Winter is here – How do I know? Pot holes! They are popping up. Starbucks always gets one in a main driving area and it opened up this week. I know it’s there yet I always hit it. It moves around as they do “permanent” fixes but there is always one somewhere there.
Shorts season at the gym – Despite weather temperatures in the teens, this past week I have seen a few guys wearing shorts (no women). Nothing too exotic – they wear those long floppy basketball shorts that touch the knees. One guy wore them over black tights. That wasn’t a good look.
In contrast – My walking group is so different from the gym group. There are a few people who I nod to at the gym. It’s just a slight “Wassup” nod. Nothing too friendly. The walking group is different. I know everyone’s name. People chatter to everyone, men and women. (Keep in mind that this is pre-coffee for me so I’m not really all that sociable!) It makes the time go so fast.
I can’t unsee that ever! – Comments from new people or unrecognized sources have to be approved on my blog. WordPress is good at catching spam but occasionally someone will make a comment that doesn’t quite make sense but contains normal words without links. If I have any question, I will check their blog before approving. This past week, I checked on one and it was beyond pornographic. I wasn’t there long enough to see if it was WordPress but it shouldn’t be allowed at all (yes, it was that bad).
Back to Internet Explorer – After a few weeks trying out Edge, Microsoft’s new browser, I’m back to IE. There was an issue with the interface between IE and WordPress and it’s been resolved. I tried Chrome too. I like my toolbars, especially for searching but they have gone the way of shoulder pads and platform shoes. Sigh!
Yesterday the shorts made their way outdoors. I actually saw shorts and a tank top (YES) walking into our building.
I agree with the potholes moving … they do … they really do!
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Yesterday at 60 degrees I saw a lot of shorts. Way too cold for me to wear them but the young’uns don’t care about cold. They only care about cool.
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I’ve had two weird comments lately, obviously from people who hadn’t bothered to actually read my blog and just wanted to advertise theirs:(
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I get those too.
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There’s always some guy at the grocery who wears shorts all year long. I don’t get the need for some men to show off their knees everywhere they go. Your walking group sounds like fun… although pre-coffee sounds counterintuitive to me.
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Pre-coffee is a challenge for me but if I drink beforehand, I have too many bathroom runs.
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I had a porn site link to my blog for a while. Apparently some people have a different interpretation of the word “squirrel.” I could find no way to break the link, but eventually they gave up and broke it themselves.
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Squirrel? Never mind, I don’t want to know! At least it resolved itself.
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I’m thinking of dispensing with my comments. I don’t get as many as you do Kate. You’ve really become a successful writer. I cringe often at the inappropriate remarks written I just delete. But it’s getting more disturbing. Congratulations on your many readers.
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I get disturbing comments sometimes and delete them. You can close comments on a specific post if you think it will stimulate the negative.
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I looked at that but couldn’t find it. Need to look again. Thanks
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Do you mean turning off comments for a post?
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yes…I thought there was a way to turn them off altogether.
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There is both.
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ok will look again.
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My blog has a very overactive spam filter so I never get those ex-rated links. I think I should bet a more flexible spam filter. 🙂
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There wasn’t a link in the comment but when I checked on what the person wrote, that’s where I saw it. If your filter is catching them all, that’s good. Once in a while my filter will snag someone I know but not often.
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My filter blocks any comment it deems to be from a ‘bot’. Comments that it deems ‘suspicious’ it dismisses to the ‘Spam Folder’. When I check, Marty from Snakes in the Grass is usually hanging out in there!
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Marty has never ended up in my spam folder but some others have. They didn’t have links and were WP (which is the platform I use) so I don’t know why. One of the mysteries of computers that I’ll never understand.
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I use Chrome now. I was also sad to give up the old, familiar IE. But I had no choice, Things were no longer working. I feel your pain.
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Eventually I will have to switch too. I’m fighting it every step!
