This is ugly, but like a cancer diagnosis, hiding the truth isn’t going to help:
Donations are way down.
After a very encouraging November, we’ve had (so far) a very discouraging December. Dom and I are hoping it’s because of the holidays – and that things will pick up in January. We’ve also just sorted through some irritating problems of unknown origin that we only recently became fully aware of. Some articles had the “comments” locked down – and our subscriber feed got turned off. We’ve also been flooded with spam bots lately (past three weeks) and have been trying to get a handle on that.
These things may have caused or contributed to the downturn; it’s hard to know for sure.
I hope you guys are still happy with the product, in any case. And I hope – once again – that enough of you out there will be willing to toss a few bucks our way to help keep us afloat.
Both Dom & I are juggling multiple jobs, in addition to this one. The more support we get from you, the more time/effort we can devote to EPautos.
It’s a matter of numbers. If 10 percent of the nearly (and sometimes, more than) 100,000 people who visit this site every month supported us with the equivalent of one Starbucks’ Mocha Frapuccino we’d be watertight. That’s our goal – and we’re hoping enough of you will help us to reach it.
If you like the message EPautos is trying to get out or are just are happy to have a place to commiserate about the decline and fall of the USA as an at-least relatively free country, then please throw us a bone.
The link to our “donate” button is here.
You can also mail stuff our way – if you prefer to avoid PayPal.
The address is:
EPAutos
721 Hummingbird Lane, SE
Copper Hill, VA 24079
I have had a rough go lately, but I will endeavor to help out as soon as I can.
A thought occurred to me the other day. We put a lot of examples of bad drivers up here all the time and then we all bitch about them. On rare occasion, good driving examples are presented (I can think of one post Eric made in particular, but cannot remember the name of it), usually aimed at young people, like me.
We also talk about how people don’t know how to drive because they have been taught to not-drive, and that following the traffic rules is a good enough substitute.
Okay, I’m getting to the point. Has anyone thought about putting together a how to book (or e-book, or webpage, or whatever) on driving? Such a book could easily (and cheaply) be published on a site like Amazon, with the proceeds going directly to epautos.
Maybe it is a stupid idea, but a lot of people really don’t know how to drive. For instance, I had (until recently) never had a vehicle without anti-lock brakes. I didn’t realize that I did not know how to brake until it was almost too late to learn. Then I found out that I don’t know anyone younger than my parents that do know how to brake (well, I can count the number of people that age I know on one hand, and I’m missing a finger). Also, I don’t even know what the hell double-clutching means. …Waiting for everyone to finish laughing…
Okay, writing a book seems like a lot of work, but with many contributors (namely the readers here), it really wouldn’t be. Everyone could make a section, one person could organize it, and then an ‘official’ site representative, like Eric or Dom, could do the final editing before stamping epautos in the author section.
I’ve never tried anything like this, so maybe its a shitty idea, don’t be afraid to let me know if it is (like anyone would be). Such a book probably wouldn’t keep the site afloat on its own, but by promoting it on friendly sites and elsewhere it could be worth the effort.
It is something I would buy a few copies of, especially for my younger relatives who have little driving experience.
Anyway, I want to help, but this is the best I’ve got at the moment.
Hi Volos,
First, thanks – and, Merry Christmas!
Second – on the book – it’s not a bad idea. In fact, it’s a good idea. The tough part is carving out the time to get it done. I have two partially fleshed out manuscripts that I’ve been piddling with as time permits for the better part of three years. What I really need is a clone.
Or at least, a Mini Me!
Okay, you don’t do it. We just need to find other experienced and knowledgeable drivers to contribute, which there are plenty of here.
I will organize and edit it if we cannot find someone more qualified. There has to be an artist here that can make us a cover in their spare time. Then, all we need is someone to slap on the epautos seal of approval and send it off to the publisher (which I will also volunteer to do).
So, who wants to help inform the clovers how they aught to be driving? Even if we only sell a few dozen copies, our road time may very well see a tangible (or at least temporal) benefit. And it just might help the site enough that we can keep coming here to bitch about everyone that hasn’t read the book.
I say just make it something that can be read online and nobody needs to buy anything. We could dedicate an entire section on the forum just for writing it.
I certainly wouldn’t object to having a free driving manual on the web. Then we wouldn’t be limited to only the written word. Using a section of the forum to write it is an excellent idea.
But I was trying to think of a way to help support the site, in addition to teaching people how to drive. Even if we put it up freely on the internet, we could still publish it in a book format.
This is solid, Volos… I’ll get with Dom and we’ll discuss how to make it work!
Heh.. “Driving For Dummies”.
It’s a good idea. Trouble with physical courses is they cost a bomb, which is why many don’t enroll. A freely available interweb or e-book is a great place to start.
I’ve created the section “Driving For Dummies” on the forum. Those interested in having an account on there please let me know and I’ll set it up. Volos and Rev I’m making yours now.
I’m keen, if you’ll have me.
I’m willing to help with this, but I’m sort of an idiot. The best I can do is some comedy bit about driving in the ice and snow. 🙂
It looks like my finances are slowly dragging themselves back into order; as long as things stop exploding and/or crashing into moose, I should be back on solid footing in a few weeks, and I’ll be able to send something your way.
I know how rotten it is to have to ask for donations, and I’m sorry you have to do that. If only we could find one of those billionaire fat-cats who I’m given to understand bankroll all of us free marketers!
Thanks, Darien –
And, Merry Christmas!