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the rowers raspberry
the rowers raspberry
a site almost entirely devoid* of rowing content
*with the exception of rowing images
Why this site?
This is a hobby site I'd been thinking about crafting for ages. Over the years I made heaps of false starts, then... COVID-19. Among many other things, the stay-at-home nature of the response to the pandemic offered unusual opportunities to do stuff that normal life normally didn't. Like having (another) crack at crafting a website.
So, here we are: therowersraspberry.com
Excitement rating 1/10
To get this out there straight off the bat, here's my early-warning: the site is deliberately basic and will be populated with content I reckon will be beige to 99.9% of normal people. Don't say you weren't warned.
Who am I writing for?
The audience is perhaps a little unusual. Firstly, this is for my daughter in about 10 or 15 years down the track. She'll be in her mid-20s and, hopefully, may have some sort of interest in seeing what her old man (i.e. me) got up to when she was her younger self. And in a similar vein, I'm writing for the future me, also in about 10 or 15 years time (presuming I'm still drawing breath in the mid-2030's). So, hi to future me. And finally, given the bulk of the content will (probably) pivot around safety and health stuff, developing the site's core content will help the current me flesh out the sub-sub-(sub)-topics I inevitably find myself noodling in at the coal-face.
It's kind of like homework (but, not) that helps reinforce the bulk of what I do for a crust.
Where's the content coming from?
For the most part I'll be scavenging content from the online articles / subjects I've muttered about over the years, on LinkedIn. There will be exceptions every once in a while, such as the series of pages that circle around that most exciting of subjects, Safe Work Method Statements. But, in the main most site content has been dredged out of LinkedIn.
Why? Firstly, because the things I chose to comment on on LI were (usually. And, when I think about it, obviously) topics that grabbed my attention and subjects I was comfortable making a public comment about. Secondly, there should be a reasonable pool of things on LI that I can drag onto this site without that being too much trouble or extra work.
Over time, I reckon the things I've chosen to comment on should be a reasonable enough reflection of myself and how I viewed things in the world; at least at that time I chose to put pen to paper.
For many moons I have felt compelled to stockpile "my" LinkedIn content somewhere I felt it could safely retire (something like this website, in other words) and in an environment I controlled, rather than leaving it to the mercy of an anonymous autobot. (Hoping that makes a bit of sense).
Why "The Rowers Raspberry"?
TBH, I don't have a great answer. And given that bugger all of the site's content will circle around rowing, perhaps the passage of time will show the name doesn't - and never will - make sense. (Though the domain was easy enough to purchase, so there's that bonus).
But given there'd have to be some sort of story behind it, if you are interested, keep on reading...
Once upon a time many, many kilograms ago, I rowed
To even have a sniff of success in the sport you spent hours, and hours, and hours training.
I loved it. Something about the rhythm of the sport must've clicked with me.
The club I did most of my competitive rowing with (so, "hi" to the Port Chalmers United Rowing Club on the beautiful Otago Harbour) usually saw me rowing from the same seat in the same boat, every day.
But every once in a while I'd find myself in a different boat, and sometimes on a seat that, for whatever reason, didn't jell with the shape of my arse. (Or derrière for those who may find the term "arse" a little crass).
Normally, that was not such a drama but, if the seat wasn't cutting the mustard in the comfort stakes, then... yada, yada, yada: a rowers raspberry.
Why the green and white colour scheme?
PCURC's colours are an emerald green cross sitting on a white background. So, I chose to make this site's basic theme colours based around those. It's my nod to the club that helped create so many positive memories for me from when I was 15 through to the last time I really pulled on an oar in a seriously competitive fashion six or seven seasons later. I still remain connected with the PCURC through their facebook page, and continue to take the piss (in a friendly fashion) out of my coach - Ray 'Sav' Sinclair - at every available opportunity.
Cookie Policy
The boffins who know way more about websites than I ever will tell me this site uses "cookies". If you're OK with that, click Accept. If not, click Decline. Either way, you can still get into the site, and nothing weird happens no matter what option you choose.
This is my hobby site, so go easy on it...
If you're reading this you've obviously found yourself here so, welcome. But... to reinforce the warning I whacked onto the home page, this site's content is likely to be beige to 99.9% of people. (And it's designed for an unusual audience of three). But, I believe it takes all sorts, so everyone's welcome here and maybe you'll find some value buried in its pages.