"Guest" post.

Hi everyone.

I just wanted to tell you about how my life changed three years ago today.  I was pretty young, back then.  I lived in a tiny room in a shelter.  I had friends - people who would play with me, talk to me, walk with me.  But I really wanted something more.

Then, *she* walked into my life.  She came to the place where I was living, and I first saw her through a window.  Our eyes met, locked for an instant, and I knew right away that she needed me, maybe even more than I needed her.  It was love at first sight, I'm sure.

We met - spent some time together, but she had to leave again.  She promised to come back.  I waited.  I started to wonder if she really would.  It got to be late, and I went to bed.

But, someone came and woke me up!  I was very tired, and not a little confused.  But, it was true - there she was, but with some other guy!  I didn't know what to do... Honestly, I was still half asleep, and even though I recognized this lady, the man with her I'd never seen before.  I wasn't too sure about him at all; I was even a little bit afraid of him!

The woman and the man talked.  She was almost ready to cry.  I didn't know really what was going on, and I was starting to think I'd made a mistake about this lady.  All I wanted in those few moments was to go back to my little room and go back to bed.

Well, instead of letting me do that, the woman and the man went away, to talk to one of my friends.  And a few more of my other friends came to talk to me, and to let me know that everything was going to be OK.   In fact, they kept telling me it was going to be wonderful!

The two people came back, and they were both very happy.  My friends got a couple of my own things from my room, and gave them to the people.  Then, the man took me out to their vehicle.  I haven't been for many rides before, and some of them weren't the most fun.  So I was a little bit afraid again.  But, that nice lady was there, too.  They took me to a house.  It was  big!!!  Much bigger than I was used to.  I kind of stayed by the door - it was a small area, a lot like my old room... I wasn't sure what to do.  I mean, here I was, tired, confused, scared....

Hard to believe it was only three years ago!!  And hard to believe how scared I was - I've learned that the man, who I now call "Daddy", is not to be feared, but to be loved.  He plays with me, he brings me balls to play fetch with, and he pets me and hugs me.  He lets me nap on the couch beside him.  And the woman - I call her "Mommy".  She loves me, plays with me, hugs me, protects me, snuzzles me, feeds me, brushes me - I was right, when I saw her that day three years ago.  We were just meant for each other!!  I'm so glad she decided to come into that shelter that day!

OK, "guest" post over ;)  I just thought it would be fun, on this third anniversary of my beloved Delko coming into our family, to maybe write what it might have been like from his perspective.  Of course, there is no way to know why he had the baggage he did - he had a history of issues with men.  He's mostly gotten over those, but it still takes a while for him to warm up to men when he first meets them.  But the bonding - I am positive by the way he acted when we met that it was as I typed above for him.  I mean, he did look out his window, and right into my eyes, and melted my heart.  And when he was brought into the "meeting room", he barreled across the room, jumped up onto the couch beside me, and put his head in my lap and looked up at me with love, as if to say, "We belong".   The bond has grown since then, and while I'll never forget my baby Bear, D has a place beside him in my heart forever.

Criminal Minds on TV last night

Ok, the title is the only spoiler warning you get.

I am SO not happy.  Not cool, writers.  Not cool at all.

One of my favourite characters on the show - Dr. Spencer Reid - is one who seems to be picked on more than the others.  Not just because I like him so much, because I do like several of the others, but it seems that while the others face various personal crises, and are often put into extreme danger, Dr. Reid is put in more difficult situations, more heart wrenching, more peril, more burn-out-inducing story lines than all the others put together!

And I really don't like what happened at the end of last night's show.  Reid finally gets a love interest that doesn't make him seem like a socially inept geeky pre-teen in an adult's body, and then KILL HER OFF!!! IN FRONT OF HIM!!!!

I am not impressed.


Tomorrow - I'm going to have a "guest blogger" ...

Upset today...

Not totally sure why.  One of those days when you are super sensitive to stuff.  So, the littlest thing gets you angry, or sad, or frustrated, or...

