Look at this magnificent Great Blue Heron. He is standing just behind the waterfall of the goldfish pond that my hubby built for me:

My hubby, the best hubby in the history of the world, laid  on his tummy and took this picture through our doggie door.

This is the most excitement I’ve had in the back yard for a couple of years. Here are two blog entries about similar events:

• 7/8/2006 - Mixed emotions about seeing a great egret in my yard.....
• 8/13/2007 - I saw a hawk land by my goldfish pond yesterday!

I am a birdwatcher, and as such I am VERY EXCITED that a magnificent Great Blue Heron has been coming to our pond the last several days. We live in an expansive, yet quiet, housing tract, near a very busy intersection. This is not the usual habitat for Great Blue Herons….

There are many bodies of water in Oklahoma City, yet this heron has chosen our goldfish pond to hang around by lately. It is quite a complement to my hubby’s craftsmanship.

Here is the original, un-cropped, photo, showing more of the waterfall and pond:

Besides being a birdwatcher, though, I am a Pet Mom, and as such I am VERY WORRIED about my pet goldfish.

I don’t know if he has eaten any of my pet goldfish yet. Most of them all look alike, and if there was one missing, I would never know. We have more than fifty goldfish, most of them orange, with some white ones and some black ones. The great majority of our goldfish are the descendants of Rick and Ilsa, our two biggest, and oldest, goldfish.

There are very few goldfish with distinguishing marks allowing us to recognize them. (Rocky Raccoon has white patches around his eyes, for instance.)

Great Blue Herons are long legged wading birds. They wade into a body of water until they can look down and see the fish, they they bend their long neck down and grab a fish in their big beak.

With all the times I’ve seen this heron in our backyard, he has never been standing in the water, just next to the pond. In our pond, the first step is a doozy, as the saying goes…

We have a step, about a foot or so down, all the way around, to make it easier to step into the pond for maintenance. The pond is almost three feet deep.

As much as I love seeing this Great Blue Heron, I want him to go to one of the lakes or rivers in town.

I love you, but please go away…..

X

Edited to add: It’s very cold today, so the fish are not moving. I went out and counted them, and only see 27 of them. (they are hard to count when they are all swimming) We had almost 50 the last time we caught them all in order to give the pond a thorough cleaning a few years ago. More have been “born” since then, so we knew we have (had) over fifty by now.

I have to accept the fact that some of our fish have been eaten. Some are trying to hide under leaves that blew into the pond and fell to the bottom. I hope there are more fish that are hiding so well that I can’t see them. I can’t even see Rick and Ilsa. They are our biggest fish. Rick is white, so he would be easy to see. I hope Rick and Ilsa are hiding under the leaves.

I’m on the web researching ways to keep Great Blue Herons away from ponds. Apparently it is a big problem for many pond owners. Herons even take big koi which are hundreds of dollars each. Koi have short tails. We like goldfish with long flowing tails, and they are a lot less expensive.

There are many, many very expensive ways to keep away Great Blue Herons, and none of them work, according to pond community message boards I’ve been searching.

We’ve decided that rather than standing at the window in awe that we are going to teach our doggies to chase the herons away. Maybe that will work.

Wish us luck…

X

     

In the past several days I have blogged about finding new mold in my house:

11/15/2009 Well, dang. No wonder I’m not getting any better. We found more mold yesterday. Rats.

and my dog, Belty, having some sort of an attack:

11/18/2009 Good news and bad news about my good boy dog Belty…

Now, it is my hubby’s turn to have a health issue….

In the past few days, he has developed severe groin pain, and he went to the doctor yesterday. They examined him, and sent him for an ultrasound. The doctor thinks that everything got twisted up and he needs an operation, at least….

My hubby, the “Work Horse”, is at work today, pain and all. He is very dedicated about supporting us, no matter how much I tell him he should be at home resting. (I can’t work anymore, so he works as much as possible.)

We are waiting for the doctor to get the results of the ultrasound before we know for sure what is wrong with my hubby.

