April 30, 2007

Be angry! Be very angry!

First, if you are reading this early on Tuesday morning, May 1st, turn on your TV and watch Good Morning America. They’re doing a feature about cyberstalking. You may think you know how bad it can get, but maybe you don’t. Everyone knows about what happened to Kathy Sierra recently, but I wonder if most know how pervasive cyberstalking is. I’ve known for a while that one of my blogging friends has been harrassed and threatened by a stalker for years. I only found out this evening that her stalker is someone whose blog I visited a few weeks ago. His first few posts that day were full of racist filth, and he named specific people as targets of his bile and hatred. I closed his page in disgust and thougth that was the last I needed to ever hear or know about him. Now I know that he not only has targeted the one friend I was aware was being stalked, but also several other bloggers I’m associated with. He has caused some to quit blogging completely. He has threatened and stalked families of bloggers who appear on his radar. And he is not alone. This type of behavior seems to be becoming more prevalent, perhaps because many law enforcement agencies don’t consider it “real.”

Are we supposed to wait until someone carries out their threats to maim, rape and kill? What will it take for public officials and law enforcement agencies to put these bullying slimeballs out of business? The question is not rhetorical. I don’t know the answers, but I’m open to whatever ideas you may want to throw out there. How can we, as bloggers (and as women - most targets are women) combat this threat? We can talk about it. We can get the word out and raise awareness, but awareness without action is impotent. We are under attack and I think the time has come to go on the offensive.

Go. Read Kat’s post. Follow the link to her Washington Post interview. See what is going on in our blogosphere. Get angry. Join me in dialog and let’s talk about what we can do to put a stop to this meance.

Technorati Tags: blogs, bloggin, cyberstalking, cyber bullies, Kathy Sierra, stalkers, bullies

Banking on good advice

I talked to my financial advisor last week. You remember, that great guy who helped me get a terrific rate and refinance my home in less than a week when I found myself in a financial bind a while back? Yeah, that’s the one. He really got me out of a tight spot. For that I will be forever in his debt. What we talked about last week was savings in general and where I should put my money in particular. He provided me with some information about the various plans he offers and emailed me some rate tables. His absolute best rate is currently 2.97% with a minimun savings balance of $5000.00. As much as I love the guy, I can’t do it. I’ve worked hard for my money. I need it to work hard for me. I can’t afford to put my savings with him when I’ve discovered this: Online banking interest rate comparisons at SavingsAccounts.com will help you find the best high yield online savings account or checking account. It’s true. I just checked the online rate tables. I can get a 6% saving rate on a new account with no monthly fees and no minimum balance. My fabulous banker encouraged me to shop around for the best rates before making my decision. I’m glad I did. I’m still his biggest fan, but my savings account needs to be where it can do me the most good. I’m sure he’ll understand that. He’ll probably also think that the timing was perfect when I came across this offer from savingsaccount.com to provide them with a sponsored post.

Technorati Tags: banking, savings, online banking, interest rates, sponsored posts, payperpost

Lunch on the Waianae Coast

My post office is located in a strip mall that I have to pass as I return home from anywhere off of the coast. Since most of my work is “off of the coast” it’s very convenient for me to stop there at the end of each work day. It’s also quite convenient that there are a Chinese take-out and a Korean barbecue take-out just steps away. Too convenient actually, considering my dietary limitations! But, hey, every now and then you just have to indulge, you know what I mean? I did that recently and thought I would share the experience with you.

The Korean barbecue place is just a little glass-front hole-in-the-wall, but it’s clean and bright. The man and woman who run it (probably a husband and wife, but who am I to pry?) are always courtesous and greet each customer as if they are ever-so-pleased that you’ve chosen their estabishment for today’s lunch.

The menu is amazing, and everything is priced right for the working-class popluation of our community.

Here’s how it works. After I’ve made my entree and size selection from the menu I step up to the counter. I’ve eaten much more adventurously since I moved to Hawaii, but I’ll admit that a lot of the local vegetables and side dishes don’t appeal to me. Still, most places carry a few things that suit my picky tastes. On this day I selected corn and some potatoes basted in a sweet and savory sauce. My server first filled about half of the large section of the take-out box with rice (everything in Hawaii comes with “two scoops rice,”) and then nestled my side dishes into the little partitioned-off corner wells.