Laundry day. That's never a good thing.  I did accomplish some stuff today - I got some recycling stuff sorted and disposed of.  Some newspapers bagged to take to a pet shelter.  A bag of garbage tied up and out the door...   While I was dealing with cupboard issues and plumbing and mice, I had to keep the bag for garbage up on the counter.  And I don't have much counter space!!  But, the mouse was chewing into the bag.  I have one of those inside the cupboard door type bag holder garbage things.  Anyway, I waited, I watched... no fresh mouse poop.  So, I put the fresh bag back into the holder.............

I really need to find some new mousetraps.

(I don't have to sort my recyclables for the bin - but the shelter doesn't want flyers/ad inserts because they are often glossy and non-absorbant, and usually odd-ball sizes - so I was sorting those from the regular newspaper stuff)

I use the word "stuff" alot.

I finished my scarf last night, tested it this morning.  I love it... I didn't take a picture, though.  Yet.  I may get around to that later... I've been rather out of sorts today, which I already said.

Well, maybe tomorrow will be a better day - I will be having lunch with a new friend, at an old restaurant, that is going to close by the end of this month...

I was wrong....

I didn't get the little scarf project finished last night.  But, I know I will for sure tonight.  There is hardly anything left to do, and it is a good TV watching night!! (NCIS, NCIS LA)  :)

Hey, I said I was going to post daily again this year; I didn't promise quality posts every single day!! Today was errand running day, so I didn't have much 'puter time (and besides, I'm supposed to be spending less time on the 'puter, and more time getting my life put back together!!)

So I'm nearly finished an instant gratification project

Besides being a quick to knit item (small, all garter stitch) it is also something I need.  I have a scarf, that was a lace sampler scarf that I did during a workshop to learn about Shetland lace.

I like it, but I don't love it.  I only use it when I need a longer scarf for doing some outdoor things.  It isn't warm enough for the nasty cold snow shovelling days, and it is too much for the being in the vehicle and indoors while running errands days.  So, I need a smaller scarf that I could tuck inside my jacket.

Then I tripped over it one day.  A cute scarf, and it was a free pattern.  I didn't realize at the time I saved the pattern that it had been translated to English from another language.  It isn't the greatest translation, either - but between the knitting experience I have and the picture, and the simplicity of the design, it really isn't that hard.  I'm nearly done - just have the end weaving and a few finishing touches.  And a little tiny bit more of the knitting - I did make a slight variation to the design.  I promise to show a picture, and a link to where I got it, probably tomorrow 'cause I'm sure I'll finish it tonight!! :)

Can't think of a thing to write about!

But I still want to do the daily post thing.

Been a quiet weekend - nothing on TV, cold nasty weather, can't find my recipes to do some baking... Just a blah couple of days...

Hopefully, things will pick up this week.  And I can find things to write about!

TV time

TV Time Popcorn.  I miss that stuff.  Really!  Came with its own cooking oil pouch, that added flavour.  Then there was Jiffy Pop.  I think you can still get that, though I don't see it often.  Seems like these days, people are into microwave popcorn, or hot air poppers.  Me, I like making it on the stove, the old fashioned way.  But sometimes, I use the hot air popper.  I was buying and eating the microwave popcorn for a while, and loving it, but it got to be too expensive... So, I've switched back to regular type.

But, that isn't quite the TV time I meant.  I am trying to settle in to the new TV season.  I am so sure that things were different when I was younger.  Seems to me that back then, a "season" consisted of 13 weeks/shows - for the fall.  Then another 13 after a Christmas break.   You only had to put up with reruns in the summer time.  Which was fine, because you could catch up on shows you didn't get to watch because something else was on at the same time.  I mean, really, this was way before VCR's and such.

Now, though - the start of school in the fall does not coincide with the start of new TV shows and new seasons. You are lucky to get to see new shows start up before the Christmas specials come on... Really.  Some don't even get started until November... And then, by mid-December, they are into reruns or not on at all because of the Christmas specials.  So, you have to wait.  Until middle of January or even well into February before you can watch again.  And then, the new shows only last another month, maybe two, and you're into summer reruns...

And I wonder why some perfectly good shows never make it past a season or two... We used to have a thing, where we would never start watching a new show until it had been around at least a year.

