Unexpected popularity

Before I begin writing my post each morning (for the day before) I check my stats. For reasons I have not been able to fathom, it is proving very difficult to pay for more in depth statistics, so I make do with the cheaper (read free) number of views and visitors and where they came from. I’m fine with that, though my curiosity is sometimes piqued with anomalies.

Normally, I’m lucky if the combined views/visitors reach double figures, but occasionally there’s a sudden spike. Yesterday, for instance, I had 78 and, this morning, that figure had climbed to an unprecedented 301.

Not, since the days of my posts regarding the filming of Skyfall and associated photographs, have I had such a sudden interest in my blog.

The majority of the views today came from the US (234 views) with the UK (31 views) in a distant second.

The strangest thing, though, is the fact that these huge quantity of views have not come from Google or Facebook, the two places they normally come from. Facebook (4 views) because I post it there and Google (5 views) because my site is indexed by them. There have been a few from those expected places but the bulk have come from…well, nowhere it seems.

I can’t help but be suspicious, though, to be honest, I don’t think any of the viewed posts are especially important enough to be searched by some nefarious government agency. The majority of views are of the home page – the most current post – though, of course, there is generally one or more views for Turnbull of Whitby, my most popular entry by a long shot.

Another thing is the time. The majority of today’s views (66) occurred at 14:00 CET (Central European Time). This is 09:00 EST (Eastern Standard Time) and 13:00 in the UK. I can’t break down the views any further than that so I can’t tell where they came from. My assumption would be the US given the time differences.

Anyway, while it is quite odd, it does at least give me something to write about given today was pretty devoid of action. My gout tophi played up, forcing me to remain supine for a lot of the day. I only put shoes on, vaguely, when I fed the birds.

The day consisted of a lot of throwing the ball for Emma while Freya snored.

The only thing of note to happen was a successful phone call with Mirinda as she walked from Surrey Quays ferry stop back to the place where they’re staying.

She and Fi had been to the Pirates exhibition at the Maritime Museum in Greenwich. Sadly, the exhibition did not highlight the most successful pirate of all, Zheng Yi Sao beyond a single tablet. Was it because she was a she, we wondered, or because she was Chinese? Who knows, but it is a sad reflection on the curator.

Interestingly, Zheng Yi Sao’s leadership of the Pirate Confederation, and the confederation itself, are wonderful examples of Commons, which our fledgling Book Group is currently reading about. I must remember that for the discussion in December.