She whisked my half-full tray into the kitchen where my entrees were being prepared. I sat at a small cafe-style table and “talked story” with other hungry patrons while I waited. Yes, women here do wear flowers behind their ears on a daily basis and yes, that’s a year-round wardrobe on display.

My neighbors and I exchanged a few pleasantries: The day was feeling a little muggy, but the fishing has been good lately and no, they wouldn’t mind at all if I put their picture on my blog. We were just getting acquainted when that nice lady behind the counter let me know that my lunch was ready. I’d selected a mixed plate:

Let the good times roll!

Since we’re having a party today at skeet’s stuff I though it only right for me to provide suitably for my guests. The jukebox over in the corner is filled with awesome oldies, today’s top forties for you youngsters and my own favorite Hawaiian tunes. Champagne and sodas are on ice right over there beside the cooler full of sweet tea and trays of sweet and savory snacks. Let it never be said that skeet doesn’t know how to throw a party!

Since some of you don’t know each other I’ve selected some party games that will allow us to mix and mingle. Our ice breaker is craps, where a roll of the dice can make or break you. I’m not familiar enough with the game to be in charge, so my co-host will be running the table for you. Who else but my lovely son, who has set aside his casino job to volunteer his services today?

I know you’ll be wanting to know how I came to have such a professional-looking game setup in my own home. Knowing that this auspicous day was approaching I went online at Executive Gaming Monthy and checked out their game of the month club. My package included everything you see here, and can be upgraded with additional fetures if I want to get a little fancier.

Let’s move on now to table number two where my lovely co-hostess (otherwise known as “the son’s girlfriend”) will provide a professional touch to our game of roulette. Yes, she is now also a casino professional and the two of them sometimes even get to work side by side. Besides their in-house jobs, they both do weekend gigs at charity casino nights, so they’re on top of keeping it real when it comes to game-playing. I know that they appreciate it that I’ve provided them with evertyhing they needed to maintain their professional images as they entertain you all! Not that either of them is even a little vain about being pros in such an exciting industry but … well … you know! Young people do like to keep up appearances!

I hope you’ve all enjoyed our little celebratory gathering. The champagne has gone flat and the snacks are all gone, so I guess it’s time to call it a night. Don’t forget to pick up your winnings at the door, and thank you for stopping by. Look for more skeet-style parties in the near future!

Seriously, folks, fantasy cyber-parties are a lot of fun, but how much more exciting would it be to provide my son and his girlfried all of the trappings for their real-world monthly game nights? How impressed would their friends be if, next time they hosted, they were able to provide such a party-perfect set up? They’ve got a two-year anniversary coming up soon. I’m the mom. How do you think I should commemorate their special day?

Thanks to Executive Gaming Monthly for sponsoring this post and giving me to opportunity to enhance my reputation as the perfect gift-giver and cyber-party hostess!

Technorati Tags: games, casino games, craps, roulette, Executive Gaming Monthly

Who’s hot?

My old blogspot blog had just attained a PR4 when I made my move to the new and improved skeet’s stuff. I reveled in the joy for less than a week and then “poof!” it was gone. I’ve worked my backside off since then to make sure that the new place would be the best that it could be. Today the new page ranks have come out and I’m pausing to pat myself on the back just a little. Skeet’s Stuff is officially a PR4. Let there be great rejoicing thoughout the blogosphere! Leave your congratulatory gifts at the door, kick off your shoes and pull up a cushion. The place is feeling mighty comfortable today and the hostess wants to party!

You can make your own seal at Official Seal Generator next time you own ego runs amok or you want to award soemone else’s efforts.