So - for now, I'm in a bit of a limbo waiting on  a few favourites to come back, or to start up with new shows again.  And a couple others that I wish I could get a handle on when the "other channels" are going to rerun the series from the start... NCIS and NCIS LA are two that I only recently got into, so I'd love to go back to the start of those ones.  There is a channel that is rerunning the older stuff, but I haven't been able to catch them from the first, or even much in any sequence!  Like I did before with Star Trek Voyager, where I recorded them in order so I could watch them.  Oh, well, one day...

In the meantime, Criminal Minds is still into reruns.  And Once Upon A Time has started new shows.  Walking Dead isn't starting for a few weeks, and Survivor will be starting mid-February.  And then there is Grimm....

I haven't found it in the listings yet, and haven't seen a preview/promo for it either.  I finally went googling, and there are more episodes made and ready to go...

So looking forward to some good TV again.

Why are mice so cute?

And why do cats and dogs have to take their time about dealing with them?

I've had a mouse problem for a little while.  The rotten little so and so has been hanging out under the stove, and ignoring my mousetraps.  It seems to like the dog food, even resorting to scrabbling up the side of the deep plastic dish to steal pieces right out of the bowl!!  I am trying to keep the stray pieces picked up, and the dishes away from in front of the stove, but of course, I can't do that 24/7.

Well, this morning, one of the kitties managed to catch a mouse.  Hurray.  Until.  In order to keep it to herself, and away from the dogs and the other cat, she decided to bring it up onto the kitchen table.  Where I try to do other things, like browse the web...

Just before this, though, she is trying to get to the table... doing the obstacle course set up by two curious dogs and another cat.  At one point, I see that she has the entire front end of the mouse in her mouth... Well, at some point while dodging the others, she adjusts her hold, and the mouse has gotten enough wiggle room to bite on the kitty's lip... She "yelps" and tries to shake it off.  She manages, somehow, to regain control of the situation, and heads for the table.  Dodges the other cat, and nearly loses the mouse under the fridge.  Finally manages to get it where she wants it.

So, she puts it down on the table, and then proceeds to bat it around!!  It gets into the air space I have under the laptop... I lift up the laptop so the cats don't cause any damage... She then bats it onto the floor!!  And loses track... because one of the dogs nabbed it and took off with it.

And put it down in front of the closet, where it was captured from in the first place...

So, I grab the cat, who is searching everywhere under the table.  I point her at the mouse.  The dog growls at her.  I have to tell the dog that the cat should be allowed to deal with the mouse.  Which now smells (to the kitty) like dog slobber.  (I've been there done that one before!).  So, now the cat wants nothing to do with the mouse.  So, I have to tell the dog that it is now OK to have the mouse... So, he finally picks it up, takes it up a few stairs, then leaves it there.  I figure, by now, this thing must be dead.

I pick it up by the tail.  It doesn't move.  I drop it in the toilet (which is the most handy and logical disposal place) and it starts trying to swim.

I really hate being the one who has to dispatch the mice... much prefer to deal with disposal of dead mice.... I feel too guilty being the instrument of death.  :(

Spam redux

Those spam messages I was talking about the other day.  They were nearly all made on old posts.  Some very old posts, even... But, what did I find when I opened my email this morning?  A new comment on yesterday's post!  I got all excited (I know, I write this blog for me, comments aren't required from my readers) until I realized it was from that prolific fan, ''anonymous''.

Sure enough, I opened it, to find a ton of gibberish!!  Really, a lot was hard to understand, but eventually, I was able to make out links to buy or sell items...

*sigh*

Well, today has suddenly gotten away on me - somehow, I nearly forgot to post!!  So, even though it is short, I still need to post someplace else today, and I need to run out for gas for the vehicle... and since I did such a long post yesterday, you deserve a short one today :)

When did play become work?

My mind is wandering and jumping from one thought to another....

So, the pathway in this post may get jumbled some...

Maybe if I start at the beginning: Found a short row tutorial on Pinterest.  Decided I would try it out to see if it is worth adding to my repetoire.  Started thinking about short rows, when I learned them, and the fear about learning them.  Started thinking about my need/desire to learn more techniques.  Thought about the obsession of learning all there is to learn.  Led me to think about will it ever end?  Always seems to be a new way of doing things.  Thought about Elizabeth Zimmerman and her "unventing" things.  Thought about how I never heard of her really until the net.  Thought about all the other wonderful inspirational knitters I've found. Thought about how a hobby can turn into work, yet work it once was...