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In Idaho, we have four distinct seasons: Construction, construction, construction and POTHOLES! Yep, that’s us! I’m a Chrome girl, myself. I like my browser to stay the same on every device, and I’m sorry, but Bing just doesn’t cut it! ~ Lynn
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Don’t use Bing at all. I don’t like switching around. Each one has it quirks, some good and some bad but all different! We have a long construction season too. Recently they closed a busy bridge for repairs. For three years! It will have some effect when we travel east.
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I am trying to picture the long board shorts with leggings! That’s an interesting choice, isn’t it? I don’t know how it is across the country, but I honestly think it’s possible that Southern Californians could win hands down for weird and at times extremely inappropriate dress. Absolutely anything goes! I am sure my age is showing when I protest, but I would like to be able to go to the theater and wear a nice dress and not be overdressed. Just one of my rants…LOL!
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We have a local college that does wonderful plays. Everyone over 40 wears nice clothes — dresses or pants and tops. Everyone under wears jeans with holes and really odd tops. Showing my age!
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In Colorado, pot holes tend to have a different meaning.
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🙂 Perhaps it’s a better meaning!
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There’s a reason they never get caught up, filling the holes. Around these parts, we’re pretty sure there is a separate truck from the city, that installs the pot-holes, then the other truck fills them. Job security.
There are some bizarre sites on WP. I stumbled across a post about them a good while back. I just did a Google search, and the first one was “How to build a WordPress Porn site — Unfinished Man.
You would think WP would try to scan for those and remove them.
Most of them are hackers that send those links. Some are bots. I have had some hacker running a bot against my server for the last 4 months. They are hiding their IP, appearing to come from Russia, China, and once from Microsoft. That was funny. The bot tries every so often with a made up username and password.
The walking group sounds like fun!
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I don’t know how strict WP is on content. I know they have “mature” sites but this was definitely over the top. I like your thinking on the potholes. I could see that happening.
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Every once-in-a-while I get a comment, like, or even a follow from a site that I’d rather not subject myself to. Often I can tell from the titles of the suggested blog post links that it’s probably not my “thing,” but sometimes I’m fooled into looking. Yikes! For this reason, I always do research before I approve a comment from someone I don’t know (thank you WordPress for this ability!).
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I learned early on that it’s best to be sure of someone before you approve them. It’s one of the reasons that I don’t take statistics seriously.
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What do you mean by toolbar? Like the old AOL that has places for settings and stuff like that?
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My toolbar has a search feature where whatever I type in remains until I delete or close out. That way I can click on something then go back to search without retyping. It also has a pop-up button (to allow one), spell check, autofill along with file, edit view, favorites, tools and help tabs. I don’t remember the old AOL features. You can still use these on Edge but they are hidden and you have to click here and there to find them.
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So, in other words, it’s unlike Chrome where you open new tabs? The gardener has a lot of trouble using Chrome and prefers his old AOL. I guess that’s a toolbar!
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Maybe…I think Chrome is similar to Edge.
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Thanks for NOT approving the comment which led to the porno site ~> as you note, It is hard to “unsee” stuff like that.
Our weather right now is glorious! First bike ride in a couple weeks. Tomorrow we’re going to Epcot for the International Arts Festival. The forecast is for sunny skies and 81 degrees! I’m sure we’ll see lots of visitors in shorts. 😀
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81! I dream of that temp! Have a great time!
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I’ve encountered some of the strangest “blogs” on WordPress that are really shills for some external website. I’m not surprised you found porn, but what is surprising is that they found you. I have to believe there’s something robotic and automated, similar to the Russian shenanigans in our election. Hope this is the last you’ll see of it, Kate. – Marty
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I’ve had the same weird comment submitted by different names over the past week. I just looked at the first one. After that I put them automatically in the spam file. It reminds me of a few months back when I kept getting follows by flooring companies. The first name was always different but the last part was always the same. Probably bots. Why they end up here, I have no idea.
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I tried Edge, too. I couldn’t remember the name and kept calling it Exit. That was a much more fitting name. Shouldn’t these things be getting better????
