June 20, 2024 thru July 15, 2024

Side Quest 2024:
an Epilogue

Hear ye, hear ye! Let it be known that the relevant votes are in and tabulated, GP totals have been submitted for distribution by the gracious and respected Tem42, and so it must be time for the rest of the recognitions! (Am sure there are still upvotes and C!s on the way as well.)

<insert trumpet flourish here>

• By unanimous (me, my self, and I)¹ decision, the following six writeups, arranged in alphabetical order (word by word), are the Best of this Quest and earn their noders a Questing Side Star in recognition thereof:
  
  
  • Black Mountain Side by Glowing Fish
  • Ironside by Jet-Poop
  • on the side by C-Dawg
  • Over Under Sideways Down by drownzsurf
  • Side Wire by maxClimb
  • Sideloading by wertperch


• C-Dawg (sidegel) and maxClimb (side real) both recovered a Quill of Veritas for Re-righting Reality, as was previously known in the nodegel, and are documented thusly.


• For exceptional implementation of Speed and Agility stats, C-Dawg is hereby recognized for noding my nodeshell, side hustle, before I could.


• Let it be known that Jet-Poop recovered a Hidden Gem for finding and filling the nodeshell, Ironside, which he then graciously presented to weroland in recognition of the number of writeups submitted.


• Let it also be known that mauler partook of a Two-for-One Deal by filling a nodeshell for the Quest that also qualified for wertperch's nodeshell challenge with the noding of Cheapside.


• The People's Choice goes to mauler and Jet-Poop, both of whom have a submission with a reputation of fifteen at the moment, Cheapside and Ironside respectively, and both with three C! each. In addition, C-side came in with six C!, but only (!) a reputation of ten, earning C-Dawg an Elder's Choice selection for C-side.


• The writeups on the side and Sidepiece both are hereby recognized for being the top two submissions soft-linked to the Quest as of today. (Sorry, side piece.)


• Lastly, for Prolific Non-Quest Noding, lostcauser receives a Non-Participation Star for publishing the most writeups (seven) outside of the Quest, without participating in the Quest, during the dates of the Quest, helping to maintain the integrity of everything as a whole.

¹ - Honestly, it was mostly my self and I. Me kept voting for writeups that were mine.

"I believe we can call your quest a success. I've seen some good content as a result."
-- wertperch

I agree, another successful E2 Quest under my belt, only this time as both quest runner and sole judge. And speaking of, judging from the feedback I've received (and more is welcomed, by the way, critical or otherwise), I've (so far) fulfilled the responsibilities thereof. Another one of the E2 Rites Of Passage done and done. Well, except for more feedback I've yet to receive, that is.

Some of the additional criteria to help me judge the success of this quest follow. As mentioned on July 1, 2024, there were 22 submissions to the quest in June. This helped push June 2024's new writeups to 57, an increase of 30 over June 2023. Thank you, one and all, for more than doubling last June's number of new writeups, per data supplied by the site trajectory. As for July, 19 writeups were submitted to the quest, bringing July's number of new writeups, so far, to 66, an increase over July 2023's new writeups of 39. During the posted dates for the quest, quest writeups accounted for 42.7 percent of all new writeups per my calculations. Very nice, and the month ain't over, so keep on noding! Additionally, 13 nodeshells were filled, one was unlocked, and another was retitled but left empty; a handful were added to; and over 1024 links were created, both hard and soft. Link and link we did, so thank you again as the residents of the nodegel are pleased with all the newly created digital information pathways, not to mention the predominance of factual writeups.

Personally, my goals were my usual. Level up, which I did, and am over two-thirds of the way to the one after, where I'll gain cloaking. I also unlocked another achievement and received a real sanctification. Also hit the magical number of 155 writeups, as of this one, in the last twelve months (actually, since September 7, 2023).

So, in summation, cheers and a round of drinks to all of us! And many, many, many thanks! Thank you to Tem42 for being the staff sponsor and quest advisor extraordinaire. Thank yous to etouffee, Jet-Poop, and wertperch for msgs of support, as well as their submissions, while I was determining if the proposed quest would pan out, as well as all those who voted on the original proposal. But, of utmost importance, thank you to all those who contributed writeups, votes, C!s, encouragement, editorial advice, and moral support to not only my self but also to one another. Thank you to those who went about their everyday noding activities. None of us could do it without one another, or at least not do it as well. Seriously, truly, honestly, and humbly: Thank you. Thank you all, with gratitude and appreciation.

Oh, and we established the benchmarks for the next Side Quest…

Now, back to your main quest nodings, whatever they may be, please, and thank you again!

