Is this year over yet? And what's that in front of us?

To call 2020 a hell of year you would have to re-define the definition of Hell. A global pandemic, a pending recession (Perhaps even Depression 2.0), rioting and civil unrest and a crazy presidential election. And here we are in November and all those things ARE STILL GOING ON. 
Needless to say, all of it has shocked our businesses, schools, government and our lives really, and this site/blog has been no exception. But still, we focus on the future and try to learn from the past if we can. So in this entry of My Adventure with Google Maps, I am going to briefly talk about plans for adapting to this strange new world of 2020 and beyond. 
And I will discuss them in more detail in the days/weeks ahead. 

First 1mpressions - I first started thinking about this one last year. Basically, I walked into McDonald’s in Lincoln and recorded the walk with my phone. Then I got thinking about Google Glass and doing reviews which were essentially a customer's first interaction or first impressions of a business. But no actual review from the customer (me), but letting the business, the employees, the owners do the review basically themselves. Naturally. Now I know there were some privacy  concerns with glass. The reviews will always take place in public places and this isn’t a legal or criminal matter, so we’ll handle each “review” as it comes. Let’s not look for bridges to cross (or burn) that aren’t there. The prototype of the First 1mpression review is below.

Ride-Bys - Early on during the Covid Pandemic, I started messing around with Dash Cams and while I couldn’t go into a lot of businesses (still can’t actually), I could ride by them and record images of them being closed etc. Setting the groundwork for future reviews, profiles, etc. Then it dawned on me to make “films” of the footage and add other things (like links and stills), creating a ‘ride-by’ review. And the first prototype of that is below…  ​

Total Immersion Reviews - Waaaay back in the year 2018, when I first started getting into doing reviews, (it actually started as an assignment for a class and I found I really loved doing the reviews. So I decided to pursue it as a possible career/business). I begin with Restaurants and Bars, because they are easy, and that's what everyone does. It quickly grew into Historical Societies, Museums, Libraries, Odd Shops and Thrift Stores. So I’m now thinking really upping the game, when most reviewers have a specific restaurant or business they want to review, they travel to the location, do the review and leave. I want to do more. I want to immerse myself into a specific area and review/profile as much as I can before moving on to the next town/city/area. The reason I want to do this is the reason I love to do the reviews in the first place. I'm always looking for stories or information that should be shared with others. It’s a more systematic approach to reviewing and the first town I have chosen is Calais, Maine. Because I want to review the whole coast of the state, I feel Coastal Maine really starts there (That may be proven or disproven, only time will tell.) Total Immersion Reviews starts Now…..