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0ddness is, for want of a better description, my little nook of the Internet. It is something that, while I don't always use it, it's MINE, my own little thing for me to do as I please on here.

I occasionally think about doing something to make money with it, or using it as a place to churn out my creative writing ideas, or as a place to properly rant and rave about various things, but in the end, I decide I love my little blog as it is. I'm not hugely worried about visitor numbers (though would like more comments so I know people are ACTUALLY reading!), I don't think it'd ever make money, and I don't think 90% of you would give two figs reading about fantasy-adventure type stuff.

So, this morning, imagine my surprise and I have to admit, horror, when She Of The Posh Persuasion sent me a message telling me my site was showing nothing but a little text, and a picture of a dog...

"Bwa-huh?" may have been the actual sound that fell out of my mouth when I read that message. So, even as I was in the process of putting down my phone, loading Firefox and clicking on my link, She Of The Short Persuasion sent a similar message, but HER messaged used the work "Hacked"

Now, instead of "Bwa-huh?" it was more "shitshitshitshitshit" thinking someone had gotten into my stuff and possibly deleted said-stuff.

I clicked on my link to take me to 0ddness, and imagine the feeling of my heart falling down through my body, bumping into every other organ on the way down to my feet when 0ddness was displaying like so:

Fuuuuu...

While in the process of dropping into my toes, my brain - which, let's be honest, has been dozing of late - woke up and stopped the heart mid-Geronimo. "Duh -" said my Brain "-that's James' dog..." James being of the He Who Kicks Boxes And Burglars Given The Chance.

See, during the Great Gimme Gizmo Rant of 2011 and the subsequent Great Censoring of 2011, James got me to switch from a shitty company over to another that actually defend their customers to voice their opinions without fear of getting smacked bums. Being that he already had an account, we just slapped 0ddness, KelliesWorld, Kellies-Kards and our not-yet-done Wedding Blog over to 1and1.

Now, from what I could gather was that something was changed this morning - according to the WhoIs records. The Posh One thought I had renewed the blog, but it's not due for renewal till next year. However, WhoIs showed that it had been "updated" today.

The only thing I could see different was the Name Servers. Now, I am NOT particularly great with Domains, DNS and such like, but after switching away from Shitty Company, the blog Name Servers remained wedged firmly with the original company, and not 1and1.

Very 0dd.

However, upon checking the morning (and I don't check very often) they were now showing 1and1 name servers. Huzzah.

However, in my huzzah'ing, it would appear that this was the root of the issue. And I had to re-do all the DNS stuff. On James' account. Where he appears to host proper websites. The sort that make money. That have customers.

No pressure then.

So, I went through, did the step-by-step and got it sorted. 1-24 hours to notice a change though. Great. 0ddness would be down for a while.

All day, I've been CTRL+F5'ing the page, refreshing the page from the host as opposed to the cache, and finally, just before 3pm, 0ddness came back to life. I got on Twitter & Facebook, and had the Great Unwashed check for me from their side, and apparently, it's all back and up and happy.

And I am now breathing sighs of relief. Granted, it's only 0ddness & KelliesWorld that has come back on so far, but I'm sure the others will sputter back into functionality sooner rather than later.

Now I've just double checked, and the Wedding Blog and KelliesKards are also back online. Huzzah once more!

I'm glad people noticed, though. I'm glad someone pointed out to me there was a problem with the blog. I know my readership (Ha! Readership...) are quite loyal and will point out when something is broken, but I'm glad it was done quickly.

Just after 1100 this morning, it was working fine. Adullamite was on there, read my Musical Monday, commented, done. 1150, Posh messages me, dog on your site, followed rapidly by Em for the same reason.

As a sidenote and addendum to this post, this happening is actually GOOD news... Why?

Because it now means my Domain Name is firmly OFF of Shitty Company's servers, computers, records and everything else...

So?

It means that all my previous Gimme Gizmo/DRW posts are going BACK on the blog. It means that all your comments, all the people that took the time to message me - they are all going BACK on the blog.

I get regular visits from people searching for information on Gimme Gizmo/DRW, and now the company that tried to censor me is out of the picture, they are going back on there.

Later, though, because it is taking every ounce of energy to write this coherently! hehe

Where Do You Do It?

Being that I, The Great Misogynist Dan, have managed to off the missus for a while, I have, I discovered, been tagged over on Pink Oddys blog.