During my rant about finding the mold in the first blog of this series, I finally remembered that Jesus says: “Do not worry”. In that post I explained that worrying about things I can’t control is something I’ve done for years and years – both in the many years before I was a Christian, and now, in the 13 years since I have been one.

The more you practice doing something the better at it you get. Please, Dear God, I don’t want anymore homework practicing not worrying….

Bad attitude, I know. But, I am still X, warts and all. I try to stop myself when I catch myself worrying about things I can’t control, but it is a very hard habit to break.

God has a plan where the health problems of me, my dog, and my hubby all make sense. He’s in charge of the timing, and there is nothing I can do about it.

Time again to practice my “Do Not Worry” homework:

This is Jesus speaking:

Matthew 6:25-34

Do Not Worry:

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Jesus, I’ll get it another try, but I’m not promising anything….

X

     

We took Belty to the vet yesterday. First the good news: They did more blood work, and his kidneys are doing better since he has been only eating the nasty tasting “special” food. Now the bad news: (after my favorite picture of Belty)

The reason we were in the vet in the first place was because Belty must have had a stroke, or something. All of a sudden, Belty started falling down, not being able to walk. Then, he got up and started walking in circles. Then I noticed his eyes were moving back and forth very quickly. He looked dizzy.

The vet gave him some anti-inflammatory medicine and steroid. It could be an inner ear thing, but the vet just can’t tell at this point.

As I said in my last blog about finding more mold, I have to just give the situation to God. There is nothing I can do anyway. I’m not very good at not obsessing when things go wrong. But, the more things that go wrong, the more practice I get trying to trust God…..

We are trying to prepare for the worst, but we are hoping and praying that he will get better.

At this point, we know that Belty is going to die sooner than later anyway. As we adopted him from the pound as an adult, we don’t know his age, but he has to be at least thirteen because of how many years he’s lived with us.

When Belty comes to the point when he is not enjoying his life, I want God to take him to Dog Heaven (actually, I prefer that dogs be in people heaven) But, seriously, I do believe in Heaven, but any place is better with dogs…...

(my hubby and I are Born Again Christians, but we are radical in our belief that God abandons nobody, and everybody will eventually be in Heaven, no matter what religion they were in. We do not believe that God would create people, knowing they would reject Him, and then put them in the “fiery pit of Hell” for eternity. There is no “fiery pit of Hell”. That is not Biblical, just a tradition made by men. That’s a blog for another day)

Back to Belty: I love my boy dog. He is “Mom’s Main Man”. But, I have to trust that God is going to do what is best. I do not want him to suffer. At this point in time, Belty is scared. He does not know why the room is spinning around and he does not know why he can’t walk straight. The only time he seems alright is when he is asleep.

I do not know if he is going to get better or worse. But, when God says is is time for him to die, my hubby and I are going to cry big tears for a very long time. I’m already crying a couple times a day just thinking about it, and my hubby is, too. But, Jesus tells me not to worry, and like I said in my last blog about the new mold we found, it is a hard lesson to learn. I hate homework.

I’m going to reprint the “Do Not Worry” passage of the Bible as I did in my mold blog. This is Jesus speaking:

Matthew 6:25-34

Do Not Worry:

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Jesus, I’ll keep trying, but I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to do it, even though you command it.

X

      

Background: I’ve written in the last two years about my lung disease. When I was diagnosed, my hubby started making the house dust-free for me, and ripped out the wall to wall carpet. That’s when we found mold the FIRST time.

It was from a leak in the bathroom, apparently. We had found the leak some time back, but did not realize that mold was growing where we couldn’t see it. When my hubby ripped up the carpets, he found mold under the carpets in the rooms adjacent to the bathroom: my bedroom, where I spent eight hours a day, and my office, where I spent another eight hours a day.

I had worked at home for seven years. It was the best job in the world. Having no oxygen in my brain, caused by my yet undiagnosed  lung disease, made me lose my job. Rats.

Time passes…..

Last week, my hubby painted the concrete, carpet-less, floor in the living room. Yesterday, since the floor looked so nice, he decided to paint the walls. He started sanding an area that had peeling paint, and lo and behold, more mold was underneath the peeling paint. A nice really big patch of mold.