Technorati Tags: blogs, blogging, page rank, Google page rank, status, celebrations, inflated egos

Securing my files

Everyone who knows me, even if it is just through my blog, is well aware of my technophobia. Just to illustrate how ingrained it is I’ll tell you that I still have every paper file ever generated by my company since I started it almost eight years ago. I’ve been afraid to go out into my storage shed since the mouse invasion last month. No, I’m not afraid of the mice, but I dread what they may have done to stored files. I have all of my files backed up on CDs or DVDs, but redundancy is a good thing, right? I could lose or damage a disc. Paper files are prone to damage with or without rodents present. I guess what I’m saying is that I don’t trust myself to keep my files secure. I’m not just referring to the physical security of my files either. Clients have entusted me with confidential information that is relavent to the services I perform for them. Remember the break-in scare at my home a few months ago? Suppose, just for a moment, that the intruder had been successful. Confidential information is not in my paper files, but the intruder could have easily carried away a few discs of information that would have exposed my clients to identity theft. It’s not likely that that would happen with a small business/home office like mine, but it’s entirely possible. I owe it to my clients to go above and beyond the installation of deadbolts and security lighting. My carelessness has put them at risk, and I’ve been lax in plugging that hole.

A few minutes ago I downloaded “SecureZIP - The next generation of ZIP”. With this software I can create new backups and encrypt them in the process. It will allow me to securely store confidential data files for free. My ZIP files can now provide me with a level of security that was once only available to large, complex operations. The software will integrate seamlessly with Outlook Express, too, allowing me to protect information from first contact until completion of service and beyond. Now that I’ve found a measure of security as strong as any in the world, I can be more confident that I’m providing my clients with the best possible service. I may even incorporate that information on my next printing of business cards and letterhead.

You can download this software for free but it’s a limited-time offer. Go to www.securezip.com to take advantage of it today.

What does this have to do with my technophobia? It took me just a few minutes to download SecureZip, and just a few more to figure out how to download my email addresses as a test. If I can do it that easily and quickly, you know it’s a system that anyone can use.

As to the paper files outside? Well, I’m working on it. I have crawled out of the dark ages. Now I just need to move away from their shadow.

Technorati Tags: business, business files, file storage, secure file storage, free downloads, free security software, SecureZip

April 29, 2007

Diet Divas - and a drawing for a free cookbook!

I’m so proud of my friend Bethy. She decided a week or so ago that the way to make herself get in shape was to start a blog and put her program and her progress out there for all the world to see. Never one to drag her feet, Bethy has introduced Today is the first day of the rest of my diet! Don’t you love that name? Bethy is pretty clever with design and graphics too, and it really shows on her blog. It’s a visual treat to visit. That’s not the most important thing, of course. What really counts is that Bethy made a plan and she’s working it! She’s already lost a few pounds, but, more importantly, she’s made a committment to work every day towards reaching her goals. Her brand new blog has already attracted the attention of some helpful and supportive people. I hope you’ll go visit and give her some encouragement, too. It always helps to have a cheering squad. Tell her skeet sent you!

Today I found someone else who can be an inspiration to Bethy, and to anyone who is trying to get fit and healthy. A friend pointed me to The ELFF Diet. Blogger Carmen lost sixty pounds and paying it forward by sharing her tips and ideas. You’re wondering what the ELFF Diet is? Eat Less Fatty Foods! Carmen tells the story of her own success, encourages her readers and offers great advice. I don’t have a weight problem, but I’m terribly out of shape and am looking to Carmen and Beth for inspiration to get moving and get healthy.

You’re waiting for me to tell you about the free cookbook, right? Well, see, my friend Denise has been working for an online diet and healthy living website for years. She works with dieticians and nutritionists and doctors - and with people who need their help. Denise does not recommend diets! She knows that most of them are full of hokey stuff more likely to make you lose your money than the excess baggage that you want to leave behind. Denise was so impressed with Carmen, though, that she’s giving away two cookbooks in order to encourage her and to bring more readers to her blog. What do you have to do to win? Not much! Go read Denise’s offer. She’ll send you to post a very special comment on Carmen’s blog. Do it, then let Denise know that you did it and you’re good to go. You’re checking out new blogs every day anyway, right? Here’s your chance to do a good thing and maybe win a neat prize, too. And, hey, tell them allthat skeet sent you!

