Before I tell the tale again

Everything old may be new again, sooner or later, but recycling blog posts is generally not a good idea, unless there’s new information to discuss, or maybe a different perspective to share. And, sure, republishing an old post might be interesting sometimes, but a flat-out re-hash of old topics generally isn’t a good idea. I have routines to help me avoid doing that.

Yesterday I wrote about having a poorer memory than when I was younger, and I also talked about some of the things I do to try and compensate for that. I also said:

I’ve talked about these issues in the past—I haven’t forgotten that (though I have occasionally started to write a post that was basically the same topic as an earlier one, and a couple times I’ve accidentally re-used a title). Usually, when I refer back to something I’ve posted already, it’s on purpose and duly linked…

Here’s how I avoid writing posts that are repeating myself: If I’m unsure whether I’ve talked about a topic before, I’ll use this blog’s search function with relevant key words or phrases. Sometimes I’ll find out that I already talked about whatever my topic is, and in the way I intended to talk about it in the new post, and I then move on to a new topic. Tonight, I had exactly that happen.

Off and on over the past couple weeks, I’ve been thinking about a post and what I wanted to say. But just before I began tapping away on my keyboard, I did a search of this blog and found I had two posts (one from 2011, the other from 2013) that made the points I wanted to make, and one even used the phrase that was to be the title of the post I cancelled.

So, instead of the post I intended, I now have this one. I admit, though, that without a back-up post ready to go, I thought about finding a YouTube video to share so I’d have a post for today; sadly for me, that’s not how I operate. And, I console myself with the thought that someone else, similarly forgetful, might find this tactic useful.

The issue for me is that my memory is bad enough, and this blog has been around long enough, that it’s unlikely I could ever remember most, let alone all, of what I’ve written over the years. Conducting a search of the blog helps me compensate for both what I don’t remember, and also what I can’t be expected to remember.

Now, if only I could find a way to do that with real-life, in-person conversations I’d be all set. I think that search function may be some years away, though.

In the meantime, why don’t I tell you how I avoid re-hashing blog topics—oh, right. Never mind.