Actually, I should start over. For, you see, when I say I have "off'd the missus" what I actually mean is, I have run her a nice deep bubbly bath, lit the worlds supply of candles, plied her with cool alcohol, and left her in a little ceramic tub of relaxation.

Which is another way of saying, I'm killing time till she is relatively well broiled in her own juices. Which sounds wrong, now that I think about it.

Anyway. Tangent.

I have bee tagged in the Where Do You Do It? style of meme. 

Now, personally, because I am THAT good, I actually do it everywhere. Generally, I do it on the sofa once I'm done with the housework and want to chill out or let off steam during the day. Other times, I do it on the kitchen work surfaces if I am waiting for something on the hob or whatever. I've been known to do it in the loo, on the stairs, in the back garden - even when I am out in public.

Thanks to having a computer, a laptop and a smart-phone, I am pretty much able to do it anywhere. I am, of course, talking about blogging.

Wait, you thought... Oooh you dirty so-and-so.

Yes folks, because I am in the 21st Century, I am mobile, and blog either on my laptop - using the Blogger in Draft GUI, or on my desktop computer which is in the bedroom. Otherwise, using the very handy-dandy Blogaway app, I can blog where-ever my phone is with a decent signal. I'm actually capable of writing a blog post while walking through a shopping center, through dark streets at night, or sitting on the bus killing time.

With my laptop, I will blog anywhere in the house except the bathroom - moisture in the air is bad MmmKay. But I've sat on the stairs, the bog, the kitchen side, various household floors, the bedroom - I am not fussed. I will also use the mobile phone to blog if laying in bed in the dead of night so as not to disturb Kellie.

Because I'm nice like that.

So there we have it, tag complete :)

I hereby tag any of you that feel inclined to share!

More Bloggers!

As I am sometimes driven to insane acts of kindness, I thought I would start today with one...

Wait, who's laughing? Exhibit A, Posh Totty broke her bloke. (EDIT: While it is possible Posh broke her bloke I did in fact mean Blog. Being that it's so rare I make such hideous mistakes, I've left this on here for prosperity! Don't ask how I fixed her bloke...) I fixed it.  There, act of kindness. Her blog might be veryveryveryveryveryvery VERY pink, but I still fixed it.  Granted it now belongs to me now, but that is not the point...

My point is that I occasionally come across other bloggers who's blogs catch my eye for, well, whatever reason. Don't know why, can't say what it is about them, and being the fine upstanding citizen that I am, I share them with you lot so you too have something to do when bored.

First up, we have The Life of a Hippyish Dad. Now, there aren't too many Father bloggers out there - not compared to your women sorts, so it's nice to see another DAD blogger, but nice to see one that thinks the rest of the world is full of crazies. Now, usually I don't link to blogs that need updating, but I have poked and nudged Neil to update, so fingers crossed ;)

Farmers Wifey is just that - a farmers wife. In fact, her blog caption is "I'm just trying to get through the day without losing the chickens or bogging the tractor" which is enough to tickle me. It's farm life, family life, all with that particular slant that amuses me. And if you're reading 0ddness, then you probably enjoy that slant too...

Last up, we have Seaside Tracie who I admit, I know through the "wonderful" world of CHDs. However, I also admit I've only just realised she's blogging. Bad Dan. However, like me, her blog is full of stuff she likes, stuff that amuses her, occupies her time, and generally blogs whatever the heck she likes!

So, dear reader, I suggest you click on those linkies and go say hello to the wonderful people out there!  Now go, shoo! I need to eat my dinner!

Kellie And Her Kards

As I have alluded in the past, Kellie is what I call crafty.

Aside from possibly being a spy and/or secret agent, what I actually mean is that when it comes to Arts & Crafts, she is quite happy looking at types of paper (I know! Paper comes in TYPES now!) or deciding which coloured sticky-choking-hazard she's going to attach to something and so on.

A while back, I set her up a little blog and finally, after much umming and arring about it (and buying her several strange gizmos that are just evil devices of torture) she is branching out into the big wide world of Card Making.

Her blog is over at Kellies Kards, and while she's only just getting started, she will be taking orders and making cards to order.  She's worried her cards are amateurish and suchlike, but I just kick her when she poo-poo's herself.

Toddle on over, say howdy, and see what she's got. If you're also a crafty sort (of the art-variety, not the spy) then she is happy to hear your advice, techniques and suchlike.

