30 January 2008

Reader requests

Yesterday I had a polite request for more information in response to this post, about the plague of Betty Sue and how I felt like I was the impostor Betty for nearly a whole year. Hopefully "Anonymous" isn't the real Betty or her creepy stalker, but I answered in comments and thought I would copy the exchange here.

Anonymous says:

Please write on your blog exactly how you got around the 'error' message when you tried deleting your profile on classmates.com.

I have been trying to remove my name/profile from classmates.com but can't get past that 'error' message each time i click on "remove membership". It would be a real service, if you let me know exactly how to do this! Thank you!!!!

Bsharp says:

Hi Anonymous,
Sorry but I can't remember. I just messed around until I found another way, rather than the unsubscribe button. (My general approach to life, really.)

I think I had to actually log in to the site itself, and then look for some kind of "edit" option and click "delete profile" or something like that. It probably asked "do you really want to delete your profile?" a few times. - Keep at it.


Anyone else want useful tech/net advice from helpful Aunty B?

28 January 2008

Buzz search words

I don't think I've done this here before, but here are some of the terms that have popped up in my stats recently. It just means that this blog pops up in a google listing - so the searchers don't end up visiting. But nevertheless:

"how to say drizzling in spanish"
"lots of verbs"
"rugby toughness cliches"
"big frankie says relax"
"Leyton Hewitt big cock" (my favourite)
"flea fumigation sydney"
"how to get men to do the dishes" (amen sister, email me when you find out)
"erotic sauna Sydney"
"what are the words that make cock get up" (huh?)

Viva la internet.

24 January 2008

Call for quotes

Righteous old Gorgeous George Orwell is gathering dust up there in the right hand corner. Here's a request for anyone to send me new quotes for blog-decoration. Obscure, funny, politically right-on. Bring it on.

20 January 2008

there is a time..

(turn turn turn) and a season... (turn turn turn) for every .. thingy .and... whatsit.. that there is in heaven.

Just a quick post to share how I'm feeling that the Europeans seem to be so much more seasonal that what I'm used to in the great land of oz. I mean sure, many of us put the flimsy summer clothes away for a few months in the middle of the year. And spring often sets off a bout of cleaning and new plans and new interest in love and friendships, down in the land Down Under.

Over here in Amsterdam I've been riding around under the grey skies, the totally bare trees, and apparently constant drizzle. It almost feels like a different county to when I arrived, and everyone has adapted their environment to suit. In the square near me, the hundreds of tables and umbrellas are all gone, and there are fairy lights in the trees and bare pavement in their place. Along the busy streets full of restaurants the concertina windows are closed up and there is no al fresco dining to be seen anywhere. Everyone in the street is buttoned up into their specialist puffy, hooded jacket. And the shops have a lit up window display - everywhere that wants to invite customers is warm, cozy, most of all closed up against the cold. Even the customary girlie bikes decorated all over with garish fake flowers seem to have disappeared - all taken off to survive the damp, I guess. The dedicated flower-box gardeners all seem to have swapped their colourful geraniums, begonias and petunias for more winter hardy species like holly, and other things I don't even know the name of.

Yesterday, a 9 am bike ride to the shops felt like it was about 5am on winter morning in Sydney. Deserted, crisp and dark and like a conspiracy amongst the people that were actually up at that hour, keeping the supermarket lit up and the economy working.

I'm quite looking forward to spring, when I get the feeling life will be busting out everywhere, the wind changes direction, and the sun stays out till 11 pm. Until then, I'll be on the computer in the cold evenings, doing indoor, introverted things, like writing my blog. See you on line, friends.

7 January 2008

horrible no-good day #2

Yesterday involved a contained a faulty card, service calls using a public phone, and a trip to the car share office for a replacement. Then, a mis-read departure time for a flight to Adelaide, an impossible ride to the airport, only to be rescheduled for 6 am this morning. The afternoon was an east-west-east trip around Sydney. And in the evening, an overzealous locking of a friend's flat required a visit from the locksmith at about 7.30 Sunday night. Sigh. Some days you just aren't concentrating and it shows.