🐝 Hornet on Tour – Sometimes a New Adventure Begins by Accident

Hello everyone, and greetings from the Baltic Sea coast of Germany!

My name is Michael, although most people in the blockchain world probably know me better as Hornet on Tour. I'm 52 years old, live in the beautiful town of Greifswald in northern Germany, and have been sharing my experiences, hobbies and everyday adventures on platforms such as Blurt, Hive and Steemit for quite a few years now. And somehow, completely unexpectedly, I've ended up here on MELEK as well. I certainly wasn't planning to join another blockchain platform, but sometimes things happen that make you curious enough to take a closer look. That's exactly what happened to me, and I thought it might be a good story for my very first post here.

How I Accidentally Discovered MELEK

It all started with a rather strange comment under one of my old Blurt articles. The post was already a year old, so I was a little surprised that someone had suddenly found their way to it. At first, I wondered whether someone had actually read the article after all that time. But the comment had absolutely nothing to do with what I had written. Instead, someone informed me that I was holding 65.99 VKBT and 0.361 CURE tokens on Hive-Engine. My first thought was something along the lines of, "What on earth are those tokens, and where did they come from?" I had been active on Hive for years, so it wasn't completely impossible that I had received a few tokens along the way without paying much attention to them. Still, I wanted to know more.

So I checked my Hive-Engine wallet, and there they were. The VKBT tokens really existed, although their displayed value was practically zero. Unfortunately, I hadn't discovered some forgotten cryptocurrency fortune that would allow me to retire early. That would have been a nice surprise, but apparently I'll have to keep getting up for work in the morning! What caught my attention wasn't really the value of the tokens anyway. It was the link in the comment that eventually led me to MELEK. I started reading about the platform, had a look around and discovered that it was another blockchain community with blogging and a witness system. Since I've already spent quite a bit of time in this world, my curiosity was immediately awakened. Before I knew it, I had registered an account. And that's how a comment under a year-old article became the reason I'm now sitting here writing my introduction.

A Little About the Person Behind Hornet on Tour

For those who don't know me yet, perhaps I should tell you a little about myself. I'm not someone who concentrates on just one hobby or writes exclusively about a single subject. There are simply too many interesting things in life for that. One of my longest-standing passions is motorcycling, and that's actually where my nickname comes from. Many years ago, I rode a Honda Hornet 900, and at some point the name Hornet on Tour became part of my online identity. The motorcycle has since changed, but the name has stayed with me. These days I ride a Honda VFR 1200 F, a wonderful machine that has accompanied me on many trips. Living in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania means having the Baltic Sea, beautiful countryside, small villages and plenty of interesting roads practically on my doorstep. I also enjoy riding with friends from our motorcycle group, the Bodden Bikers. We organise tours, discover new routes and sometimes spend an entire day on the road just to enjoy riding together. Of course, not everything always goes according to plan. Sometimes the weather changes, sometimes a road is closed and occasionally a supposedly short trip turns into a much longer adventure. But those are often the experiences that make the best stories afterwards.

Another subject that has become an important part of my everyday life is electric mobility. Since November 2024, I've been driving a Hyundai IONIQ 5 with a 58 kWh battery, and there's one detail that often surprises people when I tell them about it: I don't have a wallbox or any other way of charging the car at home. It simply stands outside on the street, just like my previous cars did. All my charging takes place at public charging stations, which means I have to think a little more about charging prices and where to stop during longer journeys. Some people are convinced that owning an electric car without a home charger must be terribly inconvenient, but my experience has been quite different. It works surprisingly well, although there have certainly been moments when I could have done without the technical problems. I've experienced interrupted charging sessions, workshop visits and charging stations that didn't deliver anything close to the promised power. On the other hand, I've also enjoyed many comfortable journeys and discovered that electric mobility can fit perfectly well into everyday life without having to change everything. What I don't like are the endless arguments about whether electric cars or combustion engines are better. In my opinion, everyone should drive whatever suits their own circumstances. I simply share what works for me, what doesn't, and what I've learned along the way.

From Motorcycles to 3D Printing

When I'm not out on my motorcycle or travelling in the IONIQ 5, there's a good chance you'll find me working on a 3D printing project. What began as an interesting technical hobby has developed into a real passion over the years. I've had several printers, tried different materials and gradually learned how much work can go into creating something that initially looks quite simple. Nowadays I particularly enjoy printing large figures and dioramas, assembling the individual parts and then painting everything by hand. One of my recent projects was a large Deadpool and Wolverine diorama, complete with lighting effects and lots of small details. Projects like that can take weeks, and there are always moments when you wonder why you ever started. A print fails, a part doesn't fit or the paint refuses to look the way you imagined. But then you finally put everything together, switch on the lighting and see the finished result standing in front of you. That's the moment when all the frustration is forgotten.

