A bit over a year ago I started up WGG as an experiment on several levels. First, I wanted to try out WordPress as a blog software.  Second, I thought it would be interesting to see how well placed a blog like this could get ranked in Google, as a site and on various topics.  Third, I thought it would be fun to rant about some common things people (meaning most all of us) do that get on the nerves of others around of us.  These rants were intended to be in good humor, and often tongue firmly in cheek.

Over time I wrote, along with some guest posts, over 250 articles  Not to shabby for a non-writer as myself.  One of the things I most enjoyed was just attempting to get improve my writing skills; whether I accomplished that or not is of course a matter of opinion.  Rants have covered a wide variety of topics, some more popular than others.  I have steered away from truly controversial topics, though at times my rants were a little more serious than my original intention.

At this point I have accomplished many of the goals I set out to do, and the last few months have seen a hiatus from writing.  I considered at times taking down the site as I had lost interest in writing rants and instead have spent most of my time posting samples of my hobby and real interest photography.

So what has kept this site alive?  The daily readership.  I have been continually amazed at how certain topics continue to rank well in search engines, particularly Google.  My most trafficked articles continue to be on the topics of Saggin’ Pants and Chewing With Your Mouth Open which apparently rank high on people’s list of pet peeves.  These peeves must rank high if people are not only taking the time to search on Google to read about it, perhaps in search of a way to tactfully help the offending party, but many have taken the time to comment on their opinion as well.

Also popular are my articles about Mandatory Tipping and how Throwing Out Cigarette Butts IS Littering; again, two of my person favorites along with the two previously mentioned.

With this in mind, I have kept WGG alive for, if nothing else, the enjoyment of those that stop by.  Lately I have thought of writing an article every so often to as things cross my mind, but haven’t followed through on them.  I think perhaps I will try to act on the impulse a little more and get some content going again.  Not necessarily with any regularity, and definitely not daily, but more than lately.  Fair enough?

So keep that RSS feed subscription active, and as always, feel free to share this site with others and to suggest your ideas for rants!

If you would like to make sure it is working for you, feel free to leave a comment on this post.  Thanks.

By far the most popular topic searched for is Baggy Pants or Saggin’.  That article rivals and often surpasses the traffic even to the home page!  When I wrote that piece I had no idea there were so many people that agreed with the gripe.

Coming in a close second this week and often high in the polls is  taking Taking Responsibility For your Own Actions.  Apparently there are also a lot of other people tired of seeing our society relying on blaming others for their own shortcomings and wrong choices.

Third in the current rankings, and one of my personal favorites is Chewing With Your Mouth Open.  If there was ever a pet peeve I would devote my time to eradicating, this would be it.  I don’t need to see or hear what you are eating, thank you very much.

I received a new inbound link today from a fellow hater of Smokers Who Litter.  There is just plain no excuse for this nasty habit, much less smoking itself.

Most flattering though was a favorable review from Man-O-Pause.com about the What’s Gotta Go in general.  Our fabulous periodic guest write Ali gets a nod in the review as well.   Thanks for the comments and link!

Though we don’t write here for the praise, it’s always nice to see things getting read whether the readers agree or not with the sentiment.  Pure venting and fun humor alike, I am finding that writing periodically is really quite therapeutic.  As always, guest writers are welcome and encouraged!

So, you may be without my witty satire for the upcoming week; but I know you will find some way to survive.  Perhaps one of our guest authors will fill in with some diatribes of their own.  Speaking of that, thanks Ali for your fun comments last week.

Now I am (literally in a few minutes) off on the trip.  Cross your fingers that Smokey and I don’t get too up close and personal.

I especially appreciate all those that have helped to spread the word about WGG/WGS to friends and others you think are interested in the thoughts, advice, photos, etc. that are posted here.  Please continue to do so!

If there is anything you would like to see included in future posts, please drop me a note and I will see what I can do!

Also, all the great authors that are a part of WGG, we would love to hear from you more!  I realize life is busy and writing posts for WGG is not likely the first thing you think of each day…but hopefully you are thinking of us when things really bug you during the day!  Bring those rants on over and share them for all of us to enjoy!

Thanks again to all those that participate, both as authors and commenting on the site.  It’s great to have a community of people that enjoy what we have to share and hopefully we can keep entertaining you!

www.whatsgottastay.com

First, we have some new authors joining the ranks to share their carefully thought out rants of what just needs to go in their humble observations.  Watch for the author names on posts and see if you end up with some favorites :)  I appreciate all those that have caught on to the fun I have found in writing for this site.

If you haven’t already noticed, there are some options to rank different rants by clicking the stars you think apply.  Also, along with leaving your comments, you can give a thumbs up/down karma to any other comments posted.  Please do all of the above!

You may have also noticed I have added some ads into the content pages.  I can’t tell you to click them, that is is a big no-no in the terms and conditions for Google Ads.  Please do pay attention to them though, they are not there just for looks!  People who pay to advertise through ads are typically serious about their business, and represent some of the people that make the free Internet available to the rest of us.  What is cool about Google Ads is they actually try to make them pertain to the content around them.  Google always amazes me at the innovations and cool tools they continue to come out with.

If you haven’t played with RSS feeds previously, it is a great way to keep up on various sites.  You can get the WGG feed using the links at the top of every page.  If you use Google for searching, you can now customize your search page to include Google Reader that makes it VERY easy to add in RSS feeds.  If anyone needs a tutorial on this, post a reply to this thread and I will find some good instructions.

Are you ‘net savvy on your mobile phone.  I am a happy user of a Treo 650, and I love to pass time in boring meetings, while traveling, etc. by surfing some of my favorite sites.  Now you can include WhatsGottaGo.com on your mobile bookmarks!  Most mobile browsers are automatically detected, so you don’t have to do anything special other than visit our web site address.  How cool is that?

Stay tuned, there is much more in store.  More than anything, please include us in your every day reading.  We love having you, and this site is all about having fun within the community of its members – and that includes you!