Disturbing Change
Late yesterday, I was online on AOL checking my e-mails. I often do, Law and Order Man comes online around that time in Pensacola and we can grab a quick chat.
Only Instant Messaging didn’t show up on my screen. I took care of business, and went on to other things. We don’t chat every day, just when we can.
Today, I noticed again – I don’t have AIM. I have a couple other ways to check in online, so I tried them. No AIM. Finally, I tried iChat, which also logs into AIM. It showed me logged in, it also showed no contacts.
My other AOL entry route didn’t show the Buddy Screen, even when I asked it to repeatedly.
I am hoping this is a little AOL glitch, temporary.
You don’t think Instant Messaging is being blocked in Kuwait, do you?
Five Under Five Tag – You’re It!
It’s a slow summer day, not a lot going on, so let’s play.
I was making the Pasta Melanzane and added some sun-dried tomatoes when the smell suddenly reached my nose and I was caught by the sweet intensity of the smell. I thought to myself “so much flavor! and at so little cost!” and it started a whole train of thought.
What gives your life pleasure and doesn’t cost much? Here are the rules – the cost of your pleasure must be under 5KD (under $20 for my USA players). See if you can think of five. If you find more than five, you can list those too, if you want – the rules here are pretty vague. so – give me five!
Here are mine:
1. The sound of my husband whistling – it means he is feeling peaceful, even happy.
2. Moments with my family when I suddenly realize how special they are, and truly treasure our time together.
3. The intense flavor of sun-dried tomatoes.
4. The sound of waves crashing onto the shore.
5. The smell of the sea, cloves, lavender, baked apples, roasting meat, a fresh pine Christmas tree,
the first rain in a dry, dusty country.
Bonus: The smell of Comfort fabric softener on laundered underwear. 🙂
The sound of my friend’s voice when I don’t expect a call from her.
Grin for the Day
I am still scurrying around, catching up, trying to get life back to normal, but this morning I took a moment to catch up with I Can Has Cheeseburgers, and I found this. I hope it makes you LOL, as it did me:
more cat pictures
Followed by this one, which makes my heart sing:
more cat pictures
Stealing my Stuff
I looked down at the section of my WordPress admin page where it shows people who have connected, and saw one I didn’t recognize. I clicked on it, and found a page where there are many, many of my entries, AS IF written by this blogger. There are other entries, too, from other bloggers, but no credit given to original sources.
It is so disgusting to me. It’s stealing not to give credit.
Spam for Today
Today, in my spam queue, some lotto ticket guy wrote:
Are you proud of your blog, because it’s a mess.
I know it was only spam, and I know he sent it to thousands of people, and that is how WordPress picked it up as spam. I KNOW it wasn’t personal. But my feelings feel hurt anyway! LLOOLL at myself.
The Morning Test
Back in May, I published an e-mail I had received about The Law of the Garbage Truck. It turns out, as I learned from a comment yesterday, that it is taken from a book by David J. Pollay who has his own blog at Typepad. No, he didn’t write me a nasty e-mail; I only learned the source from a very nice comment on the original post by a co-worker.
I was intrigued, so I checked out his blog. And found his entry for today has to do with The Morning Test.
Here’s how The Morning Test works. Every day for one week write down everything that you do at night. Jot down what you eat for snacks, the TV shows you watch, the radio programs you listen to, the email you read, the sites you surf, and whatever else you may do.
This is just a snippet from what he writes, so I urge you to read his entry for today to understand fully how it works.
The reason I like it is because it ties so closely with the Garbage Truck entry – how we SPEND our time, what we DO every day with our lives truly determines who we are more than our intentions (although the intentions of our heart are important, too). I believe in the old computer adage: Garbage In, Garbage Out.
I am reluctant to take the Morning Test because I know I would have to face where I waste the most time, and where I seriously need improvement. I know I would be aghast at how much time I spend on the computer, just wandering around. There are other areas where I read books that are not enriching, watch brainless TV shows, participate in low level conversations . . . there are so many areas in my life where I fail to live up to the person I was created to be, and I know it.
And I really admire this man for putting the test out there and making us examine who we are and what we want for ourselves and our lives.
Unspectacular Quirks Tag
My friend 3baid tagged me for the 6 Unspectacular Quirks tag.
The Rules:
Link the person(s) who tagged you.
Mention the rules on your blog.
Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them.
Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged.
1. In a family of spectacular women, I am a mouse. And yet, after lo these many years, my husband still finds me interesting, so I guess I have something going for me. Men like me, trust me, and work well with me, like a sister.
2. I prefer organization to chaos. My clothes are organized by item and then by color. I don’t like drawers, where things hide and get lost, I like shelves, where I can see things.
3. I have always had to make lists and keep calendars so I can remember things, so no, it’s not creeping dementia, it is just a time of information and option overload.
4. I’m a morning person, I have to have had a nap to be any good after ten at night, and I refuse to discuss finances with AdventureMan after nine p.m.
5. Being a believer is a big part of my life, but you guessed that, didn’t you? 😉 Whether it’s my religion or yours, when people start telling me how I am supposed to live my life, I get real nervous, and feel LESS inclined to follow their rules, rather than more.
6. I like listening and asking questions a whole lot more than talking and giving my opinion. Odd thing for a blogger to say, I guess!
I was sort of hoping no one would notice I hadn’t done this one yet, but the problem is that now there are so few people left to tag!
1. BoJacob
2. Erzulie
3. Fonzy
4. Я at Farragoes
5. Shopaholic
6. Teagirl
Thank you, Safat
Can you see the difference? Yousef, at Some Contrast says his stats sank a little, overall, but that individual post hits were fairly normal.
For me, on the other hand, Safat made a difference of about 400 hits a day!
Thank you, Safat, for solving the problem.
109° F / 43° C
My eyes just popped out of my head. As I was checking the blog, I saw that the current temperature has hit 109° F.
Hello??? This is May, not even mid-May. Holy Smokes, if this is what May looks like, I can hardly wait to see summer (said with tongue in cheek.)
Many many thanks to the hard working volunteers at Safat who got a whole bunch of us back in the aggregate. I don’t know what happened, but I know you guys don’t get paid and that you do this out of the goodness of your hearts, as a public service to the Kuwait community. God bless the work of your hands. Thank you.
AdventureMan said the highways were empty this morning as he headed in to work. What does this mourning period do to the elections in Kuwait, scheduled for this Saturday? Will they be postponed?
Today’s Grin
WordPress keeps hooking me up with blogs I would never otherwise come across. Today, I was connected with 4yoursoul and found this great joke, which I have shamelessly copied to share with you. Please go to 4yoursoul for more gems:
A new blonde employee calls the Help Desk to complain that there’s something wrong with her password. No, it’s not the usual caps-lock problem.
“The problem is that whenever I type the password, it just shows stars,” she says.
“Those asterisks are to protect you,” the Help Desk technician explains, “so if someone were standing behind you, they wouldn’t be able to read your password.”
“Yeah,” she says, “but they show up even when there is no one standing behind me.”
Recent Comments
intlxpatr on Shampoo Ginger tigerbutterya0c5ff1d… on Shampoo Ginger intlxpatr on British Soldier Kidnapped, Esc… John on British Soldier Kidnapped, Esc… intlxpatr on British Soldier Kidnapped, Esc… Wikipedia Donate Button
Amazina
Early Voting in Florida
Here There and Everywhere 