Here is the letter I get on Monday to start off my week. Maybe I'm just easy to torque off. Maybe, I'm just overly upset at a bit of criticism. Or maybe I get really irritated at someone telling me what I oughta do with my site.
See, when I have asked, less than 5 or 6 people ever respond. Most people say, hey, it's all good, maybe a little less hating on police that shoot unarmed suspects.
But, in nearly 10 years of spending my spare time posting stuff I think is cool just to share it with like minded people, Charley is the first and only person to ask me to "dump all" and "knock off" posting a thing.
Here's what he wrote:
Dear Jesse,
You've done a really good job with your Just A Car Guy blog -- keep up the good work.
However, please dump all the airplane and military posts.
You could start another site, perhaps called Just A Plane Guy for it instead.
Really, I don't want to see it. (I'm deleting one sentence here)
Please go back to cars and cars ONLY.
Regards, Charley
So... that pushed my button.
But I don't want to fly off the handle without thinking about this whole thing. So, I replied sorta nicely....
Well, thanks for your input. You must be incredibly fed up to finally write to me, as I've never heard from you before.
My traffic has doubled during the past couple weeks while I've been posting all the WW2 stuff. Who'd figure what has you so fired up is making other people happy?
I'm sorry you're not getting a kick out of the cool nose art, but yeah, I can see why tanks just don't do a thing for most people.
I guess I grew up watching a lot of old black and white movies of WW2 with John Wayne, and Robert Mitchum, etc. and some of that admiration for the WW2 stuff still has a strong hold on what I appreciate. Then the Bob Hope and Jack Benny planes... well, I guess that I have a great deal of admiration for the USO tour people too, and Bob Hope especially for all his funny movies.
But you're done, huh? What about trains? 4x4s and rally race stuff? Motorcycles? I've done a whole lot on all sorts of things, and maybe you could be more specific on what you've liked the most and the least?
Jesse
Hi Jesse,
You're right, this is the first time that I've written to you. I rarely complain about things that I see online. It's just that after seemingly weeks of heavy emphasis on aircraft/military posts on "Just..." I returned from a week-long vacation unplugged from the internet only to see those posts continuing.
It all depends on what you feel is best for your blog. Having the traffic double shows that there is a strong interest in what you are posting. There are probably dozens of other non-car topics you could post that would do that, too, but then it wouldn't be a neat car site anymore.
Occasional non-car/ground motor vehicle posts are fine. If it were up to me, I'd like to see about the same "mix" of topics as you have done up until August. I really enjoy most of the ones you've done. Thank you for posting them. I also like the seemingly off-topic ones that have at least some car/motor vehicle connection (e.g. car engines in boats, "Buck Benny" plane art that shows his Maxwell, Waco biker shootout coverup, civil asset forfeiture corruption). They are informative and entertaining, too. Please keep it up.
As for nearly everything else, please consider putting them on a separate blog. I grew up (I'm 63) with similar interests as you but that doesn't mean that I want to read/see them on what I view as mostly a car blog.
I'm not "done." I'll still be an avid viewer. In addition, your blog archive and labels column are useful. I wish that others would do that.
Regards, Charley
(Everything that pissed me off in his letters are now in bold)
So I gave it some thought, and here's my take on it.
You weren't asked. You weren't invited. You don't pay for a subscription, you never had to register, and I never advertised to get you to look at my website. It's my hobby, my spare time activity. It has nothing to do with your preferences, expectations, nor will I change what I post to accommodate your likes.
What I'm doing I am not doing for you. You get to read along if you like, but as a bird can land on an alligator and get a nice view of the everglades for awhile, don't poke your beak where it ain't welcome. You've been along for the ride and I've never even heard of you, like some one watching my tv through the window.
Or I could respond like a boot camp drill sergeant, and since I've been through boot camp and 10 years of Navy which was mostly time on submarines... I've got some choice phrases I'd like to see curl your eyebrows. Or I can handle this like a man among men, and tell you to take a hike, jump in a lake and cool your heels.
Or I can point out that I'm the one cooking the meal, you are some uninvited petulant brat from the neighborhood and if you don't like what I put on the table, you can go pound sand and kick rocks.
Lemme explain something here, listen up Charley.
I am "just" a car guy. Not a college educated silver spoon Martha's Vineyard socialite with a cabin in Connecticutt, and a brownstone in Greenwich Village with businesses to run and meetings to attend before I flyout to race my 250 GTO at Lime Rock after making sure I post what you want to see. I'm nothing more than a car guy, and that is why I named my blog the way I did. It wasn't decided by committee, I came up with it in moments, and bingo, it stuck, because it describes me and how I figure what I do will be reflected online.