The really crumby thing is that since I’ve been sick, I’ve spent all my time in my lazy boy chair in the living room. So, once again, mold is in the room I spend most of my time.

Well, heck. No wonder I’m not getting better…..

The peeling paint is adjacent to the ceiling. We poked around with a screwdriver to see how bad it is, and a screwdriver easily goes right through the drywall into the attic.

Who knows how far this problem extends. We just had a new roof put up a few months ago. Maybe our roof leaked and and we did not know it.

Anyway, this is not fun news. I did some research on mold yesterday online. We printed out a stack of info from the state health department and the US Environmental Protection Agency. I also called a certified mold inspector. We are going to get the whole house checked out once and for all this week I hope.

Me getting sick and having no income for two years has made things tight financially. We’ve been very frugal to make the money stretch. I’m a little nervous about how extensive the mold in the attic is. It’s not like it is going to be an optional expense.

We’ve called our insurance company yesterday, too. They said that mold is not covered, but water damage is. Anyway, perhaps some of the cost of getting rid of the mold might be covered by insurance for the water damage. I hope I hope I hope I hope I hope….

I’ve been feeling really punky lately, more than usual. (Punky is my word for feeling in general ill health. That definition is not in the dictionary, so don’t bother…..)

Another thing, feeling sick all the time makes it more difficult for me to handle stress….

I’ve been letting Windows Live know about the spam problem in Spaces comments since last February. I’ve recently realized that there is an endless supply of “No name” accounts available to Spammers. Even if Windows Live DID close the accounts of the reported known spammers, that would not make a dent in it since they keep getting new accounts every few weeks. Anyway, since I’ve been feeling so sick all the time lately, I had to back up from the spam issue.

After I first got sick, my hubby moved my computer out of my office. Now, the computer is in the living room, hooked to our HDTV and I have a wireless keyboard and mouse in my lazy boy chair. All this within breathing distance of the newly found crop of mold. Dang it….

Oh well. This is just a post for no apparent reason. I guess I just needed to rant and get it off my  chest. Grr.

X

Edited to add:

The next morning, Monday, November 16:

When I wrote this yesterday, it was just cathartic to deal with the frustration. Now, I’m asking for help. I would appreciate your prayers, if that is your thing, but kind thoughts are totally welcome, too. I’m scared.

All of my birds, with their little bitty lungs, have been living in the living room right under where we found the mold. As I said before, being sick makes it more difficult for me to handle stress. I could not sleep last night because of worrying about everything. I think the worst thing I’m worried about is having to move out of my home while they do the work. I have dogs, birds, bunnies (plus my pond goldfish). I don’t want to have to board my pets.

-----------------

An “Aha" moment just came to me when I was writing that.

I feel that God is trying to teach me (again) to rely on him. I really have not been a Christian very long (only 13 years) for my age (over 50).  I was used to running my own life for a long time. I was the all-powerful Super Career Girl (in my own mind), and that is very difficult to let go of. This is an other opportunity for me to learn to trust God. Dang. I hate this kind of homework.

You know, in math class, how you had to keep working the same kinds of problems over and over until you could do them well? I think this is God’s way of telling me I have an other opportunity to learn to trust him. I would rather do algebra and geometry, thank you very much.

Jesus specifically says “Do Not Worry”. I am totally going against Jesus’ advice when I worry about things. Besides, it is extra silly to worry about things over which I have no control, anyway.

Well, I guess this is a good time for me to start meditating on this passage again:

Matthew 6:25-34

Do Not Worry:

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Thank you, Jesus, for an other opportunity to get to know you better. Sorry I’m such a hard-head.

X

     

Adding a Custom HTML module is a great way to personalize your Windows Live Space. Your Space will not look like anybody else’s once you put your own content in a Custom HTML module.

As I show below, you don’t even need to know html because you can design your content in Windows Live Writer and it will give you the code! This post assumes you have Windows Live Writer downloaded, and you know how to add text and images with it.

