Tips for New People on Google+ - Getting Started (part 1)

There are lots of excellent Google+ guides out there about the basics of how to be on Google+, what to do and how it works, but what I would like to share with you are my useful tips. 

Firstly the most important thing is to fill in your profile.  You can add as much as you want but remember that a blank or minimal profile with no photo as your avatar will guarantee people will NOT add you to their circles.  Try to add a few Public posts as well so that they can be seen on your profile.  These can be about anything that interests you, an article you have seen or even some YouTube songs.  You can also add some Shared items from your Posts but make sure there is no more than about 50% of shared items to start with as people will think you only share things and have not posted anything yourself – this also puts people off circling you.

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Start your circles straight away.  Decide what types of circles you will have which are of interest to you so that you can add people straight into the circles rather than just in one big circle.  For instance if you are interested in Reading, Photography and Needlework then label those circles ready to add people.  As you go along you will find interesting people who don’t fit into the circles you already have, so start a new circle for that category as you go along rather than just adding them to a circle you already have or they will get lost in it and you wont remember their name to move them to another circle later (you only need to get a few like that and your circles end up a complete mess).  It then becomes a huge headache later on trying to go individually through everyone’s profile and posts to decide which circle they should be in.  You will want to put some people into more than one circle depending upon if their posts overlap your different circles.  You may find some people would fit into a Tech and a Cooking circle for instance, so add them to both.  You can add someone to as many circles as you want – you could put them in every circle if you wanted.

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You can name your circles whatever you like as no-one but you will know what they are called – all the other person sees is a comment that says they are in your circles.  You can change the names of your circles at any time and move people from one circle to another easily (or un-tick them from a circle in their drop-down list).  You can delete a circle completely and you can start new circles at any time.    If you circle someone you are unsure about you can always un-circle them at any time too, so don’t worry about adding them to your circles in the first place.  Google+ will suggest people for you to add (on the right of your page) and you can also add anyone that you see making comments on posts in your stream.  The point though is not to add everyone you see but people who interest you, as you will soon build up a huge circle base anyway.

  

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The main stream of everybody in your circles is your default stream.  But you can click on any of the individual circles in the list on the left to see the posts by the people in that circle in your stream instead if you want.  Or you can just view your main stream until you find it gets too busy, which is often very quickly.  The circles on the left of your page though show in the order that you started the circle but on the main circles page you can move the circles around, by dragging and dropping them, to be in the order you would like them to show up on the left of your main page.  This is helpful if you started a new circle quite late, which you would like to see often, so it is better to have that circle showing near the top of your list.

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If your stream is looking a bit slow when you first start on Google+ you can look for people with the same interests as you.  Also there are often circles already shared of people you may be interested in.  Just search for shared circles and you can just add the whole circle which will give you loads of posts in your stream to see.  You can give it a name as you save it and remember you can always move these people around later to other circles or you can un-circle any of them if you wish.  You can join in and add comments at any time to the posts in your steam and you will find people will gradually add you to their circles too.  BUT I wouldn’t recommend adding a shared circle until you have filled in your profile and posted a few public posts or you will be wasting possible chances of being circled by the people in your newly added circle.  When you circle someone it shows up in their Notifications and so if the newly circled people check out your profile at that time, they need to see you are interesting enough to follow, so just wait until you have filled it in and added some public posts first.

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If you have any queries at all about how to do any of these things I have discussed then please just ask.  Most things are easy when you know how but often hard to work out the first time. My Google+ link is at the side of the page if you want to contact me there or you can leave a message on here if you prefer.

I hope this has been helpful.  Please let me know if you have found it useful as it is good to get some feedback.

I will be blogging some more tips tomorrow as there were too many for this one blog.


Here is the link to Part 2 if you want to view that as well:
Tips for New People on Google+ - Getting Started (part 2)

How much!

On Friday we took our two Lhasapoo dogs for a clip and parted with a hefty £64 which was bad enough (before and after pics below).  Personally I love them at the long length but they were just starting to get knotted where they play all the time, pulling at each other.  But while they were there at the "beauty parlour" we popped into our local retail park for some plastic drawers on wheels for my jewellery making equipment and supplies, in the hope that it will be a neater way to keep them.  You wait, next week I will be complaining that I can’t find anything J 

At the retail park though we decided to have a look in the pet supplies shop and came out over £50 lighter so it was an expensive dog day.  We decided they needed raincoats for the winter – well the wet days anyway.  We bought them some dog treat bones that they liked and we bought them muzzles to try to stop them eating anything and everything disgusting that they find on the walks.

I don’t know why but the dogs were manic the next morning – I am sure they must put some slow acting “speed” in the conditioner or something because they were fine in the evening.  But come next morning and they were playing and tearing around (and even almost fighting which they never do) and they must have covered 5 miles around the house before they even went for their walk.   They have calmed down again now though, thank goodness.  You wont believe how hard it is to get these two to stand still or sit for a photo so these are the best I can manage today.