And for those of you that HAVEN'T seen the irony in Kellie owning TWO blogs when one was neglected for so so long, I will let you dwell on that now :D

Hell Has Frozen Over!

In a shocking move that has in fact proven that Hell has frozen over, Kellie, she that is the light of my life, has remember (after much proding and poking) that she not only owns a blog, but that she's also not updated it in a very (very very very) long time...

Seven months, to be precise. I think my longest lazy-attributed break has been 4-6 weeks or so.

So, for those of you that forgot she existed in her little corner of the Cyberverse, trundle on over, give her a slap for being such a lax blogger, and remember to shake her hand for having such an amazing fella.

That would be me.

Oh yes, a link. CLICK ME, or go to http://www.kelliecastleman.co.uk/

More Twitterers & Bloggers

Yesterday, you may recall, I put out a call to my friends on Twitter & Facebook that, if they wanted their blogs listed on here, just to let me know.

A few people gave me their blog addresses, and I'm kinda sorta glad it wasn't too many, as it occurred to me there was a good chance I'd end up buried under a stack of blogs.  It also occured to me, that I could share the blogs I read in Google Reader as well.

If you look to the sidebar where there was once a VERY long list of Blogs I Read, you will notice that very long list is now not so long. I have no qualms with that.  I was a little bit sad to delete blogs that have been on there for years and years, but some had been deleted, some had been locked to private, and some hadn't been updated for months or years.

Snippity Snip, indeed.

So, with things tidier than my back garden once again, I have a few more links for you to have a lookie-see-peek at :D

Sharing Stories: I know a lot of Heart Parents, and quite a few of those have children with learning difficulties and other associated "Conditions".  This blog is a mum that discovered her daughter has a rare deletion (1q21.1) and Autism.  VERY powerful and shows what a lot of parents have to do on a daily basis in order to keep their child living a normal life.

Suburban Mum: Much like me, she blogs pretty much whatever she fancies at the time... She's just made a sodding brilliant wedding cake too! Go say howdy ;)

Insomniac Medic: A Paramedic working in London, this blog shows how these guys and gals slog day and night to keep us safe - and how many people really do just waste their time.

So, go pop on over and say hullo to these wonderful people.

Twitterers & Bloggers

I've had a Twitter account for several years now.  I seem to come and go on it, and even while I am on a "Using It" phase at the moment, I'm still not entirely sure it's as great as everyone makes out to be.  I think it's just me, to be honest, but still, for the time being, I am on there.

I DID notice the other day, that I actually have two Twitter accounts.  Oops.  The one I use is the one I link to over there on the right, @0dd1 or by clicking this link.

But anyway, I digress.  The point of this post is for me to share with you blogs that I think you may well enjoy.  I will be adding them to the Blog Roll down on the right over there too, but think I might as well let you know when I find/am shown blogs that catch my interest.

As this is something I've only just thought about doing, the list is currently only a couple long, but none the less, they ARE interesting blogs, but NO, as is usual for me, I am not paid to link them, I don't get anything for linking them, and you don't have to visit them if you don't want.  BUT you should.  Go say HI! They are new blogs for the most part, so you don't have to trawl through months or years of Archives to catch up ;)

Pink Oddy: Yep, she's Odd.  but with an O not a 0. She's "of the same wavelength" judging by some of the conversations on Twitter too!

Living With LC: A new dad, blogging about the conception and birth of his first child. I LOVE seeing the Dad-Perspective of things, it make a nice change!

Like I say, go have a lookie-see at their blogs and say howdy, they're both brilliant :)

For everyone else on my blog-rolls, please be aware that in the next little while, I am going to be "clearing up" which means if you blog is private, very out of date, or deleted, then I am going to be shuffling it off the list.  So expect to see that list a little shorter later.  If you've moved your blog, please let me know the new URL, as again, dead links will be removed.

Poor Google

Poor Mr Google, he seems to be having a bit of an off day today.  For some very strange reason, two Google searches came back with zero results - which, let's face it, is very odd.  It's not even like I was trying to find a picture of a giraffe, armed with a chain saw, juggling a banana, a gorilla, and the prime minister of Guatemala...

But I digress... And wait for someone with too much free time and a penchant for Photoshop.

A little while ago, I was poking through my blogs, catching up on my subscriptions to the various blogs around the world, and after I was done with them, had a look for the things it was recommending to me.  Usually, it's a mix of tech sites, D&D stuff, EvE Online, WoW and various amusing picture dump sites.

