Google Feedburner Burning Me

Some of this blog stuff I really don't get. Like why does one want to burn a feed? And then subscribe to a blog feed? Why not just read the blog like you would any ol' website?

Even though I don't quite get the point, long ago I used Feedburner to burn a feed of this very blog you are looking at right now. I soon found I had subscribers. The number of subscribers goes up and down.

When I log into my Feedburner account there is a tab you can click on called 'Monetize.' I tried to monetize my Feedburner feed a long time ago, because I'd noticed that the Feedburner feed of my blog did not have the Google ads.

So, the Feedburner account supposedly ties in with the Google AdSense account. When you monetize and choose your ad style, Feedburner then generates some code that you have to insert into your blog's layout code.

I did so. And what did I find happened? No ads appeared in the Feedburner feed of my blog. But new ads were placed under each of my blogging posts in my regular ol' non-feed blog, thus screwing up the rule that you can place no more than 3 add units per page.

So, I de-monitized my Feedburner feed.

And then, about a month or so ago, when I'd log into my AdSense account, there was an option to add AdSense ads to my blog feed. So, yesterday I did so, thinking, once more, that ads would show up in the feed thing. Google had me burn a new feed, even though my Feedburner feed was part of my Google Account, since Feedburner is part of Google.

The Google AdSense thing burned a feed of my blog and gave me it's URL and told me it'd be active in about 10 minutes. Now a day later this is what you see if you go to my new Google AdSense feed where ads are supposed to appear. That's right. It's a blank page.

I thought maybe the ads show up if you subscribe to my feed, which is something I'd not done before. So, for the first time I clicked on 'subscribe to this feed.' I then chose Google Reader as my feed reader. My blog then opened up in Google Reader. With no ads.

I've no clue what to do. Google is not the best at getting back to you with answers to questions. As in they never do.

Maybe I should delete these feed things. Why would I want people reading my blog ad-free? I want them to click on ads. It's as if they are subscribing to a TV Feed and then getting to watch TV shows with no commercials.

Very vexing.

King Tut in Dallas

A week or two ago I get a distraught email from a lady upset because she thought King Tut was going to usurp Big Tex's position at the State Fair of Texas. I reassured her that Big Tex would stand alone. And he is.

Meanwhile the King Tut exhibit has opened in another part of Dallas. It's not in Fair Park, but at the Dallas Museum of Art at 1717 N. Harwood Street, in the part of downtown Dallas known as the Arts District.

King Tut has been to America before, back in the 1970s. At that time he visited 7 U.S. cities, including Seattle. I think I went to see Tut in Seattle, but I may be confusing it with going to the Egyptian Pavilion at Vancouver's Expo 86 World's Fair.

For 30 years, give or take a few, Egypt has refused to let King Tut tour the world, due to the Egyptians being righteously annoyed because one of the Tut artifacts had been badly damaged while in America. But, the Egyptians wanted to raise some money to fund an ambitious Egyptian museum building plan. So, if a town would come up with $10 million they could have King Tut come to town. Dallas put up the money. And so now King Tut is here.

This King Tut exhibit is missing some of the items that made his first tour so popular, like Tut's funeral mask. Egypt decided not to let the most valuable items out of their control again.

But, it looks like there is still plenty to see.

The exhibit is called "Tutankhamen and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs." It runs now through May 17, 2009. Tickets range from $16.50 to $32.50. Weekdays are cheaper than weekends. Seniors, College Students $24.50 - $29.50. Kids 6-17 $16.50. Adults $32.50.

You can see King Tut 8am-8pm, Monday-Wednesday. 8am-9pm, Thursday. 8am-8pm Friday-Sunday. Last entry at 2:30pm Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. Closed Christmas.

Twilight in Forks, Washington

My old home state of Washington has an odd history of TV shows being set in a Washington town and that town then becoming a tourist attraction.

Like when Twin Peaks was a hit. I forget what they called the town on the TV show, but it was set in North Bend, in the shadow of Mount Si and near Snoqualmie Falls and the Snoqualmie Falls Lodge which played major roles as backdrops for the series.

In North Bend there was a coffee shop, I think it used the same name on the TV show as in reality, that being the Mar-T Cafe. On Twin Peaks FBI agent Dale Cooper would go there for the damn fine coffee and cherry pie. Soon, people from all over the world, particularly Japan, were coming to North Bend to go to the Mar-T Cafe for some damn fine coffee and cherry pie.

Even I had to try the cherry pie and the damn fine coffee. After a strenuous hike to the top of Mount Si, we dropped in on the Mar-T Cafe. The coffee was ordinary and my mom's cherry pie is more memorable.