They still have to get used to the muzzles as they spend half the walk trying the get them off by rubbing them along the ground or trying to pull them off with their front paws.  One of them got it off almost straight away so we had to tighten the strap.  We couldn’t let them off for their usual chase round the field because all they wanted to do was get the muzzles off so they stayed on their retractable long leads for today.

The coats look cute but only just fit without allowing for the fur growth so we are thinking that we maybe need to see how much bigger the next size up will be.  I remember it being quite big in the shop so I think they may well be too big but we really need to check them out as they cost enough!

For today’s trivia snippet here are a few Universal Laws:

Law of Mechanical Repair - After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch and you'll have to pee.

Law of Gravity - Any tool, nut, bolt, screw, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner.

 

Law of Probability -The probability of being watched is directly proportional to the stupidity of your act.

Law of Random Numbers - If you dial a wrong number, you never get a busy signal and someone always answers.

Law of the Alibi - If you tell the boss you were late for work because you had a flat tyre, the very next morning you will have a flat tyre..

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And today’s chuckle:

Just before midnight a local beat bobby is making his regular patrol when he spots a car parked in an out of the way "Lovers Lane".

When he carefully approaches the car to get a closer look, he sees a young man behind the wheel, reading a computer magazine. He immediately notices a young woman in the rear seat, filing her fingernails.

Puzzled by this surprising situation, the bobby walks to the car and gently taps on the driver's window. The young man lowers his window. 'Uh, yes, Officer'?

The bobby asks: 'What are you doing'?

The young man says: 'Well, Officer, I'm reading a magazine'.

Pointing towards the young woman in the back seat the bobby says: 'And her, what is she doing'?

The young man shrugs:  'She's filing her fingernails'. 

Now, the bobby is totally confused. A young couple, alone, in a car, at night in a lover's lane, and nothing obscene is happening! 

The bobby asks: 'What's your age, young man'?

The young man says: 'I'm 18, sir'. 

The bobby then asks: 'And her, .... what's her age'?

The young man looks at his watch and replies: 'She'll be 16 in 11 minutes...'  

It's Halloween, or is it?

Halloween is nearly here, not that we celebrate it much in England. I know Halloween is an American custom rather than an English one but it seems to be dying out again here in England.  I don’t remember anything about it when I was a child and it only seemed to take off over here perhaps in the 1970’s I should think.  It is a great excuse for a party to dress up in all the spooky gear though.

This is a link to a brilliant article I found about Halloween:

 http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/Halloween.html

There was a time when children used to go round door to door all dressed up in great costumes and people gave them sweets, chocolate and biscuits etc.  Unfortunately it is a sign of the times that kids don't do these things (Halloween, Penny for the Guy, Carol Singing) any more for the enjoyment of it and the perks of a few sweets or small change.  They don't bother really dressing up – an old sheet and a plastic hat is all a lot of them can muster, they don't make a Guy for Guy Fawkes night and they don't even sing more than 2 lines of a Christmas Carol when you get to the door – I wonder if they even know more than “We wish you a merry Christmas, We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year.  They just treat it as a chance to make some free money and totally snub you if you don't offer them some decent coinage.  This is why many people don't even answer the door any more. 

The whole atmosphere of these traditions have changed and are dying out here in England.  The kids get all they want these days so they can't be bothered making the effort just to get a few sweets and coins that are plentiful at home anyway.  The excitement has all gone.  I think a lot of the parents also decline from letting their child join in with this as they think it is begging off the neighbours and most parents don't want to escort the kids around scrounging off neighbours either.  

It's a bit like the awkwardness of having to try to sell raffle tickets the children have brought home from school or getting relatives, neighbours and friends to sponsor their children.  Most of the time the parents just make up names on the form and put the money in themselves (LOL - although the authorities probably know this already and just use it as a way to get money out of the parents for school equipment).

Personally I think we should all go back to celebrating Samhain our traditonal Pagan festival.

Here is our trivia for today:

TOP 20 FORGOTTEN WORDS

1. Bally: A British word from 1885 which is a euphemism for bloody
2. Laggard: An 18th Century word to describe someone who lags behind or responds slowly
3. Felicitations: From the noun of action felicitate, you would use this word to express   congratulations
4. Rambunctious: Boisterous or unruly, the word is believed to have originated in 1830
5. Verily: From Middle English, simply means true or in truth
6. Salutations: A welcome greeting
7. Betwixt: Originated before 950, and means neither the one nor the other
8. Lauded: From the Latin laudāre, to praise
9. Arcane: Known or understood by very few
10. Raconteur: A person skilled in telling stories,originated in the 19th Century, from the French verb, raconter, to tell
11. Cad: An ill-bred man, originates from 19 Century, derived from the word Caddie
12. Betrothed: The person to whom one is engaged
13. Cripes: Twentieth Century slang for an expression of surprise, euphemistic for 'Christ!'
14. Malaise: A vague or unfocused feeling of mental uneasiness
15. Quash: To put down or suppress completely; quell
16. Swell: Originates before 900 from the Middle English verb swellen, meanings include the verb to inflate and an adjective which describes if something is excellent
17. Balderdash: From the 1590s it was originally a jumbled mix of liquors (milk and beer, beer and wine, etc.), before being transferred in 1670s to 'senseless jumble of words'
18. Smite: To strike, deal a blow
19. Spiffing: From the word spiff, meaning well-dressed, means superb
20. Tomfoolery: Foolish behaviour