Many people, me included, make a banner (or have a friend make a banner in my case) for their Space and put it in a Custom HTML module. That is just one way to use it. I also have buttons to my groups and website in a Custom HTML module.

Would you believe that some people like to make banners for their friends? Ask around! You might have a talented friend who would love to make you a banner if you would just link to his Space in yours. My friend, Jodi, made my banner for me as a surprise!

The picture of my parrot, Rufus, is in my Space in a Custom HTML module. Think of some text or image, or a combination you can use to make your Space unique, and put it on your Space in a Custom HTML module:

Click Customize/Add Modules/ then select “Modules” as shown below. Also, make a note of the “Save” button, you will need that in a minute.

After clicking “Modules”, scroll down until you see Custom HTML, and then click “Add”.

After clicking add, click “Close Tab”, then “Save” as you saw in the image a minute ago. You will have to put your Space back in the “Edit” mode to move your Custom HTML module where you want it: Customize/Rearrange or hide modules.

Next, if you are an HTML expert, just put your code in the module and click “Publish” as shown below.

Otherwise, if you are not an HTML expert, Windows Live Writer is a great tool. You can format your text, and add images that are already hosted somewhere so you can load them in writer with the url. Once you get what you want designed in Writer, switch the view in Writer to "source" to get the code and copy it:

Then paste the code into your html module and click "Publish".

I hope this helps you to customize your Space so that it reflects your personality.

Have fun with your Windows Live Space!

X

     

Fed up with Spam in Windows Live Space? Me Too!
“Windows Live Spam Central Reporting Service” 

Friday, my hubby was sick, so I was off the computer to spend time with him.

Saturday and Sunday, the computer was unhooked when my hubby emptied everything out of the living room so he could paint the floor.

Monday, the living room floor looked like a Spanish clay patio, and the living room stayed empty in order to let it dry completely.

Today, Tuesday, my hubby hooked the computer up on his lunch hour.

Between Friday morning and this morning, I re-discovered that there is a whole world outside of this box……

I spent time with my pets. I enjoyed the lovely Fall weather inside my screenroom that my hubby had built for me. I listened to music. I crocheted. I read. I watched my goldfish in the pond. I took a short trike ride. I cuddled my boy dog Belty. I walked in the yard. I pulled up dying plants in the pond. I played with my birds. In other words, I had a life.

So, I’ve decided that I’ve been spending way to much time on this box, and it’s time to cut it down some. I’ll be available by PM and email, but I won’t be spending nearly as much time here. I’ll still make Clubhouse posts as the mood strikes me, and I’ll still visit from time to time.

As for the Spam: 

I’ve come to the realization that my efforts are pointless as long as there is a never ending list of “No name” accounts available to Spammers. While I’ve been reporting fires to Windows Live, they have been handing out matches. My decision to take a break from the battle at this point will hardly make a difference.

I’ve let Windows Live know that there is a problem a zillion different times in a zillion different ways already. We can only hope that all my complaints since last February will see some changes in the next wave to come.

X

     

I blogged this from my cell phone. Back soon, I hope. X

I blogged this from my cell phone. Back soon, I hope. X

I just was going to do a Google search and I saw Cookie Monster! Google is celebrating the fact that Sesame Street came on TV 40 years ago.

40 years ago, I was in high school. I would check out Sesame Street after school.

Then, as now, I think it is a very clever show.

Hey, I’m not ashamed to like puppets! When I was little, I loved Kukla Fran and Ollie. Ollie was a dragon. I cut up a lot of my father’s argyle socks to make my own version of dragon puppets.

Winchell Mahoney Time, another puppet show, had Paul Winchell (who became the original voice of “scrubbing bubbles) had Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smith.

Before that,  The Ed Sullivan Show had Senor Winces. He made his puppet from coloring a face on his hand. Every Friday after school, I would take out my markers and make my hand into a puppet. It would be mostly washed off by Monday when I had to go back to school. Topo Giggio was on Ed Sullivan, too, but I liked Senor Winces better.

