Goodbye

Last week, I got unceremoniously dumped by Blogger. They abruptly locked my blog account and took it down.

I received an email saying I had malicious content and I was immediately suspended. 

At first, I couldn't comprehend what they were saying. Exactly what was malicious within my content? The worst part was that I couldn't even download my blog in case I wanted to blog elsewhere.

My only recourse was to "appeal" which was nothing more than clicking a button. You couldn't contact an actual person to find out what was going on. By the end of the day, I had resigned myself that I would no longer have a blog.

I clicked the "appeal" button.

24 hours later, out of the blue, I was reinstated. No explanations, no apologies.

The damage has been done though. It made me realize my blog posts don't belong to me. Blogger can take them away any time they want--unless I want to pay for my own web site, which I don't. 

So, I'm done. 

I've been blogging continuously for almost 20 years. That's not too shabby.

I'll miss the conversations I've had with friends over the years. I'll still be on Facebook, but I must admit I go there more to read other people's posts than to post my own. Who knows? Maybe you'll see me more often on Facebook.

Since this blog is going away, I'm also deleting my Pinterest account because many readers come from there, strictly to read specific posts. 

It's a bittersweet ending, but it's time.

Stay well, my friends. I'll leave the blog up for a couple of weeks for all the latecomers and then it'll go dark. 

So long, and thanks for all the fish. 

And thank you, Douglas Adams, for the best line in any book.