30 years I was rattle can spray painting a 71 Challenger and 72 Demon with gray primer, and bondo repairing the rusted out remains of a 72 Barracuda in the short days between heading to sea in Uncle Sams Yacht Club in a submarine out of Pearl Harbor, 20 years ago I was digging through junkyards for parts to fix up my 69 Super Bee. 15 years ago I was a cable guy then I repaired radars, 10 years ago I was changing oil and batteries and balancing tires at Sears. Now I'm a photographer at a dealership making sure all the cars get a gallery online with a description so you can shop from home.
During the past 10 years I've been posting what I find cool about the vehicle world on my site, and I don't do it for you. I'm not a kiss up looking to impress you and make friends, and increase stats and boost ratings and sell advertising.
I haven't ever advertised, and I don't sell t'shirts and stickers so you can tattoo your bumper. I post for me. I get a kick out of the stuff I put on my blog, and that's it. 10 years of adding content, and someday maybe it'll make for a door opener where I can get a job doing this for someone else, but that's a long way off. Until then, it's just me doing what I want to make me happy. If you piss off and go away, I'm not even going to notice, and I'm not going to care. You never donated to the cause, you never sent a thank you card, a gift card for a steak and beer, no tickets to the races, no invite to Goodwood, not a single comment in the posts.
You don't get to tell me to dump the military stuff, and knock off the WW2 focus. When you can't stand what I'm doing, go away. I dig it, I'm going to do more of it, and I don't care what you've had enough of. You ain't never had a kind word to say, and I sure ain't going to listen to you whine because I'm not meeting your expectations. I've only ever met a dozen guys because of this blog, and you aren't one of them.
And that idea of your to put stuff that isn't cars on another site? Yeah, I already do that. Here are the other 9 websites I make that you never noticed have been listed on the top right of Justacarguy:
http://contentandcomposition.tumblr.com/
http://designandstyleathome.tumblr.com/
http://uncles-advice.livejournal.com/
http://muchimproved.tumblr.com/
http://better-than-palgrave.blogspot.com/
http://isurvivedthehallhline.blogspot.com/
http://isurvivedthehallhline.tumblr.com/
http://isonlyskindeep.tumblr.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Nose-Art-WW2-aircraft-1111861348900582/
I guess you can be thankful you never had to put up with the interior decorating, poetry, coplayers, and photoshop lessons.
What I do for a hobby, in my spare time, isn't sticking to your preconceived notion of what it ought to be? Who the F**K did you think you were when you woke up this morning?
(Rob used the comment section to say: I feel the exact same way...I post about unusual, infamous, and famous accidents and disasters ... .... If someone tried to tell me what I shouldn't write about,
(1) I'm not sure I could be as nice about it as you were, and
(2) It'd be a guarantee of at least three or four or ten posts about that very subject in a row.)
See, when I have asked, less than 5 or 6 people ever respond. Most people say, hey, it's all good, maybe a little less hating on police that shoot unarmed suspects.
But, in nearly 10 years of spending my spare time posting stuff I think is cool just to share it with like minded people, Charley is the first and only person to ask me to "dump all" and "knock off" posting a thing.
Here's what he wrote:
Dear Jesse,
You've done a really good job with your Just A Car Guy blog -- keep up the good work.
However, please dump all the airplane and military posts.
You could start another site, perhaps called Just A Plane Guy for it instead.
Really, I don't want to see it. (I'm deleting one sentence here)
Please go back to cars and cars ONLY.
Regards, Charley
So... that pushed my button.
But I don't want to fly off the handle without thinking about this whole thing. So, I replied sorta nicely....
Well, thanks for your input. You must be incredibly fed up to finally write to me, as I've never heard from you before.
My traffic has doubled during the past couple weeks while I've been posting all the WW2 stuff. Who'd figure what has you so fired up is making other people happy?
I'm sorry you're not getting a kick out of the cool nose art, but yeah, I can see why tanks just don't do a thing for most people.
I guess I grew up watching a lot of old black and white movies of WW2 with John Wayne, and Robert Mitchum, etc. and some of that admiration for the WW2 stuff still has a strong hold on what I appreciate. Then the Bob Hope and Jack Benny planes... well, I guess that I have a great deal of admiration for the USO tour people too, and Bob Hope especially for all his funny movies.
But you're done, huh? What about trains? 4x4s and rally race stuff? Motorcycles? I've done a whole lot on all sorts of things, and maybe you could be more specific on what you've liked the most and the least?
