Day: May 8, 2023

WDP — Brand Loyalty

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Daily writing prompt
What are your favorite brands and why?
View all responses

Once I find a particular brand of a product that works well for me, I generally develop a strong loyalty to that brand. But if I discover a different brand that has something significantly better than a brand I was previously loyal to, I’m not blindly loyal and will change brands.

Let me give you an example. I got my first BlackBerry, the RIM 857 in 1997.

It was a miracle device. I could make phone calls, compose, send, and receive emails. It had an address book, a calculator, an alarm clock. I didn’t go anywhere without my beloved BlackBerry.

It didn’t take long for BlackBerry devices to earn the nickname “Crackberry” because users — predominantly business people — became addicted to them. But that was before web browsers and cameras became standard issue on smartphones.

Everything changed in 2007 when Apple introduced the iPhone. Suddenly using a smartphone to take snapshots and to browse the web became “the thing.” But I remained loyal to the BlackBerry.

And then, when BlackBerry came out with its iPhone wannabe, the touchscreen Storm, I was all over it. I was hoping it would be the iPhone-killer that BlackBerry claimed it would be.

What a mistake. The BlackBerry Storm looked cool, but it was a piece of shit. By 2010, when I bought my first iPhone, the iPhone 4, I honestly felt guilty about abandoning the brand of smartphone I’d been incredibly loyal to for more than a decade. But I wasn’t alone in abandoning BlackBerry for the iPhone, which was a far superior product. By 2012, the BlackBerry, which had been the market leader in first generation smartphones, was barely a blip on the radar.

My wife, son, and daughter are all using the Google Pixel smartphone these days. It’s an Android device and my family members keep asking me why I don’t switch to that device. But as far as I’m concerned, most Android phones are iPhone copycats and until someone can demonstrate that there’s a definitively better smartphone than the iPhone, I’m going to remain a loyal iPhone user.

Blogging Insights — My Blogging Backstory

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For this week’s Blogging Insights prompt, Dr. Tanya has asked what our “blogging backstory” is. She wants to know:

Why and how did you begin blogging?

Blogging is an important, integral, and meaningful part of my life. I first started blogging in 2005 and my plan is to continue to blog as long as I am mentally and physically able to do so.

With that said, just yesterday, Lorraine, aka blindzanygirl, asked us in her blog, “Why Do You Blog?” My response to her question is essentially the answer to Tonya’s question about why and how I began blogging. So rather than reinventing the wheel, I’m going to copy and paste my response to Lorraine’s question yesterday as my response to Tanya’s question today.

I started blogging in 2005 when I mentioned to a work associate that I enjoyed writing short stories and also writing letters to the editor of my local newspaper, a number of which had been published. He suggest that I should consider blogging. So I did. First I blogged at Blogger. Then, in 2009, I migrated to TypePad. In 2013, I switched to WordPress, and by then I was addicted to blogging.

By 2015, I had become so preoccupied with blogging that my work was suffering, my marriage was suffering, and I knew I had to reassess my priorities. So in April of 2015, I abruptly quit blogging.

I retired at the end of 2016. By then my wife and I had also sorted out our issues. And with the insanity of Donald Trump having been elected POTUS, I was itching to get back to blogging in order to express my outrage.

So on May 14, 2017, I published my first post on This, That, and the Other.

That is my blogging backstory. I still like to express myself creatively by writing short stories (flash fiction). I still enjoy writing letter-to-the-editor-type post wherein I share my opinions, views, perspective, and outrage. But most of all, what keeps me blogging is the ability to interact daily with a wonderful, supportive global community of bloggers who encourage me to keep on keeping on.

Share Your World — 05/08/2023

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Share Your World

Di, at Pensitivity101, is our host for Share Your World each week. Here are her SYW questions for this week.

1. Do you feel comfortable walking in your neighborhood at night?

Yes, even though we don’t have sidewalks or street lights, when we walk the dog at night we wear very bright head lamps and it’s a safe neighborhood. (My wife is still walking the dog at night alone because of my busted hip, and she is a little nervous, but there’s really nothing to worry about.)

2. When you shop for day to day things, do you pay by cash or card?

I rarely pay in cash anymore for anything. I mostly use credit card and occasional Apple Pay. Same for online purchases, except I’ll sometime use PayPal.

3. When was the last time you dressed up for a special occasion?

My son’s wedding, which was in October 2019.

4. Have you ever lied about your age?

When I was under 21, which was the legal age to purchase alcohol beverages where I lived at the time, and I wanted to get beer, wine, or mixed drinks at a restaurant or bar, I used a fake ID that I made. But not since I turned 21.

These days, most people think I’m younger than I actually am, or at least they did before I had to use a walker to get around.

Fandango’s Flash Fiction Challenge #218

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Welcome to Fandango’s Flash Fiction Challenge. Each week I will be posting a photo I grab off the internet and challenging bloggers to write a flash fiction piece or a poem inspired by the photo. There are no style or word limits.

The photo below is from Cottonbro at Pexels.com

For the visually challenged writer, the photo shows an attractive blonde standing behind a tall desk smoking a cigarette. She’s looking down at a guy in a suit coat and he’s wearing a fedora on his head. He’s sitting in front of a typewriter and looking up at the blonde.

If this week’s image inspires you and you wish to participate, please write your post, use the tag #FFFC, and link back to this post. I hope it will generate some great posts.

Please create a pingback to this post or manually add your link in the comments.

FOWC with Fandango — Police

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FOWC

Welcome to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (U.S.).

Today’s word is “police.”

Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.

Once you are done, tag your post with #FOWC and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Please check to confirm that your pingback is there. If not, please manually add your link in the comments.

And be sure to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this prompt. Show them some love.