Whiskey Girl (Pet Rat), has passed.

~ Ron Walker ~ 24 Comments

Whiskey, my beloved little Rat buddy, has passed on. She died last evening, here in the office. She was looking poorly when I got her out to bring her in here, having breathing problems. She was very old for a Rat. They usually live about 2 years max. She was over 4 years old. She will be greatly missed. 

Her last pictures yesterday with me in the office. You can tell from her eyes, that she is not feeling well. 

She was laid to rest out back, in her house.

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This, is how I will forever remember her. Full of life, and teasing her buddy Reboot. Watching me, as I play on the computer. :emo-Heart:

I will surely miss her.

I don’t mind the leaves falling, but the limbs are another thing!

~ Ron Walker ~ 8 Comments

Yesterday, around two pm. There was a crash outside. Everything had been quiet all day. Hot, but quiet. Only about a 15% chance of rain. Then a light rain started, and the wind picked up.

The rain placed more weight on the leaves as they became damp, and large sudden gust of wind brought down a fairly large limb. It crashed across our fence and the neighbors fence. Pretty much flattening them both, in one section. Had that limb fallen on the roof, it could have caused severe damage.

I’m thinking it was a couple of micro-burst that came from the short 10-minute rain. Our tree was hit, and about 100 yards (91.44 m) down the road, it emptied the trash dumpster outside their store, scattering trash all over the area. No damage to the store, but I’d never seen a dumpster relieved of most of the contents by wind before.

So I am keeping a weather eye out, and will sleep lightly till Fall sets in, and the winds aren’t full of rain and powerful.

I hope your weekend has been a good one. I wish I had been fast enough to catch the high speed chase that passed our location Friday night.

Gremlins in the Blog?

~ Ron Walker ~ 23 Comments

Strange things continue to crop up from time too time, regarding the Blog. From regular posters/commentors showing up as anonymous, to Gravatar/Avatar images missing for some. Or worse cast scenario, they are sent to the spam folder. I have tried optimizing the database, removing all but the basic plugins needed. I have even removed the small live cam feed I was running for a bit.

I’ve checked this end to no avail. The only thing left, is perhaps the theme has gone nuts after the last upgrade to the theme. Everything including the theme is up to date. I had a plugin that allowed me to insert and or attach video and pictures into comments or replies. That has ceased to function. So I removed it.

Scans with WordPress security software, indicate nothing amiss, and all files original. So bear with me as I chip away at the anomalies. If I have to, I will rebuild the blog, and restore the database.

Hopefully, comments left to this post, will appear normal since removing many plugins.

Thanks,

Apparently, my brain has “Facebook Antibodies”.

~ Ron Walker ~ 25 Comments

Apparently, my brain has something that just repels Facebook. I have tried a personal page, and a Facebook Page. Neither one is interesting to me, nor does it generate any interaction, at least not the type I enjoy. I spent more time filtering out political, religious, and “Please forward this” to attempt to prevent sensory overload.

I’ve never been one to chase statistics, number of people, or post counts. Interaction between people in a community is what drives me. For thirteen years I have run a general discussion forum. We are approaching 740,000 posts. Although not many members have met one another personally, they still share and enjoy interaction. We have on average 30-40 members per day visit. Facebook? So different. I have about 3-4 people that actually interact with posts. They are from the forum. They are always appreciated.

Minion memes, or semi-crude graphics

In the last couple of months, I have dropped back to sharing memes and graphics, just to see what type is liked. Apparently you gather large numbers of likes with Minion memes, or semi-crude graphics. “Likes” simply mean they saw it, and clicked they liked it, perhaps copying it to share with someone else. Or they may actually click the “share” button.

It’s truly addictive, and I have resisted that addiction

Maybe the stats aren’t that bad, but the interaction is nearly non-existent. I have tried posts with questions, and other things to garner responses, but sadly Facebook seems to be more of a self-gratification type of atmosphere. Everyone posts pictures to see how many “likes” they get. It’s truly addictive, and I have resisted that addiction. Perhaps that is what keeps me from having more interaction. I’m not into impressing myself, but want to give others a chance to interact.

The stats look okay, but nearly null on comments or posts, when you browse the page. Plenty of likes and shares. I’m not sad or bummed. I have always been a klutz on Facebook. It’s just not my “thing”. Many people, use it to share with family and actually converse, which is what it was meant for. Anyhow, I think I will step back from it. Maybe leave it active as an avenue for long-lost friends or old police buddies to contact me if needed. I can alert forum members to any problems should the forum go offline due to technical problems. Which is what the page was originally meant for.

How to you view Facebook. Know anyone that appears addicted? Do you use it much? I would love to hear your thoughts. Horror stories?

Comments always welcome,