Sunlight; one chance
I put some washing in earlier but when I came to hang it out, the sun had gone in. It’s now still and overcast.
I think the washing machine is entering its final days as it makes a horrible grinding noise when it spins, so I always stop it before it gets to the end because I can’t bear to hear it suffer. Lack of a full spin means the washing is damper than it should be.
I went out a few minutes ago to see how it’s doing and moved a couple of things and thought the sky was getting brighter. Since then I’ve looked out and twice thought I could see a patch of sunlight, but it’s just the pale grass where the tent was. I took it down yesterday.
I’ve spent quite a time overall creating the village web site. I asked for a notice in the Parish Council newsletter due to be distributed next week. I saw a copy earlier, so I know it’s in and I must get the thing working properly in the next few days.
It’s very difficult getting people to contribute anything until it starts and they can see what it will be like but it’s hard to create an empty site when the software will only generate a full page when there’s enough content to fill a page. Consequently, it looks sparse and a bit silly so the first visitors will see nothing much and may never return. The next few will see the same, since the first few left no trace of their visit. The next people will pop in, see nothing and not come back. It’s a slow spiral down to the backwaters of the web.
It doesn’t have to be like that but I probably have just one opportunity: I need to write something hopeful and positive to say how good it will be when (if) people start using it, contributing their ideas and content and joining in the forums. Then people with some interest in local events, activities, business or community building, and those with a bit of ‘vision’ will feel just a tiny bit of hope that things could be better and then get on with their lives until someone else does it and they remember!
October 2nd, 2009 at 11.19 pm
That sounds really exciting, and maybe a little scary!
I know that feeling of trying to encourage people to provide content for a web site.
They say, oh, yes I’ll do that, but they never do.
I hope you’re more successful than I’ve been with the website I’m trying to compile content for!