A year ago in South Africa we were in a hard lockdown. One of the reasons I remember it so clearly is because it robbed us of being able to celebrate a special friend's birthday. Happily, on Sunday we were able to celebrate - in people - as it were. Also a year ago, we were looking at what seemed like a vacuum. It was a vacuum. It's very difficult to remember what, if anything, happened prior to the market resuming in July. I remember because it was July 4th and the day before The Husband's birthday. I also remember saying that I was hodling for a rainy day. Earlier this year, the skies were sunny and bright. Literally and figuratively. Now, they've resumed their grey foreboding. Also literally and figuratively.

I need Hive - and crypto - to start rising again. I'm not impressed with the mutterings of South African born, Elon Musk. Nor am I happy about the impact of China's crackdown on crypto mining. I shall opine on neither.

But I digress.

Hive Power Up Day is approaching

As many of you know, increasing numbers of us stop what we're doing on the first of each month and power up liquid Hive. Some people buy Hive, and others save it through the month to power up in one big lump. Others do it daily. There's no right or wrong, just opinions.

That said, powering up 10 HP or more on the first of the month, any time in the 24 hours UTC - as set by @hivebuzz - not your local time, you could score a fabulous bee badge. In addition, @hivebuzz offers one-off delegations to regular Power-Uppers, and I'm grateful to have received two three of these.

Anyhow, that's not the only reason we do it, and here's a re-cap from @traciyork who manages this initiative:

Hive Power Up Day has been taking place since @streetstyle came up with the idea on that other blockchain back in April 2019. Essentially we all get together and power up (stake) our Hive on the first day of every month, and some offer prizes to smaller accounts to help them grow.

What does it require?
Essentially, we ask that:
On the first day of the month...

... anyone who is able to, powers up some Hive on the first of the month.

... accounts that are powering down, pause during the 24 hour span of the first of the month.

... anyone who is trading/selling Hive, pause those transactions during the 24 hour span of the first of the month (and possibly even cancel any type of sell order on any exchanges during that time as well).

The rules for winning prizes

Please see the specific details of the prizes and a great summary from @nickyhavey about the impact of powering up, in one of Traci's announcement post.

In case you haven't clicked through, the requirements are:

Your reputation must be above 39 and below 70.
Your total Hive Power (before the 1st) must be more than 100 and less than 8000.
You must power up at least 10 Hive on the 1st of the month.
You must write a post about your power up on April 1st with the tag #HivePUD (International) or #HPUD (Spanish).
To be included in the winners list, you must meet all four requirements above. The order of the list (first place, second place, and so on) will be determined by the biggest PERCENTAGE of Hive powered up, not necessarily the most Hive powered up.

But that's not all

I am, this month, continuing to offer three 100 HP delegations to qualifying accounts each month. Last month because @traciyork and I were both a little distracted, so the delegations went to accounts that I found, and which I just picked. I plan to revert to my usual practice this month, so which accounts could qualify?

Criteria for winning a three-week 100HP delegation

• accounts must meet the base criteria for any Hive Power Up Day prize, and -

Accounts must

• be less than 6 months old
• have at least two qualifying posts since the previous power up day. Posts that qualify must have 200 words or more and exclude posts for Power Up Day, and Actifit.
  As a reminder, the reason I added the second criterion is because -
  Hive is a social blockchain: it's for socialising, ruminating and just generally hanging out.
• a reputation of less than 61
• not more than 500 HP in their accounts before they power up - both on the first of the month

What if no accounts qualify?

As I always say, I don't make decisions on my own, so if, as has happened in the past, there are "slim pickings", I will be working via Traci with the @ocd team and making selections from the @lovesniper noob curation initiative. I will also be keeping an eye out for those noobs who fall into the Silver Bloggers' league and who have joined that community - there's a link at the end of this post.

Thanks to @traciyork, @victoriabsb and @hivebuzz for all the hard work they do each month - and around the blockchain, generally. A shoutout, too, to @abh1234 whose Traci's go-to numbers man.

A last word - or two

Last month, I mentioned the launch of the Hive Silver Bloggers community. Since then, the community has launched its first challenge: Blog of the Week. Read about #bow, here and join in?

Lastly, I am not sure how much I shall be powering up this month. My rainy day stash may need to be used. That said, if the BTC and Hive go to the moon before June, I shall most definitely be powering up.

Whatever happens, I shall be continuing my other support for this initiatives and noobs and silvers on the blockchain.

Until next time, be well
Fiona
The Sandbag House
McGregor, South Africa

Post Script

• In search of English writing, research and editing services?
  Look no further: I will help you with writing emails and reports, academic and white papers formal grammar, spelling and punctuation
  more information here.
  
• If this post might seem familiar, it's because I'm doing two things:
• re-vamping old recipes. As I do this, I plan to add them in a file format that you can download and print. If you download recipes, buy me a coffee. Or better yet, a glass of wine....?
• and "re-capturing" nearly two years' worth of posts.

• I blog to the Hive blockchain using a number of decentralised appplications. From Wordpress, I use the Exxp Wordpress plugin. If this rocks your socks, click on the image below to sign up
  

  
  Image: @traciyork

• Join Hive using this link and then join us in the Silver Bloggers' community by clicking here.


• I also share my occasional instagram posts to te crypto blockchain using the new, and really nifty phone app, Dapplr. On your phone, click here or on the icon, and give it a go.