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You would think. The new stuff is designed for easier use with mobile devices. To me it looks like cleaner pages without things like toolbars and such. You have to maneuver around differently. Someday we will have to learn.
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That’s a great explanation. It sounds a bit like “one size fits all”. Doesn’t work well for me. I think you are coming to terms with it very nicely.
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And whining quite loudly! 😉
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OMG – I remember the potholes! We get them a little bit here, but PA was ridiculous with them. Sounds like you have a fun walking group!
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The walking group is hilarious. The woman I walk with talks my ear off which is good. Pre-coffee Kate is not so chatty.
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Potholes on the highway coming back from Florida were enough to eject us right out of our seats! Not to mention dodging all the other crap on the road and huge sheets of ice sliding off of semi trucks was a bit unsettling, too. I keep trying to give Edge a chance but I always go back to Chrome within minutes. Good to hear that WP and IE have worked out their issues. I think it is interesting how those fashion trends/quirks get started. When I was in high school I cut the sleeves off my sweatshirts for summer to short sleeve length… made things breezy cool when riding horses in the heat. Then as it got cooler I added a long sleeve white tee under the sweatshirt. Two years ago I tried that again and I love it… at 66! Who knew? Almost time for a Sunday nap!
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I have a 3/4 sleeve that I put over a long sleeved tee. I like to be warm! Computers, bleah!
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I’m not a fan of Microsoft Edge either, Kate. One thing that really bothers me are the messages that pop up while I’m using another browser telling me that ME is faster…very creepy. I hope you’ll watch a little of the game this evening…it should be a nail-biter.
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Not biting my nails tonight!
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I did peek a bit. It was quite a game. Not sure it’s a dream. Derrick must be in heaven!
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Oh yes, he certainly is! It was a great game. 🙂
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Onward!
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OH No about that pornographic site, did you report it to WordPress at all? I had a comment appear one time that I checked out too and while it wasn’t pornographic it was VERY graphic and obviously the site had one purpose….To attract females! I wanted to tell the guy that WordPress is NOT a dating site, but I was too turned off by what his site to say anything.
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It was one of those micro seconds. I saw the site and immediately closed it. I can’t even tell you the title but I can tell you in great detail what the middle picture was! Not sure what the whole point it. Pick your audience!
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My son wears the baggy basketball shorts with the leggings all the time. A lot of times he wears the sleeves too. It is a muscle thing. I agree it is a “different” look but I don’t have to buy them so…
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Perhaps it looks better on a young guy than a senior. Then again none of us dress up at the gym. It’s the one thing I really like about it. I was afraid I’d want to look nice but I don’t! 🙂
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Potholes are a real hazard here too. We are currently in pothole hell, and the city claims they have multiple crews out every day, with each crew fixing between 50-80 potholes a day.
… and yet they are not catching up.
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The Starbucks potholes are on mall property. Some years they have done a temporary fix until the spring but it never lasts. The last few years they let it go until spring or it got so deep you could see China! The street potholes get fixed quicker. A few townships got together and bought some sort of equipment that can make repairs in the cold weather.
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Right now it’s not too bad … most of the worst potholes can be seen.
It’s awful in the spring or when there’s a big thaw and the holes fill with water. Then it becomes impossible to judge how deep they are.
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Even when I see them, I hit them! They will be there for another 2 or 3 months!
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In the winter potholes are the worst. The sun goes down early, so everything is dark. It’s darn hard to see those potholes! They’re not too bad here in central Virginia, but when I lived in Oklahoma City where the weather can be FIERCE, the potholes got big enough to swallow the econocars.
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Even when I know exactly where they are, my car seems to have a homing device to hit them!
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So your walking group is almost like live entertainment? That would be a nice distraction. 🙂
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It is. I am disappointed if I have a conflict and miss it. It time sensitive because the group is there from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. so going later is different. The gym offers something different. Nothing social but a sense of accomplishment and sometimes sore muscles.
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