Highlighting what other people have to say here.

I thought I’d try something new this month — a blog post that features excellent comments from blog readers. These are comments that really add something to the blog — or set me straight when I needed it.

You see, a blog is made good, in part, by the comments people share for the blog posts. Oddly, many folks tend to skip over the comments when they read a blog’s post. But in some cases, they’re missing out on some of the best content. My ever-popular post, “The Helicopter Job Market,” is a good example. It has over 100 comments that form an excellent discussion among helicopter pilots. Anyone who reads the post but skips the comments is losing out.

Anyway, I thought I’d highlight some of the best comments that have come in over the past month and include links to both the post and the comment. Here goes.

On July 10 and 11, Mark and Crispian Jago commented on my post, “Some Skeptic Resources on the Web.” Both of them provided links to other podcasts I wasn’t aware of, thus expanding my knowledge of these things.

On July 15, Jodene commented on my post, “Indian Eyes,” which included a video of a weird animated indian face atop a building in Wenatchee. She explained what indian was all about:

There used to be a Skookum apple packing shed where the Office Depot is today. The big Indian with the rotating eyes was their mega-mascot and it became a town mascot as well over the years. I know the shed existed into the late 70’s or early 80’s. I believe when the Skookum shed was torn down and replaced w/ the Office Depot a deal must have been made to keep the sign. (Kind of like the Citgo sign in Boston.)

Rene also provided some information about the Skookum apple packing plant.

On July 17, Jonathan commented on my post, “Please Don’t Drag Me Into Your Life.” The post was a rant and it was very cynical and a bit mean. Jonathan gently pointed out that the person I was criticizing may had a perfectly good excuse to be fully participating in Twitter when her mother might be on her deathbed. He took me down a notch, which I deserved, but he did it in a completely inoffensive way. In part:

I guess there’s an off chance her mother was asleep and this woman couldn’t sleep, but was still at the hospital. So to kill some time she’s surfing around the net maybe? I mean, we’ve all surfed aimlessly in the midnight and early hours right?

Maybe she just needed a relief from all the drama and she was using the net as an outlet….

On July 23, Fred B commented on the post, “Alfalfa Field.” His comment shared a wealth of information about alfalfa production and baling, including a direct reply to another commenter’s question. Here’s part of what he had to say:

Alfalfa is a very productive crop (often yielding 3-4 cuttings a season, and is rich in nutrients). The flip side is that it requires a lot of irrigation and removes a lot of nutrients from the soil. In order to give the soil a break, alfalfa is usually rotated every 5-6 years with a different crop (wheat, red clover, corn, various grasses, etc.), hence the observed switch from wheat to alfalfa. I imagine the owner will stick with the perennial alfalfa crop for a few years now before switching back to wheat….

These aren’t the only comments for this month. There were quite a few more. My post, “Fraud Alert: East Coast Mobile Style” continues to get many hits and comments every week. It’s interesting to read the experiences of the victims and how their credit card companies are (or aren’t) helping them.

I urge regular (and new) readers here to participate by posting comments on posts whenever they have something to add. I’m one person and I don’t know everything. It’s great to get additional information, feedback, and input from readers.

In addition, if you’re really interested in a topic, you can use the check box under your comment to subscribe to future comments. This doesn’t add you to any list I use for anything. It’s all handled internally by a WordPress plugin. There’s no spam. The only time you’ll get e-mail is when there’s a new comment. It’s easy to turn off, too; there are instructions in the e-mail you receive.

In the meantime, if you have any comments about this new feature here, please use the Comment link or form to let me know.

And thanks for helping me make my blog more interesting than I could make it on my own.