Shift change

What time of day do you write your blog posts?

For the last six or seven years, I've written the posts for Night Owl Cards in the afternoon, somewhere between 2-5 p.m., usually. I've done this for so long it's become ritual and the perfect time for me to write.

That's all going to change starting tomorrow.

My work shift is changing. The shift change will impact my life in a variety of ways, from when I see my family to when I eat. But the important part for the blog is: when will I write? Beginning on Tuesday, the time of day when I would usually write, I will be working. So now I have to find another time to write.

Man, that will be weird.

There are a few possibilities and I've already picked one, but let's go through them just for fun.

Post in the morning as I will be getting up a couple hours earlier now

There is not a chance in hell I will be doing this. If you want anything coherent coming out of this blog you don't want me to post in the morning. Nothing I enjoy doing happens in the morning. And I'm not exactly thrilled I have to be up before 11 a.m. now.

Post in the wee hours

Back when I was writing two posts a day for this blog -- before I also wrote set blogs -- I would write one of the NOC posts in the wee hours, around 3 in the morning. I can't do that now because I write my 1985 Topps blog posts between midnight and 3 a.m. (the schedule for the '85 blog may have to change, too).

Post in the late evening

This is the option I will take.

It's going to be strange writing a post that won't show up for almost a full 24 hours (I still plan to publish posts in the usual 7-8:30 p.m. range), but I'm sure I will get used to it. This isn't a "breaking news" blog anyway.

Besides, I've always felt, since I was a teenager, that 9 p.m. is my optimal time, when I am most alert and mentally at my best. So maybe you haven't seen the best of Night Owl Cards yet!

But today, you're getting a traditional post, created in the late afternoon. That means I'm kind of hungry and I feel a bit off. So how about a few cards I received from Matt at Sports Card Collectors? That's about all I can handle now.

Finally, this card is in my possession.

When this card was first created, for the 2016 Topps Update set, I was interested in it as a team fan often is when it comes to a card of a recent acquisition by their team. The insert theme is weird because it's still making me wonder when we're going to see a Viagra insert set, but I still wanted the card.

I didn't get that card, either by pulling it or in trades, and then Reddick played lousy for the Dodgers. Then Reddick said he didn't like playing for the Dodgers because the fans got on him because he played lousy. Oh, dear, imagine fans doing a thing like that. Then he had to go to the Astros and then suddenly figure out how to play again. Of course. And then the Astros played the Dodgers in the World Series and people from each fan base had to get into a Twitter snit over Reddick, which is always an attractive quality, Twitter people.

So, now, I guess I'll accept this card of the greasy-haired Reddick.

Funny how your perception of a card can change in a year-plus, huh?

I like this card a lot more. It's a Finest insert from 2016 and shiny, as is a prerequisite for Finest cards. It's time to sign Clayton Kershaw. I don't want this dragging out past May. If I have to see him in another uniform I may never watch another baseball game.

The final card I'm showing is a blue-bordered beauty of Sandy Koufax from 2016 Archives. I need to make it my mission to find as many of these blue-bordered Dodgers as I can.

So, there you are, this is my last official post written during my old blogging schedule.

My new work shift is somewhat flexible so I'll probably be doing a small amount of afternoon posting still, but for the most part everything will be writen the evening before it publishes.

It might lose a little bit of immediacy, but otherwise I don't expect anyone to notice anything different.