Howdy all – it’s time for another ‘Rambling Wednesday’ post. Which I haven’t called it before but you know what, I think I like it so I am going to use it going forward. Or not. As these posts are usually written the day before they are posted, whereas many others are pre-programmed in advance, I am able to be current and up to date with what is happening in the world, and with me too. (I know, like you care!)

With me well, I am fully vaxxed now. I also am writing this one with a cold which is very unpleasant (the cold) so if this post is all over the place, meh, what you going to do? Personally I have been working my behind off on my vlogs of late more than the blog. I’m trying to build my audience but frankly, it’s frustrating as hell. I have been losing far too much time watching ‘how to’ videos in regards to get more subscribers. I see people complaining about running their channels for a couple of months and still not being at 1000 subs. Try 12 years for less than 250! Although I didn’t really start working properly on it with a goal to building an audience until late last year. I have be going back and changing thumbnails and inserting chapters and bulking up the tags. I think there is an ‘ever-so-slight’ improvement in views, but honestly I dunno.

No pressure but it always puts a smile on my dial when I get a new subscriber. I’ve been posting every Thursday this year (so once a week) with stuff edited from old trips that has lain dormant for many years mixed in with local (Melbourne) content and of course, stuff from Tasmania earlier this year. So, click the button here if you want to check it out>>> Andy’s World YouTube Journeys!

Onto the Olympics. Well, honestly, it seemed very few people wanted them in Japan but they happened despite that. One suspects that the reprocusions of not holding them would have been, well, bad in a financial sort of sense. And Brisbane has won the right to host the 2032 Games, which you know, is about the time when we might have achieved herd immunity and the vaccinations in Australia reach 70% or so.

But honestly – it was the least celebrated winning of an Olympics EVER. It was SUCH a big deal when Sydney won the right to host the 2000 games. I wonder though if the Olympics capture the imagination quite the way they used to. I guess I was keen enough back when I was kid. But honestly in four or five days of Olympics I haven’t watched a minute straight of them and I’ve been home.

And during the pandemic, should they have been staged at all? Although Japan has vaccinated twice as many in terms of percentage as we have (we are at 13% fully vaxxed now), that’s still not an effective number and they went into lockdown just before the Olympics but held them anyway. To no crowd. In some ways that’s possibly going to save money I get, there’s no doubt that the TV rights bring in the most money of any aspect in the Olympics. Hopefully it’s inspiring people all over the world.

In Melbourne we came out of lockdown today. Although things are still pretty limited, it’s always a stage-by-stage withdrawing of restrictions. In Sydney, well, the numbers are still going up with 172 cases announced yesterday (Tuesday) which is the most in a day for Sydney/NSW since the pandemic started. They are set for a long lockdown as they didn’t really lockdown for the first few weeks when the outbreak started. So anyways, for those in lockdowns there’s always… the Olympics to watch!

Personally, I need another lie down. I have some tentative interstate plans for travel going forwards but we will just have to see how the lockdown situation progresses here because Victorians aren’t able to leave the state I believe until other states allow them to do so.

Wherever you are in the world, I hope you are staying safe. Look after yourselves always, and May the Journey Never End!