Why can't I remember the post I wrote in my head while driving.

I remember when so many websites provided a free email account. It is still true. But the World Wide Web has opened up even more. You can create your own website in many forums.

I took a course in how to make money using the web. Squiddoo and Hubpages were suggested as possible revenue sites. Essentially, if you want to make money on the web, you produce your own website or work with one of the revenue sharing sites. How much you make depends on how many people click ads on your webpage or there is a tracked sale with a site like Amazon.

Honestly, you don't make money. There are a few people who work Squidoo like a job reading other lenses(webpages) and creating sales lens. I know why they suggest you donate the proceeds of your webpage to charity. It probably costs more to cut and mail the $5 check for your yearly earnings. lol

I have had much fun on Squidoo. There is a rush in the beginning with the points and there are some really lovely people who write webpages. What surprises me is the strong topics some people will choose. What disappointed me was the heavy commercial bend most people who write for Squidoo use. They are basically creating free ads for products that are sold on Amazon, Ebay and a few more affiliate programs such as Cafepress.

Some of my anathema to the heavy sales approach is somehow we have lost our way in the pursuit of consumer goods. I have a packrat mentality and a packrat's woes. My house is difficult to clean because of all the stuff I and my family members have accumulated. This is a whole nother post.

I know the root of my holding onto things is growing up without having everything. The teasing in fourth grade about my holey tennis shoes is found somewhere in my closet of too many shoes. Maybe. Most of what I bought has been on sale. The logic is that you can't find an object and when you do it is priced high so buy it why it is available and on sale.

I have one brother who throws things away. My grandmother also threw things away easily. I know my brother can't stand clutter since he grew up with clutter. My parents were packrats. I have suspected it was inherited. I don't think it was taught.

I'm not able to watch the hoarding television shows. For a packrat, it is a chilly reminder where all this accumulation can lead if I go to one too many yardsales or get sick. So, I am having a yardsale. I normally give my excess to Happy Hour Workshop yardsale and what I have may indeed make it there. It's just that some of it is furniture, a bedroom suite, dining table, sofa, clothes rack with clothes.

Yes, I'm actually unloading without moving. I'll keep my Squidoo pages. I'll leave the ads for what I think people may actually want. But, I shan't make any money with these webpages and blogs.

This is a picture of me with my trusty dog Frank. Have you ever known an untrustworthy dog? I have, her name is Louise.

Things that go bump in the night.

I had some money stolen out of my billfold that I left in my purse in my car. The car was unlocked and the purse was in the backseat. They missed two crisp 100 bills that were in the pocket next to the bill area.

What was stolen from me was much greater than the value of the money. It was the security of not having things stolen out of your car. My driveway is three tenths of a mile long. I know that sounds like I got a big place. However, it's a long lot and the people who built the house, built at the back of the lot. That means someone had to come up a ways from the road to riffle through the vehicle.

You get where you don't trust anyone. On the stat page of my blog, I have gotten new visitors. They are spam referrers. Their purpose is for you to look their URL up so they can sell you something. There are spam commenters. You are protected much better from them. I would list their URLs so you could stay away.

But the following blogs have done a much better job and why should I paraphrase something they have written so well. I promise these links are safe.

http://professormungleton.blogspot.com/p/comment-and-referral-spam-on-my-blog.html

http://www.nuff-respec.com/technology/referral-spam-does-
it-really-work

It took me awhile to understand what in the heck these sites were. At first, I thought, they are sending my blog around the blogosphere so I can get followers. Then I decided to look up what the sites were. Yes I did look up their URLs. I did not click any links. I've heard that is the big "no no". Your malware, antivirus software will begin throwing alerts here there and everywhere.

It makes me think about something my little sister did when we were children. I had folded her clothes and she was to put them in her drawers. She would resist the chore. She wanted me to do it. I demanded she do it. The next week when I changed sheets, I found all her clothes between the mattresses. She just wasn't going to put those clothes in the drawer.

