ROLEY

Author: Kris Roley

  • Wednesday, October 11th, 2023

    Here’s a fun fact for you: There have been approximately 1.1 million deaths from COVID.

    The fact that we seem to have completely forgotten that horror is something I have trouble reconciling.

    One of these days when the history of this chapter of Stupid People Doing Stupid Things is written, I hope we address this in some way.

  • Tuesday, October 10th, 2023

    Follow up from yesterday: The main problem I was having trying to fix that YT broken link is that it assumed that any YT link was for a video, and tried to treat it like an embed. I initially tried to fix it by trying another theme that was *close* to the same thing as this one, but the sidebar was fugly, and not customizable, not even through tweaking the CSS for some reason. Additionally, this theme tried to add a 2nd sidebar menu, and would not let me get rid of the one that you see. So, there was no way to have that YouTube link in the menu and have it act differently.

    Then, I got a rare good night’s sleep and came up with a different idea. What if I create a new page for all the social links, and have all the links open to a new tab. That should work, right? So I created the Social Page you see in the sidebar and put all the places you can connect with me there.

    It was then I found out that the problem wasn’t just in the sidebar, it’s any YouTube link placed anywhere.

    Sometimes I swear these things are too smart for their own good.

  • Monday, October 9th, 2023

    Here’s a reminder that functional doesn’t necessarily mean correct. I had a link in the sidebar for YouTube that you’ll notice is no longer there. Turns out that when you click the link, it treats it as if it is a video, and tries to bring up that video in a lightbox. When you create a sidebar menu from WordPress Pages, it’s doing what it’s supposed to. Hat tip to the guy who told me the link was broken.

    To fix this, I need to get more under the hood than I have in years. You may remember that this used to be a Squarespace site. If I can keep this exact look, it might be again. WordPress themes are so damn clunky sometimes. I tell you, there’s more on the backend of this theme than I think is necessary for how minimal I want it to look.

    Time to make it correct.

  • When I-95 Isn’t a Route, It’s Content

    I swear, there are some days when I happen upon something so weird out here on Beyonce’s Internet that it beggars belief, but then I have to remember that it is the Internet we’re talking about.

    On my bucket list are items like driving to Key West, Route 66, and the Pacific Coast Highway. On a lark, I decided to see if anyone on YouTube had ever recorded it, and not only had they but there’s a whole genre on YouTube of POV driving. To my amazement, this stuff gets massive subscribers and views. After thinking about it, I suppose it might be a kind of white noise or something someone puts on while doing something else. I find it fascinating, so I decided to make a few videos and see how they performed on my channel. To my surprise, they are the most popular videos I’ve made.

    I’m not sure if I should be grateful for the new subscribers and likes, or bitter that my podcast performs so poorly by comparison.

    Of course, I plan to continue making my podcast. However, this driving content works for me on a few levels. First, it’s bringing people to my YouTube channel. Secondly, I am one of those freaks who likes driving long distances for the view and the quiet so I get some therapy out of it. But most importantly it’s a kind of content I’ve found that I love and that I can do. I can start here in my hometown and grow outward to a regional thing. I’ve already made videos of driving the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, Ocean Highway in Ocean City MD, driving to Williamsburg, Shore Drive, and Atlantic Avenue here in Virginia Beach. Shortly, I plan to drive from Nags Head to Hatteras and make the circle from Virginia Beach to Elizabeth City, taking the Currituck Ferry. At some point, I wish to take the Cape May-Lewes Ferry and drive to Atlantic City.

    I’ve also decided that some longer journeys will require train or plane journeys and a rental car back, like trips to DC and Maine. These are in the more distant future because that will require a budget. It was suggested that I push the Patreon for stuff like this, but I don’t know if I want to do that. Right now, this is just for fun.

    I’d like to increase my subscribers and views on the YouTube channel to join the Partner Program, that much is certain. That takes 500 subscribers and 3000 watch hours in the last 12 months. I’m a long way off, but it’s not a sprint. Even if I don’t make it work in the next year, I’m happy for whatever I get.

  • Shutter Saturday: The Jug Handle Bridge

    The Jug Handle Bridge is a recent addition to the Outer Banks. It goes into the Sound, then curves back towards land to disembark at the Rodanthe Roundabout. The reason is pretty simple: The Outer Banks is eroding and sinking, and the people that live there insist on living in a Short Term Paradise and need a bridge to get them there.

    But the bridge is so new it’s almost white, and very stark and minimal. On the day we were there, it was practically a clear day. It almost looks like a bridge to nowhere. It’s a clean, elegant photo.

  • Friday, October 6th, 2023

    I got rid of X(witter). I don’t listen to news or political podcasts anymore. If I want to hear what’s going on in Congress or the White House, C-Span is a primary source. I have plenty to do during a day to doomscrolling social media. I finish what I have to do during the day and I find I have no time to sit on social media.

    I’ve been able to create because I’m taking the time to do that first before I do anything else. I let stuff go. Amazing what you can accomplish when you don’t care about anything that doesn’t matter.

  • Thursday, October 5th, 2023

    Social Media Warriors. Keyboard Commandos. People who don’t know how to human.

    Chaos Agents, bomb throwers, soundbite seekers, world burners.

    This is what we’re dealing with if you let it in.

    Do we need to? That’s the question.

  • Wednesday, October 4th, 2023

    Here’s something to think about: Did the anonymous nature of Social Media make it harder for us to let stuff go? Hell, even work from home might play a role. The cocooning we’ve done the past few years may have weakened our ability to human. So we lose our filters and we say what we think without giving a rat’s ass about the effects.

    We all might be an island, but we’re all islands on the same damn planet. We need to remember that.

  • Tuesday, October 3rd, 2023

    Here’s something I forgot from the corporate world: If someone has a job that centers around one thing, without which they would have no purpose, expect that they will fight like hell to keep that one thing to themselves.

    I forgot that’s a thing.

    When I offered to help someone by doing that one thing one time before they arrived, that person taught me how to do the thing, and then added several steps to the process that I am unable to do, so that I am unable to do the thing.

    This is the only thing this person does.

    It took me a minute to let that go and not take it personally. It’s not personal. Not to me. It’s deeply personal to that person. Let them have it. It’s not worth the fight.

    Just get on about your business, and thank your lucky stars that your job doesn’t revolve around one specific task.

    Right?

  • Monday, October 2nd, 2023

    “When two control freaks fight, one is killed and one is injured, but nobody’s giving up a goddamn thing.”

    I think that’s in The Art of War, Cubicle Farm Edition.