Before that, and before my time, Edgar Bergan had Mortimer Snerd and Charlie McCarthy. I see them in old movies. Edgar and his puppets did a radio show. Puppets on the radio? Yes indeed!

Now, there is Jeff Dunham and Terry Fader. There is Dunham’s Bubba J. There’s a good resemblance to Mortimer Snerd, don’t you think?

I’m sure I’m forgetting some of the puppet shows I watched, and I hope somebody will post and remind me.

So, am I ashamed that I like to watch Sesame Street once in a while? Nope.

Happy Anniversary to Cookie, Grover, Bert, Ernie, Big Bird, and everybody else! (Grover is my favorite character – His bit where he teaches “Near” and “Far” cracks me up just thinking of it. Poor Grover running to and from the camera, over and over and over. Edited to add: I found a video of it:

 

Edited to add: Oh no, I almost forgot Shari Lewis and Lambchop.

I could post about puppets all day long…..

Edited to add:

Today’s Google page is dedicated to Bert and Ernie:

X

     

My hubby is cleaning house, and I'm relaxing in the screenroom, blogging from my cell. I'm a lucky girl. X

As you all probably know by now, our Windows Live Spaces are being bombarded with Spam advertising in the comments. They post them as fast as we can report them and delete them. See my related post here: Windows Live Spam Central Reporting Service.

Greg Edwards came up with a great idea: Boycott the products that are being spammed.

Actually, a better solution would be for Windows Live Support to block the IP addresses of the Spammers. But, until that happens, this sounds like it is worth a try.

First off, I want to tell you that I went though my Reported Spammers list and looked at each of the spammer’s profiles. So far, I have reported 41 spammer accounts since October 7, 2009 when the Spam listing was added the the Report Abuse pulldown menu. (At that time, I thought our problems were over, but they were not.)

After filling in all the products, I sorted the spreadsheet, and discovered that there are only 14 products being advertised (Spammed). Apparently, the spammers keep getting new accounts in preparation of having their accounts closed.

I posted a list of the 14 products in All Things Live Group.

Just now, I read a reply to my post in the group from Greg suggesting his boycott. He thinks we should all “spam” the companies with complaint letters. Here' is Greg’s post:

-----------------

Here's a thought: why not bombard the companies who sponsor the spammers with a little "spam" of our own? Send the following form e-mail to their public email addresses and let them know what we think of their business practices...

Your company is one of the most common destinations of spam links on Windows Live. I am sponsoring a campaign to boycott your business until your company discourages and deincentivizes your advertisers from posting spam. Spammers operating on your behalf are ruining a valuable community for the rest of us who use it. There is no place on the Internet for this kind of underhanded business practice, and it does not make me want to give your company my business. Thank you.

Here are the e-mail addresses for the companies in X's worksheet:

• info@laptopsbattery.us (Laptops Battery)
• info@adapterlist.com (Adapter List)
• info@batteryfast.com (Battery Fast UK)
• info@batterylaptoppower.com (Battery Go Shop and Battery Laptop Power are owned by the same company)
• luxshop.com@gmail.com (Can Watches)
• cs@crazypurchase.com (Crazy Purchase)
• support@namecheap.com (In WoW Gold registrar)
• fyyazahmad@gmail.com (IT Information Technology blog)
• lucia@ogoods.com, andy@ogoods.com, anderson@ogoods.com, lilykim99@hotmail.com, ogoods@hotmail.com (O Goods)
• info@power-battery.com.au (Power Battery AU)
• info@toplaptopbatteries.com (Top Laptop Batteries)
• uggbootsstorm@hotmail.com (UGG Boots Storm)
• sales@ustronics.com (US Tronics)
• domain@silihost.hu (vanjobb.hu registrar)

If each member of this group would take the time to send an email to each of these companies, maybe it would make a difference.

-------------------------

Greg’s post was a suggestion to the group. Now, I’m passing on the suggestion to all of you.

Here’s what I did. I took Greg’s text, and added a line above it. That way, it was easy to drag the line at the top into the subject line of the email:

Stop spamming Windows Live Spaces.

