Today I am celebrating my two year anniversary on the Steem Hive blockchain! Exactly two years ago today, I decided to "jump in" and establish an online profile here. Prior to making that decision, it was a step I had said would never happen.

That is, I am not now or ever have been on Facebook, Twitter, ?...? and still maintain that I almost certainly never will be.

Since posting my introduction on 14 May 2018, though, it has been an absolutely wonderful experience "in here." I would never have imagined my "journey" through this "virtual world" would involve engaging with others all over the world and what that experience has meant to me.

^{Source: Built on image created by starline on Freepik}

It is always nice to get these "milepost" awards from @hivebuzz. I really like their new website design and the color scheme used with the Hive logo.

^{Source: HiveBuzz Award
from the team of Witness @arcange}

What I am going to do to mark this occasion is put together a complete picture of what this year has looked like, from the point-of-view of my posting. This post will serve as a key reference for me, from now on. And it will always mean a great deal to me, given what it represents.

Year One - Looking back ...

Before getting into year two, here is a reference to all of the work I put in year one. It highlights the value I have added to our Steem Hive blockchain.

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	💥 One Year on the Steem Blockchain! 💥 Part 1 ... I celebrated my first anniversary by creating a complete picture of what the year had looked like. I built an index of every post and it has served as an invaluable reference ever since. Here are the grouped sections: ● In the beginning ● Observations and Reflections ● Good Business ● Monthly Highlights and Updates ● Steem Blockchain
	💥 One Year on the Steem Blockchain! 💥 Part 2 ... In creating my first anniversary post, I managed to break Steem! 😧 I got a dreaded "Exceeds maximum length (65 KB)" error! 😕 So ... Had to break it up. The rest of the sections are listed below: ● Pay-It-Forward Community ● Travelogues ● R2R: "Road to Recovery" Trip ● Technical Aides ● HODLer Alerts ● Executive Summary

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Recreating the Executive Summary at the end of those posts:

Here is what I said then, about what those numbers represented, when comparing the value I had added to our Steem Hive blockchain, in my first year:

Hmmm. I wonder what the average number of words are in other Steemian posts? 🤔 What I do know, is that in our PIFC community founder @thedarkhorse has set the minimum number of words in a "quality content" post to be 200. If I was producing posts like that, I would've ended up with 805 posts! 😏

Even raising that standard up and doubling that to an average of 400 words per post, I still would've ended up with 403 posts - more than one per day, 7 days a week. 😉

Well, with that, my first year is "in the bag" and time will tell how I do in my second year! 👋

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With that, let's see what I accomplished in my second year ...

Reflections on "Road to Recovery" Trip of a Lifetime

While they took a lot of work, there are no posts I have enjoyed creating on our Steem Hive blockchain more than recreating for my dear readers my "Road to Recovery" trip of a lifetime.

Getting home, I wrote the following posts about what I reflected upon during all of that "windshield time" driving almost 5,000 miles across 8 states:

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	2019 SteemitWorldPap travel contest - "Road to Recovery" Trip of a Lifetime! Reflecting on my trip a year later, this contest to begin 2020 inspired me to start creating posts again, after 10 weeks of "getting away" ... ● Favorite Post #1: Mendocino, California ● Favorite Post #2: Catalina State Park ● Favorite Post #3: Morro Bay, California ● Favorite Post #4: Northwest Passage Scenic Byway
	R2R Reflections: Immense Wealth! Yet, still the "pursuit of more" Thoughts about the American "pursuit of happiness" and the importance of contentment, in an age of a seemingly endless "pursuit of more" ... ● Immense Wealth ● The "Pursuit of More!"
	R2R Reflections: For Such a Time as This ... What I probably thought about more than anything else was our time. While these reflections were focused on my own personal history, I also thought a lot about the time in human history into which I was born. ● Relentless March of Time
	R2R Reflections: "Golden Years" and our Legacy ... A primary focus of my reflections was on the "next chapter" of our lives - our legacy and the "footprints in the sands of time" we would leave behind. ● "Footprints on the sands of time"

"Back to Eden" Gardening

In early June 2019, some of the "big picture" concepts I reflected on during my "Road to Recovery" trip "crystallized" in the most unexpected way. These posts cover one of the most inspirational adventures of our lives, beginning with a simple question asked "in here," on a post of @rawutah - "What is a food forest?"

