Furthermore, when my account on UKWRS was hacked, I contacted Tony. I can confirm it was hacked because upon inspection my details had been altered, including my web address. After emailing Tony he discovered my ID number had also been duplicated, turns out I had another account with number 0! Neither of us understood that, hits would’ve been halved, & in computing terms there should be no such thing as user ID number 0. This problem occurred about 6 weeks ago.

After a couple more emails to Tony reporting the exact fault, my last email went ignored. It was only after I’d expressed my frustration that I discovered he was at his wits end with the website. Mainly due to people trying to cheat the system & increase their hits. I had done no such thing & he was aware of that. But I had no idea his UKWRS website had caused him so much grief he wasn’t bothered with it anymore.

It was only beyond expressing my frustration that I found out the true score, & sent him an email to ensure him my concern was now on his behalf – not mine.

In the meantime the couple of boaters I mentioned made a meal of this, as if it was my fault Tony was fed up with his website. They even did a “survey” on their blog as to whether he should continue the website. I was implicated in it’s demise. In comments on that blog post I was described as someone who was only interested in “hits.” I can say the word “I” because a copy of my expression of frustration was pasted on their website.

Yet it’s over 3 months ago that Tony tweeted, quote:

“The coobeastie domain WILL be defunct by November. I actually mean it this time!”

Nobody made a blog post out of it then, or had the goodness to find out why. Or jump to Tony’s defence in light of the cheats, & the distress they have caused him.

So a couple of weeks ago I resurrected my ranking by using the user number 0 that somehow had been created for me. (At least my details were correct on that, even if the password was out of date). My blog started going back up the chart quickly, headed directly for where it was before the cock up.

However, some of those who mentioned “ranking means everything” in comments on the blog post mentioned, meant I allowed it to eat away at me. I quit UKWRS even though my blog was headed back into the top 20. As a consequence, I began to think I should abandon the whole thing, 5 years worth of work & I did.

So I created a new blog & all the hassle that entails. But I asked myself today if I should’ve left my happy successful blog here due to that? The emphatic answer today is NO.

“Don’t let the b*st*rds grind you down.”

If I’d written the blog post I’ve referred to, (no names mentioned), I would take it down out of sheer embarrassment.

I don’t need to be in UKWRS & as proven, I don’t care about hits. I was also accused of not writing enough about boating, quote: “It’s not really a boaty blog is it?” Well hey if we’re talking about qualifications here, is living on one & discussing all aspects not enough??

So why should I let less than a handful of people make me feel like my long term blog is not worthy? That’s their problem.

My blog is for me & my friends, UKWRS doesn’t come into it anymore, so I’m free to talk about what I want, when I want.

I feel like this was meant to be, & a burden has been lifted. I don’t have to write to try & “fit the criteria” anymore – even though I’m qualified…

I really couldn’t give a stuff about those who think they own the canal system. This blog is for me & my friends, rankings don’t come into it & never will again.

I’ll get round to resetting the gadgets on here tomorrow.

Thanks to my faithful friends who’ve stuck by me, TAKEY TEZEY continues without any hassle from the old crocks…