And here is our chuckle:

Paddy and his wife are lying in bed and the neighbours' dog is barking like mad in the garden.
Paddy says "To hell with this!" and storms off.
He comes back upstairs 5 minutes later and his wife asks "What did you do?"
Paddy replies "I've put the dog in our garden. Let's see how they like it!" 

How to Decide Whether to Add Your Photo as your Profile Picture

Have you ever noticed how your opinion changes of someone who you have got to know a bit, either online or on the phone, and then when you see a photo of them or meet them in person they don’t fit the image you had of them?  It is totally ridiculous but our brain forms not a picture as such but a person who seems to fit into a particular category and so when we actually see the person it most often comes as a complete surprise and our brain cannot accept them as the person we knew.  It is much more dramatic than seeing someone who you previously knew years ago who had changed a lot with a different hairstyle, maybe a beard and who now wears glasses and has put on weight.  The brain still accepts that person as a different version of the one we already know.

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As you know I used to run an Entertainment Booking Agency with a partner and I particularly noticed how much a photo changed perspectives when working there.  There was never a problem with the acts as of course we usually had publicity photos of those.  It was with the customers that I noticed it really.  We built some very close working relationships with some of the distance customers so we got to know them really well before we actually met them and in some cases it seemed really strange when we met as they were nothing like we expected them to look like (and most likely vice versa as well).  Sometimes the dynamics of the relationship changed after that initial meeting as well.  Often I presume just because the personal side of now knowing what the other person looked like affected the attitude of those involved. 

I sometimes found the other person a bit too intense after the initial meeting if they were male.  There is no getting away from the fact that a young woman can get a lot more attention and work than an older woman or a male.  We arranged a lot of military functions and I can only say that it worked to my advantage being a youngish female as phone calls were always returned and they made time for meetings.  Once we decided to put up a website and added our photos for the personal touch we found nearly everyone who rang in asked to speak to me and not my male partner in the agency.  That included women – women like to speak to other women, and males …. well males like to speak to women too, but for different reasons. 

I have noticed that although I decided I wanted to come out of the agency my ex partner has not changed the website at all and my photo is still on there.  I guess he thought it would be best for business and I have no problem with it still being on there as I am a rather laid-back soul and if it helps his business then I don’t mind.  I do wonder how it helps though, as apart from any new business, everyone else must know I am not there any more as it has been several years ago now since I left and they must just think the website is way out of date.  It probably just costs him too much to have it updated and to have my photo removed as he now just runs the agency in a smaller way on his own and the website hasn’t changed since I left.

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So there are several reasons I didn’t really want my photo to be on my sites, one of which is the reason I have mentioned, but also for several others as well.  I think there is a danger that stalkers can get too much information about you these days on these sites and not having a photo is quite a good prevention for this at the start.

Another reason is that I just hate having my photo taken – I must be one of these unphotogenic types.  There are very few photos I ever like of me and most of the photos before digital ones came in ended up in the bin.  I don’t look in photos the same as I look in the mirror (even though you are seeing a mirrored image to what everyone else sees) but other people have also said that I don’t look the same as I have come out in the photo.  The one I have used is one of the few that actually looks like me.

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Which brings me nicely to another point - the photo that is on someone’s profile may not actually be of the person at all.  It could be a photo of someone else entirely or a very old picture of the person.  So having an avatar on there instead is not a valid reason not to follow someone on sites like Google+, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter or the bookmarking sites either.  Checking out their profile, their followers (not the ones they are following) and their posts (checking they are not all shared posts) is a much better indicator of the person.

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If you are a good looking male or female you are likely to get a lot of followers for the wrong reason (unless of course you are on there to meet a partner in the first place).  But then you also have to risk once again that the other persons photo is really of them and not their good looking friend.

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However, I have succumbed and added a photo of me purely so that the people who are following me can put a face to the name BUT I am just going to keep it on my profile page rather than use it as my main picture.  So my Pendant-Heaven avatar will be the one that people see all the time as it is consistent with the avatar on all my other sites too.  

I do understand that some people have not followed me at all because I didn’t have my photo on my profile but then again are they the sort of  people I really wanted to follow me if they are that shallow that they only go by a photo rather than my posts or my profile information?