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	Reflections: Permaculture, Food Forests, and "Back to Eden!" The response to this question - "What is a "food forest?" And the story behind the life-changing inspiration it has provided to me and my beloved. ● Journey of Discovery ● Life in the Soil ● Nutrition and Abundance ● Philosophy: "Intelligent Design" vs. Evolution ● Let's Do It!
	"Back to Eden" Gardening: Journey Begins with Step One ..." The adventure begins with the first step - making initial decisions and clearing the inevitable first hurdles. ● Initial Decisions and the Inevitable First Hurdles ... ● First Step: Source of Wood Chips ● "Trap" of Time and Consequences ...
	"Back to Eden" Gardening: Adventures in Wood Chipping with a Sun Joe!" The work begins in earnest, as we begin learning to use wood chips to reach our "Back to Eden" objectives, before the "snow flies!" ● Mulching with Wood Chips ● Move, Observe, Analyze, Adjust, Repeat ... ● Supplemental Sources of Wood Chips ● Lessons Learned
	"Back to Eden" Gardening: Adventures in Composting - Hot & Cold! Deciding we were "all in," on our new venture in life, we next tackled the challenge of learning about composting - both hot and cold! ● "Hot" Composting with a YIMBY! ● "Cold" Composting ● Harnessing Power! ● Lessons Learned

I was in a good "rhythm" writing these gardening posts about all that happened to us in 2019. It was all brought to a screeching halt by the "takeover" by Justin Sun, followed close behind by the crazy new world of COVID-19.

I hope to get back to writing some more of these, as I have really enjoyed putting them together.

COVID-19

Far and away the most consequential event of my lifetime, these posts cover my perspective on what the threat of the coronavirus pandemic truly represents.

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	Day 1: COVID-19: Out of the News, Into our Lives at Home ... With alarming speed, COVID-19, went from the news in China to a pandemic here at home. What are the implications of our response to it? ● Impact at Home ● Question of "Proportionality" ● Unprecedented Disruption ● Unintended (?) Consequences
	Day 6: COVID-19: Pandemic Defense and "Helicopter Money" How many times can a writer use the word unprecedented? Covers trillions of $$$s promised, up to and including "helicopter money!" ● Manna from Heaven ● Off to War! ● "Too big too fail!" Right? ● "Financial Distancing"
	Day 8: COVID-19: Gathering Storm of Looming Financial "Armageddon" On Day 8, under a scenario described as a Perfect Storm, covers "unprecedented" consequences of the actions of the "Almighty" State. ● War and "Collateral Damage" ● Personal Impact
	Day 30: COVID-19: "Post-COVID World," Losses Mount, and now "Phase Four?" With the growing references to a ""new normal" in a "post-COVID" world, looked at the growing consequences of "what we did to ourselves." ● Financial Consequences ● Supply Chain Consequences ● Global Consequences ● Personal Impact
	Day 48: COVID-19: Liberty vs. Safety and Security Of the liberties you have known all of your life, how much of them are you willing to surrender for the promise of safety and security? ● Search for the Truth! ● Losses Continue to Mount ● The "New Normal?"

Meditations

With inspiration from the creation of the Christian Fellowship Community, by @nextgen622 and faithfully supported by @michealb, I began writing a series of meditation posts. Experts say meditation has a number of health benefits, among other things. These posts capture some of my "quiet time" meditations and reflections.