Your company is one of the most common destinations of spam links on Windows Live. I am sponsoring a campaign to boycott your business until your company discourages and deincentivizes your advertisers from posting spam. Spammers operating on your behalf are ruining a valuable community for the rest of us who use it. There is no place on the Internet for this kind of underhanded business practice, and it does not make me want to give your company my business. Thank you.

Thanks, Greg! Great idea!

X

     

As many of you know, I have been on a crusade all this year against spam advertisements in our Windows Live Space comments. (Please see: “Windows Live Spam Central Reporting Service” is open for business!)

My feedback has reached the ears of a Windows Live Support team member who assures me that they are working to make a better system for reporting spammers.

Posting Spam advertisements is a violation of the Code of Conduct we all agree to. But, the Spammers are ever vigilant, posting hundreds of spam comments a day.

Windows Live support will soon come up with a better, faster way to deal with reports and close the accounts. As soon as a system is put in place, he promises he will let me know.

When that time comes, I will be writing a celebratory blog post for the Windows Live Clubhouse (and doing handstands and cartwheels).

Then, as well as now, we need to keep vigilant and report spammers as soon as we see them so they do not have time to post any place else. We all have better things to do than delete spam every day.

In addition, we will want to remind newcomers and others unaware of the everlasting battle against spam so they know to report, and not just delete spam. The quicker spammers are reported, the quicker their accounts are closed.

I propose that there be a “poster”of some sort, that we can post in an html module, for instance, that we can use to remind visitors to our space.

From a very small age, I can remember posters and public service announcements from the US Forest Service. There would be a picture of Smokey Bear: Smokey says: “Only you can prevent forest fires”.

Naturally, “Only You Can Fight Spam” comes to mind…. Also, “Got Spam?”, from the USA “Got Milk?” campaign, sounds nice.

Copyrighted images will not be appropriate. (Smokey Bear was just an example.)

If anybody would like to design a poster, I propose that you show it in a blog entry, and leave a trackback of your blog’s url on this post. Trackbacks show at the very bottom of this post, below comments. (Please see: Trackbacks for Dummies – A Step by Step Pictorial guide to adding Trackbacks in Windows Live Spaces Blog entries)

I know we have a lot of clever people in Windows Live, people with natural talent and access to graphics software. I hope to see some of your ideas soon.

Once we see how many people want to submit posters, we can decide how to vote. Or, we might decide to use all of them!

Have fun!

X

     

In this post, I am only going to show how to add trackbacks. Please see these posts by my good buddy Greg for information about what trackbacks are and how to use them:

• 10/28/2009 To be continued...
• 1/9/2009 What’s all this, then?

In a nutshell, you use a trackback to add a link to your post at the bottom of a related post.

First off, I want to explain that I’m the dummy that this blog post is for. I wanted to add trackbacks to some of my blog entries this morning, but I had only put in one trackback in my life, and that was long ago. I couldn’t quite understand Greg’s excellent post (my fault, not his).

The last time I did a trackback, Greg held my hand, figuratively speaking, and walked me through it step by step. Unfortunately, I find it a difficult topic to understand for some reason.

While I did my trackbacks this time, I documented each step with profuse screen captures for the next time I want to do one. While I’m at it, I might as well share it with you.

First, go to the blog where you want a link to your blog entry to show, and copy the trackback url from the very bottom of the page:

 

 

Next, go to your own Space. In edit mode, click “Summary” at the top left corner of your blog:

 

 

In Summary mode, use the “Date” feature or the “Category” feature (click arrow next to “Date”) to find the blog entry you want to link to that other blog entry:

 

 

Once you find your blog entry, click “Edit” and then scroll down a little and click “Add Trackbacks”, and a text entry field will open:

 

 

Paste in the trackback url from the blog where you want your blog entry’s link to show:

 

 

Click Publish entry to save your trackback:

 

 

Now, go back to the original blog entry (refresh the screen if it was still open) and you will see the link to your blog entry (I went through this process with each of nine blog entries, to link them to each other - As you can see, I’ve been documenting a temporary situation in Windows Live)

 

If you wish, you can set it up so that only fellow Windows Live members, and not people wishing to leave spam advertisements for their websites, can leave trackbacks. Go to Options/Blog:

 

That will take you to this page:

 

 

Scroll down the page to the “Trackbacks” section. Click: “Allow trackbacks only from other Windows Live services to my blog”

 

You can also click to not allow trackbacks at all. Click “Save” once you’ve made your choice.