I also freely admit that it is subliminal possible advertising for my handmade jewellery, but then a girl has got to make some money somehow and the tiny reminder that I make pendants is there every time someone sees one of my posts.  They may not buy anything but at least they know I actually make the jewellery and will know where to look if they want something for a present if not for themselves.  If I didn’t use my Pendant-Heaven avatar they may remember that one of the people they are following makes jewellery but don’t remember who, although I must admit that the fact that I add one item to my ArtFire site each day and then post about it on the sites is a big clue.

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So at the end of the day it may well come down to whether you yourself are happy to put on your photo as your profile picture or not.  In most cases it would be perfectly fine but if you are a young female it is best to put a bit more thought into it as you may attract the wrong type of follower.

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Todays trivia snippet:

Why do people run over a string a dozen times with their vacuum cleaner, then reach down, pick it up, examine it, then put it down to give the vacuum one more chance?

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And here is todays chuckle:

A man went to church one day and afterward he stopped to shake the preacher's hand.

He said, 'Preacher, I'll tell you, that was a damned fine sermon. Damned good!'
The preacher said, 'Thank you sir, but I'd rather you didn't use profanity.'
The man said, 'I was so damned impressed with that sermon I put five thousand dollars in the offering plate!'

The preacher said, 'No sh-t?'

I am afraid I don’t know who this is to give them the credit but I saw it publicly on Google+ a while ago and it seemed fitting to use on this blog.

Oops – that was me!

Am I just accident prone???  I can’t believe I did this.  Last night I was taking the dogs downstairs to go to bed, as they sleep in the kitchen at night, and I fell down part of the stairs (most probably because I was so tired) but it was one of those occasions that you have no idea why you ended up on your bum, as I didn’t trip or slip as far as I remember.  Now I feel like a right old lady – falling AND not remembering how I did it!!!  Anyway, I hit my hand on the dado rail in a futile attempt to stop myself, without even thinking it consciously, taking about 3 layers of skin off the side of my hand (which I just know I will somehow touch on everything for the next week – isn’t that always the way when you hurt yourself) and I hurt a muscle in my calf (thankfully not my achilles tendon again) but apart from that I was fine so I figured I got off lightly..  

But my profanities either frightened one of the dogs in front of me, or she used it to her advantage, because she dived up the stairs again.  I carried on downstairs nursing my wounds but she wouldn't come down when I called her even though the other one was happily in her bed by this time, so in the end I went back up again.  This is when she started playing up.  Now she could have been worried, or she could have just been pushing the boundaries, so I sent her out of the bedroom but she went into the office instead of downstairs, so I sent her out of there and she dived back in the bedroom again but straight on top of Ray at this point.  By now I was rather annoyed to say the least as my hand was hurting, I was desperate to go to the bathroom and I was tired from the night before (more about that below).  I called her but she wouldn’t come so I went round the other side of the bed and tried to send her off that way but she still wouldn’t budge and she was right on Rays chest at this point with him sound asleep (how do men do that!?!).  So in the end I went to grab her but in my haste walloped Rays arm which finally did wake him up with a “what was that for?”.  Anyway a few minutes later one naughty puppy (well dog now, I suppose, as they are about 20 months old) was down in the kitchen and hubby back to sleep while I just about made it to the bathroom in time.

I mentioned the night before and you wont believe why I didn't get much sleep that night - it was a FLY.  It kept buzzing round the room all night long and it kept landing on my hair and crawling over my face! Why me I don’t know as it didn’t seem to land on Ray, unless he is immune to having things crawling over his face in the night.  So I think it must have been a male fly!   It just kept waking me up every time I went off to sleep.  I was too tired and lazy to spend too much time trying to swat it and kept hoping it would settle down or go away. It is surely too late in the year for flies anyway.  I hadn't got any fly killer and every time I tried to swat him I missed as he was a very active fly who hardly stopped buzzing around apart from when he landed on me. I tried spraying him with hairspray but that obviously didn't work although I am sure I got him. I seem to remember reading that it "set" their wings and stopped them flying - no such luck!   Hubby slept through it all!  

Looking back the next morning I would have had a much better nights sleep if I had bothered to put more effort into swatting him even if it did take a while 'cos at least I would have got a good few hours sleep but I was too tired and grumpy at the time and the fly was too fast for the eyes to follow!  Ray was up first and he found the battery powered fly zapper which paid to it in the morning though.  But it was too late for me to try to go back to sleep and I felt like a zombie all morning and last night I was *****ered.  So the last thing I wanted was a discipline lesson for the dog and a roller coaster ride down the stairs.

Here is todays trivia – really!:

A Dutch court ruled that a bank robber could deduct the 2,000 Euros he paid for his pistol from the 6,600 Euros he has to return to the bank he robbed. 

And here is a quick chuckle:

A man and a woman were married for 40 years. When they first got married the man said, "I am putting a box under the bed. You must promise never to look in it." In all their 40 years of marriage the woman never looked.

