Tricia's Musings

Random Thoughts about life in general, living in the big city of Toronto



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Archives for 2008

How do you handle comment spam?

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I’m so sick of spam! I swear, most days, every second comment I get on all of my blogs is either spam or someone just commenting to get a dofollow link and using a SEO user name.

I have the spam bots pretty much under control between the Akismet, Bad Behavior and WP-Spamfree plugins I use, but comment spam from real people is a constant problem.

I’m seriously considering closing comments on my old posts. I don’t really want to do that because I get real comments on older posts all the time, but I also get comment spam on them too.

I mark comments that appear to be spam (don’t make sense or that really don’t add to the post “good post!”) as spam and put them in the Akismet bin quite often. Others that look like they’re from someone commenting just for a link and or using a tacky SEO user name are either marked spam or have their links removed. It all depends upon the comment, how many comments or the number of my blogs they hit that day and the mood I happen to be in when I find the comment.

How do you handle human comment spammers on your blog?





Shopping for the holidays and sticking to a budget

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Does it seem like time is flying by faster than normal or is it just me? This month has gone by so quickly I can hardly believe that we’re near the end of November already. Before we know it Christmas will be here!

I often procrastinate when it comes to doing my Christmas shopping. This year I’m determined to get it all done before the 24th! I hope I can do it! I mean, I have a history of doing ALL of my Christmas shopping on the 24th! LOL So to get it done well before that date it’s going to be a challenge.

Another challenge this year will be finding quality gifts, yet spending as little as possible. No, I’m not cheap. I generally give nice gifts, however, this year we have virtually no spare cash.

We don’t have Black Friday here in Canada, so I can’t count on a major sales day before Christmas to help me keep my gift budget low, so my plan is to keep a close eye on Online stores and watch for items I’m interested in to go on sale.

Online stores like Buy.com often offer Free Shipping on select items or items in certain categories, so if I do end up doing some of my shopping online I’ll be watching out for free shipping deals as that will also save quite a bit of money.

I’ve also bookmarked buy.com’s Holiday Superstore and I’ve been checking it every couple of days to see if they have any deals on items that I might want to give to friends or relatives as gifts. A lot of the items in that section are not only on sale for great prices, but they also come with free shipping as well! Now that’s a deal.

Have you already started shopping for the holidays? Are you watching your gift budget carefully this year?

Finally resting after a busy weekend

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It’s been a busy weekend! I’ve been to the hospital to see our friend that had heart surgery … oh … maybe five times!

She’s doing well but she’s groggy and in pain and of course she’s said that if she knew she was going to be in this much pain she wouldn’t have had the surgery. I told her once she starts to feel better she’ll notice that her pre-surgery symptoms like shortness of breath will probably be gone and as she slowly starts doing things that she hasn’t really been able to do for the last couple of years she’ll be happy she had the surgery. She wasn’t buying it this evening, but I’ll bet she’ll come around!

I’m still sick of course. What else is new, eh? I’m pretty sure that I’ve had a partial bowel obstruction going on since Friday or maybe even Thursday. If I don’t start to feel a bit better by tomorrow I might be going to the hospital for myself.

We also found out that another friend of ours, the best friend of our friends that have been in the hospital, is dying of Pancreatic cancer. He just took a turn for the worse today, so we might have some very bad news later in the week.

I know that some of you were probably expecting to see a Green Thumb Sunday post today. Between all the visits to the hospital to see our friend and my own illness I’m just not up to sorting through my garden pictures to post something for GTS today. Sorry.

Instead I’m lying on the couch watching 24:Redemption (we taped it on the PVR while we were visiting our friend in the hospital this evening). Geez it’s been a long time since 24 has been on TV hasn’t it? When was the last time a regular season episode aired … April 2007 or something like that I think! I can barely remember where 24 left off! I hope that between this movie and the start of the series again in January or February that they do some kind of recap show. I normally hate those shows (especially during the season when a show has been airing regularly (hint hint Desperate Housewives and Lost), but in this case I think it might be necessary.

Are you watching 24:Redemption this evening or did you watch the music awards or maybe even the Grey Cup (Canadian Football final game – like the Superbowl but not as well known)?

Reflections of Midnight

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This weeks Photo Hunt theme is Reflection

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I took this photo near the beginning of November.

We had taken Midnight, our Lab, to a local park for a romp in the woods and while there she found a small pond and being a water dog couldn’t resist jumping in.

I like how you can see her reflection in the water in front of her. You can also see blurred reflections of the trees surrounding the pond in the water too.

Here’s a shot of Midnight as she got closer to the edge of the pond. You can still see her reflection in the water in front of her, but what I like most about this photo is that it’s an action shot. Look at how the water parts around her as she runs towards land. She was moving fast!

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We’ve had snow this week. Snow that stayed on the ground. It’s beginning to melt but I think we’re expecting more, so I doubt Midnight will have any more swims in ponds or the lake this year! She does love rolling around in the snow so I’m sure she won’t miss the water too much!

Check out my other Photo Hunter entry Reflections of Toronto too!

Stupid Crohns – when will it end?

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Other than being sleepy from lack of sleep this week (and weeks past) I haven’t been feeling too bad this week … well, up until today anyway!

I really thought this Crohn’s flare was beginning to calm down. I was wrong. Today has not been a good day. My stomach, or rather my abdomen, has been in terrible pain all day. I’ve had severe cramping, fevers and oddest of all my feet have been freezing cold, yet clammy to the touch. Yuck, I know.

I was lying on the couch this afternoon, bundled up in a blanket to keep warm. My feet were like ice cubes and every once in a while I’d reach down to feel my foot because they were so cold they felt wet. As if I’d been outside walking in the snow in running shoes or boots with a hole in them … you know how your socks get wet when you don’t wear proper footwear in the snow? Cold wet feet. Uh huh … and my feet were damp. It must have been a result of all the fevers I’d been having, but it’s not a symptom I generally have (cold clammy feet I mean).

I think the abdominal pains are/were a bowel blockage. I have strictures (scar tissues and narrowing of my intestines) thanks to the Crohn’s so blockages happen more often than I’d like. I think it’s resolving now – finally.

I also have absolutely no appetite. I’m not really even thirsty either, although I’ve been making myself drink plenty of water as that’s one of the way I resolve these mini-blockages I get. It’s almost as if I took a handful of appetite suppression pills or something.

I hope I start feeling better by tomorrow. Honestly that’s one of the reasons why we didn’t meet up with our friends husband this evening. However, I expect we’ll be in and out of the hospital visiting our friend who just had open heart surgery several times over the weekend, so I need to feel better.

I just wish I could have at least one day where I felt completely normal and healthy. That’s not too much to ask for is it?

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