My Anomaly

Something weird happened on this blog last week.

No, obviously it wasn't a post. I'm aware that I haven't been posting. Shush, you.

That's actually what I wanted to show you, though.

On a couple of occasions, I've been able to tell you guys a little about ... you. Blogger has their own built-in stats for the blogs they host and they allow me to keep an eye on things -- how the time of day affects the hits I get, how things are different when I include pictures, and exactly how much help Facebook gives me. (A lot. It gives a lot of help. Holy buckets.)

Last week, I had an odd hour.

It seemed only natural that it would happen now. My conversations with Shorty and Mia Sorella have been somewhat more statistics-heavy as of late and I've been watching my numbers a bit more closely. Lo and behold, I was given an opportunity to play with Excel.

This is an approximation of our text string and I'm pretty sure it's relatively accurate.

And a minor mystery to solve.

Now, while I show you these, I remind you that SCALES ARE VERY IMPORTANT!

Got it?

Great.

So! A normal day with a post might look something like this.

Nothing too spectacular -- my blog, while garnering a few thousand hits each month (if I post, that is) is small potatoes.

A normal day without a post?

Much less interesting. A few hits in the morning and evening, largely redirects from Facebook and a couple other blogs. And a reminder each day that if I posted more often, I could possibly actually gain some kind of following. (Doesn't that sound scary.)

Some days, I'll get a random robot hit. These are usually characterized by a weird referral site, happen at random times of day, and occasionally come from a foreign IP.

I mean, the traffic is nice, I guess, but as interruptions go, it's usually pretty minimal.

Last week, though? Last week I had a weird one.

Once again, I remind you that scale is everything. Note that the last three have a maximum scale value of 60.

I continue to be a bit baffled by this.

Here's what I know:

1. All the hits appear to come from the US.

2. And a Chrome browser.

3. And they weren't all redirected from one site. Or even two. Possibly 600, though. (The tracker tab only shows you ten referral sites.)

All of this means I'm curious. Any other Blogger users out there see something weird on the 15th?

I've had some random upticks lately that I can credit to other things (I'll call them "new readers") but this was unsettling enough for me to start changing a few passwords. And, of course, to keep watching it.

I will say, if it keeps happening, I might have to join the fray and put ads on this thing. May as well get a penny a hit at that point.