However on the afternoon of their 40th anniversary curiosity got the best of her and she lifted the lid and peeked inside. In the box were 3 empty beer bottles and £1955.00 in 5pound notes. She closed the box and put it back under the bed. Now that she knew what was in the box, she was doubly curious as to why.
That evening they were out for a special dinner at their favourite restaurant. After dinner the woman could no longer contain her curiosity and she confessed, saying, "I am so sorry. For all these years I kept my promise and never looked. However today the temptation was too much and I gave in. But now I need to know why do you keep the bottles in the box?"
The man thought for a while and said, "I guess after all these wonderful years you deserve to know the truth: Whenever I was unfaithful to you I put an empty beer bottle in the box under the bed to remind myself not to do it again."
The woman was shocked, but said, "I am very disappointed and saddened, but I guess after all those years away from home on the road, temptation does happen. And I guess that 3 times is not that bad considering the years." They hugged and made their peace.
A little while later, the woman asked the man, "Why do you have all that money in the box?" To which the man answered, "Whenever the box filled with empties, I cashed them in."

How To Feel Young

I am going out tonight and it will be an interesting evening!  My husband is in a club for old aircraft enthusiasts (and it's not just the planes that are old) who have regular social events for the wives too.  We don't go to many of these but he has booked us in for this one as he dragged me along to a similar one before.  I wouldn't mind but I feel like a baby compared to them as the average age is about 70-75 and my husband is one of the only 3 younger ones.  Don't get me wrong as I have nothing against older people and most of them are great but I just feel so out of place as last time the younger ones didn't come along and I am not sure if they will this time either.  

They play bar skittles (or table skittles) at this event and I had never even seen it played before yet alone tried it.  The winner last time has now passed on and the one who came 2nd, who usually always wins, is well into his eighties.  Well when my turn came the first puck (I think they were called) hit the side of the table and bounced back at me, the 2nd knocked some down but then shot off the side of the table and the 3rd one was ok.  After that though I got the hang of it and had a reasonable score for the 2nd round.  By the 3rd and last round I had definitely got the hang of it and seen how other people did it, so selected what I thought was the best method and knocked them all down in one go - a strike they called it when I used to go bowling but I have no idea what they call it in bar skittles.  

I used to really enjoy 10-pin bowling but haven't been able to do it for years due to a bad back but this is nothing like it whatsoever and the technique is completely different.  The only similar thing at all is the fact that skittles (or pins they are called in bowling) are used.  The thing you throw, which I think is called a Puck is more like an oval disc if I remember rightly (it was probably last year or early this year when I tried it before).  I don't know if it is just this group or the way they do it in general but they position a person either side at the back of the table ready to pick up the pucks and the fallen pins, taking it in turns.  Now this is logically totally stupid to me as they have to jump (well ok at that age take avoidance measures) to not get hit by flying pucks that have jumped off the table.  But it is not up to me as the baby of the group to suggest they position themselves BEHIND the thrower and just move forward when the player has finished - they have done it for so long it would be unlikely they would listen to a "child" (or new younger person) who doesn't know what they are talking about.  I have noticed in this photo of another bar skittles somewhere that they have a net behind theirs which would obviously help!       

Here’s a couple of trivia snippets for you today:

Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance. 

Dolly Parton once lost a Dolly Parton Look-Alike contest. 

And lastly todays chuckle (which seems appropriate today):

A guy is 72 years old and loves to fish.

He was sitting in his boat the other day when he heard a voice say, 'Pick me up.'

He looked around and couldn't see anyone.

He thought he was dreaming when he heard the voice say again, ‘Pick me up.'

He looked in the water and there, floating on the top, was a frog.

The man said, 'Are you talking to me?'

The frog said,

'Yes, I'm talking to you. Pick me up then kiss me and

I'll turn into the most beautiful woman you have ever seen'.

'I'll make sure that all your friends are envious and jealous as I will be your bride!'

The man looked at the frog for a short time, reached over, picked it up carefully,

and placed it in his front pocket.

The frog said, 'What, are you crazy?

Didn't you hear what I said? I said kiss me and I will be your beautiful bride.'

He opened his pocket, looked at the frog and said,

'Nah, at my age I'd rather have a talking frog.'

 With age comes wisdom.

                 

Vouchers!

Why is it that we are always buying things from certain companies but the moment we receive some vouchers for those companies we can’t see anything we want to buy for absolutely ages and sometimes even have to spend the vouchers on something we really don’t want just because the vouchers expiration time is almost up?  Isn’t it always the way! 