However, it decided that, based on my search history and similar subscriptions, that one of the sites I would enjoy would be...

Clicky to Embiggen!

Now, part of me is thinking "Ooooh does this mean fame?!" while the other part of me thinks it might just be Google seeing what's in my cookies and saying "Yep, you've been there, wanna subscribe?"  Of course, on the other hand, a lot of the Tech Blogs I visit don't pop up as recommendations...

Very strange.  Will be keeping an eye on Visitor Numbers and Subscribers over the next few days, see if anything interesting happens.  If you happen to be new here thanks to Google Reader, welcome :)

PS - Google must be having some issues today - even trying to upload that image was a mission - I had to flick to and fro from Normal Blogger to Beta... Gah!

Empty Bottles & Cans

Once again, I spent the weekend away with Kellie.  Yes, I am spending an obscene amount of time with her, but at the risk of inducing vomiting amongst my readership, we love being together, and are not stomping on any toes, so we're having as much fun as we can get.

Got over there Friday after having a nervous breakdown about being late... Not that I was "due" at any particular time, but as we had to go out (as a couple!) that night, I was all flapping and stuff.  Still, arrived with plenty of time, sorted out an over-night bag from my weekend-bag and headed out - armed with booze.

Being that I am ever so good with names, I was dropped into a room of people.  Obviously, Kellie and Me... Her best friend Kerry, her fella Paul, her brother Kevin, his missus Kelly, and their friends Haley and her fella Mark.  And kids.  Seven, I think...  No, eight.  Well, none of mine, so there could have been fifty.

And we did the drinky drinky drinky till the wee small hours.  Glasses were smashed, drinks were spilled in torrents, nibbles were consumed, Chinese food was ordered (and subsequently scoffed)...  The Beer Fog started to settle...

Half the adults, and their respective spawn left, while the other half stayed.  We ended up crashing on the living room floor, and didn't wake till the ripe time of 7am.  Hangover free, I should add.

Me and Kellie set to clearing up the kitchen while the house slept, me fine, her... Well, not at her best.  Like I say - I didn't have a hangover ;)

Kerry and Paul emerged nearer 10am, Paul fine, Kerry in the same state as Kellie.  So they were indeed mocked.  And forced to cook breakfast.

Which, as it would happen, would provide me with hours of chuckles.  See, getting two drunk, hungover girlies to cook is actually a BAD idea in the grand scheme of things.  Sausages: Burnt.  Bacon: Burnt.  Mushrooms: Cooked to perfection (amazingly). Scrambled Eggs: Burnt, Still moving, moist and a very strange colour.

And texture.  The eggs had a whole new texture.  And flavour.

I'm not sure how, but the other three adults managed to fob off food on the unsuspecting kids, while me... I ate all mine.  I have a cast iron gut ;)

The breakfast really really deserves it's own entry... "Legendary" would be one word to use.

Another highly amusing aspect to boozing with a group of people you don't know - I can ALWAYS find the geek in the crowd... I heard the words "World of Warcraft" and the ocean of people parted - Kevin, Kellies best friends brother - is a WoW player, and we spent much time that evening talking about it.  Much to the chargrin of the normal non-WoW players.

So, despite taking the piss out of her Best Friend, we get on quite well (which is points to me), and Kevin told Kellie I'm great and get two thumbs up from him too!  Did I mention that Kerrys family is like Kellies second family, so I need approval from them as well!

I bribed Kerry with vodka, so that helped ;)

The rest of Saturday was spent with the older kids at football, followed by a jaunt back to Kellies with all the bags - lighter, now emptied of booze - and had a quiet afternoon together, followed by a curry.  Yep, I'm a lardy - but it was mostly veg ;)  AND no booze ;)

Sunday started lazy.  Kellie tried flexing her girlie muscles, and ended up with very tickled feet.  Which she hates.  Once up, I tackled her garden for her... Which again, really deserves it's own post.  Suffice to say, I shall never hardly moan about Ruths garden from now on.  At least her garden is just grass.  Kellies garden had everything...

And I got a big fast blister for my troubles.  Which she put chemicals on.  Which burnt.  Ow.

Sunday was going perfectly - we got to the bus stop at half four, ready for my 4.50pm bus.  And we waited.  And waited...  Now, if you want to be in my good books and say "I will be there at, say, 4.50pm" then you better damn well be there no later than 4.50pm.  A few minutes early I can handle.  4.55 and I will start getting stroppy.