As an adult, she is not like that. There are a whole breed of people who want to make a living in a shady way. The irony is if they used their smarts, they could probably make more money legitimately. I understand many of these spambots are from Russia. I really think the World Wide Web needs to be tamed in the United States with prosecution of those that make all of this malware, etc.

Ce la vie.

So much to choose from

When I was in fourth grade, I earned 16 junior Girl Scout badges. All of the adults were so impressed with me.

When I started cadettes in seventh grade, My girl scout leader asked me to not work on all the badges at the same time like I did in juniors. I worked on all 51 badges from beginning to end. Being a preteen and early teenagers, she had to coax me to do any badges as a cadette. I remember when I finally got my First Class badge for being a cadette. My troop leader had worked so hard.

I'm still in the same situation. I want to do it all like I was as a junior. I don't have the motivation to do a lot of what I should do like I was as a cadette. I have to pick what I will do and do it well.

The purpose of this particular blog is simple. Create a platform for the book I am writing. I am also toying with the idea of a blog. I have never been a diarist. Fly by the seat of my pants is more like it. There is never enough time in the day to do all you want. The steam I had in the past is poor to non-existent. So, hopefully, I can distill what I want to create using this blog.

I have another blog which will wither because it was the serious me. I had a few followers. The biggest thing I got from that blog is that I had opinions. I have always done whatever to get along with everyone. However to write I have to have a starting point and a compass. I have to know who I am and where I want to go. The other blog was my starting point. I have more confidence in saying what I think. This blog will be my compass.

These are my other two blogs

5K or bust

Science Ladybug

Ce la vie

Live Oak

An aged oak unfurled

Limbs wider than it is high

Burling scars from limbs torn

Twists and turns, lichen frosting

Dark limbs

Leaves of winter make a show

Leaves of fall crisp below

A labyrinth of imagination

Dragons roar

Elves speak

Spirits abode

Showers carefully listed in growth rings

Bright sunny days stored away

In the lines of wood

Secrets stored

Roaring time night and day.

All that is left are the burling knots

Worn in the wind

Like stairwell bannister knobs

Of a regal home

Getting a head start on Monday.

Retiring is for the birds. The first time I retired, my dad's friends told me to reconsider. It's only fun for about a week.

I was lucky in that I was able to retire at 51 with 30 years teaching. The original plan was to work another job and double dip for awhile. What happened is the demands of frail family members got to be a full time job and I was stretched to the limit.

I was happier when I was working and trying to keep up with it all. With no time to think, ignorance is bliss.

Living in the moment and avoiding deep thought has always been my modus operandi. I don't take anti-depressants. I usually chalk it up to my dogs keeping me happy. Most of it is genetics and I had the rug pulled out from under me when I was young. The phrase, All things considered, plays heavily when you know there are worst things to bear in life.

Today is senior citizen day at Beall's Outlet. I hated the store the first time I went with a sister. Then I scored an incredible bargain. Well I was hooked. The only thing I buy now are shoes. I realize I have enough clothes to last until I'm 100.

This really goes back to having no time to think. The idea that I have about 10 well actually 20 pairs of black pants really is the result of not having clothes at one time and buying a pair because it was only 3 to 5 dollars. I'm really lucky my apple cart collapsed. There is no telling how much I would have accumulated.

We went to Roses in Macon today. It is a very old dollar store. You know they had a really neat looking dress for $8.50. I thought I could safely clothes shop there. Who knew a cheap dress with heels and the right jewelry could look so fabulous, in the grocery store, standing in line at the post office. I'm bed by 9 PM.

I went immediately to the pet department and bought a dog bed and a fetching pink, cheetah spotted fake fur for my dog, Daisy. I'll get a good picture of it and post it later this month.

This is dog fennel in bloom blowing in the wind. It's in my front yard. 

Getting the right offer.

Do any of us see ourselves as we are?