I used to get vouchers for using a credit card and had a choice of vouchers so chose ones for shops we used regularly – well not any more, as we haven’t had chance to spend the vouchers yet.  We never used to get vouchers for anything but in the last few years we have somehow acquired quite a few.  We currently have vouchers for books and cd’s, a clothing shop, a do-it-yourself store, a bear artist, a bear shop, 2 online shops and a supermarket – all of which we used to frequent regularly.  There is nothing like receiving a voucher for that place to stop you wanting to buy anything there it seems.  I think I need to receive vouchers for a lot more places and it will cut down my expenses a lot more.  Can someone send me vouchers for council tax, electricity, gas, water and insurance policies so that I can cut my expenses right down J

We always seem to receive supermarket vouchers through the post either for things we have just bought and wont need again before the voucher expires or for things we never buy.  When we have shopped at one of the supermakets for some things we can only ever get there they end up giving us a voucher for £6 off a £60 spend if we go there again within 7 days – we never do as we don’t frequent that expensive supermarket very often and if we spent the £60 it would probably have been more than £6 cheaper at our normal supermarket.  Another thing that happens to us is that we end up getting a fuel voucher from a supermarket just after we have filled up with fuel and have no plans to go far until after the voucher runs out, so we either can’t use it at all or can only top up the tank with a small amount.

Anyway, talking of vouchers I will be doing a giveaway of vouchers or bracelets soon to my followers as soon as I can work out the best way of doing it, as I obviously haven’t ever done it before.  So watch this space…

The trivia snippet for today is:

A ten year old mattress weighs double what it did when it was new, because of the -ahem- debris which is absorbed through the years. That debris includes dust mites (their droppings and their decaying bodies), mould, millions of dead skin cells, dandruff, animal and human hair, secretions, excretions, lint, pollen, dust, soil, sand and a lot of perspiration, of which the average person loses a quart per day. Good night! 

And here’s the daily chuckle:

An old priest who got sick of all the people in his parish who kept confessing to adultery.

One Sunday, in the pulpit, he said, "if I hear one more person confess to adultery, I'll quit!"

Well, everyone liked him, so they came up with a code word. 

Someone who had committed adultery would say they had "fallen".
This seemed to satisfy the old priest and things went well, until the priest died at a ripe old age.

About a week after the new priest arrived, he visited the Mayor of the town and seemed very concerned.

The priest said, "You have to do something about the pavements in town. When people come into the confessional, they keep talking about having fallen."

The Mayor started to laugh, realizing that no-one had told the new priest about the code word.
Before the mayor could explain, the priest shook an accusing finger at the mayor and said, "I don't know what you're laughing about. Your wife fell three times this week."

And for those who didn’t see my post of this water bed on Google+ or Facebook this is really hilarious, or I thought so:

Have We Stopped Him?

Autumn has definitely arrived now and it's getting very chilly here now in south east England - bright and sunny though, so a lovely day.  It takes so much longer to get dressed now though with more layers and we have had the heating on for 2 evenings now so it must be cold – I am not saying we are tight or anything BUT we don't put the heating on until we have to!!!

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I am having to reorganise my days now too if I want to take any photos of the jewellery, as it is getting dark so much earlier and even then there is a definite lack of brightness some days.  I should really have the photos ready a few days in advance so that I can schedule photography sessions for the brighter days.  I find it is still very awkward though as I can only take the photos on the bathroom windowsill, as you know, but the sun is so low in the sky now that it shines too much on the gemstones even when it is a bright day and the sun has moved round from the window so that I can take the photos.  It wont be long before we move the clocks out of British Summer Time either and then it will be even worse.

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I did a 3-card tarot reading for myself the other day about whether I would get back dancing soon but the outcome wasn’t very good which is a bit frustrating as I really want to get back to doing what I love.  Not only do I want to do it but I NEED to do it as I need to get some exercise.  I have already noticed my coffee intake has gone up just because it is cold and I don’t like black coffee so coffee is more calories than water for me.