So now we both know how to add trackbacks!

Have fun!

X

     

Several years ago two baby parakeets with hardly any feathers were left in a shoebox on the porch of a home of another parrot owner. These two babies had “splay leg”, a condition where they are always doing the splits.

The person who left the babies in a shoebox was most likely a breeder, raising parakeets for money, who did not want to waste food, water and room on two parakeets he could not get full price for. (Please do not buy from breeders. There are many homeless pets with lots of love to offer)

The parrot owner did not have time to raise them, and he brought the shoebox with the mostly naked babies to our local bird store. Later that day, in walks X.

I am well known at the bird store as a soft touch. The manager of the bird store insisted I take these babies and give them a good home. It was not very difficult for him to convince me.

I took these two mostly naked, handicapped babies home, named them Fred and Ginger, and started handfeeding them instant formula with a syringe several times a day. They grew up just fine.

Freddie turned out to be a girl, and Ginger turned out to be a boy, by the way. With parakeets, you never know what they are until they near adulthood and their cere, the area above the beak, turns blue for boys and pinky brown for girls.

  

Anyway, Freddy, on the left in the picture of both of them, gets around pretty good. She can sit on a perch with a fairly wide stance, and looks mostly comfortable. Ginger, in the picture above, right, however, does the splits so bad that he has to have one foot on the perch and one foot on the side of the cage.

That is, until along came Moonpie. Moonpie was a lonely spinster parakeet who had never been in love. When Ginger grew up, Moonpie fell in love with him, and decided to help him, difficulties and all.

    

Ginger and Moonpie rely on each other. They are a very sweet couple. They are most always together in one certain position. Since it is uncomfortable for Ginger to stand, Moonpie stands behind him, propping him up. The picture below is the best I can get, you can’t really see that Ginger is leaning on Moonpie, but he is.

Ginger, being the man of the house and a good provider, feeds his bride. One of the cutest things that God ever came up with (in my humble opinion) is birds in love feeding each other. If you are not a bird lover, you might not think it is wonderful, but Ginger feeds Moonpie mouth to mouth, the same way that Mommy and Daddy birds feed babies.

In my bird cage, as in real life, individuals with various problems get together to share the load together….

My hubby and I are having an anniversary soon. Our marriage has not been an easy road. There has been many hardships of various types, but, throughout all of it, we have loved each other and leaned on each other. We’ve propped each other up, and managed to get through all of the situations together.

Love conquers all.

Happy anniversary, Sweetie.

X

     

This is not a joke. I am dead serious. I  have the time and inclination, and I hereby volunteer to report and follow up on people who repeatedly post spam advertisements in Windows Live Space comments. I have a list of Spammers that I’ve already reported.

First off, you may have spam and not know it. This link: http://profile.live.com/recentcomments/, shows “Recent Comments”. Often, my "Recent Comments” are all spam.

If you get Spam posts in your comments, look this list: List of Reported Spammers. to see whether that spammer has already been reported. If not, please PM the spammer’s profile url to me so I can report it and add it to the list.

I’ve been reporting spam for so long that Windows Live Support have noticed me. In my humble opinion, I think we have a better chance of getting a better system for spam reporting if all of our reports come from the same place. Also, only the person who reports it can follow up on it, and I want to follow up on it.

This is a last resort due to the problem as described below (also see the bottom of this page for links to blogs documenting the spam problem over this past year)

The Windows Live Administration is not properly handling our reports of people posting spam in our community. Perhaps they do not understand how big the problem is, and do not consider it a priority. I intend to show Windows Live Administration just how bad the situation is, and I hope to get your help.