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	Meditations: CityAlight and the Power of Music Is there any higher form of our creativity than music? Especially when dedicated to our Creator? I invite you to experience this Australian team's music!
	Meditations: "Turn to Me and be Saved, all the Ends of the Earth ..." To what do you cling, in such a time (COVID-19 pandemic) as this? In the midst of the daily increase in despair all around us, in what do you place your hope? In the "Almighty State" and its leaders? Or is there a better option?
	Meditations: Easter and Hope What is the Easter holiday? What happened in two different gardens - Eden and Gethsemane? What is the difference between conviction and condemnation? This post answers these questions and why they represent the ultimate source of hope.
	Meditations: "Will You Revive Us Again?" In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, nations are bankrupting themselves usurping God's place while proclaiming they are going to "save us." Really? Where should our focus be for "salvation?" Ever heard of revival? Spiritual revival?
	Meditations: "It is Too Small a Thing ... In the Book of Isaiah, our Sovereign God declares "it is too small a thing" for His Son to be the salvation of Israel only. What does this portion of scripture prophesy about who He is going to be to the rest of us?

Monthly Highlights and Updates

For most of my professional life, I was required to generate a monthly report. Carrying that experience "in here," I wrote monthly highlight posts almost every month - until I quit writing altogether for a time last Fall ...

Regular features were my "Executive Summary," "Awards and Accomplishments," and "Monthly Highlights" broken out into 👍👍, 👍, 👎, and 👎👎 sections.

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	Update, Month 12: 💥 Annual Highlights Edition! 💥 Reviewed Year One accomplishments. Recognized the Steemians having the greatest influence on my first year and gave them SBI gifts, as a show of appreciation.
	Update, Month 13: Slow start to Year 2 ... My usual monthly content and began to track how STEEM consistently "under performs" in the overall crypto market. Recognized Palnet's role in my "journey" ...
	Update, Month 14: 🎣 "Gone fishing ..." 😉 My usual monthly content while noting STEEM "under performing" was getting worse. Bought 500 more STEEM, due to lowest price since 1st investing in August 2017.
	💥 Two Year Anniversary: Investing in Decentralized Blockchain Technology 💥 Two years after my first crypto investment in August 2017, wrote about what I had learned. Covers the early "gut check" on the mental toughness required covered and the role my beloved lifemate played in keeping me going. ● Background ● Early Day Highlights ● 2018 Disaster
	Update, Month 15: 🎣 "Still fishing ..." 😉 My usual monthly content noting STEEM "under performing" for 4 straight months! And losses ... Recognized new Steemian influences on why I was "still here" ...
	Update, Month 16: 🎣 "Fishing Season Almost Over ..." 😉 My usual monthly content noting, in spite of STEEM losses, the role a @steemitblog post played in buying some more. And then participated, for 1st time, in SPUD XI!

This was the last update post I have written, after posting it on 1 October 2019. Shortly after I stopped posting altogether in 2019. Due to my general unhappiness with how all of the EIP changes from HF 21 / HF 22 were "playing out" ...

Technical Aides

The "digital asset" class has a significant amount of technical complexity associated with choosing to "jump in" to any personal involvement with it. Given my background as a Business Systems Analyst, from time to time I have written posts about some particular challenge overcome. Which, hopefully, will be of some help to my fellow Hivians.

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	Tech Aide: Set-Up of New Ledger Nano X! Covered the details of the "less than optimum" experience I had with setting up my long-awaited "Genesis Block" Ledger Nano X. ● Off to a "Flying Start" ● Setting Up 😊 and ... Bogging Down ... 😞 ● "Engineered to Amaze" Right? 👍 No ... "Gotchas!" 👎
	Tech Aide: 👌 FIRST Exchange Transaction on Binance DEX! 👍 Having a full service DEX (Decentralized Exchange) seems to be a "Holy Grail" objective of this asset class. This post covers my experience with the Binance DEX and my Ledger securing of access to it.
	Tech Aide: WAX ERC-20 Token Conversion to EOSIO-Based Mainnet Covers my experience with converting my WAX tokens from their old ERC-20 to the new "Mainnet" version. And maintaining my Ledger-back securing of access to it. ● WAX ERC-20 Token Conversion ● Income Opportunity
	Tech Aide: Crypterium (CRPT) Conversion ERC-20 <=> BEP-2 Needing to undo the "boo boo" of using the Binance DEX with CRPT, covers why & what it took to undo this mistake, including using a "swap" tool, for the 1st time. ● Crypterium Swap ERC-20 <=> BEP-2 ● Crypterium Wallet Impressions