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For those who are in my circles on Google+ you will know that we have had a mouse problem.  We thought we may have heard some scratchy noises a few days before but with two cats in the house and one who does like to use the carpets to sharpen his claws, we hadn’t thought too much of it as we thought it must be the cat making the noise.  But a couple of nights ago when we were watching television both of the dogs and both of the cats were in the lounge with us when we could hear these scratching noises above the lounge ceiling.  Now as we both believe in spirit activity we wondered if it was that at first but it went on too long and moved across the ceiling so we had the horrible suspicion that something had got in under the bedroom floorboards.  With fitted wardrobes it was not going to be easy to access under the floorboards but after an inspection of the nice neat garage (hmmph I am kidding – it is choc a block mayhem in there and very full – LOL, room for a toy car maybe) droppings were discovered just to prove we had an unwanted visitor or two (or more!).  Ray discovered that one of the heating pipes had come loose from its clip (the boiler is in the garage) so the gap for a mouse to go up into the house was larger than it need be.  He put the pipe back into its holder and we had to hope the mouse was not under the floorboards at the time or we would have a different problem in that it couldn’t then get out (if that was indeed the way he had got in – but as there were mouse droppings under the hole we presumed that was his illegal point of entry).  I certainly didn’t want the stench of a rotting mouse under the floorboards of our bedroom and over the lounge!  But last night we didn’t hear any noises so with a bit of luck we have blocked his route in – now all we have to do is get him to willingly leave the garage and move on to pastures new.  We have fields behind us but between us and the fields is a stable so he probably came from over there and sneaked in when our cat was out of the way (only the one cat would catch it – the other one wouldn’t have a clue – inbreeding I think as he is a pedigree!!).  The stupid thing is that we have a whole box of mousetraps that the previous owners had left (should have read something into that!!!) but they have slipped unnoticed into the piles of stuff in the garage never to be seen again (or certainly not when we want them!).  Ray always says he knows where everything is in his garage (certainly not mine or it would be more organised!) but of course when we want something he can’t find it!!!  As it is his domain it doesn’t usually bother me but it just irks me now and again when we want something and he doesn’t know where it is.  You wouldn’t believe me if I told you that we are / were turning the garage into a room – well we were when we moved in but a few years down the line the garage has got fuller and fuller!!!  Hopefully if there are no noises tonight we will have at least stopped the little perisher from getting into the house.

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Now what I want to know is how come when I post something on Google+ or Facebook I get about 3 comments if I am lucky yet if someone else puts anything they get about 100 comments.  Recently I posted something funny and got 4 comments and then I saw it again when someone else posted it the next day and he got over 100 comments.    I would love to know what I am doing wrong J

Here is todays snippet of trivia:

Each year, more people are killed by teddy bears than by grizzly bears. 

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And here is todays chuckle:

Four Catholic ladies are having coffee together.

The first one tells her friends,

"My son is a priest. When he walks into a room, everyone calls him 'Father'.

The second Catholic woman chirps,

"My son is a bishop. Whenever he walks into a room, people say, 'Your Grace'."

The third Catholic woman says smugly,

"My son is a cardinal. Whenever he walks into a room, people say, 'Your Eminence'."

The fourth Catholic woman sips her coffee in silence.

The first three women give her this subtle "Well...?"

She replies, "My son is a gorgeous, 6'2", hard-bodied stripper... Whenever he walks into a room, people say, 'Oh my God...'."

Are Holidays The Restful Break They Are Meant To Be?

Holidays used to be a pleasure, something to look forward to and a restful break from work.  Thirty or forty years or ago more people only ever had two weeks holiday a year plus Bank Holidays and often the company they worked for closed for a set period of two weeks so there was no choice about when to go on holiday.  This tended to be before overseas holidays took off and everyone just went to the seaside in England – for two weeks if they could afford it or for a day trip if not.

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Gradually people were given more holiday days the longer they had been working at the same company and companies stopped closing down completely for two weeks but had flexible holidays dates that could be staggered among the employees.  People started going on more than one holiday a year as they could split their holiday allowance and air travel became more popular so people started to travel further afield for their well earned break.

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But nowadays I hear more and more people complaining about so many things that were not right about their holidays and it seems it is now more relaxing to get back to work and normality after the tense break rather than actually enjoying the holiday itself.  The main problems appear to be in the actual travelling to the holiday destination or back.  Flight delays are the most common problem but bad hotel rooms, terrible food and awful resorts come high on the list too, before you even get to the basic but less common problems like being ill, having something stolen etc.

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Whenever I ask someone lately if they had a good holiday I have to prepare for them to tell me all the bad things that happened to them with regards to their well-earned break.  I very rarely find that everything went smoothly, lovely flights that were on time, a great resort, comfortable room, delicious food and brilliant weather.  They never seem to say they had a lovely relaxing holiday but usually say how pleased they are to be back but it is a shame they have to go back to work as they feel they need a rest from all the stress of the holiday. 

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Whatever happened along the way over the years???  I am sure people enjoyed just the two weeks break so much more in the last half of the century compared to all the holiday time people have now.

Todays trivia (I can’t say snippet today as it’s a lot longer than that):

So you think you're too old, huh? Well, here are 20 reasons, why you're never too old to accomplish your dreams (and I am sure you can think of a lot more to add to this list).