So - those are the thoughts I thought I would elaborate on today...

Via Pinterest, I found a blog (Soctopia) with a tutorial on "shadow short rows".  I looked at it, to see what it was about.  I can normally visualize things I read rather well.  But this had picture after picture (not sure if I like that trend that seems to be happening in blogs lately; especially food/recipes - I mean, do I really need to see a picture of a bowl of flour, then a sentence that says, add 1 egg, then see a picture of a bowl off flour with an egg sitting in it?  Really?)  Anyway.  Somehow, I couldn't totally wrap my brain around how it was going to work, or how much I would like how it would work. Part of that is that right now, the sun is shining right into my face (love it) and my screen is reflecting a lot of glare, so it isn't easy to concentrate.  Part of it that I'm also doing laundry, dishes, and playing door-maid to a couple of dogs... anyway, so I saved the directions planning to go over them later with yarn and needles.  Once I get an afghan further along, and maybe finish a scarf I went and started last night because I need a new scarf.  The scarf is going to be cute; the pattern was originally written in another language, then I'm guessing (by the very strange directions) it was translated via computer.  Plus, it was more like a guideline to make it, rather than a true "pattern" format... Which made the translation even more strange, in my opinion - but fortunately, I'm an advanced enough knitter, and the scarf is simple enough in execution, but I digress (and I'll share it later anyway!).  So, I've got a few things I want to try out this year - tubular cast on, which I am having trouble wrapping my brain around, and this shadow short row thing.  And I thought about short rows.  How I learned them by following a well written pattern, that didn't tell me I was about to do short rows.  It simply told me what to do on the row.  When I was reading a book on knitting written by Wendy Johnson (library book, forget the title at the moment) I remember her talking about steeking.  How she didn't know to be afraid to cut her knitting; she just trusted and followed the directions in the pattern.  That is how I learned short rows.  But I didn't know that is what it was... So, fast forwarding... I had joined the sock knitters email group.  So many people complained about how hard short rows were.  (this was a number of years ago, btw).  They panicked because they were so hard... I made the mistake (don't know why, because I did then and still do know better) of believing these people, and started avoiding any sock patterns with short row heels.  Of course, the more I read, the more I realized what they were -- and couldn't understand why they could do a basic heel turn after the heel flap, which is accomplished by only knitting part of the row then turning - literally, a short row.  Then, I heard about "wrap and turn" for short row knitting.  Again, because this was the method I'd done in the sweater years before, and because it just seemed to be somewhat intuitive, especially if the pattern was well written (and there-in was the difficulty - not all patterns are well written!!) so I stopped worrying about the sock patterns I was finding.  And, I started remembering how I'd been afraid to learn to do cables, because they looked difficult, but turned out fairly easy.  And I started to learn things like lace knitting, but admit at first I was apprehensive about how to do that... Then I realized that there was probably nothing too difficult to learn to do in knitting.  All I had to do was to follow directions, and not think too hard about it all.  After all, it is pretty much all knitting and purling, right?

So. I learned of some other things... like, that there was more than one way to cast on.  But, since the one I used pretty much worked for me, I didn't think I needed to learn too many others.  Sure, I needed to learn the provisional cast on, but for everything else, knitted on worked fine for me.  Then I got a job in a yarn store.  I was shown a better way - the cable cast on.  Of course, doing something one way for a very long time, it was hard to change completely.  I now use the two types, depending on the project.... and of course, depending on the project, there are other cast on methods that can be learned.  And other little techniques here and there.  And when a customer is asking you to show them how to do something, and you use a type of cast on they aren't familiar with, well, you need to learn the other most common method - long tail.  And one thing leads to another... Soon, you find yourself learning things so you can help/show others, or even learning them right along side of the customer!!  Now, I consider myself a quick learner, and am able to learn by reading about stuff, by hearing about it, and by watching it.  Once in a while, I need to re-inforce the learning with doing.  (as for the shadow short row thing).  And, I'm just a little bit (I can hear those of you who know me laughing) obsessive.  Knowing there are more ways to do something, and that some are better in some situations than in others, has made me want to learn more and more...