Posting spam is a violation of the Code of Conduct, but there is not an efficient way of dealing with the offenders as yet. Our reports are many, and the results are few. Accounts are still open after being reported months ago.

“Spam” was added to the pull-down menu of offenses on October 7, 2009. (I have been asking for since February 2009) But, our reports are still being sent back for more information, instead of being handled immediately, as should be the case.

Previously, the only way to report a spammer was under “Other”. I thought that's why the reports were automatically sent back for more information. But, apparently that is not the case.

In my humble opinion, the profile of a spammer shows the activity of the spammer, and is the only information that is needed in a “Report Abuse’ complaint against a spammer.

I decided to start the “Windows Live Spam Central Reporting Service” for this reason: I believe that if the spam is reported in a consistent manner, and followed up on, our problems with spam will have a better chance of being handled properly.

Also, hopefully, I hope to develop a two-way communication with Windows Live Administration through my repeated contact and that my efforts will help my fellow residents of "Windows Live Town" in the long run.

I, like many others, are very discouraged with this situation. I love my Windows Live Community. Due to health reasons that keep me from being able to work, I have time I can devote to this continuing problem.

Your participation with “Windows Live Spam Central Reporting Service” is desired, but not mandatory. If you think that my plan is a good idea, please PM me the URLs of the profiles of accounts that have no other activity but posting spam.

I will report spammers made know to me, make a note of the “Support Ticket Number”, and follow up until the account is deactivated.

From now on, when you get spam in your comments, hover over the spammers icon, click the little arrow, and scroll to “View Profile”. Once at the profile, check the profile url against the list of reported Spammers below. If it is a new Spammer copy the url of the offender’s profile and send it to me by PM.

Please do not ignore spammers! If you just delete the spam, and not report it, they are free to keep spamming the rest of Windows Live. Let’s work together on this.

The Spammers that are known to me so far are in an Excel file in my Public Skydrive folder.

Check your space for spam regularly with this link:

http://profile.live.com/recentcomments/

If you have spam, check the spammer's profile url against this list:

http://cid-25a0033dd834dd1d.skydrive.live.com/view.aspx/.Public/Spammers.xls

If the profile url is not on the list, PM the url to me. I will report it and add it to the list.

Everybody, as always. Don't just delete spam, get it reported first. The spammers history shows on his profile, so it is not necessary to keep the spam comments. Go ahead and delete them after they are reported.

When our fight against spam has a happy ending, I will be posting the happiest celebratory post you have ever read.

Thank you for your help fighting spam.

X

A special Thank You goes to TG for interviewing me for Round and About Windows Live Ed 5 about the Spam situation here in Windows Live.

My related posts from the past year:

• I wish to thank the academy…. (Update on Windows Live Spam situation at end of page)
• Please be aware of the Code of Conduct and report violations as you see them. Let’s keep Windows Live Town clean!
• A very short question for Windows Live Administration. Edited to add: Thank you Windows Live Admin for adding “Spam” to the list of “Report Abuse” offences.
• Dear Windows Live: Here is the latest failed result of my trying to report an account that does absolutely nothing but post spam. Can’t you do something about this?
• I wish to report an inconsistency within the Windows Live Code of Conduct.
• Windows Live, please add “Spamming” to the “Report Abuse” pull-down options for Spaces.
• Windows Live: Please crack down on Spaces set up to sell Viagra and send spam.
• There is a problem in in Windows Live.com: People are setting up Spaces as businesses, and then posting spam in our comments. Windows Live: What is official policy on setting up a space for business and spamming in comments. Detailed question with copy of abuse report and response.

Edited to add:

Fellow Spam Haters: I’ve come to the realization that my efforts are pointless as long as there is a never-ending supply of “No name” accounts available to new Spammers: The whole time that I’ve been reporting fires to Windows Live, Windows Live has been handing out matches.

I'm taking a break from maintaining the Spammers spreadsheet for the time being. I’ve let Windows Live know about this Spam problem many times in many ways since February 2009. We can only hope that all my efforts will cause some changes in the next wave to come.

Signed: X

Nov. 11, 2009