So at 5.15pm, Kellie called her mum and arranged me to go home when she went past.  As you can imagine, your normally very-placid author was, at this time, ten feet tall, green, ripped clothes...  I will write them a very nice letter tomorrow no doubt.

But every cloud - I got another 45 mins with Kellie.

And finally, after collecting the boy, having a drink with Jo and Steve, walking home, got the boy showered and bedded... Now I am flopped.  Aching, sore blister (owie!), tired, missing Kellie...

Who, no doubt, will come along and attempt to save her character, but to be honest, I think I may have already ruined that just by her associating with me...

The only down part, aside from not seeing Kellie till Tuesday, is that I had a lot of questions about Bethy this weekend.  Now, I have no issue at all talking about her, and will always tell people I have three kids, one of which isn't here any more.  I think it was more having to talk to people that have no idea about her, what happened, the why's and where-fores.  I was fine, but when I finally got in and sat, the first song my computer decided to play was her song...




As I say, the hardest part was the fact that all my friends, most of my family, and those that know me, they know as much as they can what happened, what she went through... But now I am meeting new people and talking about ME, Bethy enters the conversation that don't know, don't understand and don't realise how unlucky they are for not meeting her. I'm OK now though, had a sad moment so did the stupid taggy thing in a crappy frame of mind, but still.

Anyway, I am fine and dandy once more - counting the days till Tuesday when, incidently, I have a man coming to look at my fence.  Or lack thereof.  I sent them a letter that rattled them into action ;)

So nighty night!

Edit: I forgot to add, the ULTIMATE part of the breakfast was the Tea and Coffee... But that's because it WAS perfect, as I made it!

A Trend

Something I've noticed over the years, is that some bloggers - the popular ones - get book deals. More and more, you'll see a blogger mention they've gotten a book deal, that they can't believe it's happened, and so on and so forth.

The run up to the book is a flurry of activity for the blogger, with their posts slowing down somewhat while they write their "story" or whatever it is they are doing. Most posts seem to concentrate on the book itself. Then the book is released, and the blogger mentions it, where he/she will be appearing for signings, how it's doing and so on...

And when the dust settles... Now, I can't put my finger on it, but that blog changes. It goes from being a single person writing about, well, whatever the theme is on their blog, to all sorts of stuff. Sometimes, they hardly even talk about the original purpose of the blog at all.

I'm not going to name blogs, but in the last couple of years, I've noticed at least four bloggers that have become published authors and pretty much stopped with their usual blogging. A couple have gone very political, topical... Another has taken to publishing random stuff about the state of the country, or just posting random links to news stories. The actual content has all but vanished - the reason I was reading is no longer there.

I imagine it's because all the stuff they would be publishing is now being saved up somewhere for Book Deal #2.

Then there is the other kind of "changed blogs", the sort that have gotten so popular, that they have various adverts, worry about page rank, and a lot of their posts suddenly become One Big Advert for various products and stuff they have been sent. You might still get the content on there, but it's Ad Post Post Ad Ad... All with flicky flashy banner ads and stuff in between.

It makes me a sad panda.

I unsubscribed from six blogs this morning. I love bloggers for who they are, the people aspect of things, not to see the latest products here, or a political rant there. I subscribed to their blogs because what they had to say was interesting, moved my mind, made me think, or showed me an altogether different life.

Now they are just more grey noise in a large field of grey noise.

PS: If I ever become a World Famous Blogger And/Or Author, please kindly take this post and ram it down my throat to point out everything I've said. I like who I am, I love what 0ddness is.

PPS: If you want to send me a Large Electrical Item to review, then please feel free ;)

Big Fat Congrats

I don't care if you don't read her blog.  I don't care if you have no idea who I am talking about, but none the less...

Laney, over at My Crazy Family, has just announced the fact she's been knocked up.  AGAIN.  This baby will be Child #4 at her house.

So all of you, waddle on over to her blog and send her your congrats.  Because once she starts getting massive, I will be heckling her in person and taking the piss out of her waddle.  I'm nice like that, really.

Congrats Laney and Mr Laney.  Hope you have a nice boring pregnancy.  With twins.  Twins are cool.  Big fat twins.

With big heads.

Logo A-Go-Go

As is probably apparent to everyone visiting here - not your dirty RSS-Readers tho - but I have a logo.  An new logo.  A proper logo for my blog finally!