Hive Blockchain

While I normally stay out of the "politics" of the Hive blockchain, every now and then, I get a "wild hair" and wade in anyway ... 😉

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	Hive Image: Red is Danger, Loss, Error, Anger ... Not a big fan of the Hive logo colors, I wrote about the potential image problems & typical responses to them. ● Danger! => Run! ● Loss! => Sell! ● Errror! => Fix It! ● Anger! => Varies ... ● Solution?
	Freewrite, 27 Apr 2020: Sustainability and Enhancing the Hive Blockchain After a "journey" nearly 2 years & the move to HIVE, I wasted some time writing about my thoughts on what is needed, for the future. ● Reward "Good" and Punish "Bad" ● Satisfactory "Rewards" and "Punishments" ● Programmatic "Winners" and "Losers" ● "Plagiarism"

Steem Blockchain

Never deluding myself that my opinion on anything pertaining to the Steem blockchain really mattered, I seldom wrote anything about it. From time to time, I did write posts supporting various initiatives, contests, and proposals.

With the "Valentine Day Surprise" announcement of the purchase of SteemIt Inc. by Justin Sun and the subsequent "back and forth" between the "good" guys and the "bad" guys, I made a notable exception.

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	The #SupportHonesty Challenge Challenged to look into to it by another Steemian, I decided to support this initiative and wrote a post explaining why. I also made my pledge and purchased some more STEEM, in a demonstration of good intent.
	Indispensible SteemWorld: Appeal for Support of @steemchiller and SPS Proposal #33 Upon learning of @steemchiller's creation of his first SPS Proposal, given the high regard I had for him & SteemWorld, wrote a post in support of his SPS Proposal #33.
	Reflections: Justin Sun, TRON, and STEEM ... My $0.02 ... After the "Valentine's Day Surprise" of the purchase of SteemIt Inc. by Justin Sun, wrote my first post "calling out" for good, clear and consistent communication. And warning about the consequences of leaving a void!
	SPUD XI - My First SPUD Post! In a foolish "timing is everything" move, chose to execute 1st SPUD power-up of +600 STEEM in the "eye of the storm," after SF 22.2 and before the Sun takeover ...
	Minority Report: Justin Sun, TRON, and our STEEM Blockchain Given the potential impact on my STEEM investment, wrote my "minority report" view of all that had taken place, up to the point in time. ● TLDNR: The ❤ of the Matter ● "Tale of a Takeover" ● Procrastination and In Memoriam
	Countdown 3, 2, 1 ... Steem / Hive Blockchain Split ... Go to the "Future" ... Shortly before the creation of the Hive blockchain, I learned of the Hive AirDrop Exclusion List. And wrote this post, with 47 minutes to go, about the "future" ...

Other

A number of the remaining posts have been categories of their own in the past, but I haven't written enough of them lately to justify a separate section. So ... Here they are!

