$=4 years scrivening

"Write without pay until somebody offers pay. If nobody offers within three years, the candidate may look upon this circumstance with the most implicit confidence as the sign that sawing wood is what he was intended for".

Mark Twain

I've quoted this bit of worldly wisdom at a couple of other milestones on The Blob: 500th Post; 1000th Post. It is particularly apposite because today's post marks four (4) years of posting something on The Blob every day. I started The Blob in January 2013 to record the process of transition from a part-time job in a University to a full-on full-time commitment to The Institute - the shadowy organisation in the South-East of Ireland that pays my salary. According to Twain I should have turned to carpentry a year ago. I'm not ready to give up the blobbin' yet but I foresee a lot more sawing wood; an occupation which is useful, contemplative and good exercise.

• Orang utans can do it
• Robots can do it
• By heck and Jemima, women can do it
• Couples can do it
• Zambians do it shakily
• Japanese pull at it.
• Real men fell trees by hand . . . 
• so long as they have a real woman on the other end of the saw