Two Divergent Paths
1.  What the Web Stats reveal.
2.  The Fat Lady is warming up and swans are dropping like flies.

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."
— Mark Twain, Chapters from My Autobiography, quoting Benjamin Disraeli

I do not subscribe to Mark Twain's famous dictum about Statistics.  If the data collection is done with integrity, then numbers are what they are.  The science of Statistics then gives way to those who interpret the meanings behind the Statistics.  And it is they who are the Damn Liars.

I mention this because I am deeply involved in analyzing what the statistics of visitors to my 2 websites reveal, and trying to understand what that data shows about the growing interest in my websites, especially the music site, nitebluz.com.

In my never ending quest to upend any and all myths not rooted in the facts, I must offer the following disclaimer. The most quoted quote from the film: Field Of Dreams, is, in fact, wrong.  The actual famous quote is "If you build it, he will come."  That sounds a bit too messianic for my tastes. So I stick with the more common cliché. 

That said, my websites, and the Internet in general, have been built on what I call "The Field of Dreams Principle."  If you build it, they will come.  And coming they are.  I have the receipts to prove that statement true.  The receipts come daily in the form of web analytics from the hosting company.  I have visitors from as far away as China. In fact, China is ranked third in countries where my websites have a growing following.  China is right behind Germany, but, of course, far behind the US.  On any given day, over 340 Americans now visit nitebluz.com.  And that number continues to grow.  For this website, eppresents.com, that number of daily visitors from the US is now up to 200.  Yesterday, with no recent posting having happened yet, throughout the past week, 23 people from China visited this website!  And I only send out the email announcement like the one I put out this morning to about 20 people.  And ten times that number do the people in the United Sates of America respond.  And they respond to what?  Your answer here is as good as mine.

Consistently, the Pacific Northwest, represented in the stats as Boardman, OR, is the number one location for visitors to either website.  As of Sunday, April 3, 2022, 136 citizens of  the PNW visited nitebluz.com. Only my son, who is in Oregon as far as I know, gets the emails announcing a new posting of The Dispatches From the Front.  Yet, 24 people from the PNW visited this website yesterday.  So what accounts for the number of people who find my websites, but are in no way directly alerted about any new posting?  I do tweet about any new posting on my Twitter feed.  But there is no statistical correlation between the number of people who view and/or interact with a Twitter announcement of any edition of the Dispatches and the number of people who visit eppresents.com within the same time period.

The only logical conclusion one can arrive at is that the CONTENT of the two websites is increasingly compelling.  My plan for the two websites is that each individual website would drive visitors to the other website.  That appears to have succeeded.  And future growth of both websites looks very possible, if not likely.  Everyday more people from more diverse parts of the world visit both my websites.

Unfortunately, I will soon be homeless, and unable to continue the work that populates both websites.  I have been able to stay in the hotel room, which is now a freaking factory of music and data — amazing the employees here — for the past year is due to the California Rent Relief program.  The legislature did not vote to continue the program past March 31, 2022.  Sacramento only voted to leave the program open for those who successfully applied by the March 31, 2022 deadline.  Payment for the hotel for Jan., Feb., and March, 2022 is in the approval process, but, as I write this, the date is April 4, 2022.  I have enough money — barring any unforeseen disaster — for about a week.  Then it's back to life as a tumbleweed for me.

The elected representatives of the State of California, and thus the VOTERS OF CALIFORNIA, are going to be forced to make difficult decisions concerning the homeless crisis in the state.  Using California's own published numbers, this state is about to have over 100,000 MORE HOMELESS PEOPLE ON ITS STREETS.  And this will happen very quickly.  It is an absolute non sequitur and completely illogical to assume that someone who could not afford their rent in March 2022, will somehow be able to pay that rent one month later, in April 2022.

On March 31, 2022, the Attorney General for CA put out a press release titled, "Attorney General Bonta Issues Warning to Eviction Lawyers After Receiving Reports That Landlords May Be Filing False Declarations to Evict California Families."  This announcement was dated March 31, 2022.  It was a threat of legal action that might be taken against landlords who file fraudulent eviction cases violating the band on evictions while the CA Rent Relief was in force.  No where in the released statement does the AG mention that legal evictions will resume one day after the press release.

Now I do not believe that the collected People's Representatives in this state are knaves; nor are they naive.  The city of Sacramento's own website states the problem best.  "Homelessness is the biggest economic, public health and safety crisis facing Sacramento and other cities in California."  There is no city in this state not severely impacted by both the blight and the plight of homelessness.  I also do not think those same People's Representatives, as an incumbent, want to see 100,000 or more homeless on the streets during an election year.  Call me cynical.  Since there is no interest in this state that wants 100,000 more homeless on the streets, the CA Rent Relief program will have to be continued for some time.  But that will be then; and this is now.  What I need is a little time.

So how does this all relate to the stats of your websites? you might rightfully ask.  Here the math does do a mathin'.  Over any one 30 day period, over 360 people from the United States have visited by music site, nitebluz.com; and many more have the visited the site from outside the US.  And over any one 30 day period, over 200 people from the United States have visited by IT site, eppresents.com; and many more have the visited the site from outside the US.  On both of those sites is a link to my GoFundMe campaign.  If each one of those individuals visiting either site from the US alone contributed just $10 each to the GoFundMe campaign this could all well become moot.

Here is the link to the most recent compiled stats on visitors to nitebluz.com.  People from all over the world visit my music site with little outside promotion driving visitors to the site.  Like I said, I have the receipts.  Also, here is the link to the complete playlist of my album.  From here, you can listen to the songs in order while reading the lyrics if you so chose.  (There is no concept, but there are a couple of themes.)  I have a detailed plan to market the album as a unique boxed set.  I will launch a Kickstarter campaign when I am ready to market.  But if I have nowhere to work, then that won't happen, at least not soon.  Also, I have a second album's worth of songs.

I also ask you to consider the value of The Dispatches From the Front.  I do not know any IT pundit who does what I do.  I read all the IT news looking for a trend from which I can develop a trending theme in IT to write about.  The changes and speed of the changes in IT affect all who read me and those who don't.  Also, in case ya'll haven't noticed, you are being given a master class in Practical Windows Computing for free complete with handouts and assignments.  So is this works $10 bucks a month to you?

Let me add that last Friday, 2 different people called me with what is essentially the same problem.  They were victimized by fake antivirus alerts.  The problem with fake antivirus alerts is that they may be simply underhanded guerilla marketing ploys.  They might be an attempt to get you to click and activate a virus.  Or it maybe the active presence of the virus itself.  Over the phone, there isn't really any way to know for sure.  One of these notices was a persistent webpage.  So I told the caller how to get that off his screen.  And, to both callers, I explained what it might be, and if the problems persist, then call me back.  If I am out of California because I simply cannot live here, then I do not answer those calls.  Let that sink in a bit, locals.

So either one happens or the other happens.  I continue to do what I have been doing for many years now.  Or the Fat Lady gets her solo, and the carcasses of swans swarm.  While I move to Nevada.  And continue my abiding faith in The Lilies of The Field.

^[28] Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: ²⁹ yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ But if God doth so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

 — Matthew 6:28-30   American Standard Version

Gerald Reiff