On CBS there was a TV show called Northern Exposure. This show used the eastern Washington town of Roslyn to play the role of Cicely, Alaska. Rosyln was already a tourist town. It being an old mining town with all sorts of things going on. But after Northern Exposure became a hit, Rosyln became super popular with tourists. Rosyln remains a fun place to visit. My last time there was summer of 2001, in July. Lots of tourists. Had good pizza and beer from Rosyln's beer pub.

And now I've learned that some towns on Washington's Olympic Peninsula have become a mecca for tourists due a book and soon to be movie called Twilight. Written by Stephenie Meyer, the series of Twilight books has become the hottest thing since Harry Potter.

Twilight is mainly set in Forks. Forks was a town that had seen better days due to the hit it took from the declining timber industry. Forks has embraced the Twilight thing, with stores all over town selling Twilight memorabilia, like T-shirts. Restaurants have added Twilight themed items like a Bella Burger. Bella is one of Twilight's main characters. Locations have been designated as to where a character works or lives. Totally fabricated.

The fishing village of La Push also figures in Twilight. La Push is the location of some of the stereotypical iconic images of the Washington coast. I don't know how much La Push has embraced the Twilight thing. The bigger town of Port Angeles also figures in Twilight.

Ironically, the author of Twilight had never visited Forks before she wrote her first Twilight book. She has since been to Forks and has said she is amazed at how much it much it matches her imagination. She chose Forks solely due to its reputation as one of the rainiest places on the planet, averaging over 70 inches of the wet stuff a year.

My last time in Forks it was a clear, blue sky, summer day. The time previous was a rainy, gray, misty, foggy winter day. I preferred the latter.

Joe Biden Sarah Palin Saturday Night Live Debate

Last night on Saturday Night Live, Tina Fey once more became Sarah Palin in order to debate Joe Biden in front of Queen Latifah. Last night's "debate" is already on YouTube for your viewing pleasure below.... ooooops! YouTube has pulled the video. Sorry. It was original NBC content and thus a big NO NO. But, Mr. or Ms. Anonymous kindly provided a direct link to NBC's video of the Biden Palin Saturday Night Live Debate....

Go here to go to NBC....
It's worth the bother. It's funny.......

Mother Nature Still Crying in Fort Worth

On the first day of October I got email from Don Young telling me about a new resident on Scott Avenue in east Fort Worth, near Tandy Hills Park. This being the latest Chesapeake Energy gas drilling operation to cause an uproar.

A piece of art had appeared on Scott Avenue, source unknown.

This morning I joined my Eastside Hikers group for a vigorous march all over the hills of Tandy Hills Natural Area. Sadly it's being a bit less natural these days due to the onslaught of Chesapeake bulldozers scraping the skin off a part of the Tandy Hills.

After what seemed hours of hiking we decided to go to Scott Avenue to see if the piece of art was still there. I figured it would be gone, thrown into a Chesapeake dump truck. But, no, this classic piece of Guerrilla Art, now known as "Mother Nature," is still there. Moved slightly, but still there.

In the photos Don Young sent, "Mother Nature" was to the right of one of the ubiquitous Chesapeake Energy signs. She was now on the left side of the sign and further from the road. Likely moved for her own protection.

"Mother Nature" has had some visitors who have added a few things since Don Young took his pictures. She now sports a Drilling Moratorium button. Someone has written "Mother Nature" on the right side of the red garment she is wearing. And tears have been added, rolling down "Mother Nature's" left cheek.

After I left "Mother Nature" I got on the I-30 freeway, heading east. I was surprised to learn you can clearly see this latest Chesapeake Energy bulldozing bad behavior as you drive by. The area that has been bulldozed is way bigger than I thought it would be. The next time I go hiking at Tandy Hills I think I'll head to the west side, where I rarely venture, and see if I can get some good damning photos of what Chesapeake Energy is up to in my neighborhood.

Washington Mutual Meltdown Continues

Washington Mutual continues to cause me problems. If you've been following my pain, on the 19th of last month checks were deposited. I received a letter October 2 from Washington Mutual advising me that the funds deposited the 19th were available the 23rd.

The day after the 23rd WaMu bounced a check, saying there were insufficient funds to cover it. My local branch saw this was in error and that they would take care of any costs incurred.

Yesterday, October 4, I got another letter from WaMu, this one dated September 29 and telling me that they'd returned yet one more check, this one for $350.00, returned on the 26th, 3 days after their previous letter that told me the deposited funds were available.

In the latest letter WaMu makes this gem of a statement, "At the time we created this notice (which is later than when these transactions were processed) your available balance was $2,298.05. You must immediately make a deposit to cover any negative balance."

How can they do this to people? I'm not alone. There is a website called Washington Mutual Sucks. In the past month that websites number of visitors has soared. I wonder why?