That isn't the part that made play into work.  In fact, to me, learning new things is still play! Very much so.  I love to learn new things.  I just meant, by the post title, that sometimes, other people stress about learning new techniques.  I mean, really, for many many years, the one type of cast on served me just fine.  It is fairly versatile, and does the job.  For a very long time, I only knew one way to decrease - knit two together.  I didn't know that it slanted a certain way, and that there were other ways to decrease to make it slant different.  Eventually, I came across pattern directions that said to slip one, knit one, and pass the slipped stitch over to decrease.  I just followed the directions, and didn't give it any thought.  Didn't realize that it sort of slanted different than the knit two together.  Same with increases - you either did a yarn over because you were told to, or you cast on an extra stitch at the beginning of a row.  Eventually, I learned that you needed to do something different in the middle of a row to increase, and I think the first one I learned was to knit into the front and back loops of a single stitch.  So, my point is, that if you enjoy the process, and your end result works, why get into a tizzy over some of the techniques?  If you are happy with the result, so what if all your decreases slant the same way?  So what if your wraps on your short rows show?  Really, they are so tiny anyway, and if on the heel of a sock, does it really matter?  Are you afraid someone is going to inspect your foot that closely to see them??  Which is what made me think of Elizabeth Zimmerman.  I had read one or more of her books from the library, and loved her philosophy of knitting without tears (one of the books titles, even). But, honestly, I really hadn't paid attention to the name of the author of the book I'd read or memorized it.  And I'd never seen her TV show.  It wasn't until I read her name over and over on various internet sites that I realized I had read her books... I thought and still think about her saying people "unvent" various knitting techniques.  This seems ore relevant even today - Back in her (hey)days, and before, communication between regions was a long and labourious process.  Sure, there were letters, and later phone calls, and quilting bees and their knitting equivalents, and books, and so on - but mostly, various patterns and techniques were largely handed down through generations, not always across geographical areas.  A particular combination of knits and purls might be called by one name in one country or region, and the same pattern called something else in a different area.  In other words, people were unventing all the time!  For example, the cable cast on - I prefer to call it that, but when I first learned it, the lady who taught it to me called it the "English cable cast on".  She has a German background.  I soon came across some directions for it elsewhere - exact technique, but referred to as the "German cable cast on".  And then there is the "magic loop" technique.  One of those that took me a bit to grasp - mostly because the directions I could find at the time were the opposite of the current tutorial trend - there tended to be NO pictures.  But, I finally got it while going through some of my inherited patterns - a picture showing a center start doily that was done on a long circular needle to start instead of using double point needles, by pulling out a loop of the cable on either side.... aka, "Magic Loop".  The pattern was written in the 1940's or 1950's.  And didn't use the phrase "magic loop", but there it was!!    So  - even though there are "new" techniques out there for me to try and to learn, and new ones cropping up every so often, most of them are probably something that someone somewhere tried doing once before.   And that led me to thinking about some of the new inspiring people of knitting.

There are many ladies, some of whom I knew via email lists and discovered common interests with before I realized they were celebrities ;)  Ok, I know some of them wouldn't be comfortable with that title, even if it is deserved.  Some of them were designers or knitting teachers before I came to know them, just that I hadn't been exposed before.  Some of them I could say (if I were so inclined to) "hey, I knew her/him from way back, before....."  So that also helped me to realize, that knitting is simply a case of doing what you love to do, figuring out a way to do what you want to do (designing a pattern, unventing a technique) and doing it.

At one time, knitting wasn't play, it was work.  If a person wanted a new sweater, or some warm mittens, they didn't simply run to the store and buy them.  They had to make what they needed.  Industrialization changed all that, and people began knitting for pleasure.  A lot of the old techniques were lost that way, I think, and that is probably why they need to be re-invented...

So - that is how my thoughts went around, just before I sat down to try doing a post today.

For a change, my thoughts that would become blog fodder came at a time when I was ready to blog, instead of when I was doing something totally different, so that I couldn't jot it down, and ultimately end up forgetting what I was going to blog about, lol.

Well, I guess I better do a picture.

I haven't edited most of the pictures of my craft projects of the last few months.

