You’ll have noticed the absence of something almost daily. Content from Skip. He is up to his eyeballs in family matters that have consumed nearly every waking moment and many a sleepless night. It is not, we suspect, forever, but it has dragged on much longer than he expected.
Hurdles he’d jumped with an eye on getting back to writing have been cleared, only to find more. He’s working on it as you may have noticed today.
In his absence, I have had to lean more heavily on third-party content shared from places like Mises Wire, the Daily Caller, The Rutherford and Ron Paul Institutes, and even our own Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy. We appreciate policies that allow us to share what is certainly top-shelf filler, but the Grok has long prided itself on original content—our take on the news and opinion of the day, not someone elses.
That continues to be the goal, and when possible, the daily menu will include op-eds and other local fare no one else has. But until Skip can get his feet under himself for more than five minutes, I’ll be adding the third-party stuff almost every day, along with a hat tip and thank you to our cast of volunteers: Groksters that provide regular news and opinions you can only get at GraniteGrok.com.
Looking forward
If you’ve not heard, my departure from my full-time job finally has a hard date. Sept. 29th is my last full day in the office. After that, I will begin relying on our donations and will be able to focus almost entirely on GraniteGrok and projects proposed or started but not finished.
On that point, we have someone looking into the best way to add the promised ad-free VIP version for subscribers and donors. The upgraded search feature is also actively under study. We already have the tools to add video content and podcasts, and I will be trying to get that back on track. In other words, there will be improving the experience and diversifying the content.
Vermont Grok has new content, if not every day, than several days a week, as we look for ways to grow the content and audience. We’ve also contemplated expanding into Maine – maybe next year.
We are also organizing a rather significant fundraising event at the Londonderry Fish and Game Club on October 28th (Save the Date!) to help keep it all moving in the right direction: live music, local and national speakers, a gun raffle (perhaps?), and more – details will follow as we finalize things.
So, we are not sitting on our hands or giving up publishing space. Any shift toward third-party content is temporary, and with any luck, Skip will be back on track in a week or two.
One more note. I’ve been summoned for jury duty at the beginning of October, so my full-time affections could be delayed depending on whether I actually get picked and when, for how long, and so on. Skip may have to heave-hoh in my partial absence, so I hope he’s ready for that.
Thanks so much for your patience, your financial support, and, as always, for reading GraniteGrok.
Reminder: If – at any time – you’d like to give or give more, start or increase a subscription, you can use the GiveSendGo campaign page (no fees) or donate through the website (PayPal). We also accept checks; you can email me for the address if this is your preferred method of support.