Fortunately, I'm not the only creative person in our household. My wife also enjoys 3D printing and painting, which means we can exchange ideas and work on our own projects. Sometimes we even take part in painting competitions. It's a hobby that combines technology, patience and creativity, and I still find it fascinating how a few rolls of plastic filament can eventually become something that looks like a small work of art. Of course, not everything I print is decorative. Sometimes there's simply a practical problem that needs solving, and instead of spending hours searching for a suitable part, I design and print my own solution. That's another reason why I enjoy this technology so much.

Why Blockchain Has Become More Than Just a Hobby

My interest in blockchain technology goes beyond writing blog posts and collecting rewards. I'm also an active Blurt Witness, which means I operate a node that helps support the network. Running a witness has taught me quite a lot over the years, particularly about Linux, Docker, server administration and the importance of keeping systems running reliably. Anyone who has ever operated a server knows that computers have a remarkable talent for developing problems at the least convenient moment. Sometimes everything runs perfectly for weeks, and then suddenly an update, a network issue or even a power outage reminds you that technology has a mind of its own.

One of my more recent projects involves collecting and analysing Blurt Witness statistics. I wanted to understand how witness rankings change over time, how many blocks are missed and which software versions are currently being used. What started as a relatively simple idea eventually turned into a system that regularly collects information, stores historical data and produces weekly reports. I find it fascinating to see how much you can learn when you stop looking at individual numbers and start comparing developments over time. That's probably also why MELEK caught my attention. Whenever I discover a new blockchain, I'm not only interested in the blogging platform but also in what happens behind the scenes. How is the network organised? How reliable is the infrastructure? Who is developing it, and what will the community look like a year from now? These are the questions that make a new project interesting to me.

What Blogging Means to Me

Over the years, I've learned that blockchain blogging is about much more than earning a few tokens. Don't get me wrong, receiving a reward for an article you've spent several hours writing is certainly nice. But if money were my only motivation, I probably wouldn't have continued for so long. What keeps me interested are the people, the conversations and the opportunity to share experiences that might be useful or entertaining to someone else. I've received helpful advice from complete strangers, discovered interesting projects through other people's articles and had discussions that made me reconsider my own opinions. Not every conversation has been pleasant, of course, but that's part of being active in an online community.

I also believe that a personal blog should remain personal. I'm not a journalist, and I don't pretend to be an expert on every subject I write about. If I have experience with something, I share it. If I make a mistake, I can admit it. And if something annoys me, that may well become the subject of my next article. Sometimes I write about technology, sometimes about a motorcycle tour, and sometimes about something completely ordinary that happened during the week. I prefer that approach to forcing myself to publish content just to remain visible. After all, there's already enough content on the internet that seems to exist simply because someone felt they had to post something.

A New Community and an Open Mind

So what exactly do I expect from MELEK? At the moment, not very much, and I don't mean that negatively. I've only just arrived, and I think it would be rather strange to make big predictions about a platform I barely know. I've experienced enough in the blockchain world to understand that enthusiasm alone doesn't guarantee success. New projects often begin with ambitious ideas, but the real challenge comes later, when the initial excitement fades and people have to prove that they can build something sustainable. A successful blockchain needs functioning technology, but it also needs people who enjoy spending time there and contributing to its development.

That's why I'm approaching MELEK with an open mind rather than unrealistic expectations. I'm curious to see what kind of community is developing here, what people are writing about and how the platform will change over time. Perhaps I'll discover some interesting technical projects, perhaps I'll meet people who share my interests, or perhaps MELEK will simply become another place where I can publish my stories. I haven't made any decisions about becoming more involved in the technical side of the network. For now, I'd rather get to know the platform properly and see how things develop. There's certainly no shortage of projects keeping me busy already!

Let's See Where This Road Takes Us

Looking back, I still find it amusing how I ended up here. Someone leaves a comment under a year-old Blurt post, I discover a few forgotten tokens in my wallet, follow a link out of curiosity and suddenly find myself writing an introduction on a completely different blockchain. I suppose that's the digital equivalent of taking an unfamiliar road on my motorcycle and ending up somewhere I hadn't planned to visit. Sometimes the unexpected routes turn out to be the most interesting ones.

For now, I'll continue doing what I've always enjoyed: sharing my experiences, working on new projects, travelling whenever I have the opportunity and occasionally writing about the little absurdities of everyday life. You can expect genuine stories, my own photographs and plenty of personal opinions, although I can't promise everyone will always agree with them. That would probably make blogging rather boring anyway.

If you've taken the time to read this introduction, thank you very much. I'm looking forward to exploring MELEK and getting to know some of the people behind the usernames. Perhaps some of you already know me from Blurt, Hive or Steemit, and perhaps this will be the beginning of a few new connections as well.

So here I am, a motorcycle enthusiast, electric car driver, 3D printing fan, blockchain witness and blogger from northern Germany, starting yet another little adventure.

Hornet on Tour has arrived on MELEK. Let's see where the road takes us! 🐝

Greetings from Greifswald on the Baltic Sea coast!

Hornet on Tour