On dogs

You have to understand. This is not a mainstream blog. I get one or two visitors a day, and on good days, I get maybe five. So, I was baffled when I went to StatCounter and discovered that over 120 people visited my blog and they all went to the same page. By time the surge ended (it ran from the 18th to 19th), I had 198 page views which boiled down to 152 unique visitors.

I have no idea why that page is so popular. Also of interest is that so many visits came from Europe and especially the U.K.. A number were multiple visits. My first thought was that possibly my sight was being used as some type of portal but considering how aware I am of setting up security protections, that seems far off. No, it seems that I chose a picture of dogs that is pretty popular, because most of the searches came from Google images.

Happy Birthday to Me

Well, today is my birthday. It is one of those decade markers. I don’t really feel that old, but when I look back, I sure have had a lot of experiences.

Anyway, I don’t really feel like celebrating it. I’m not depressed or anything, it just feels like just another day to me. I’m really happy I”ve made it this far, especially considering all the medical stuff I’ve been through the last couple of years.

Thanks to ramblintadpole for the image. I’m not that old though.

here’s the scoop

I thought I was just being cranky when I seemed to notice more dog elimination on sidewalks and in the parks in my neighborhood. But it wasn’t all in my head according to the New York Daily News:

The number of dog owners getting nipped with summonses for not scooping their pooch’s poop more than doubled this year as part of a citywide crackdown on the nasty behavior.

“Clean up after your dog or we are going to get you,” warned Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty.

From another article written in April in the Daily News about being environmentally friendly with out pets, this scary information is revealed:

…pet waste left on the ground is a significant contributing factor to the spread of a host of diseases, including parvo virus, giardia, salmonella and E. coli bacteria. It can also flow untreated into the water supply. Not to mention that it’s gross and pollutes the parks and sidewalks.

It’s always a drag to discover the dogs’ calling cards just as your foot encounters it. I don’t just want to complain, so if you follow the link to that second article, there are lots of solutions. There, I feel better.

annual blog migration post

I’ve been considering the possibility of migrating this blog to a different service. Typepad has been really good to me, but I think I’ve outgrown it. I’d like to have more control over the blog’s innards. I’ve been on TypePad for years, but a couple of years ago I decided to play with WordPress.

If you check my archives, you’ll see this is not a quick decision. I’ve been considering it since 2005. It seems I always think about this topic at this time of year. Do a search for WordPress over on the right to see how long I’ve been thinking about it.

There are two (actually three) types of WordPress. The Wordpress I talk about, is WordPress.org. It’s a free download, but requires that you have a host for the files, and you must install it. The other is WordPress.com. This is also free, but it’s like Typepad in that you have a lot less control over things. No download necessary,… takes less than five minutes to get a blog. The third WordPress is a multiple users version and is generally used by big companies like the New York Times (blogs).

All of this is to say, that I will definitely be moving the blog over to WordPress, but before I quit Typepad, I’ll need to find out how to move my Typepad Photos blog.

I don’t think I mentioned my hosting service, which has been really fantastic. They have been so good, that I have one of their tags at the bottom of my whispers blog. They’re called HostM.

Best Web Hosting by

Official Hosting Partner

details

In a previos post, I said I’d post the details of my absence, so herewith, the details, in abbreviated form:

Can you take me to the hospital?

How long have you been feeling this way?
About half an hour.

You’ll feel about 5 seconds of discomfort.
A long 5 seconds or a short 5 seconds?

I am simply the source of the lines on the monitor.

You’ve tried it 3 times and no change?

20 of lidocaine.

Are you sure doctor?

Do we have any paddles? Let’s get some paddles on him.

Don’t worry,… it’s just in case.

You’ll have a weird feeling.

How do you feel now?

Okay… but my rips are numb. I mean my brips are brumb.

You’re probably feeling better now.

Ventricular Tachycardia

So what happened to me?

Your heart was beating at 202 beats per minute… normal is around 60.
You’ll be staying overnight.

ablation procedure

Shave.
No haircut?

We got, what we believe was the main cause.

i’m back

Sorry I’ve been away but medical problems interfered with the blogging. Anyway, I’m back. Details to follow.

I’m back

I came back to work yesterday, despite still feeling crappy. In talking with my MD, I set up an appointment with a specialist for Thursday morning. Hopefully he/she will be able to pinpoint what is wrong. This is getting soooo tedious.

Meanwhile, I am learning a great deal about CSS and XHTML via the book mentioned earlier. I’ve also been following the tutorial over at WestCiv. The tutorial is an excellent walk through on CSS (and their product of course) while creating a web page. I have, so far, found only one inconsistency from what I have read elsewhere. For instance, in using shortcuts in CSS, the order I’ve learned is:
top, right, bottom, left. They give a different order. I’m not sure what the reason is.

I made the mistake of listening to Jerry Springer on the way into work. He actually thinks the powers that be, care about America. I think they care about themselves and their friends, but they have no love of country. They have done nothing to indicate they care about this country or its citizens. Wearing a lapel pin of the American flag is just not enough in my book.

boring

You may remember back on Mar. 30th my complaining about being sick. Well that sickness never quite went away and in fact warranted a visit to the MD last Friday who prescribed something to suppress the cough rather than an antibiotic because she thought it was viral rather than bacterial. After the weekend, it became pretty certain that it was bacterial and she ordered an antibiotic. By this time, the coughing was severe enough to put me on my back (literally). So, I’ve been home from the past 2 days, without the will to even sit at the computer let alone type anything. Thankfully, I’m feeling better today and am hoping I am finally on my way to recovery.

Meanwhile I’ve had lots of time to read between naps and the book I ordered came and I’ve been perusing that. I am very happy with the purchase because the book fills in a lot of holes in my knowledge about XHTML and CSS.

Okay, that’s enough for now, time for another pill and nap.

i hate being sick

Oh boy. I was sick all weekend with a temperature and chills and aches. Fortunately, I had taken Monday off because we were having piece of furniture delivered. Even more fortunately, the delivery came early in the day so I was able to return to bed, where I had been the past two days. By Tuesday, I was feeling a little better and decided I could return to work. MISTAKE. I felt lousy most of the day, including the damn chills and tiredness.

So, taking hint from my body, I’ve decided to stay home today and try to recover.

shoulds

I should be writing something about

• the Senate and the bankruptcy gift they are about to give to credit card companies and banks at the expense of working class people,
• or I should be writing about bush appointing an arrogant ass like bolton as ambassador to the UN,
• or how American soldiers’ armor was waylaid,

or whatever, but all I can think about is how much I want winter to be over. No more snow… No more gray… I’m ready for spring.