I have been home nearly a week now and I am gradually beginning to piece things back together. I am getting used to the grey skies and the icy winds. I have already picked up a cold and my sun-burnt red nose has been replaced by a constantly dripping tap. I have made a start on removing all the spam comments left on my blogs by some idiot called "S" during a thirty minute spamming frenzy whilst I was away (this is the reason that I have had to re-introduce the annoying word verification process for comments). I am back on the diet after putting on countless pounds and there is a long and hungry slog ahead if I am to meet my new target and claim victory in my bet with my friend Harry. Amy is glad I am back and as we walk the frozen paths of West Yorkshire her little tail wags in enjoyment. But my mind is still back on the other side of the world, with the warm blue sea and the heart-warming sun. I console myself by converting some of my holiday photos into on-line jig-saw puzzles and piece together the memories. The process of slowly reconstructing such a pleasurable holiday is soothing and is - up to a point - helping me to live with my sore throat and runny nose. Beyond that point I have learnt to rely on a decent single malt.
And a final reminder - sign up now on the new Sepia Saturday blog if you are sepia posting this week.
I've had a load of spam even with word verification,fake comment with an advertising link.
ReplyDeleteIt's clearly done by hand and comes from India where the wages are low enough for it to be viable.
Its a damn nuisance deleting as my ash can is not there half the time.
Alan,
ReplyDeleteCan you forward the website or whatever about the online jig-saw puzzle. That is so neat. I love it.
Sorry reality has set in; however, when you talk of walking your sweetie pie on the streets of West Yorkshire, that sounds very intriguing to me. I can remember you said you purchased a tweed suit recently. Will we have a picture of that soon? I think you should post it as a sepia picture. Have a great day today dreaming of blue skies and warm beaches. :) The Bach
Bach.
ReplyDeleteThe software I use is called Jigsaw Mania and you can download a free 30 day trial version from : http://www.inertiasoftware.com/jigsaw/
Once you have installed it you can use it to create puzzles from your own image files with lots of options relating to number of pieces, piece rotation, shape and size.
After 30 days if you get hooked - and be warned you will - you can buy the full version for, I think, $20.
.... and Bach, I will see what I can do about the tweed suit photo.
ReplyDeleteI saw the spam...started about two days after you left, like they knew you were gone or something. I too have put the captcha back up but don't get too much, as older posts are moderated after a couple of days( which seems to work for now ). I like the jigsaw puzzle thing with the snaps :)
ReplyDeletenothing says i love you like spam...lol. err...yeah mine captures these anon comments now for moderation...saves me quite the headache...
ReplyDeleteHi Alan,
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice way to 'rebuild' memories!
Hope you are feeling lit soon. -J
Oh brother .... I meant 'FIT soon'... but the 'lit' may work too.... -J
ReplyDeleteHope you're feeling better soon! As Subby mentioned, one pretty good spam fighter is to enable moderation for posts that have been up for a certain amount of time. The word verification apparently can be worked around.
ReplyDeleteI have heard that a hot nurse together with the malt can work wonders.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you look dashing in the tweed, Alan. I can imagine it suits you...no pun intended...hee!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to the pic.
I understand what you mean about finding solace in thinking about your favorite holiday spot. That's what I do when I'm stuck at the office while it's snowing and I'm feeling a bit blue. (The symptom not the color.)
ReplyDeleteMine is this lovely little park in London. I picture myself sitting there in the summer on a blanket with blue skies and a soft breeze.
Alan, it's lovely to have you back. Sorry about your cold, it must be the shock of returning. I know exactly what you meant (a few days back) about being deaf and losing touch with everyday chit-chat and thus really valuing the online blogging community. It's the same for me and I am surprised really how much it means, to share glimpses of life and its ups and downs with fellow bloggers. I am constantly amazed, uplifted and humbled by what is shared online. Not to mention amused. I missed you!
ReplyDeleteAlan...sorry to hear that you're under the weather. Hope you feel better very soon. It is hard to get back to reality after vacation. I was just looking at pictures of our recent trip yesterday. I was sitting at work and have them saved on my computer. I decided to put one up on my computer as the wallpaper. The warm ocean sure looks better than our weather...got down to 5 degrees farenheit last night. But it is sunny today : )
ReplyDelete"A" decent single malt?
ReplyDeleteCome now, AB... we know you better than that. Heh.
aphozoo: noun: an apathetic sneeze.
at least your mind can still pull up blue skies and warmth...we had a patch of blue for about 5 minutes, and I got all excited, but then poof - gray and snow came back. oh well, it is february and according to weather records our snowiest month!
ReplyDeletehope the drippy nose stops soon. am sure the single malt helps!
i think i had word verification then got rid of it as like others i found i was still getting hit by sneaky spammers.
oh just checked still have word verification, and yes still getting spammed, maybe less so.....
ReplyDeleteAww poor possum. Bit of a shock getting back into the cold I imagine. For some reason, I always get a cold after a long haul flight. All those germs locked in a flying tin can. Hope you're feeling better. I wouldn't mind playing with the jigsaw puzzle application either Alan, very cute idea.
ReplyDeleteJust back from the pub quiz where we won the jackpot. The question was "name the five great lakes of North America". Got all five and won £45 ($60) thanks to my knowledge gained from other bloggers. It makes the running nose and sore lips just about bearable.
ReplyDeleteCatching a cold is the pits. I hope it is short lived. It sounds like the only one really glad for you to be back is Amy. She is so glad that the leave wasn't a permanent one. Hopefully there will be a change in this weather the next couple of weeks. Take care, drink lots of tea.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the pub prize. Sorry your under the weather. It took me a good three weeks after my trip to return to any sort of normalcy. I do hope you feel better soon.
ReplyDeleteAlan, they couldn't go an even 50 quid? 10 per lake, heh, heh...well done sir!
ReplyDeleteAlan,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the puzzel info and looking forward to the tweed suit pic. To you and yours, A Happy Valentine's Day! :) The Bach
A cold? And on a diet? No, no, no. You need sustenance. Put the diet off. (And keep the cold going as long as possible ...)
ReplyDelete