The Article Writer

I wonder how many people still read almanacs? Growing up, we had the Old Farmer’s Almanac, Information Please, Farmer’s Almanac (pictured) and I seem to recall coming across one or two regional publications. Back during their day, almanacs were an excellent source for telling people when to plant or harvest; how to cure bunions, toothaches and heartaches (with the same product); or where to make money stuffing envelopes. I’m sure that most of those ads in the back of some of the smaller publications were scams.

Yesterday, I was contacted by someone who asked me if I knew where in East Tennessee they could get a hold of a copy of Grier’s Almanac. I had blogged about Grier’s nearly two years ago mentioning that the almanac had just issued their 200th annual issue. A local drugstore in my town had free copies of Grier’s on hand so I took one home and read it. That’s when I learned about their milestone which is an amazing feat given the number of wars, financial calamities and changes of ownership the almanac has gone through over the years.

Although Grier’s has just published their 202nd annual issue, the Old Farmer’s Almanac is the oldest almanac in the US dating back to 1792. Even older is the Old Moore’s Almanack a British publication which has been continuously published since 1697!

No, I could not give my inquirer a location where she could find Grier’s Almanac, but I did find a website buried several pages deep in the Google SERPs (someone needs some SEO help). You can visit the links provided to find out that information and, hopefully, learn when the tide will be rolling out in your area on February 29th or November 2nd.

Sound The Trumpets!

Introducing SayCampusLife: Your College Info Portal

I’m pleased to announce the launch of a new blog, SayCampusLife, effective immediately. SayCampusLife, along with SayEducate, are two sites I do not own, but where I have been named as part of a blogging team.

All About SayCampusLife

SayCampusLife is a business blog owned by nBuy Associates of Virginia, USA. SayCampusLife covers college-related news and information regarding life on American college campuses including college courses, campus life, financial aid, career development, sports, and much more.

We’ll be covering all of these topics and offering links to other nBuy sites where you will be able to download useful charts and tools. Krayton M Davis of nBuy Associates will be blogging with me, so this will be a team effort.

You Are Invited

Please stop by the blog to see what we’re all about. Subscribe to a free feed, access some tools and charts, and leave a comment (do follow) as well. I would appreciate if you would stumble the home page too.

I hope to see you there!

I’ve put the word out that after this Friday, December 21st, I’ll be on “vacation mode” until January 2, 2008. Although I am not traveling away from home nor am I going to be completely absent from the internet, the bulk of my days will be spent on family and church events. I realize that some of this blog’s readers do not celebrate Christmas, but for those of you who do, what are your plans over the next two weeks?

Some people assume that I can just shut it all down simply because I work for myself. Although I am self-employed, my clients’ schedules aren’t always the same as mine — this means that this week I will be posting articles on two other blogs I manage which will carry me through the new year. I’ll also be logging on daily to make sure that no sort of mischief has taken place while I am otherwise preoccupied, but I won’t be starting new projects or finishing up other jobs.

Thankfully, the period between Christmas and New Year’s Day is usually very slow for most businesses as employees take the remainder of their 2007 vacation days during that time. When I used to work directly for an employer, the last week of the year meant catching up on paperwork and preparing for the year to come. Only the accountants had to be present as they worked feverishly to close the books for the calendar year.

January 2008 is shaping up as a busy month for me and it will include an infrequent road trip to cover an important event, one that I will share with everyone once my travel plans have been confirmed.