Signing Off

All things come to an end, and now it is time for this blog to end. I surprised myself by lasting for 2-1/2 years, which was never my intent, but as long as the ideas came and I was willing to spend the time to rattle away on the keyboard, it just kept humming along. Mind you, I did not sustain the rapid rate of articles as in those first months when I had more enthusiasm for this small venture.

The reason why I am ending it is very much is resonance with why I started this blog. Like many people I saw that I had some things to say and a blog is a good outlet for that sort of thing. I had (and have) no illusions about getting a large readership, nor was that my objective. I do not promote this blog in any way and the lack of ads shows that it isn't for the money!

Which brings me to the question of why I blogged at all. It's a question I never really touched on in any article. It's a modest reason: to improve my writing skills and to practice communicating insights, even minor ones that I have on topics of the day that tweak my interest in some way. I have, for the most part, shied away from topics I know little about, which explains the predominance of articles about telecommunications and technology, which are topics I know quite well.

I made a conscious decision to not focus solely on subjects I know a lot about. This was to exercise my ability to think thoroughly on topics on which I am not an expert but that interest me in some special way. Another, subtler reason was that to focus too much on topics I know well would inevitably, over time, peel away at my anonymity. Many is the time that I've avoided interesting and timely topics since to write about them effectively would provide a glimpse under my disguise for anyone who knows me or my work. While regrettable, I always chose the path that preserved my anonymity.

But why be anonymous? No, I am not anyone particularly noteworthy with a reputation to protect, although I am known by many people in my domains of expertise here in Ottawa and elsewhere. Identifying myself would not bring undue attention or cause me any harm, and it would have freed me to write more about subjects with which I am closely connected. I also have avoided using anonymity as a shield from behind which I could rant to my heart's content or to smear any individual. I have spoken harshly of some people in the public eye from time to time, but only regarding their actions and positions, and not as an attack on the person (no ad hominems here). My true reason for staying anonymous is a dull one: I like to compartmentalize the separate roles I play in life, whether it be family, business, social, or...as a blogger. It's a quirk, though one that matters a great deal to me.

I end this blog with a long list of untouched topics for which I intended to eventually write articles. Except that I no longer particularly care to do so. With respect to the reason why I started this blog, the 80-20 rule has come into play since I have achieved the 80% of the benefit that comes from 20% of the effort. I have reached the point of rapidly diminishing returns. Taking time for this blog is not the relevant thing here since, as the truism goes, time is something you make, not something you have; that is, you always have the time if you set your priorities accordingly. This is always true except when physically impeded by some external force. The many responsibilities of any adult member of society are not a straight-jacket that fate has wrapped around us; they are ones that we choose not to abandon, although we could do so at any time.

And so I have chosen to allocate my time elsewhere. For those of you who have been reading for some or all of the past couple of years, or even just popped in here from a link or from a search, thanks for stopping by. Your numbers aren't huge but more than I at one time would have expected.

This site will stay up with its full complement of over 370 searchable articles. I imagine that over the months that the traffic will decline as the material gets increasingly stale. That's merely the way of all things, and that includes every one of us, so there is no cause for regret.

Take care and so long.