At age 40, Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run, more than anyone had ever hit.
At age 41, Christopher Columbus landed in the New World.
At age 44, Marie Curie won the Nobel Prize in chemistry.
At age 49, Mario Puzo published, The Godfather.
At age 52, Ludwig Van Beethoven composed the Ninth Symphony.
At age 53, Margaret Thatcher was elected Prime Minister of Britain--the first woman to hold    that office.
At age 55, Alex Haley published Roots.
At age 57, Annie Peck climbed Mount Huascaran in the Andes. She was the first person to reach the top.
At age 59, Clara Barton founded the Red Cross.
At age 63, Francis Galton revealed to the world that no two people have the same fingerprints and revolutionized crime fighting in the process.
At age 64, John Pierpont Morgan formed U.S. Steel, the world's first billion dollar corporation.
At age 65, Laura Ingalls published Little House In the Big Woods, the first story in the popular "Little House on the Prairie," series.
At age 68, Clifford Batt swam the English Channel.
At age 69, Mother Teresa won the Nobel Peace Prize.
At age 78, Grandma Moses began taking painting seriously. Soon afterward, her career took off.
At age 79, Benjamin Franklin invented the bifocals.
At age 92, George Burns starred in the movie, Eighteen Again.
At age 94, Leopold Stokowski signed a six-year contract to conduct music.
At age 95, Mother Jones, Union Organizer, wrote her famed biography.
At age 100, Ichijirou Araya climbed Mount Fuji.

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And while we are on an age related topic here’s todays chuckle:

As we Silver Surfers know, sometimes we have trouble with our computers.

I had a problem yesterday, so I called Eric, the 11 year old next door, whose bedroom looks like Mission Control and asked him to come over.
Eric clicked a couple of buttons and solved the problem.
As he was walking away, I called after him, 'So, what was wrong?
He replied, 'It was an ID ten T error.'
I didn't want to appear stupid, but nonetheless inquired,
'An, ID ten T error? What's that? In case I need to fix it again.'
Eric grinned.... 'Haven't you ever heard of an ID ten T error before?
'No,' I replied.
'Write it down,' he said, 'and I think you'll figure it out.'
So I wrote down:

ID10T

I used to like Eric

Why Do I Do It?

I love helping people but often get taken advantage of so I should learn how to just give enough…and no more.   

I often get asked about things by people as for some reason they always seem to think I will be able to help.  Well, I do my best.  But I know I always get carried away and they will expect me to do it for them in the end.  They just say they will leave it to me as I know all about it and they don’t.  Someone will ask me about how to do something on the computer or the internet and so I start to tell them but they can’t work it out, so my hand is itching to get to the mouse or the keyboard.  Do you know that feeling – it is sort of “ooh let me get at it”, a bit like a backseat driver in a way I suppose.  In the end I say I will show them and they willingly leap out of the chair to change places with me.  Now this is perfectly fine if I am just sorting out a problem for them – and believe me I am absolutely no expert but I suppose compared to them I probably am – but if they are wanting to know how to do something that they will probably want to do again I always make sure that I show them first but then get them to do it as well a couple of times so that they should know for next time.  I have even been known to send them instructions (every single keystroke type instructions) if they get stuck again so they can save them for next time they need to do whatever it was they were having problems with, as otherwise they keep asking me to do the same thing over and over again because they can’t be bothered to do it themselves or feel it is too complicated for them to manage.

I should have learnt by now as my mum was so dependent on me for everything from writing her cheques to choosing her curtains. She couldn’t do anything without either consulting me but mainly without me doing it for her.   My dad used to do everything when he was alive as she could never do anything or make decisions.  After he passed it was down to me to fill in his shoes and take over for her as she had no intention of ever doing anything herself.

 

I find people asking me about all sorts of other things and then wanting me to do it for them.  My husband has taken to asking me about looking for something or ordering something so we have discussed the best place etc. to get it from but I have realised that he then expects me to have ordered it whereas, as far as I knew, he was just consulting me and was going to order it himself.  If he or the kids want something they know I will go the full mile and search everywhere for the best item at the best price.

Sometimes though, it is just better if I don’t get too involved because I just waste too much time on it.  My daughter was away on holiday abroad recently and emailed me to see if I could look on the internet for a particular type of shop somewhere near where they were staying.  Well about 2 hours later I had finally run out of resources and emailed her all my findings.  When they came home I asked which one she had finally gone to and she just said they hadn’t gone to any of them in the end but thanks for looking for her! 

I have even been known to help people I hardly know with things that I should have just told them how to do without trying to help so much.  Some appreciate it which is great and some don’t – but I just like helping people – it is just my nature.  The only problem I find is that sometimes I have been so busy helping other people more than is absolutely necessary that I have no time left in the day to do the things I really need to do myself.

What I need to learn is to give the basic help someone needs without getting too involved.  If they ask me a question about something I should just give them the answer or explain it to them without going out of my way to look things up online for them or to find a different source for them.  If they can’t be bothered to follow that route then I shouldn’t be silly enough to use my time doing it for them either if they are capable of doing it themselves.  I can just feel pleased that I have helped them at all – and I do, I get a kick out of helping peopleJ

Todays trivia:

How come you never hear father-in-law jokes?

Todays chuckle:

An elderly man is stopped by the police around 2 a.m. and is asked where he is going at this time of night.
 
The man replies, "I am on my way to a lecture about alcohol abuse and the effects it has on the human body, as well as smoking and staying out late."
 
The officer then asks, "Really? Who is giving that lecture at this time of night?"
 
The man replies, "That would be my wife."