Last summer I was working out at a wellness center I go to. A nice gentleman probably 5 to 10 years older than myself. I don't know age is a mysterious thing. I meet people who look older than me who are younger and vice verse

I'm always careful not to age people. It's surprising how many people never catch on. They assume they're younger when I know they aren't. They are so candid with aging me which makes me steam on the inside. Then there are the occasional few who know what I'm up to and want me to come clean.

Well this man, I'll call him Mr. Bopbag, asked me if I could get back up off the floor. My instinct was to yell, "Do you think I would get on the floor in a public place and know I can't get back up?"

The reasonable part of me knows this is a legitimate question. I deliberately sit on the floor and get back up to keep the skill. One time I was sitting on the floor with a group of students and it looked like I was teacher of the year.

The principal walked in. The only problem, it was time to get up. I just started reading from the beginning until he left. As he walked out of the room, I just stopped and got up as did the students. Starting the next lesson I thought about what they had done. I did it because I did not want that man to hear me grunt getting up. Some teacher of the year.

Back to Bopbag, I give him that name because he looks like an inflatable punching bag. He is short with a distended tummy. I wonder if his waist measurement might be larger than his height. A few red marks on his arms and cheeks. He obviously takes blood thinners. We have a nice conversation. I'm in suspended animation, ready to move on to the elliptical machine. Then the statement comes.

He lets me know he has a wife. I wasn't considering proposing. I'm old enough to know what a good catch is. I see that worn sedan he drives. His daughter works in a local grocery store and her jokes at the register do wear thin. Besides, he can't get off the floor and I can.

My 82 year old mother was talking to a 400 pound man in the pool one day. I recognize him. I just don't remember his name from high school. He told my mother he was married. She shared her disgust with me. I wasn't even talking to him in a flirty way, she says. Besides no one can replace Jack (my father).

It's inescapable. People's perceptions be what they may. I know why the meek shall inherit the Earth. They are the only folks who have a clear picture at times.

Ce la vie.

three dog office

My old timers worked the first shift in my office. Now its the two youngest and the oldest taking their duty. We've had a big dogfight this evening. It's the same fight but its that combination of a large powerful dog and a Jack Russell mix. The Jack Russell has a small injury. Her babies have taken her side. The pit bull doesn't understand why everything is mad at her. I broke the fight up. The Jack Russell is not hurt, just humiliated.

I'm glad she is half chihuahua. It brings a little sanity to a fighting fool. They say you should never leave two Jack Russells together.  I have had to train the babies to hold down the fighting to the death practice of their mother. Picking the yellow one up to break up a fight and two were hanging from that one. The yellow one went to get a better grip on her brother and attached to my arm (ouch). The gray one finally loosened her hold on the yellow one. I have separated the two many times.

It brings me back to an idea I have which is to get rid of the bulldog. Everybody is so in love with the Jack Russell mix. She is such a love. Her babies have all stopped at her dog bed to check on her. She does have a scratch on her ear. The loyalty dogs have. The bigger problem is getting the Jack Russell to stop attacking the other dogs. The bulldog is very gentle. She truly loves the puppies.

I love a gentle giant. Its the size difference and the fighting nature of a Jack Russell that is the problem. I don't believe in breeding pit bulls or powerful dogs. I saw two dogs dumped on Highway 96 the other day. Why did I not get them. I have 9 dogs already. I can't afford the dogs. Its a common occurrence on Highway 96. This is why I am keeping all of the babies. There are more dogs than homes. Looking at the local newspaper I see pictures of small breed dogs needing homes.

I know people wonder why I would even own so many dogs. They are useful. They control vermin which is good in the country. They are good for our mental health. They keep people from just coming up to the house uninvited. At the moment, they are too much work for me. I'm keeping the bulldog. I'll keep the Jack Russell and Bulldog separate. My oldest is a 9 pound poodle who is a warrior in his own right. He's almost 16 and has outlived two large dogs he would get into a scrap with.

Ce la vie.