Jesse
Hi Jesse,
You're right, this is the first time that I've written to you. I rarely complain about things that I see online. It's just that after seemingly weeks of heavy emphasis on aircraft/military posts on "Just..." I returned from a week-long vacation unplugged from the internet only to see those posts continuing.
It all depends on what you feel is best for your blog. Having the traffic double shows that there is a strong interest in what you are posting. There are probably dozens of other non-car topics you could post that would do that, too, but then it wouldn't be a neat car site anymore.
Occasional non-car/ground motor vehicle posts are fine. If it were up to me, I'd like to see about the same "mix" of topics as you have done up until August. I really enjoy most of the ones you've done. Thank you for posting them. I also like the seemingly off-topic ones that have at least some car/motor vehicle connection (e.g. car engines in boats, "Buck Benny" plane art that shows his Maxwell, Waco biker shootout coverup, civil asset forfeiture corruption). They are informative and entertaining, too. Please keep it up.
As for nearly everything else, please consider putting them on a separate blog. I grew up (I'm 63) with similar interests as you but that doesn't mean that I want to read/see them on what I view as mostly a car blog.
I'm not "done." I'll still be an avid viewer. In addition, your blog archive and labels column are useful. I wish that others would do that.
Regards, Charley
(Everything that pissed me off in his letters are now in bold)
So I gave it some thought, and here's my take on it.
You weren't asked. You weren't invited. You don't pay for a subscription, you never had to register, and I never advertised to get you to look at my website. It's my hobby, my spare time activity. It has nothing to do with your preferences, expectations, nor will I change what I post to accommodate your likes.
What I'm doing I am not doing for you. You get to read along if you like, but as a bird can land on an alligator and get a nice view of the everglades for awhile, don't poke your beak where it ain't welcome. You've been along for the ride and I've never even heard of you, like some one watching my tv through the window.
Or I could respond like a boot camp drill sergeant, and since I've been through boot camp and 10 years of Navy which was mostly time on submarines... I've got some choice phrases I'd like to see curl your eyebrows. Or I can handle this like a man among men, and tell you to take a hike, jump in a lake and cool your heels.
Or I can point out that I'm the one cooking the meal, you are some uninvited petulant brat from the neighborhood and if you don't like what I put on the table, you can go pound sand and kick rocks.
Lemme explain something here, listen up Charley.
I am "just" a car guy. Not a college educated silver spoon Martha's Vineyard socialite with a cabin in Connecticutt, and a brownstone in Greenwich Village with businesses to run and meetings to attend before I flyout to race my 250 GTO at Lime Rock after making sure I post what you want to see. I'm nothing more than a car guy, and that is why I named my blog the way I did. It wasn't decided by committee, I came up with it in moments, and bingo, it stuck, because it describes me and how I figure what I do will be reflected online.
30 years I was rattle can spray painting a 71 Challenger and 72 Demon with gray primer, and bondo repairing the rusted out remains of a 72 Barracuda in the short days between heading to sea in Uncle Sams Yacht Club in a submarine out of Pearl Harbor, 20 years ago I was digging through junkyards for parts to fix up my 69 Super Bee. 15 years ago I was a cable guy then I repaired radars, 10 years ago I was changing oil and batteries and balancing tires at Sears. Now I'm a photographer at a dealership making sure all the cars get a gallery online with a description so you can shop from home.
During the past 10 years I've been posting what I find cool about the vehicle world on my site, and I don't do it for you. I'm not a kiss up looking to impress you and make friends, and increase stats and boost ratings and sell advertising.
I haven't ever advertised, and I don't sell t'shirts and stickers so you can tattoo your bumper. I post for me. I get a kick out of the stuff I put on my blog, and that's it. 10 years of adding content, and someday maybe it'll make for a door opener where I can get a job doing this for someone else, but that's a long way off. Until then, it's just me doing what I want to make me happy. If you piss off and go away, I'm not even going to notice, and I'm not going to care. You never donated to the cause, you never sent a thank you card, a gift card for a steak and beer, no tickets to the races, no invite to Goodwood, not a single comment in the posts.
You don't get to tell me to dump the military stuff, and knock off the WW2 focus. When you can't stand what I'm doing, go away. I dig it, I'm going to do more of it, and I don't care what you've had enough of. You ain't never had a kind word to say, and I sure ain't going to listen to you whine because I'm not meeting your expectations. I've only ever met a dozen guys because of this blog, and you aren't one of them.
