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Very important disclaimer

Please be advised that the contents of this blog are opinions only (my opinion, the opinions of my family and the opinions of anyone else directly or indirectly involed in this blog). This is not an accredited training blog, nor is it an accredited anything blog. If you (and you) do anything that this blog says, or don't do anything that this site says not to do, and you get injured, sick or killed, you cannot blame me or my family or blame anyone else directly or indirectly involved in this blog. By reading anything on this blog (including this message) you are saying that you are a person who makes thier own choices in life and does not hold the writer of this blog, the writers family or any one else that may be directly or indirectly involved in the production or writing of this blog, responsible for your stupid and irresponsible behaviors, injuries, sicknesses or deaths. With that said, please enjoy my fun blog.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Facebook and Twitter…

… are fun, but the real meat is in your own online property. Just because Facebook is a great place to share recipes and accolades, and Twitter is a battle of wits, don’t neglect your blog because that is where you leave your mark. I’ve never seen anyone win a “top fitness status’ or a ‘Top 100 fitness tweets’ award, but where you will be truly noticed is where you can control your ‘property’.

I see plenty blogs being more and more neglected due to the time requirement to stay up to date on the Social sites. Facebook isn’t too bad, as your conversation is tidy and in one place, but twitter, wow. I close my eyes to sneeze and I am lost. It moves SOOO fast!

Question: How do you follow twitter? just concentrate on a few close twits? or do you try to follow along with your entire twtterati?

Blogs are still my favourite place to hang out. I like the thoughtfulness of the content where you can stop and really put down on ‘paper’ what you mean and feel. I read tons of blogs. One of my favourite things to do when I have a little extra time is to just dive into the blog world and just follow links from one blog to another, learning and getting to know new people. I’m not a serial commenter like some, but I try to make my presence known when I have something to add to the conversation.

On my own blog (this here blog) I am probably as narcissistic  as anyone on here, but I try to promote what I truly like (races, products, people), so that adds a bit of softness to what could be seen as a very ego-centric blog. I think what saves me from a quick blogger death by unpopularity, is my passion for running, and my passion for writing about it. I think that’s the key to any good blog. Passion.

Have passion in what you write. It is really hard to be passionate on Facebook. And even harder to be passionate on twitter. Own your content. Don’t mess with trying to create a brand on Facebook, as Facebook is where you advertise your brand.

That said. I am here on Facebook, and here on Twitter.

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Speaking of passion. I have a little shout-out to make to a Pharmacist. She may never read this, but it is worth it to point out a person who went the extra mile and made my life a little easier today.

We are pretty sick in our house. Andrew has had Croup, a bad cold and now bronchitis. he has been given some antibiotics and is on the mend. Ever since he started pre-school in January, he has been bringing all kinds of bugs home.

I have had varying degrees of a cold for 6 weeks now, and I think I am finally on the mend. It got so bad that I finally got some antibiotics to look after an upper respiritory infection. But what I think finally scared the bug away is I took some buckleys. I take a knee and get the shakes when I take this cough medicine because it tastes so unreal bad, but the relief from my symptoms is immediate. I am feeling as good as I have in a long time. Not 100% but WAY better than the 30% I've been at.

Traci has been dealing with almost the same stuff as me for almost as long and went and got some antibiotics for an ear infection. Yesterday when she tried to get her prescription filled, our local pharmacy didn’t have the dosage on hand and we had to wait to hear from the doctor to see if a different dosage was ok to use. He was gone, and he doesn’t work on Fridays. So, we go pick up the prescription order and head out to try and get the right dosage. I drive down the road and the first place I go is the Shoppers Drug Mart in McKenzieTown and I walk up the the counter to be served by the possibly the most appropriately friendly person I have met. Rhonda (Help, Help me Rhonda, as she says it so I don’t forget it (I didn’t)) doesn’t have the dosage either. When I explain to her how we can’t get our doctor on the phone, she dives into her personal phone book and starts calling around to other pharmacy's, starting with the closest one and working outward. She is calling to her competition, with no possible way to get paid for any of her service. Between calls, she is helping other customers in her incredibly cheerful way, the getting right back to her calls. After about 5 tries, I hear a little squeal from her, and sure enough she found what we need and with a very grateful thank you, I am off to pick up the antibiotics for Traci. I left there feeling important and happy. Without Rhonda’s non-required efforts, Traci may not have received her antibiotics until Monday, and there is no telling how much sicker she may have been.

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Thanks Rhonda! You truly rock and are a model of how people should treat each other. My parents keep get their prescriptions there and have been super happy from day 1!

I am feeling so much better that I am actually looking forward to my 29km run this Sunday. I am going to be running downtown, so if anyone is interested in joining up for all or part of it, just drop me a line and we can make an arrangement.

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that says ‘Rouge Parking Lot’. It’s where I’ll start on Sunday morn at 9am. ‘

7 comments:

  1. Well, there you go, Canada's awesome health care system at work once again. Dude, your Blog is not any more narcisstic than anyone else's. Heck, it's about YOUR life.

    I like Blogging the best too. 99% of the tweets I see are from people I have no idea who they are. I want to create a new twitter list of blogging friends on only look at this list. That might be fun.

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  2. And I for one can sure feel passion in your blog and that's why I read it, though not always comment. :)
    People like Rhonda make me want to live forever.

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  3. I've wondered about the blog world. I few of my fave bloggers have stopped. It seems like I'm getting fewer visitors, and certainly fewer commenters. A reader can't tell what sort of traffic other sites are actually getting, but lots of the blogs I do follow seem to be getting fewer comments as well. I'm trying to figure out how much traffic comes to my blog after putting a link on facebook. I don't know if I've got the same people on facebook as read my blog. I suspect more people read a facebook comment than my blog.

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  4. First, I love the Rhonda story! What a wonderful person :)

    Second, I only do facebook with family and I don't tweet. I'm having a hard time keeping up with the blogging, as life tends to get in the way. But, I don't want to give it up entirely. I always enjoy reading your posts, though I don't always comment (again, time constraints). Glad everyone is feeling better at home!

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  5. Yeay for the Rhondas in the world. They really do keep it spinning.

    The whole Twitter this is a little overwhelming for me.

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  6. I don't tweet and I haven't FB myself because I'm not that confident a blogger. If I EVER get to 100 I will.

    I do enjoy reading blogs more and have gotten connected to many great people!

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  7. I don't do the twitter thing. I try to waste the same amount of time on fb as my blog. Just kidding. I don't really think it's a waste. Blogging is my favorite too but I do neglect it when things get busy. People like Rhonda are awesome.

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