Just me and the robots out here

  

There's a certain amount of isolation built into being a blogger, or a writer in general. I don't know if that's exactly the right word but I definitely have the feeling of being on my own island from time to time, and probably more often lately.

 

There's no easy way to gauge who is reading your copy or how often. Blogger (and I'm assuming Wordpress) is imperfect like that. All you have are comments -- and Blogger has now made that more difficult by requiring you to use the Google Chrome browser to comment on its blogs (but I make sure to go that extra step to comment on other blogs). And also you have reader numbers, and wow is that inaccurate, especially lately.

 

Have any other bloggers experienced this?:

  

 

These are the viewer numbers for my posts on NOC for the last week or so. Numbers are on the far right. They are wildly beyond what is typical. The same holds true for my 1993 Upper Deck blog, where posts the last couple of cards is in triple digits when the blog typically averages about a pathetic 50-60 views per.

 

Here are the viewer numbers for the week prior, also elevated, but I didn't suspect anything until my post on left-handers eclipsed 900.

 

 

These are more typical viewer numbers, from late July.

 

Comments have been down lately -- because of Google requirements or whatever -- but viewer numbers have skyrocketed, which can mean only one thing:

 

Bots.

 

Yep, it's just me and the robots out here. Thanks robots, for showing that you care.

 

I'm joking. I know that people -- real people -- read and care about this blog. I have to kick myself out of that funk periodically. But card arrivals help me out of the darkness, too.

 

For example, the Jose Valentin card at the top of this post. I received this card last week from reader kcjays. He had read my post about completing the 2006 Topps gold Dodgers set and that I noted that TCDB had included the Jose Valentin card in with the Dodgers team list, even though he's listed as a Met on the card.

 

KCjays went to the trouble of not only getting the TCDB listing fixed (Valentin is now on the Mets checklist) but he ordered the Valentin card for me! Very cool.

 

 

This card arrived in my mailbox from Uncle Charlie's Shoebox, one of those blogs that I can't comment on unless I call up the Google browser. So I do!

 

He emailed me that he had pulled this pink chrome sparkle Kershaw from 2025 Heritage and now it's here! All it cost me was a few Heritage Cubs -- I just might have a few dupes from that set hanging around. Just a few.

 

So that was also very cool.

 

And so is -- always -- an envelope from jacobmrley/Max, which also showed up last week.

 

 

From top to bottom, a 1994 Score Gold Rush Dodgers team card, a 2025 Topps diamante foil Tyler Glasnow, a 2023 Topps Archives Luis Robert and a 1991-92 Pro Set French card of the Sabres' Randy Wood.

 

Very nice to get the '94 Score card, I need to do more with that parallels set for the Dodgers, not as active on that as I was with the Topps gold cards. The Glasnow card is nice, too, he's been a bit of a bust with the Dodgers this year. I think the Luis Robert night card will make the night card binder, the 1990 Upper Deck Bob Welch is in that spot now, but Robert shows actual lights.

 

So, it's gestures like this that help keep me and this blog going. I think I'd still be blogging if I didn't receive cards in the mail or even if I didn't get hardly any comments (see: the early, early  days of this blog), but sometimes you need that affirmation. That's why it's great that there are people like Fuji, who will always comment.

 

Because someday the bots will be gone.