There are five mammals that purr: cats/felines, bear cubs, hyenas, raccoons and squirrels.

I don't think it's a cat living in the space above my bathroom...nor a hyena. A bear cub wouldn't fit.

That leaves two choices. I'm actually more at peace knowing it's probably a squirrel, rather than a giant BUG making the scratching sounds it makes when it's not purring.

Something shifted in LJ's hosting provider's spam filters a few weeks ago, and I suddenly started getting tons of Viagra/image spam ("image spam" is a trick spammers use to bypass spam filters, they send an image of the dumbass pills instead of the text words, since filters can't read images but humans can).

most hosting providers' spam filters block image spam, but sometimes an upgrade doesn't go as planned (or spammers get sneakier) and suddenly it's a free-for-all until the hole gets plugged. So I figured it would maybe a week before they figured out the problem.

Several weeks later...and it's freakin annoying.

I changed everything to not send email notifications, but I couldn't find a way to not have any email that's sent to your "username" not be forwarded. If anyone knows, please clue me in.

Other than forwarding LJ emails to an email account I never check, thereby rendering it pretty freakin useless...I'm not sure what else to do. Putting up with the shit is not an option I'm willing to consider.

EDIT: I found how to turn off the alias!

I've been "a might busy" as my grandma would have said, and haven't been able to correspond with a couple friends as I'd like and as I used to. So I get this email from my friend who lives up in Georgetown, saying "I guess you've been busy...here, I've made it easy for you to reply":

(Please respond below):

1. I am very much OK Y/N
2. I am working harder than a Bird Dog trapped inside the duck pond at the zoo. Y/N
3. My current projects are exciting and I may even get paid! Y/N
4. I am building a Porno site for my next door neighbor who has been eyeing me. Y/N
5. I was baking bread the other day and the loaf fell out of the pan breaking my foot Y/N
6. I am hiding out at home because I have a big zit on the end of my nose. Y/N
7. I went to a midnight show last week and was attacked in the lodges. Y/N
(The lodges are part of the theatre, not me, dummy) Y/N
8. My great-great Aunt passed on and left me $15.21 and sixty-one horse blankets. Y/N
9. We had a terrible storm last night and I had to shovel my way out the front door. Y/N
10. I promise to write an email to Bill as soon as I find some spare time. Y/N


My answers will be:
1. Yes, busy is good. And btw, the Internetz and the roads flow both ways, mi'dear!
2. I was thinkin' more "busier than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs", but the bird dog analogy works, too!
3. Yes, yes, and YES!
4.*wince* Sadly, the shire hath no oogle-worthy denizens. But I keep the free samples ready, just in case.
5. Why, sir! Those are fighting words! I'll have you know my bread is always soft and fluffy!
6. *looks at you funny*
7. Lodges? Midnight show? Not in Hobbitt-ville! We roll our sidewalks up precisely at 9pm!
8. You know my family too well, don't you? :)
9. Luckily, being on a hillside, gravity works in my favor. Unless it's *me* sliding down the hill...
10. Amen!

TBS Radio "Challenge James" Segment from Jet Set Zero on Vimeo.

That's my brother, Robert, in Korea...he's the only guy I know who could make getting slapped look FUN!

In the first one...there's a brilliant blue...something in the tree above the orb, at the top. These photos haven't been retouched or filtered in any way, except for the feathering around the edges (I was going to make icons out them...then I saw the blue orb-y thing). It's in 2 of the set of photos I took a few nights ago (the night after that freak thunderstorm).

The color blue is striking, and not the color of anything else around it. It made me think of Heather's dreams...







Oh! And I haz Hollyhocks!

Never buy milk from "Grocery Outlet."

And now a word from our sponsor...

Flurrymail to be discontinued on June 5th. Flurrymail was a rather cool free email client Java application for mobile phones.

This was the right decision. The right place, the right time. The area, the scenery, the people...all of it. Right.

I've seen many, many beautiful sunsets in my life. I'd never before seen one that felt like it was made, just for me. Each one here, ever night, feels like it's ALL MINE.

You normal people, run for your lives! Get away while you still can...

Even though I had work I needed to be doing/finishing last night, my computer got to a point where it was difficult to work on it at all. Programs hanging, locking up for no foreseeable reason, serious LAG between my typing on the keyboard and that appearing on the screen (and sometimes the keyboard has a mind of it's own), etc.

I've had "a feeling" that I should start backing stuff up, moving stuff off the hard drive (onto CDs, DVDs, thumbdrives, the desktop's hard drive, external backup service, etc). I already have a standard, pretty good backup routine (made easier by Gbridge), where all client files and my photos are automatically backed up to the desktop every day, in addition to weekly back ups of client files to removable media, and photos are also backed up to Picasa. Any backup plan can always be made better, however, and I'm always looking for ways to tweak mine.

( Read more... )

And now, I can MAYBE, FINALLY get some work done? Please? Between DSL being more down than up for 3 days, random unexplainable computer chokings, and nearly every electronic device in the house breaking, I'm seriously behind.

