The BXProject Year 2022 has been somewhat chaotic, and that’s had a big impact on the amount of time I’ve had to share my stories and adventures with you. So I’ll take this opportunity to review the 2022 blogging year and consider where we might go in 2023.
Highlights
The Mega Shed
Perhaps predictably, my absolute highlight of the year was the Mega Shed build. After procrastinating for far too long about building a replacement shed, a chance materials discount saw me throw caution to the wind and finally make the shed. From breaking ground to being watertight took less than two months, quite a feat on its own. Building over the Christmas period also meant some friends and family were available to help with the tricky bits.
I certainly wouldn’t want to build a rhombus-based shed again, but walking out and seeing the Mega Shed does make me smile. Best still, the design seems to have worked! The finished shed has seen one of the hottest summers on record, with several inches of snow and some biblical rain levels in the last year. And all through, it has remained watertight and a usable temperature.
More shows and new shows!
2022 has been a rather busy year for me, generally. Nonetheless, I’ve managed to get to more shows, both with the BX and the Fergie. Some of the shows I’ve been to before, like Retro Works and Festival of the Unexceptional, however, both of these have continued to grow and certainly feel that bit improved on previous years.
This year I’ve managed to get to multiple Citroen Car Club shows, some that I have never made it to in previous years. While this has helped to increase the mileage in the BX, I’ve also had a great time catching up with digital friends, old and new. Probably the best thing about the CCC rallies is just catching up with people face to face.
The highlight of this year’s show season has definitely been the Kelsall Steam Rally. An event I’ve longed to get to for decades but to show a tractor as well really made the event. Although friends and family looked on while the Fergie decided not to leave the showground under its own steam, it was a fabulous event.
Accidentally increasing the fleet.
While I hadn’t intended to increase the fleet this year, I did, twice! In fact, what I should have been doing is finishing off XPO and getting it sold, but that has become a less than a smooth journey, which we will come to. The first purchase, back in April, I’ve not covered in the blogs, and few people know about it. That will stay as a surprise for 2023.
Although the XPO project may not have progressed quite as expected, and the other project hasn’t been touched, the most recent purchase of the year has been something amazing. Only during the summer, spurred on by the Kelsall Rally, did I really consider buying another tractor. The Ford 7610 was the only choice, and to find one within a decent budget so soon after starting to look, was a complete surprise. And I bloody love it, warts and all!
The 2022 Year In Numbers
When considering the numbers, 2022 has been a bit of a mixed bag for the BXProject blog. Far fewer posts but a lot more words on average. Article length is up, and the number of daily views is increased. While I won’t be giving up my day job any time soon, I think it’s worth having a quick jump into the numbers if only I can see where things have gone.
Average Word Count And Reading Index
My intention at the start of the year was to start writing longer articles. This is driven by a desire to write more magazine article-length entries, which tend to run at around two thousand words. While the total article count is down, the word count is up. That means I’ve succeeded in writing longer articles, getting closer to the two thousand-word increase.
I use the Fleisch reading index as a metric to track the quality of the articles. This is generated by the Yoast SEO toolchain that I use within WordPress. The Fleisch reading index attempts to give an objective measure of how complex the writing is and, thus, how easy it is to read.
While the total average word count significantly increased in 2022, the reading index is, surprisingly, the same as in 2021. Nominally my target is to be in the 70 to 80 score range, which equates to ‘fairly easy to read’, so an average of 75.1 is exactly where I want to be!
Visitors Numbers in 2022
Another plugin I use for tracking performance in WordPress is Jetpack. This tool gives me details on what and when site visitors are viewing. This helps to give an idea of popular topics and articles, but also when visitors are coming to the site.
Based on 2021, I’m up by about another 5000 unique visits over the year. While that’s not a huge increase in physical numbers, it does represent a thirty per cent increase in 2021’s numbers. Really I’d like to be doubling these numbers annually, but given the reduced number of articles and time spent on the site, I’m happy enough with this.
Where to in 2023?
Finding Time
A change in my job role in mid-2022 has meant a significant drop in the time available to play with cars, go on automotive journeys and generally have any time to write about the few bits I have done. Nevertheless, I do still enjoy blogging and do have a lot of projects on the go. There are more than a few stories that I have started and would like to finish telling, a bit like the projects.
Stories to tell
2023 is also the 40th year of the BX in the UK, and a significant year for me personally, so I’d like to capitalise on that a bit too. I want to progress with XPO, and I confess I’ve just come from the garage, slowly chipping away at the paint finishing. There are a plethora of jobs to do on the 7610 as well, some probably not worth writing about, but all essential if I am to drive the tractor to Kelsall Rally 2023 and maybe some other rallies!
There are a huge number of stories I have in hand which haven’t been told yet. Significant upgrades are coming to the 3D printer, all targeted at a specific car-based project. There are a few small projects to write up on the Land Rover and some electronics projects to progress without giving the game away.
Writing more or less in 2023
I’m quietly setting myself the target to get back to weekly posts on the blog, something I don’t think I can achieve but a target I need to strive for. Unfortunately, 2022 has been a year with little downtime, so where I would normally catch up and pre-write a few articles in holidays, I haven’t had the chance this year. I also want to reach an average word count of around 2000 words, but they have to be of reasonable quality. Longer articles take more proofing, and prepping and general writing, so I will have to sacrifice quality for quantity.
I’ve also been given the opportunity to write in a few publications in 2023, so I’ll have to prioritise external editorial deadlines over my own. Writing for a magazine is something I’ve wanted to do for a while, and although these are not paying opportunities, I’m optimistic they may lead to something more lucrative in the future.
Thanks for all the fish!
No matter what happens in 2023, thank you to all those who have read my rambles in 2022. And a huge thanks to those that have interacted, commented, encouraged or otherwise supported me in creating this blog. While I would love to have thousands of people reading these blogs, I know that’s not realistic. However, knowing that just one other person reads the words gives me a lot of motivation to continue.