But, I have a couple of pictures of the doggies taken on Christmas Eve.  So, I better share them :)

The top one, is Delko, sitting on my chair wearing one of those "martian antenna" headband things.  I bought several of them a few years ago - they are sparkly, and the ones he's wearing have pom pom reindeer on them.  (I bought them for me to wear, but since I didn't do any decorating for Christmas this year, the antlers and Santa hat were still packed away).   I'm only holding on to him because that is a rocking type chair, and he gets nervous on it.

The second picture of Lady, wearing pom pom teddies, required the steadying hand because she is the opposite of D - she loves to steal that chair, and curl up in it for naps.  :)  So, I had to hold her up to get the shot!

Well, that's today's post.  I cheated a little - sharing pictures so I don't have to think what to write ;)

Quiet day today

I didn't get to do as much as I wanted, because today, the computer decided to act up....Things I like to do in the morning as part of my waking up and getting my head on straight took a lot longer than they should have... Plus, I decided to try a new recipe today, so that took some planning.  And work... it involved peeling shrimp that was bought when I wasn't paying attention....  My son was with me, and got me distracted on the math of how this package of shrimp was a better deal than the other... of course, because this package is full of shrimp still in the shell... :P

Oh, well - that's OK, I've now used up the last of it (well, will be using it shortly, anyway!) so I will be much more careful in the future!!

So, short picture free post, just because I had a backed up day!!  Tomorrow, things will be better... just as crazy with errands needing to be done, but I'll find the time... I have to, to tell you about my lunch with my sister that is to happen tomorrow!  And, DH will be working late, so I'll be able to play on the computer more  have more time to get things done during the day ;)

Blog Fodder

Blog fodder is what I call some random ideas or thoughts or images (not actual pictures, but those things you see in your m ind) or current affairs or conversations or things I've read somewhere... things I feel like commenting on.   :)

So, after the other day, when I posted about spam, I got a comment on yesterday's post.  I'm pretty sure it is spam.  But it sort of makes enough sense, that maybe it isn't.  But if not, then why would the person include a  seemingly unrelated link?  And not sign their name?  It came from that prolific writer, "Anonymous" again.  And finally, if legit, well, the grammar sucks.  Now, I know that I don't always write with proper grammar on my blog.  It is more a stream of consciousness thing - I write what I'm thinking.  But, this comment, well - it resembles one of those badly translated pages... Heck, that may even be what it is.  Yet, it almost made some sense anyway....

Even though I normally would just delete it, and not subject you to the craziness, this time I thought I'd share it. Use it as blog fodder ;)  I've thought about blogging about specific spam messages before (like, how if I'd responded to all those male body enhancement spam messages, that I would have a part that would be several feet long, even though I started out with nothing!!) but never did get around to doing it.  Some of them are actually entertaining (the ones I get via email).  So, anyway, without further ado, here is, copy-pasted, the comment that I got yesterday:

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "weekend post - fixed my sink!": 

Undeniably believe that which you stated. Your favorite reason seemed to 
be on the internet the easiest thing to be aware of.
I say to you, I definitely get annoyed while people consider worries that they just don't know about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top and also defined out the whole thing without having side-effects , people could take a signal. Will probably be back to get more. Thanks

So.  What do you all think?  Following the word, "Thanks" was a link that had a url including the words "club" and "entertainment" before the dot-com.  But then, there was a link to the person's profile, containing words like "fanpage" and "blog".... so, maybe the guy/gal is legit?  I don't know... I didn't click on either  link.  But I'll probably watch for future comments.... Oh, and if you are reading this, and are "anonymous"- well, maybe give me a better indication of who you are an what your intentions are.  Especially if you are a real person with a language barrier.  I can only imagine what online translators do to the slang a lot of English speakers use, and I know that spelling issues can totally change a meaning of a phrase... Please and thank you!

Ah, the adventures of blogging...

Off to get my supper started!! :)  (roasting a chicken!)

weekend post - fixed my sink!

 I want to stay in the habit of posting/writing.  So, I'm going to try to every day again.  Like I tried last year.  BUT - weekends are likely to be short posts.  Because of privacy in the home (I know, my blog is out there public, but sometimes I don't like having to explain everything while I'm trying to do something...) and because there are many other things to accomplish, I won't be able to write much.