As the little post icon here probably suggests, it was made by a rather strange girl that lives in some coal-mining village up norf somewhere.  She stay home on the computer all day because she suffers, like the rest of her community, with Black Lung and other mining-related ailments.

And, out of the kindness of her heart, she made me a logo!  Huzzah!

She's one of the girls that was at my weekend at the Posh Palace back in May, that spent the best part of the evening completely bemused and amused by plastic beer cups.  Clearly, the technology known as "Plastic" has yet to make it's way to the norf.  She's a blogger, but obviously using a stolen laptop with a mobile broadband connection...  You can visit her (new) blog through this link.

Little does she know, I think I will start collecting logos for my blog and have them alternate around and change for a bit of variety :)  900x204 are the banner dimensions, FYI ;)

If you want to make a logo - and I mean a semi-decent one, not someone having a laugh in Paint and scrawling "0ddness" then chuck it on over and I will A) use it, B) link to you, and C) take the piss out of you!

So, to Miss Lynzi, thank you :D  I'd buy you a pint o' bitter, but your whippet will prolly have me.

Mine's Prettier Than Yours

For a while now I've been playing around with Blogger In Draft - that is, technically, the Beta Version of all the fangled new stuff they are working on. I've mentioned it before, and have been playing with some of their stuff before people not on Draft get to play with it.

Nothing is secret (at least, I hope not. Please don't tell me off!) on there, and anyone can access it through the afore-mentioned link (here, in case you're dim) and I've used some of the new stuff - the New Post list I had for a while was part of that (which is now available to all), and the future posting I use every now and then is rather handy, again, available to all.

Yesterday I thought I had broken something when I logged in. Usually, when I get to the dashboard, I see what you see:


Not really a lot I can comment on it really - it's nothing new. However, yesterday...


It's all very shiny and professional looking. Not sure why I like it more, I just do.

Who knows, maybe you peons will get yours updated in the coming days ;)

In other news... People that are getting sick to the teeth of Twitter being a complete pain in the rectum, Matt and Sam have found Plurk. It's similar to twitter, except it seems to work (oooh meow!) and has a purdy interface thingie that shows the posts on a timeline - and you can reply to them, unlike Twitter where things got... well, kinda knotted and tangled.

I'm still getting to grips with it, and it does have a few things that I would like to see done differently, but I've already put my two pence in to see what happens there. Still, go take a peek. You can see my Plurk page here

De-Lurk Ya Bastards!

Yes, the Hooded Claw. Dark, hidden, mysterious. And the very embodiment of my blogs biggest reader base - the mysterious lurker.

So here it is. Say Hi. De-Lurk. Post a "howdy" comment, let me know who you are, even if you want to use a fake name to protect your identity. Don't use "Me" as I seem to have about a berjillion of "Me" reading. Let me know where you're from. How long have you been reading? Did you follow a link or trip over my infamy some other way?

Even you bastards reading on an RSS Feed that don't come visit, click that link and come visit.

I don't mind if you just found me today. I don't mind if you've been reading for a few days, weeks, months or - for the rare reader - years. Say hello.

Don't make me threaten the kitten. Because I will if I have to.


Think of the kitten.

Edit: Three days to go on my Delurkers week, and HURRAH! Thanks to everyone delurking, now for the rest of you to do it too! Go on, you know you want to ;)

Goggles

It could be said that Tam is, at times, a little bit... 0dd. To be fair to her, she DOES have some interesting genes going on... My brains, good looks and, er, well, I think that's all she needs really..

But none the less, she has developed from somewhere, a rather 0dd streak. Sometimes she likes to wear her knickers on her head. Sometimes she likes to sleep under the duvet, around the wrong way, with her feet up on the pillow. Some days she just chatters away in her own language, much like Leeloo in The Fifth Element when she crashes into the taxi cab.

While poodling around the various blogs I read, I came across Nutty Mummy on The Little Nut Tree discussing one of her wee ones sudden love of goggles. And while reading it, I could only think of my daughter on one of her strange moments.

See, Tam owns goggles, but hates them - with a passion - in the bath or shower. However, as is the case with Her Strangeness, she loves them all the time away from the bath.




Yes folks, she is wearing her goggles, and her hair inside them, just because she likes to. If you have long hair, have you ever tried to drag a pair of goggles over your head?? It's painful, yet she likes to do it, and she does it a lot.

Maybe it's just a phase... I'm still going through it. It should stop any time now....

