100th, no I mean 101st Post

It's hard to believe, but this is the 101st. post on Report on Conditions. Not too bad for a functional illiterate who doesn't know how to type.

I have enjoyed this project since day one. I pondered about  blogging for several months before getting started. I thought about what I would discuss and about what it would look like. I worried about how I would present my material and how I would protect myself, my family, my coworkers and my customers. Finally, I took 30 minutes and got it going. I am still amazed how easy it was to get started. I am equally amazed how difficult it is for me to keep going.

I have discovered so many interesting people and learned many things about the world and myself. I have a few regular readers. I am proud of the diversity of the people who read here, ranging from members of the fire service, dispatchers, cops, doctors, pilots, nurses, medics, motorcylclists and people who just like to read about lives other than their own. It's a big world out there and I enjoy reading about many of your lives as well as sharing my own.

The blog has evolved over the last seven months. What I envisioned it would be and what it has become are two different things. I have tried to find a niche for my blog that makes it a little different than some of the excellent blogs out there. I am sure it will continue to evolve as does my life.

As mentioned above, I have learned many things while blogging. Here are just a few:

* Blogging late at night is high-risk. More than once, I have fallen asleep at the keyboard. I wake up moments later with a screen full of a single character. I can estimate how long I was asleep by how long it takes me to delete the unwanted script. Editing and grammar suffer as well, my give a damn factor drops as fatigue levels rise.

* Although beer may help my writing to become more animated, it is not really a tool for producing quality material and thus should be avoided while writing. Notice I said avoided, not banned.

* When blogging while angry or impassioned, it is sometimes better to finish the post, then wait overnight until publishing. It saves from having to edit or remove the post later.

* Some posts are better than others. Thats just the way it is.

* Sometimes what I feel is a good post may not be what you feel is a good post.

* Blogging takes a little more time than I imagined. Actually, a lot more time. Coming up with material, taking and prepping photos typing with three fingers and editing gobble up a lot more time than I thought it would.

All things considered, this has been a great experience and I plan on continuing the project. If all goes well, I will reveal my real name and agency three years from today. By the time they get through the disciplinary paperwork, I will be sipping foo-foo cocktails on a beach in Hawaii. I won't be posting a picture though, the world doesn't need to see that.

I hope you all have a Happy New Year. Be safe out there tonight, it's amateur night.

As always, thanks for reading,

Schmoe