Three months and the 3(k) Hi(ve)story

Thanks to @doze for the graphic on which this image is based

I have participated in the monthly Power Up Day since August 2018 and before my account reached 1k in power. Just under a year later, in July 2020, I decided that it was time to become more actively involved in the HivePUD initiative, not just because @traciyork had taken it over, but also because it's been central to my becoming a little more results-focused on the blockchain.

Although this initiative is designed to encourage little fish to participate, it's wonderful to see dolphins and whales participating, too. Sometimes their whopping power-ups can be intimidating to little fish that start with nothing. Like I did.

A digression (of course)

Earlier today, my new blogpal @gkvanten (thanks also to Traci's #HiveBloPoMo) shared some thoughts on consistency. They resonate for me and it's consistency that has enabled me to grow my account - especially over the last few months during which I've paid more attention.

So -

A (not so) brief history

With apologies to those who've read it all before...

• I joined the blockchain in July 2017 but disappeared because I was in a bad space and, well, it was just so foreign and darned unfriendly.
• I returned a few months later at the behest of a community leader and fiddled about a bit.
• I didn't pay attention to my wallet and got sucked into the social side of things and got phished in April 2018. I didn't lose a much, materially, although I did lose my sanity. I did gain a new respect for the community of the blockchain who supported, cared and helped me out.
• It was only in August 2019 - two years after joining that I reached the milestone of 1k Hive power. Based entirely on my eclectic blogging and commenting - what I call my sweat equity.
• It too exactly 12 months to grow my account by another 1k which I marked by increasing my support for this @streetstyle's brainchild to three 100HP delegations (details of which you can read about here).
• Today, when I powered up, my account reached just over 3k.
  That's one thousand Hive Power in three months! Here's proof.
  

How did this happen?

Firstly, some of this has happened because I have been fortunate to receive two generous delegations: one from @traciyork and from @nathanmars. Thank you.

These, in addition to my monthly #HivePUD delegations, mean that my vote "counts for something" when I excercise it.

Which reminds me - voting strategy

@the-bitcoin-dood asked this question a little while ago and I've geen giving it some thought. Of course, it gets the Fiona treatment and is nothing and not scientific:

• I reciprocate where I can
• I do make use of autovotes:
  Because I am human and am often AFK, I have series of accounts that I'd like to be supporting, but it's humanly impossible to do that and be alive; I have another series of accounts that I support because it makes Hive sense to do so. Oh, and I have a range of weights that I allocate to each account based on my subjective sense of their importance and/or value.
• When my VP reaches below 90, the autovotes stop and if I am not AFK, I manually vote the accounts that I believe matter.

Here, I have to extend gratitude to @nickyhavey for his sage (not financial) advice on this. This strategic approach has meant that my meagre curation rewards are better than they would otherwise have been, and which was of serious concern post HF24 (if you've been around long enough to remember that).

Oh, and the other thing I did, also with his generous help, and when I was going to be AFK for a while, was to lease Power. This saw me earn interest on what I lent and the full amount (capital) was returned to me when the lease period was up. I shall do this again.

Pennies, pounds, content creation and awareness of audience

I post pretty regularly to the blockchain and I opined a little on this when I talked about my crypto/personal finance journey, and posted daily for November. Not every post generates the same return, but every little does help. I do not always post from the same Dapp or in the same community. Not everyone is interested in what I might waffle on about, and that's not just ok, it's life. What would life be without variety? And cats and good food and wine? And music...and...

Competitions and initiatives

A constant mantra is that I don't "do" competitions. Unless they really do appeal to me, and then it's not the winning that appeals, it's what's involved in competing. As was the case with the @yourtop3 contest which is taking a well-deserved break after this month. I participated because it was fun. I did win a little - wonderful suprises, those - and it all added to my wallet stash.

Similarly, participating in initiatives like Power Up Day all help to add to the stash because

• people follow the hashtags and upvote
• people should be following, commenting and voting posts with the tag curate which earns Hive - everyone benefits
• there are prizes and lucky draws - all of which earn hive
• initiatives "give" one posts that one often doesn't have to spend extra energy thinking about because the topic is a given.
  Unless of course, you waffle on like I do, and make a meal of everything...

In closing - another three

A year ago, I knew I'd still be blogging, as I shall be a year from now. A year ago, this felt like an awful space. Thank to my posse of three (I'm not mentioning names, because I know how they feel about PDAs) for picking me up and dusting me off. You're special, real and vitual friends on and off the blockchain. Thank you for walking this journey with me and for helping me to reach this equally special "three" milestone.

Because a windblown pile can end up in a pretty together heap. In the end.
Until next time, be well
Fiona
The Sandbag House
McGregor, South Africa

Post Script

Looking for that gift for someone who has everything? Shop with Pearli in my evolving Redbubble shop -

And then there's more:

• If this post might seem familiar, it's because I'm doing two things:
  • re-vamping old recipes. As I do this, I plan to add them in a file format that you can download and print. If you download recipes, buy me a coffee. Or better yet, a glass of wine....?
  • and "re-capturing" nearly two years' worth of posts because of this.
• If you’re interested in a soft entry into the world of crypto currency and monetising WordPress blog, use the fantastic plugin to post directly to the Hive blockchain. Click on the image below to sign up -

Image: @traciyork

• I also share my occasional instagram posts to the crypto blockchain using the new, and really nifty phone app, Dapplr. On your phone, click the icon below, and give it a go.

In yet another aspect of my life -

English writing, research and online tutoring services

writing - emails and reports, academic and white papers
formal grammar, spelling and punctuation
more information here