And that idea of your to put stuff that isn't cars on another site? Yeah, I already do that. Here are the other 9 websites I make that you never noticed have been listed on the top right of Justacarguy:
http://contentandcomposition.tumblr.com/
http://designandstyleathome.tumblr.com/
http://uncles-advice.livejournal.com/
http://muchimproved.tumblr.com/
http://better-than-palgrave.blogspot.com/
http://isurvivedthehallhline.blogspot.com/
http://isurvivedthehallhline.tumblr.com/
http://isonlyskindeep.tumblr.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Nose-Art-WW2-aircraft-1111861348900582/
I guess you can be thankful you never had to put up with the interior decorating, poetry, coplayers, and photoshop lessons.
What I do for a hobby, in my spare time, isn't sticking to your preconceived notion of what it ought to be? Who the F**K did you think you were when you woke up this morning?
(Rob used the comment section to say: I feel the exact same way...I post about unusual, infamous, and famous accidents and disasters ... .... If someone tried to tell me what I shouldn't write about,
(1) I'm not sure I could be as nice about it as you were, and
(2) It'd be a guarantee of at least three or four or ten posts about that very subject in a row.)
I don't always care for what you post... But that is how it goes on the blog-o-sphere...
ReplyDeleteI found you one day looking for Model A photos... And you did a entry on Model A's and them being the most versatile vehicles ever made...
I have followed you for the last few years...
I check daily for the new content...
Save photos for reference...
Keep up the work... Even if everyone isn't pleased all the time...
Andy
I figure it's like tv... if you don't like what you find on this channel, flip the channel and keep looking until you land on something you like. But telling me how he came back from vacation to find I was not working on MY HOBBY the way he wants me to? Fuck him
DeleteSpeaking of marine engine... Yesterday while driving through Syracuse NY on I81, I spotted smoke coming from an abandon building... Called 911 like a good boy scout, and even with a bustling downtown, I was the first person to call and report it, whizzing by at 65...
DeleteHere is the story
http://www.syracuse.com/crime/index.ssf/2016/08/syracuse_firefighters_battle_building_fire_near_downtown.html
Why am I linking this to you? The fire was at the former Brennan Motor Co site, which still stands, barely.
Brennan made marine engines among other things...
Some links about the site and about them:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brennan_Motor_Manufacturing_Company
http://syracusethenandnow.org/Temp/105_S_Townsend_Report.pdf
http://www.syracuse.com/kirst/index.ssf/2013/07/post_517.html
Best part is actually how you labelled that post.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I was wondering how to title it... that's the best I could come up with
DeleteJust keep doing your thing, posting about things that move people.
ReplyDeleteYou are likely getting too old to let people's self-important opinions spike your blood pressure. Forget about them.
Thanks for always pointing out the interesting aspects of whatever you are posting about.
More power to you, Jesse!
ReplyDeleteI feel the exact same way...I post about unusual, infamous, and famous accidents and disasters as well as historic Fire/EMS service related topics because that's what I like. I enjoy doing the research on them. And I enjoy writing about them.
While my blog probably doesn't generate a 10th of the traffic yours does, I'm still pleasantly surprised that a few people apparently like to read what I posted...and as for anyone who isn't interested in it, there's this thing called a 'Back Button' on every browser that they're welcome to use.
I research the stuff and write about it because I enjoy it. If someone tried to tell me what I shouldn't write about, (1) I'm not sure I could be as nice about it as you were, and (2) It'd be a guarantee of at least three or four or ten posts about that very subject in a row.
Your blog rocks just as it is..If I ever find something in it that doesn't interest em I just won't read it...but That hasn't even vaguely happened yet.
Keep doing what you do!
thanks! I'm gonna cut and paste a tidbit from you to go up in the post
DeleteGood on you Jesse.
ReplyDeletei enjoy the variety.
ReplyDeleteJesse,
ReplyDeleteI love anything with an engine, car, truck, bus, locomotive, warbird, heck even the gasoline powered Maytag washing machine my Grandma used on the farm.
I've enjoyed every warbird and WWII related post, the men and women who served our country then, were truly the Greatest Generation.
Charley can go pound sand as far as I'm concerned, or crawl back under the rock from whence he came.
Keep up the good work!
thanks! Hey... maytag motor... did you see the post on the o cart with a maytag motor? http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2016/05/maytag-toy-racer-from-1935-powered-by.html
DeleteHey, Whats the problem with posting just boats? Don't apologise, I for one was glad to see it. Post more boats, Post lots of boats! Halftracks, Planes, Trains, Tanks, whatever.....
