Q-onfusion (with a pleasant surprise thrown in)

Yet another Q-card folly involving the bus driver. I hop aboard, tap my card, see the balance go downward ... only to have the driver tell me "That doesn't work yet." Like heck it doesn't ... it just deducted a buck! I had to explain to him what the whole "No Passback" thing was about.

Hey, I realize we're not called beta testers (or Q-booster ... whatever) for nothing. But I didn't realize that part of the gig was training METRO's bus drivers.

This raises a question, though. What happens if the driver refuses to acknowledge my dollar deduction?

Meanwhile, Metro-blogger Mary Sit recounts the first month blogiversary over at Metro ... and dings a few of the wingers along the way. Could this be a woman after my own heart?

In the first blog I wrote, I said that our goal was to “spawn a community of interested readers who will engage in lively discussion.” But unfortunately, the conversation has been dominated by three critical voices whose response to each post is predictable: You’re incompetent, METRO is incompetent, and everything METRO does is a huge waste of money.

The attacks are often personal, both toward me and any commentator who defends METRO or writes something positive about METRO. Rather than encouraging friendly, healthy debate and conversation, these few are poisoning the blog environment and discouraging participation.

Jerry Springer meets the blogosphere. I personally prefer Nightline.

These individuals have posted 122 of the 390 comments, if my quick count is correct. That’s 31.28 percent of the comments.

Some of the mistakes they said we’ve made: wrong math, misspelled words (they’ve made some, too) what’s perceived by some of you as a long time to respond (contrary to one comment, these posts do take time to research), posts that have not been at a certain hour in the day (by their very nature, blogs are not posted on the clock), fluff and PR type material.

I have also been criticized for posting only one post per day.

Yeah, welcome to the blogHouston effect on the local blogosphere, Mary. Sadly, they don't get much better with age. In fact ... oh hell, you'll find out on your own. Fight the good fight.

SIDENOTE: Today was one of those days I dread with the new Metro fare structure. I had a three-pronged trip ... church, the office ... and back home. A $3 day for Metro if it weren't for the fact that I can still get the $2 daypass. Oh, and I've got a freebie if I leave for work tomorrow morning early enough.