On Being Banned

I wouldn't bandy the term "addicted" around very much usually, but I have noticed that I am rather... Well, bored. Usually when I get up, I check mail, stats, news, blogs, facebook. The last isn't just "checking", it's replying to messages, playing games, sending gifts, posting on walls, saying hi to friends.

I never had much in the way of applications unlike some people out there - my profile page usually loaded after a few seconds - but there were things on there I liked to do.

I'm still trying to think as to the why I got banned, and really cannot figure it out.

• I sent 15 Ann Summers gifts out
• I invited several friends to Owned and Scramble
• I SuperPoked everyone with the Poke of the Day
• I made nearly a million dollars buying and selling my friends
• I took two surveys
• I sent a half-dozen messages to my Aussie Stalker
• I posted on a couple of other peoples Walls
• I poked. As usual ;)

Now the ONLY thing that was different about yesterday was the poking strangeness and what I thought to be broken friend request. First, the poking. The only person on was Mel, discussing, er, stuff. I noticed that when I poked her back, another poke instantly appeared from her. I'm not talking with a few seconds delay, but instantly. The second thing was a friend request from Mels hubby. I clicked "confirm friend request" and went back to my front page, where there was a friend request from Mels hubby. Which I confirmed, only for it to get replaced by a friend request from Mels hubby, which I confirmed, and so on.

Typical bloody Australians get me banned it would seem ;) Wenches and Convicts the lot of em.

Other than that, I have NO clue what I could have done to earn myself a ban. That list is what I do pretty much every single morning. Then I am on and off facebook during the day as and when I get a chance. I'm still getting the "Your account has been disabled by an administrator" message trying to log in. No reply to the three emails I've sent them. Emmas group has started getting lots of members - I was in bed last night texting her names of people I could remember on there, but having NO head for names or anything, I was struggling. I was texting her names, she was hunting them down and sending them messages...

Only to get a warning for being a spammer! hehe

My StatCounter has shown that the group has doubled the traffic to my blog yesterday - from 80-100 hits to just over 200. Not too shabby really.

But I am bored. I don't play WoW all the time, and I've read the internet. Usually an evening unwinding would involve kicking arses at Scrabble or Word Twist, but not last night. If it gets too bad I might have to resort to drastic measures...

*gulp*

I might have to turn on the telly.

To Sum Up...

Around midday today, Ruth called - she has her fella Paul down this weekend, and knowing I'm having a crappy weekend, she gave me a shout and offered hot cross buns for lunch, and a roast dinner this evening. Who am I to say no to her nurturing needs...

So instead of moping around the house, I headed over there and chilled out - though this time she only made me do her washing up instead of full-blown housework for a change.

Jo called while I was there, called me a banana for thinking the way I was, and for the first time in a long time, I spoke to her about my fears and suchlike. I was hiding down the end of Ruths garden so I couldn't be overheard, not because I don't want Ruth to know, but I was being a girl as usual.

Marvellous really.

Lack of sleep, compounded by wandering brain thoughts and just not being clear in my head all piled up, and I was at the end of Ruths garden crying down the phone to Jo about various stuff that I can't/won't share here. Nothing about Me and Jo, other stuff involving my life. She was able to help get my head clear, but I've still had a rough day.

I've been checking my mail on my phone to see if Facebook decided to reply - they didn't, but then, it is Sunday so no doubt they have better things to do that respond to people they have (apparently) banned randomly. Cass mailed me to let me know she had a random warning last week, and Deb also mentioned she had a couple of warnings, so *fingers crossed* this is something automated and erroneously random. By the same token, I'd not be surprised if there was something I've done unknowingly.

I was very surprised by a message from Emma earlier on this afternoon telling me she has set up a group to fight for my membership! Not sure what will come of it, but as of now (19:20) I have sixteen supporters! Em set up a group to get me back on, and Mand is on the sidelines with her pompoms out... Crazy girlies ;) Apparently the link to the left in the Cbox will take you to the group if you're a member... Well, if you're not a banned member anyway ;)

I got in a little while ago, have loud music on and am ignoring phones. To sum up: I'm still fed up (though feeling the luuuurve), I'm bored, I ran out of Twitter SMS Updates, so am sending messages but have to log in to see replies, I'm still banned on Facebook, and my laptop is still not coming on at all which has REALLY hacked me off no end.

Now to wait for Jaysen to come home, bribe him with an early (ish) night or else, and for me to try and sleep tonight. Of course, tomorrow is the start of a new week, which no doubt means all the shit will be starting over in less than twelve hours.