ReplyDeletePOST WHAT YOU FUCKING WANT, THATS WHY WE COME HERE!
I stumbled upon this blog one day while checking links at another blog.
I enjoyed what I was scrolling through, and thought Id stay for a while. I now contribute crap occasionally and leave comments too because I feel I'm amongst friends. Cars are part of it. Engines play a big part too, but I like to think there's a bit of "Secret Men's Business" going on here. I'm just a car guy too. Blue collar working man who finds distraction in mechanics and rust, but my interests go a lot further.
It is the only blog I have bookmarked, and listed as a favourite.
I check in every day when I park myself in front of this computer and take 5. Don't change anything and don't let that goose distract you from what you have. Its your child, you gave birth to it, raise it how you want.
man, there ain't NO fucking problem with posting boats. Apologize? ha! Me? Well... only to get her back in bed. But that's another story! HAHA!
DeleteThanks for he compliment of the day!
i hit this sight everyday and really enjoyed the ww2 nose art,i like the diversity and all things mechanical,dont change anything!! its nice to get a change of pace...I noticed this site first because everything automotive,but I have found maybe Ive learned something new,thats what keeps me coming back every day. keep up the excellent work!!
ReplyDeleteI LOVED the boats! A couple of years ago (or so) my cousin had me drive his 1955 Rolls Royce Silver Dawn down to the dock in Wolfeboro, NH on Lake Winnepasaukee for the annual antique car and boat show. A double show in one site. Chris Crafts, Hackers, and others I can't remember. Stunning, gleaming wooden works of art. And the best part was at least one of the boat owners was free giving rides on the lake. Yeah we stood there with our tongues hanging out, just hoping we'd get to sit on that red leather in the three passenger compartments, as the beast hunkered down in the stern, with the bow out of the water, and took off across Lake Winnepasaukee, the straight eight burbling to life and roaring as we flew across the water. What a thrill. Your piece reminded me of that. Thanks for that. (Then I had to drive the Rolls around the lake back to his house.) It was a GREAT day!
ReplyDeleteIt's good to see so many people enjoyed the day of boats and boat barnfinds! It's just a masterpiece of craftsmanship to look upon a vintage Chris Craft, or barrel back racer, or a Miss * from the dyas of yore with airplane engines and stories of national championship wins and fastest speed on water. You had a fantastic day, and though most any day on the lake with good temps and plenty of gas is a fine thing, a doubled up show and free rides? That's like a day of ice cream with no calories!
DeleteCars, boats, airplanes, whatever! I come here because I know I'm going to see something cool. And there is a damn good chance that there's going to be something that I've either never seen before, or didn't even know it existed. That's saying something as I've been in or near the car business for over 30 years, working in almost every capacity.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, I also work as a photographer now, doing the same thing you do. We are the dealer's online presence on such sites as Auto Trader and Cars.Com. I love it!
Keep on keeping on. As far as I'm concerned. you're doing it right, and your doing it for you. I'm good with just going along for the ride.
thanks! That's the nicest compliment I've had in a while! I feel the same way about the stuff I come across. I wonder how much stuff we individually are amazed or surprised by every week that other like minded car guys would like to enjoy?
DeleteYou seem to be one step closer to the internet of it all... are photographing for one dealership, more than one, or working at some of the sales sites like Auto Trader? Thanks!
We do around 50 dealerships in Texas. Austin, San Antonio, Del Rio, Victoria, Houston, Corpus Christi, and a couple that I'm forgetting. Based in San Antonio, we're called SODA (Sold Online Dealer Assistant). Obligatory plug: http://www.sodaauctions.com/
DeleteAhh, we go through some other company, Internet online home ... or something. I just upload photos to them, I neer pay attention to their name. Pretty messed up that someone is stealing so many Chevy dealerships tires and rims
DeleteIOL perhaps? That's the software we use on our iPads. Then I upload using a program called Photo Caster.
DeleteHere on the Border, pick-up tailgates are popular. Easy to steal. And of course, the entire vehicle. They can be across the Border in a couple of minutes. All of our dealers here have low pipe barriers around the perimeters.
IOL, exactly. I hadn't heard that tailgates are high targets... huh, why the heck would a person need a new tailgate? I posted just recently of Austin area Chevy dealership getting wiped out by the tire thieves, 5 or 6 hours starting around 1 am, and filling up a box truck. http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2016/08/chevy-dealerships-in-texas-are-too.html $200,000 worth. Last November it was $300,000 http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2015/11/a-dealership-in-leon-valley-texas-had.html
Delete