Just blogging along - Blah-Blah

I've had enough!   - 2004-Jun-05 17:13:45

For about a month now I have not been able to blog via Blogger. com, and I am getting quite irritated to be honest. I know my issue is being looked at by the developers, but I have had no update even after asking for it. I work in the support world myself, and can understand that it takes time to solve a problem like the one I am seeing, but it would be easier to handle if I would receive a reaction to my request for an update. Sigh! I have so many items I want to post, and the only way I can let you know about them is by using my not so temporary blog. Stay tuned, and you'll see what I mean.

I've got the blues   - 2004-May-17 17:33:07

I have always liked the different shades of blue, and now seemed as good a time as any to change the looks of my web page. It is not the most exciting of websites, I guess, but I like it. It is nice and calm and blue ;-) The layout resembles the one I used before blogger even got into the picture: blue and white with all the links on the left. In addition, my old layout had frames. I could probably modify the layout so that it uses frames, but why bother? Someone once said "Less is More", and I suppose that goes for web pages as well. As you might have seen, I have imported all my posts from the past so that everything now resides in this "temporary" blog. By the looks of it, this blog is not going to be so temporary after all. I still cannot publish anything via blogger :-(

553 archive error is driving me nuts   - 2004-May-17 17:29:28

Ever since the layout of Blogger.com was changed, I have not been able to publish anything. I am running into the following error: 553 archive: File exists. on file:archive/2004_05_01_archive.htm I have removed the complete blog from my website before trying to republish, but even then I get the annoying error. I contacted my ISP to see if they are blocking any IP addresses and to check if the file permissions are set correctly. The answers were no and yes. The log at the ISP even showed that Blogger.com has had successful ftp contact with my website, so why am I getting this error even if I remove all the files? This is getting on my nerves. I have contacted support at Blogger.com for assistance, and in the meantime I keep posting in the hope that I will be able to publish everything in the near future.

Blogger.com went to the beauty parlour   - 2004-May-17 17:29:00

I logged in again today, and couldn't find my way around. Blogger.com has changed the layout of their site as well as of the pages I used to access my blog with. It's like starting all over, but I am sure I will get used to it. I like the new layout at Blogger.com, but what I don't like is the fact that I cannot publish my posts anymore. This is a major disaster if you have just recovered from tendonitis and would like to blog some more. I hope the techies at Blogger.com will be able to help. Otherwise I am going to have to think of something else. I am so used to the blogging stuff that I would hate to have to stop. HELP ME!!!

Mosquitos, I hate them!  First published 06.05.2004 - 2004-May-17 17:27:59

I seem to be one of these people that mosquits love to pester. I can sit among friends, and the only one attacked by mosquitos is me. The worst thing about it is that I get a really nasty reaction to their stings as well. It is as if they do it on purpose! Last night I was attacked again, and today I am having trouble keeping my right eye open because it hit me right on my upper eyelid. In addition, it stung me on my forehead. Why is it that these little horrible creatures seem to like some people more than others??? Maybe how stuff works can give an answer. Luckily for me, only the females bite, otherwise I would probably have twice as many swollen, red, itchy spots on my skin. Tomorrow I'm off to the chemists to get some artillery against these pesky beasts. I'll try to get hold of some heavy combat ammo that will not only numb them, but kill them with one push of the aerosol nozzle. My revenge will be very sweet.......

Disabled  First published 01.05.2004 - 2004-May-17 17:26:19

If you are one of the few who have been visiting my blog on a regular basis, you will have noticed that I have not been posting for some time. I have been suffering from tendinitis, and have not been able to touch the keyboard for a while. I am recovering, and hope to be posting more frequently from now on. I have been thinking about a new mission for this blog, and I believe it is going to have to be something related to food, drinks and cooking in the widest sense of the words. I think I am in for a culinary "journey" across the world. Please feel free to join me!

Today  First published 01.03.2004 - 2004-May-17 17:25:44

is March 1st, also known as my father's birthday. On this day in history Frederic Chopin, Glenn Miller, David Niven, Harry Belafonte and Nik Kershaw were born, and Pope Leo VIII, Anna Paulowna Romanova, Archibald Scott, Tor Bernhard Vilhelm Aulin, Edwin H Land and Katharine Blake died. March 1st was the start of the revised Julian calendar in Rome, the day that Roman emperor Maximianus introduced tetrarchy and Spanish occupier Estacio de Sá founded Rio de Janeiro. It was also the day on which Michigan became the 1st English-speaking jurisdiction ( in the US) to abolish the death penalty, Rebecca Lee (US) became the 1st black woman to receive a medical degree, Germany began attacking ships in the Atlantic (1st WW), Henry Pu Yi was crowned emperor Kang Teh of Manchuria, "Captain America" appeared in a comic book and German troops invaded Bulgaria (2nd WW). For additional information about March 1st in history, visit Any-Day-in-History.

2004 is a leap year  First published 29.02.2004 - 2004-May-17 17:24:31

but does anyone know why? Technically speaking, a leap year comes around every 4 years with the exception of years that can be divided by 100, but not by 400. For example, year 2000 was a leap year, 1900 was not. At least this is true for the Gregorian calendar which is used in large parts of the world for keeping time nowadays. The Gregorian calendar is a 400 year old follow up or modification of the Julian calendar if you wish. The Julian calendar consisted of cycles of three 365-day years followed by a 366-day leap year. The way the leap years were calculated in the Julian calendar was modified, and the Gregorian calendar was "born" in 1582. Many of the European catholic countries followed the decree of Pope Gregory, and swithced from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calandar the same year, other countries didn't do so until centuries later. To learn more about the calendars of the world, please visit scienceworld.wolfram.com. Please also visit Claus Tøndering's FAQ sheet on calendars. If you are born in a leap year, LeapZine, the online newsletter about February 29, Leap Year Day, might be of interest.

It's Valentine's day  First published 14.02.2004 - 2004-May-17 17:22:02

Valentine's day has turned in to yet another excuse for us to go on a shopping spree. As if Christmas, Mother's day, Father's day, bad hair day, feeling sorry for myself day and birthdays was not enough. It seems people think "shopping" whenever one of these days comes around. Who was Valentine anyway? What was so special about him that we figured we had to celebrate his day? When did Cupid aka Eros come into the picture, and why are people receiveng cards from secret admirers, the so called Valentines? Cupid: A Fickle Little F**ker presents a slightly more cynical, perhaps even sarcastic opinion about the whole charade called Valentine's day. Good reading, but do so at your own risk. You might lose some illusions along the way. I quote: "Valentine's Day is to misfits/the recently widowed/the recently divorced, separated or dumped what Thanksgiving Day is to anorexics or Christmas is to people who live in cardboard boxes...a merciless, raging hell." If you still feel like doing something romantic today, why not cook up some love, or make some sweets for your sweetie? If you have a hard time coming up with ideas, I am sure Valentine Be Mine can give you a helping hand: breakfast in bed, heart shaped cookies, Valentine shaped toast for breakfast. Visit the site and find lots of interesting ideas. If you still haven't had enough, why not visit your guide to Valentine's day for some more? The page contains a collection of links to Valentine's day related pages. After writing all this, I am still stuck with one question: who will be my Valentine????