Full list of this quest's entrants and number of submissions:

• C-Dawg - 6
• drownzsurf - 1
• etouffee - 1
• Glowing Fish - 5
• Jet-Poop - 1
• mauler - 2
• maxClimb - 3
• outoftheblue - 1
• Pandeism Fish - 1
• vongrim - 2
• weroland - 15
• wertperch - 3

Posted this Sweetmorn, the 55th day of Confusion in the YOLD 3190

"Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep."
—Romans 12:15

I arrive and get the day started; mostly the usual—get a cup of Turkish coffee for myself and a bag of beans for the week, buy some biscotti, steal (well, trade for) blueberry muffins, greet all the stallholders I know (which is most of them), give everyone at our stall hugs, check for new product and changed prices. Flirt with customers, take money and give change. It's hardly rocket science, this job. What is rocket science is managing people and one's emotions. It's recognising that someone is out of sorts; Do they need a hug? A shoulder to cry on? Or the flipside, someone who needs someone to celebrate with them. New baby, a graduation, an award. The local robotics team winning a challenge. New boyfriend/girlfriend, just married?. Celebrate! I have written about why I believe the market to be akin to a village; no-one in the village needs to suffer in silence, and should be encouraged to rejoice in their victories. We all need cheering on from time to time; I know that I've got a ton of support from my customers over the years through all my ups and downs.

One of the things about the farmers' market is the way we build relationships with customers. Five minutes at a time, week on week, year on year, and many become valued by us, for a variety of reasons. The couple who always give me a jocular hard time about something bu who always hang about for hugs and an exchange of news. The mother with her perky and engaging little daughter who will wear a princess dress and a cowboy hat. The former Air Force colonel whose son worked as an engineer for Virgin Galactic until their collapse, and is now working for another rocket company; we always talk space stuff. T-Shirt Guy, who wore a different humorous maths or science shirt every week. Not every one has a name attached, but T-Shirt Guy got a name yesterday; Matt. His wife came by to tell me he'd "upped and died". Damnit. We both shed a tear, Matt was well loved by all. He was good-humoured, funny and smart. We'd talk about whatever bit of science or maths was represented that week, he'd buy a thing or two and then move along elsewhere. Well, last week, he moved along for good, and his wife and I hugged and wept some.

Then there's the little guy celebrating his birthday with awesome face paint and a fresh doughnut. I celebrate with the parents, high-five the little lad and wish him many happy returns and explain how summer squash and potatoes grow, all told a win all round. Then there's the local politician back from her husband's celebration of life memorial, the teenaged girl who's won a scholarship to some class Ivy League university, and the daughter of another local farmer who has just had her first child (a real cutie-pie, all blond hair and smiles.)

All this and more; educating people on how to cook or grow various unfamiliar things, advising on how many winter squash plant starts to buy (because DAMN you can get a lot of butternut off one plant). Hearing various news; this couple off to Italy, that one off to Ireland to study and live (I shall miss her smile, and she was always good for a hug if I needed one). Another couple just back from a tour of Europe (Italy, Austria, Hungary, good food and coffee, they said). The guy who owns a business hit by the Crowdstrike debacle; I lent him a Linux USB boot drive so his IT fella can fix things (I had a text from him this morning thanking me and offering me a job and the promise of some cash for Knowing What To Do). There's the little snotnosed girl I knew twenty years ago who was always stuffing her face with a corndog, back from University for the weekend to visit her folks. They grow up so fast! Rejoice, weep, rinse, repeat.

Finish up the day early because it's HOT and the customers have thinned out. Pack up the stuff that will make it until market tomorrow, donate the rest. Pack up the van and it's off for a cold beer (raise your glass for Matt!) and a short drive home to nap.

This morning, back to Volt Coffee for a cortado, share the biscotti and catch up with an old friend; put the finishing touches to this and run some errands in town (buy a carnation for the front garden, get some ink for my fountain pen). Then it will be lunchtime, walk around the greenbelt and a nap.

in other news, I tire of my laptop keyboard, and I'm debating an upgrade to a luggable Bluetooth mechanical keyoard, or [possibly step back in time and find a Model M, a keyboard that not only is a delight to use, but heavy enough to weaponise.

I also need input: I'm also considering another quest: a week when I encourage people to step out of their comfort zones and write in a genre they otherwise wouldn't; so poets might write factuals, or vice versa, factnoders write creative prose…I would appreciate feedback, comments or suggestions.

Posted today, Boomtime, Confusion 56, 3190 YOLD

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