Technorati Tags: diet, fitness, blogs, free cookbook

Papaya

Join

Shortly after my arrival in Hawaii I had a health crisis that landed me in the hospital for three weeks. I was comatose for about ten days, so it’s the eleven other days I’m going to talk about here. Every one of those mornings there was papaya on my breakfast tray. It appeared with about half of my lunches and dinners, too. Once I was ambulatory I spent a lot of time walking the hallways and soon discovered that there was a refrigerator filled with snacks that patients were allowed to have. Jello, pudding cups, lots of juice and … papaya! I’d had my fill of it by the time I went home, but there are good reasons why health professionals encourage papaya in any diet. Papayas are good for you! They’re a good source of Vitamin C, fat-free, of course, but they are also wonderfully digestable. That meat tenderizer that you use to soften a tough steak? It works because the main ingredient is papain, an enzyme which breaks meat down. Papain comes from … papaya!

Papaya (Carica papaya) is actually a berry and is another food plant that is very popular in Hawaii. Unlike the other plants I’ve posted about recently, it did not come with the early Polynesian settlers. It came by way of Mexico after the western world discocoverd our paradise. The ones seen most often here are the Solo variety, yellow-skinned and pear-shaped with a pinkish yellow flesh. If you have papaya in your local market, they are like to be Solos. I sometime see Mexican papaya here. They’re more ovoid-shaped and much larger (up to ten pounds,) but blander and less sweet, so they’re not as popular as the Solos.

Even after all of these years, I still sometimes want to giggle when I see a papaya tree. They’re funny looking (at least to me.) The leaves and fruit develop at the top of the tree on a spindly trunk, creating a visual affect something like an umbrella. Most of the fruiting trees I see have large bunches of the fruit just below the leaf cap. That’s three separate trees it the photo on the right.

I suppose I could have gone to Safeway or another national chain and taken pictures of perfect papaya for you, uniformly green or yellow, unbruised and unmarked. But I live out in the country and my local market buys from small local farmers that I like to support. The fruit is not always as pretty on the outside, but it’s firm, sweet and juicy inside, and was raised pesticide-free. You can’t judge a book by it’s cover, you know, or a papaya by its exterior appearance. They’re still not my favorite fruit, but I eat them from time to time (they’re good for me!) and these are usually the ones I buy when I can’t find a neighbor giving away an over-abundant harvest.

Technorati Tags: papaya, papaya fruit, papaya trees, gardening, Hawaii, photos

Smorty

I love what I do for a living. I’ve loved it for twenty-seven years, which is a sly way of saying that I’m getting old. It’s harder and harder on my body to carry around a ladder or crawl in a tight space under a house. I know that I won’t be doing those things much longer, so I’ve been looking for other income sources.

One thing I’ve found that works well and that I enjoy is to blog for money. A new place I’ve found where I can get paid to blog is Smorty. They’re a very easy company to work for. Sign up for the service, go to your menu to see who wants people to advertise on blogs and write your post. It’s that easy. Submit your post and you get paid.

I’ve been doing blog advertising for about five months now. I’ve checked out a lot of services where you can get paid for blogging. Some of them are slow to pay and make impossible demands. Smorty is straight-forward to deal with, sets reasonable fees for each post and pays promptly. Their system efficiently connects advertisers to bloggers, so there’s a steady flow of opportunities to write about. If you’ve been thinking about getting paid to blog (and you know you have,) check out Smorty. They sponsored this post so I could share the news with you.

Technorati Tags: blog advertising, blogging, get paid to blog, make money online, Smorty

Self Portrait Sunday

This is me trying to pretend I’m awake, wearing my rubber duckie pajamas, just for Cass. Hmmmmmm! It’s been a long time since I’ve selected my sleepwear to please someone else. Does this mean Cass has to marry me and make an honest woman of me? You should go over to Digi-Cass to see who else we’re playing around with today!

Technorati Tags: Self Portrait Sunday, photos, self portraits, pajamas, rubber duckies