Oh, and I found quite by accident that when I changed my cell phone a few days ago (to take over JaLynn's account), they didn't remove some stupid bullshit called "Answer Tones", which somehow stops call forwarding to an external voice mail system. So (for the last few days) when the business phone rings my cell, it never got forwarded to the business voice mail. For the last few days callers would hear "Please enjoy the music while your party answers the phone", then nothing.

Arrgghhhhh! Luckily I don't get many (legit) business calls...it's 90% telemarketers. Anyway, it's now fixed (only took one call to YouMail -they rock!- and TWO calls to AT&T). I've never been so happy to hear Rob's voice, though it's always music to my ears. :)

Wow...this is the longest post I've written in weeks...let's see if hitting "send" is going to break something! lol

I absolutely *love* the Northern Lights, and hope to see them live sometime before I die. Sometime last year I ran across a night light that simulates the Northern Lights, at Wally World on clearance for only $2. I got it with Aaron in mind, but he had a little lava lamp night light he's partial too, so I put the new one in a drawer and forgot I had it.

While unpacking from the move, I've found a lot of stuff I forgot I had. I've also found a lot of stuff in mislabeled boxes, but that's another story for another time. And yes, I finally DID find my roasting pan lid and my recipes!

In one of the boxes, I found the little Northern Lights night light. There's precious few electrical outlets here, but one is built into a main support beam, a few inches from the back stone/rock wall. The walls are painted/coated with a white coating, like the Sno-roof stuff put on RV roofs.

I've been plugging the little light in when I go to bed...and marveling at the "light show" against the rock wall as I fall asleep. Best $2 I've ever spent!

That I absolutely LOVE living here? Hummmm? *grins*

Woke up this morning to the sound of gentle rain. Laid in bed for a while, just watching out the window. Made coffee, then watched out my kitchen window, cuz, ya know, it's different rain droplets on that side!

There's so much peace here.
So much green.
So much happy.

And look! What might *that* be in the oven...? Oh my, I've been visited by the cranberry-orange bread fairy! NOM NOM NOM!

And my laundry.
And my purse.
And my notebook.
And me.

OK, before I tell you what happened, let me add a disclaimer. Yes, I *do* know better. It was just a brain-fart type of moment, and I wasn't thinking. It's been quite an action-packed day, all things considered.

( Amazingly enough...I consider this a good day! )

Finally, laundry time. Six, count 'um...SIX loads. 1 my week's clothes, 1 sheets, and 4 of the "wedding that wasn't" fabric. Yes, it was a butt load of fabric! The blue and plum suedes washed up fine, there was just a LOT of it, and as helpful as the laundromat's long tables were, and the fact I had the place to myself, it still was a major PITA to fold it all.

And then...the gold fabrics. I thought I was being careful, I thought it would be OK....cold water...delicate wash...hang to dry.... ya know?

One of the gold fabrics has glitter. Gold glitter. It sounds gaudy as hell, but it's quiet tasteful, really, in a "Renn-faire, regal, fantasy-wedding" sort of way... Gold shiny fabric with a diamond pattern with the glitter. I assumed it was washable. I'd say that was the wrong assumption...

Glitter, gold glitter, E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E!!!! In the washer, in the dryer, in the air, on the folding table, on the floor, in the clothes that were washed 3 washers down, and dried in a separate dryer!!! How the hell does THAT happen??? It just got EVERYWHERE. On me, on my purse, on my hands, my clothes.... I wiped down the folding table several times, but couldn't get it all off.

All the while, I keep thinking of the last time I was in the laundromat, and the owner told me the story of the guy who's down sleeping bag came apart, and how there were goose feathers ALL OVER. I kept trying to hurry out of there before 9:30 (when the owners come to close up), so I wouldn't be branded "That Gold Glitter Lady" forever more...

I was outside talking with my neighbor (resident of one of the 3 other cottages in the shire), who had a fire going in his outside fire pit. I shared that my fire pit was one of the few things I missed about my former house, and told him that was my all-time *favorite* way to cook steak.

He'd never considered cooking a steak in an open fire...and after I told him, he asked me "So just where are you from? You CAN'T be originally from California..."

For a few different reasons....that made my day :)

*looking at a teenage girl's MySpace, friend gave me link*

Me: Ohhhh, she's so pretty!
Friend: she looks like you
Friend: she could be YOUR daughter LOL

I am pleased to report I *finally* (*knock on wood*) got the home network back up, with the %$&^%!# DSL modem playing nicely with the router. I'm embarrassed to disclose is took 6 hours of trying every conceivable configuration before I finally found what worked.

Bridged mode. I hadn't tried that this time because last time it didn't work. A month ago bridge mode did nothing but shut off access to both the modem config and the Internet. *However*...it's very possible last time I forgot to clone the MAC address. I wouldn't think that would matter in bridged mode, but apparently it does. *shrugs*

So, this time...making copious notes and step-by-step instructions for the next time (please-don't-let-there-be-a-next-time). Each set of troubleshooting instructions I found recommended a different method. It was only finding these instructions at DSLreports.com that the problems I was having made sense:

The 2210 is also a router with full DHCP functions and may not function correctly when connected directly to another router. Not changing the modem to Bridged Ethernet may result in double NAT'ing, increased latency, possible IP conflicts or possibly a network that doesn't work at all.