Can't wait...

To RSS or Not To RSS?

I am an avid blog reader. I read all sorts of blogs, from the various CHD parent blogs, general family blogs, a few tech blogs, random amusement blogs and adult blogs. I think my daily is something like fifty or so blogs that update frequently.

Yeah, I read a lot.

With my reading list so long, I originally used Firefox to open all the blogs I read, and went through them one by one, leaving comments, spamming tag boards and generally putting my oar in, regardless of it being wanted or needed. And then, I started pottering around with Google Reader, and using blogs RSS Feeds to read them away from the actual blog.

It was quick, easy and simple to use. It showed me what blogs had or had not updated, opened in one window, and meant I didn't have to sift or trawl through the unread blogs to find the ones with new content.

However, my issue with that is it's more like socialising with a friend over the phone that sitting in their living room. Bear with me on this one...

I create my blog to make my readers feel welcome. While I am always changing the template for ME, ultimately, you guys are the ones that get to see. There is stuff of interest on there for you - links to other sites, for example. There is also the Tag Board and Cam (when it's on) so you have a little more to do on your visit. With the RSS Reader, it doesn't matter how neat and tidy the place it - you don't get to see it.

So here's my bind. The Lazy Shit inside me wants to click one link and see all the content hand-delivered to me. Simple, lazy, ease of use. The Not So Lazy Shit inside me would rather go to each blog, see how nice it is, interact with you. Still simple, more personal.

Sunny Sunday

Poor neglected Bloggy. Ah well ;) Anyways, the sun is currently beaming in through the front of the house - great for us smelly bears that like the sun, not so great for us geeks that have a monitor near a window with afore-mentioned sun streaming in.

Meh, I'll survive!

Last few days have been a bit busy, with a family do yesterday for my nans 80th, plus entertaining squids, housework (which only appears when the mini-me's do) and generally out and about. Oh, and Ruth has fed me again too.

Tam and Jaysen are off to Jo's parents today, Tam to stay, Jaysen will be back this evening but wants to see Mummy. So they get a roast dinner. The original plan was a boys day before school, but now I get a day to chill out (and bloody wake up!) before school restarts tomorrow.

In other news, I've been poking around the Blogger in Draft stuff, which is basically where they test random stuff. Down the bottom right, you will see the blogroll reproduced, but in order of most-recent-posts. Be warned, some of those ARE adult blogs, but I will figure how to rename them later. Seems quite nifty for people wanting to blog hop but bored of reading the out of date stuff.

Update your blogs you stinkers!

And while I am prattling on - another nifty feature in the Blogger in Draft stuff - timed posts... That is, a post that you write, set a date for it to publish and Robert's your Mothers Brother. Which will mean I should miss less Musical Mondays. The links to Draft are dotted through this post - you know you're on there when the Blogger Logo is blue.

Anyway - if you've not seen me on your blog of late, don't fret. Where I've got SO DAMN MANY blogs to read (which, I may have mentioned previously, you need to update more!) I've taken to reading all of them through Google Reader. I have it sorted so I see all the new posts, which makes my life so much easier - no need to trawl through nearly 70 blogs looking for new content when it shows me what's new instead.

Huzzah!

So, with Grandfather en route to get the monkeys, the sun shining, I do believe I will spoil myself with milkshake, erm... er... And whatever else I can rustle up!

Me, XXtraordinary?

I've always know I was a bit special, though that is more likely to be "Special Needs" special as opposed to gifted-special. However, I wouldn't say I was anything better than A-Little-More-Than-Normal-Ordinary, let alone XXtraordinary.

However, the perv in me sees the XX as something else ;D

Hmmm, now I think about it, I wonder if the XX is actually a reference to being a female on a chromosomal level...

Thanks to Burg over at Sweet Insanity, she believes I am worthy of the XXtraordinary Blogger Award. Which is odd, because all I have done of late is whine, bitch, piss and moan.

Oh, and stab myself. OOOOWIE.

So I am thankful for the award - thank you darlin! Now to pass it on to five others? Hmmm... For everything they've been through in the last week or two, I tag the following people: Krista at Kristas Thoughts, Emma at M's Way, Posh Totty at Posh Tottys Palace, Nancy at Are We Having Fun Yet and Laney at My Crazy Family.

Let's just hope I don't end up looking like some of the crazies out there...