Today was - a good day.  I started, late last week, to clean out under my sink due to some mouse issues... discovered a plumbing issue.  Finally, today, we got it all fixed.  Though, what seemed like a "simple" five dollar part, turned into a second trip to the hardware store for another - wait for it - ten dollars worth of parts.  (sometimes, I wonder why it costs so much for a plumber - no need to tell me, I do know, having worked in construction, besides, I did mention this took a week.  If I'd called and paid a plumber, it would have been done lots faster...)

Anyway - nice to know that I am (still) capable of doing minor home repairs.  And great that just in case I don't, that the people who work at Home Depot here are more than willing to help, to show you what to do, to explain everything and walk you through the whole process.  :)  Unlike the other big box hardware store...

(see, I told you I didn't mind doing a bit of "free advertising" for somewhere I like :)

Ok.  That's it for now.  Now to spend some time putting everything back in my cupboards!!

Spam

The edible kind:  We usually buy cheap, no-name brand canned meat products.  They aren't bad.  And we don't eat them daily, or even weekly.  Maybe, two times a year.  One time, though, the name brand Hormel Spam (the original stuff) was on special at the store.  It was either the same or very close to the price we usually paid for the other.  So, we bought some.  Wow, what a taste difference!!  I mean, yeah, when I was a kid, "no name" foods hadn't been thought of yet.  But there were some store brands.  So, we had the real thing back then. But sometimes memory plays tricks, or just plain doesn't work for some things.

The inedible kind:  I've often spoke/written of the point of my blog being for me, to have blog pets, to sort out thoughts, vent about stuff, keep a kind of diary of my life, and finally to share pictures and stuff with others.  I've tried to decide whether I wanted or even "needed" comments, and realized, that while I welcome them, they aren't the main purpose of the blog. That is, I don't *need* to be the center of attention. But, I learned nearly immediately after starting my blog, that the spam 'bots are out there.  Just waiting to pounce on any opportunity to spew advertising and whatever else it is they spew...  So, I quickly made this blog one in which the comments are "moderated".  That is, they need to be seen by me first, to determine if they are worthy of  being posted, or if they are simply an attempt at getting free advertising.  Now, I have no objection to legitimate free advertising, and will happily post and/or review and/or help any business that I consider worth knowing about.  I'd even consider allowing a certain amount of advertising about business that I have no strong feelings one way or the other about.  I mean, really, that is what word-of-mouth advertising is all about -- you see or use a product or service that you believe in, and you want to share to help out your friends and family.  To that end, I have now and again mentioned such things here - told you about a great deal I got, or a great place to shop, or great service...

What I don't like, though, is senseless "spam" messages.  Or, anonymous advertising/comments.  I know that in some cases, some of my friends don't have a blogger/google based username, and don't want to publish their names, but they usually indicate that to me in some way or other, and I can often recognize them by the comment content anyway ;)  One time, someone commented on my post about dyslexia.  They left info about their blog.  I allowed the comment, since their blog was informative, even though there was some bits that looked like advertising a product/service dyslexia related.

But, ever since last summer.... In July, there was a comment posted on an older post of mine.  A person, (maybe) who signed their name, said that they had found my blog via a search engine, but that it was hard to find.  That if I let them, they would show me how I could maximize the hits on my blog.  I thought that was rather strange... I didn't publish the post, nor did I click the link.  I'm not *that* dumb... However, I held the message for a while.  Wondered what had prompted it, planned to post about it...

Well, within days, I started getting spam comment after spam comment!!  Some of them simply had a list of unrelated words (search words), others specified a product or service (wanna buy a t-shirt? next time that particular one comes in, I'll save it for ya).  So far (not that I have read each one word for word) they seem tame.  No pharmacy stuff, no body part enhancements,  no video chatting with lonely girls... But no less annoying!  Especially when they come ten at a time, spaced only a few minutes apart, then another group an hour or two later!!

I haven't figured out yet if it was a random 'bot thing, or if it was because I went from posting daily to hardly posting.  Either way, be grateful that I have done the moderated comment thing, to spare any of you the aggravation of thinking there is a comment you might want to read after any of my posts, and being assaulted by a random bunch of advertising!

