I'm not going to lie or gloss over things in an attempt to be strictly positive about things which, from a pure marketing standpoint, would be the way to go... but this week, for the family and this blog, has sucked royally.

One could say we're being tested.

Please allow me to share a bit of a laundry test on why I say this...

First of all, for Sue, it's been hovering around a muggy (highly humid) 30 to 35 degrees centigrade... or 90 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Our apartment is not capable (electrically) of sustaining an air-conditioning unit and heat and sweat are making tempers flare... and making work difficult to complete.

For me, I work (day job) in somewhat air-conditioned comfort (the company's owner tends to try and spare the electrical bill and we often - in our area - do without true cooling)... but work is constant... and I come home usually exhausted into the heat here... so my efforts on the blog and for the dream have been less than what I'd like to be doing.

The kid is also suffering along... and like most pre-teens, needs to vent her discomfort... which further strains things...

Lastly, I'm going to have to guess, based on five e-mails received this week from at last four unique sources, that my notes last week on Saturday about how we're doing made the rounds... and yeah, some of the "fan base" of the person I talked about figured out who it was that blew us off... and as opposed to commiserating or suggesting anything, saw the comments about their fave TV person as an "attack"... which they weren't... and have taken the time to let us know exactly how dumb, stupid, ignorant, arrogant, and overall, how we will fail.

Overall, the comments were about our "arrogance" as to our own "importance"... and how dare we assume anyone should care?

We've heard this before... several times...

...and there it is... what I'm going to focus on... "caring"... and yeah, even the bits about how we're coping as a family above will factor in so bear with me...

Y'know, I don't expect people to care about our dream here... Honest!

I'm 99.9% sure that 99.9% of the visitors to this blog glean what they want and ignore the rest... some of the comments speak volumes about that in that many people assume we have the bus already... and we have even had one person who thought we were trying to GET RID of the bus and asked us to give it to them!

Many are here "just passing through" after surfing through the blogrolls and blog traffic agents... and most of them probably don't read what we have written... and honestly, that's fine... no complaints... and no worries... That kind of indifference is expected... and noted for what it is which is harmless.

...but, as often stated, The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference... and that means that even those four (possibly five) fans of that TV personality obviously cared enough to comment... and three of them, after some commentary back-and-forth and some re-reading actually changed their tune... somewhat... two of them agreed I wasn't mean, but still told me we would fail... one of them did a 180 degree turn in their opinion... although did feel we wouldn't REALLY succeed.

My point has always been... if we didn't try, we would absolutely fail... and if we do fail despite our efforts, at least we can say we gave it a go.

If you care about this blog and our dream, fantastic... if not, that's fine too... but there are many things we should care about that many are indifferent to... many plights, issues, diseases, conflicts, and much worse are not on the radar of most of us... and that's normal.

If everyone was to spend 24 x 7 worried and concerned about EVERYTHING, not a lot would get done ANYWHERE.

...but we must maintain a decent grasp of things that need attention that, otherwise, might fall through the cracks.

Now, this could be about large issues... like cures for horrible diseases, homelessness, issues in far away lands... or slightly smaller issues... like a friend who's looking for work, family troubles, or even domestic local political stances... or for the smaller things... like a silly family on the internet and why a dream coming true is so important to them.

The last one, very self-serving, can be "ignored"... the first two should never be...

The last one is worthy - IF YOU CAN - of attention.

The middle one ABSOLUTELY commands your attention.

The first one should have some of your attention... without a doubt.

Caring is more than being "fond" of something... it is, in my definition, being so fond of something that you wish to improve it and help nurture it in the right direction.

...and you can care about something and not be happy with it. With the tempers flaring because of discomfort, I still DEEPLY care about the kid and Sue... and all parties know this and reciprocate that caring... but our nature, sadly, makes us "irritable"... and we have all sniped at each other... but we still care about each other.

...and that's how I feel about those who comment negatively about us here... that at least they cared enough to do it... and I can't help but note that recently, I quoted Oscar Wilde with his famed quote, "There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.", and that's true...

These "fans" were pretty brutal... but they ALL told me WHY they figured we might not succeed... and I looked at the "reasons" and learned about what maybe I'm doing wrong... or right... and where to modify or change things...

Even negativity can teach us a lot... and negativity is a form of "caring" in some cases...

So our blessing is caring... sometimes it stings and is criticism... but it's a damn sight better than being completely ignored.

As a note: From what we can gather, the people that care about this blog and our dream are...

- People that like it for it's kookiness.
- People that have their own kooky dreams.
- People that are interested in it's success.
- People that appreciate our work (writing).

...and we hope that, one day, someone in a very good place who can afford to care a lot more and sees how important this is to three people, will give us the help we need... because they care enough and can.

...and that will be a true blessing.

...but for now, we feel blessed that STILL, the majority of people out there are pulling for us!

...and we thank you for blessing us with your caring!

The standard last note on the old blog... PLEASE SUPPORT THE DREAM!

This blog is here to help promote a dream that an entire family shares... that dream is to rescue an old London Double-Decker bus.

Please, if you have a few minutes, take some time to find out more about this bus and the kooky dream by clicking here.

This bus is VERY special to myself and the whole family, and any help any person can lend us would be most gratefully accepted.

If you or someone you know might be interested, there's our tiny banner site, HelpCoverTheBus.Com and a PayPal donation button (see the upper-right hand side of the blog) and, of course, a Cafe Press shop for T-Shirts and shtuff!
(...and who doesn't need some shtuff!)

Please help us make this dream a reality and save a piece of history!

We thank you for your support!

Please Note: We are also hoping for help from a public relations/marketing standpoint... If you might be able to assist OR know someone who might be willing to, please click here and read this entry...