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	Blog, 20 May 2019: "Special" Delivery? No ... Good Samaritan story? A FedEx delivery gone wrong, turns into a very interesting opportunity to reject my first impulse and help someone else, with no idea how it would turn out. ● The rest of the story ... A Good Samaritan story? ● Customer "Service" Today
	Celebrating Good Business! 👌 "Onward and Upward" with PALNet! 👍 With the launch of PALCoin, I was inspired to write a post about this great community, which has had such a positive influence on so many of us. ● My Brief History with @aggroed ● Launch of PALCoin ● Peace, Liberty, and Abundance (PAL) Server on Discord
	Fraud Alert! Libra Online ... After finding out about a considerably more "polished" scam that most, I "sounded the alarm" about this one related to Libra. And took the time to help others know what to look for, in spotting future scams.
	Celebrating Good Business! 👌 Crypterium Wallet 👍 Very impressed with a Crypterium "Press Conference," I wrote a post about my impressions of their new wallet. A lot to like! ● Crypterium "Press Conference" ● GRAM Exchange ● Crypterium Wallet Exchange Options
	Op-Ed, Investing: Trump to Blame for BTC "Crash" Too? Sparked by comments in an interview with an ex-Trump official, I wrote about a post about the implications and the future of BTC and the crypto asset class. ● Death of Speculation? ● "Halving" of 2020 and Supply and Demand ● Maturing Market and "Smart Money"
	Family History and the 2020 Census of the U.S.A. Given my long-standing interest in family history research, took the opportunity to write more about it, with the responsibility to complete the 2020 U.S. census. ● Brief History of the U. S. Census ● 2020 Census of the United States of America

Executive Summary

So, putting a "wrap" on this ... @roleerob is unapologetically a "numbers guy," dear reader. Closing out my second year on the Steem Hive blockchain, what does the "big picture" look like? What value have I contributed to it?

^{Along with 3,827 words on this post ... 😉}

Okay, short of my original objective of writing a post a week. And, with a second year objective of working on writing shorter posts, looks like I failed ... 😏

Some communities have a standard of a mere 200 words for a "quality content" post. With that average, I would've ended up with 391 posts - easily more than one per day, 7 days a week. 😉 Even raising that standard up and doubling to an average of 400 words per post, I still would've ended up with 195 posts. Kind of a pointless calculation, though, as that is very unlikely to happen.

It has been a blessing this year, to experience firsthand the efforts of the wonderful @trendthis team created by @joshman. Unlike most communities, they are actually looking for longer, high quality, "epic" posts. It was very encouraging to me and my particular "style" of posting to win two of their awards over the last few months!

Am I just adding value by writing my own posts? And not adding value to the work of others by looking into and commenting on their posts?

There is no information to check this on Hive of which I am aware. The above is from SteemWorld today. Although it can't be exact, the numbers speak for themselves, in answering the question. It actually gets even better, for those of you who participate in the excellent weekly Hive Engagement League posts of @abh12345. I normally score high on the length of my comments, in addition to the simple count of them shown above.

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Overall, I feel very good about the value I add to the Hive blockchain. With that, my second year is "in the bag." We'll see how it goes, but right now I am not inclined to change my objectives - at least 1 post per week, that is somewhat shorter ... Time will tell how I do in my third year! 👋

Closing

So, all things considered it was quite a second year for @roleerob - new to the online social networking world. I can't really say enough about the experience of engaging with others all over the world. In my upcoming monthly two year highlights post, I will focus on some of these people.

Thank you for reading my two year anniversary post. For all of our sakes, I hope the "drama" over the "war" between the Steem and Hive blockchains dies down. How likely is that? If I am still here at the end of year 3, then maybe I'll have something more to say on how it all "played out."

There are still people with whom I have developed relationships I value that keep me going. Some of whom have chosen to focus their primary or exclusive efforts on the Steem blockchain. And who I still wish to support.

So ...

For now, I have remained powered up and active on both. If forced to choose, that will not be difficult. I will focus my efforts exclusively on the Hive blockchain. It is where I already invest most of my time.

With that, "onward and upward, into Year 3! Along the way, dear reader, I'll "see" you out there on the "curation trail!" I’d love to hear any feedback you may be inspired to provide.

Until "next time," all the best to you for a better tomorrow, as we all work together to build up our Hive Communities and add increasing value to our Hive blockchain! 👍 😊

Respectfully,
Hivian @roleerob

🐝 🍯 🐝

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P.S. My "Monthly" Update: 💥 2nd Annual Highlights Edition! 💥 post is a "companion" to this one. It contains statistics and highlights associated with my 2-year "journey."

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Posted using PeakD and “immutably enshrined” in the Hive blockchain on Thursday, 14 May 2020!

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