Still Swimming in October

It's October 4. The overnight low was only 68, the high yesterday in the 90s. Right now, at 10 am, it is about 75. And I'm still swimming early in the morning.

Yes, as you can see in the photo, I wear a stocking cap in the pool. I don't get my head wet. It feels warmer that way. Downside is when I get out and take a shower the cold tap water feels warm, til it hits my face, then it's a major BRRRRR.

Previous years I've bailed on the swimming by now. But several weeks ago I found that if I make it past the initial half minute of the bracing cold the cold sensation goes away.

After 15 to 20 minutes, though, I think the cold penetrates deeper and I start to get this slight shivering sensation. That's when it's time to get out. This morning the air temp and the water temp seemed about equal. I like it when the air temp is less than the pool temp. That makes the water feel warmer.

Katharine Hepburn, til she got old, would go swimming year around in the Atlantic whenever she was staying at her house in Connecticut, which was most of the time.

I don't remember if I've said this before, but it's my intention to emulate the late Ms. Hepburn and swim in my little version of the Atlantic all winter long.

We'll see how long that resolution lasts.

Obesity Is No Laughing Matter

Usually Gar the Texan is quite refined and of impeccably good taste and manners. But, apparently he's having some marital/relationship distress and that somehow had him blogging about a long ago, back in the 90s, Internet sensation known as "Bob the Anal Fissure."

Well, I've long been puzzled by a certain delicate subject that usually I'd just let fade into the recesses of my curiosity, but Gar going on about his Anal Fissure Bob thing gave me the courage to be in really bad taste. For once.

It's good to dare to go where you've never dared to go before.

There was this guy in Granbury. That's a really nice Texas town outside the D/FW Metroplex. They put on great events. Best 4th of July Parade I've ever been to. And don't get me started on General Granbury's Birthday Party.

Anyway, this guy in Granbury weighed way way over a half ton. He was bed ridden. Unless there was a huge intervention, he'd die in bed. Now, when I read things like that, and you read it way too often, I think, who brings this guy the food? And what about his bathroom needs, both of the most basic nature, and things like taking a shower? How does that work?

Now I spent time with a morbidly obese person when I was in Tacoma. This person was not bed-ridden, no one had to bring food to her in bed, except on weekends when her husband was home. This obese person was totally mobile. She was able to forage buffet lines and dessert trays all by herself. But still, having seen the difficultly she had in getting to a prone position or putting on a shoe I could not help but wonder how safe a bath tub was. Or a toilet.

That guy in Granbury was totally non-mobile. So, who brought him the food? And where did the food go when his body finished processing it, since he was bedridden and couldn't get to the bathroom? When it came time to get the Granbury guy to a hospital in Dallas a wall to his bedroom had to be removed and a forklift lifted him, bed and all and put him on one of those flatbed trailers you see all the time here being pulled by a Ford pickup. He was hauled down I-30 to Dallas, operated on with what I don't remember. Stomach staple? Liposuction? I don't know.

I do recollect a follow up article quite awhile later. The guy was back home in Granbury, the wall to his bedroom fixed. He, able to walk. After a few more months of losing weight the Granbury Guy decided to see if he could drive to the store. I would hope not to get cookies and donuts. He got in his pickup, started it. And made it a couple blocks before it stopped. I don't remember if he ran out of gas or if the vehicle had a breakdown. I do remember it was too far for him to walk back home in his condition. I don't remember how he got back home. I imagine it involved calling 911.

Anyway, I Googled "obese person bathroom" and found an appalling amount of info. I was going to link to the specific websites, but some of it is so disgusting I think I'll just let you Google it yourself if you want to put yourself through that.

Suffice to say, it ain't easy being extra fat. One would think being in that condition there would be so many reasons to lose the weight. But having said that, one thing I read when I Googled the "obese person bathroom" string was that some obese people claim they can't help it. One woman claimed she went from petite to big in just a few months due to hormonal imbalances. Still seems that food going in the mouth had to be involved. I've never heard of hormones having many calories.

Okay, I'm being insensitive. I'll shut up about it now.

Who Won The Debate? Biden or Palin

I'm going with neither won. Like others have said, Sarah Palin exceeded the low expectations many, including me, had for her. She did not stumble. While Joe Biden held his own. I fell asleep twice during the debate. Others opine, in the video below titled "Spin, Baby, Spin." You will have to scroll through all the CBS News Videos, to view videos about the debate. I've found they update these throughout the day....

One Woman's Take on the Financial Meltdown and WaMu

My WaMu situation seems to have improved today. A WaMu-ite in California at WaMu's Problem Resolution Center keeps leaving voice mails. I keep missing her calls. She keeps missing my return calls. In the meantime I listened to this fine older lady below lament about WaMu and the current mess the financial system is in.......