So - here's hoping that my renewed attempt to blog daily will stem the tide of spam-blitz-commenting!!  I'll let you know. :)

Goals where are you!!

I didn't get around to giving my goals much thought... But, after posting the title, I decided to jot down some things in my calendar.

I have a new calendar thing. One of those little "checkbook" sized wallet style pocket/purse calendars.  You open a page, and get a week view - spaces to write several lines of appointments etc. on the weekdays, a couple lines each for Saturday and Sunday... I've been writing in it, some of my short term goals or to do list for the day.  Checking things off that I did, X beside the things that didn't happen for whatever reason.  Like, I might plan my day, but then something comes up, and I don't get to it. Or I don't estimate the time it takes properly...

Anyway, I figured, I would jot down the goals that I come up with here for the month on the last day, in this case, January 31st.  Then, when the time comes, I can see if I succeeded. :)  Without having to search here, or anything, especially for adding the goal items to the todo list!

So, my January goals are:
-Start writing that document I never got to last year (a special project that I dragged my heals on, but now I have someone willing to read and critique it for me)
-Thoroughly clean my fridge, and keep it that way!
-Watch some of the movies I PVR'd but feel guilty spending time watching
-Tidy/clean up my livingroom, so I can host a home-sale party in February (I'll talk more about that in a blog post soon)
-Craft-wise:  I'm currently working on a double-knit afghan to replace one I made before that is now dog-damaged beyond repair.  I hope to get it to the half-way mark well before the end of the month.
-I am determined to learn how to do a tubular cast on.  I just haven't been able to wrap my brain around it when I've tried before...

Shorter term goals - I *will* get some pictures ready to share... I promise.  Before too long... for sure by next week.  Too much going on this week and weekend, including a plumbing repair, but things should be settled by next week.

And today - I'm hoping to get some baking done.  Remains to be seen if that happens (I misplaced a recipe I wanted to use).

Changes, always changes...

Haven't had chance to think about goals... late yesterday, my GS (that's grand son for those not yet well versed in the abbreviations) sent me a chat message on Facebook asking if he could come stay here this morning until Friday "after work" time... Of course, I said yes. :)

So, I was rather busy tidying up a bit, and reorganizing my plans for today.  Still need to do laundry, and I still need to do a bit of between-shopping (forgot to buy cheese that I need for a recipe) but that works, because I can adjust and pick up the few extras I would need for him (extra drinks, maybe a snack thing or two)

So - my post today will also be short again!  Oh, well - I'll get back into the swing of posting.  And I need to wean myself off of so much Facebook time, too... I spent a lot of time on it while being depressed before, and I confess to probably being addicted to a particular game, and I do rather enjoy a couple other games, though I don't have to play them quite so obsessively, and I did spend a lot of time on it over the holidays.  I really need to break that bad habit, and get on with other things...

Hopefully, I can get back into spending less time online, and more time living, and still find just enough time to be online to blog about it all ;)

See you tomorrow (and hopefully I'll have some goals in place!)

Trying this trick again

I'm going to try again to post every day to this blog.  :)  Hopefully, I'll make it further this year!

So - today is Tuesday.  Yeah, yeah, January 1st, New Year, Blah-blah-blah.  First day of a new year, first page in a new book, first day of the rest of my life.

I do have some goals for this month and this year.  But it is already well into this day, and I still have a ton of goals for today!!

The other day, while trying to deal with an ongoing mouse problem, I discovered a new serious problem with some plumbing.  So, I've been spending the last few days cleaning out a kitchen cupboard and repairing a drain leak problem.  Had to go with a temporary fix for now - thanks in part to the holiday season, and in another part to some cash flow situations... Nothing major with any of those - but enough to throw off a few other things.  (like, try washing and cleaning things without using the sink!!)  Anyway, it should all be back on track today, so I should be able to be back on track everywhere tomorrow.  Plus, tomorrow is a return to routine with work schedules and so on.

So - even though this is a short post, I will pop in tomorrow with a list of goals for the month, and maybe I'll even remember to do a picture or two :)

And, hopefully, with posting more often, I'll be able to counter the excess amount of spam comments I've been getting....Which I'll write about, too, in the coming days.