Author: mjmsprt40

In the “Hmmmm— that didn’t last long” department, I just had a friendship of a couple of days evaporate into thin air. To be sure, I’m not surprised and was kind of expecting it after today’s exchange of messages.

Somebody named “Zamba” this time around. Her first message to me said she had something private and important to discuss so she gave me her email address so we could discuss it there.

Now, as it happens I’ve learned caution, so before I exchange emails with a barely known I want to have a general idea of what I’m walking into. Her sudden disappearance kind of tells me what I needed to know— no specifics of course, but the general idea that there’s something not quite right.

So— here it is: I’m not as dumb as I look. Been around the block a couple of times, especially where young ladies who want to scam men are concerned. I’ll figure it out even before the scam goes very far— in this case, asking for email addresses in the first PM is a huge red flag— it’s kinda hard to miss. For that reason I’m not surprised if/that she’s gone, because if she’s running that on me she did it to others too— got spotted, got dumped. Til next time…

I visit here on an irregular basis, but now seems as good a time as any to add a little to this blog. Note that this isn’t my main effort– for that I use my WordPress blog and even there I seem to be infrequent. 

 

Maybe I’ll do something to bring both blogs up. It just might be worth it to link both of them, after all. 

Steady as she goes…..

I’m still around, checking in every now and then.

 

Seems I might have a little more time to do that, strangely enough. One site I frequent appears to be under DoS attack, this has been going on a couple of days. Another site just went dark without apparent explanation. Still another site I’ve had a falling-out with, (my choice, I’ve left them) so I won’t be spending much time there either. So, right now it’s here, my WordPress blog, a forum that may or may not have “staying power” and the odd You-Tube videos— as well as my rather erratic work schedule (expedited freight being what it is, erratic is the only way to describe any kind of “schedule” involved with this).

Maybe I’ll give this blog a gentle shove and see if I can do anything worthwhile with it. Maybe not. I’ll see how it goes day by day.

A few days ago, I had to dump Firefox and re-install it because of an issue that came up. Upon re-installation it goes without saying that I had to go through all the boards and so on that i am a member of and re-sign on. Here at Vivaldi I encounter a most remarkable thing. I’m signed in– witness this blog post– but there is a warning saying that I do not exist.

 

Juser: :_load: user831-mjmsprt40 does not exist.

OK. I’m here, and last time I looked in the mirror I was there too— so,– explain please. Is this just another weird Vivaldi bug???

 

It just had to. It was a matter of time. Sooner or later– and a wise person would bet on “sooner” rather than “later” the Internet being what it is– we would get hit with spam/scam.

Today, when I got home from one of my “runs” (a trip from Elk Grove Village, IL to Flora, IL) I opened my email and right on top was a note from Vivaldi that I had a message. From a woman. From the UK. Wanting romance, if the letter is any indication. See below:

Hello dear, My name is Gift, After seen your profile i became interested in you, so i decide to write you for we to build a good relationship if you don’t mind, Remember distance or color does not matter but true love matters a lot in life, meanwhile I like you to write me back through my email address************ for me to send you my pictures and to know each other very well

 

Now, as it happens I’ve been around the block a time or three. I know well enough that young women from overseas don’t try to set up relationships out of the blue with men old enough to be her father unless there’s something else going on. I had an experience with a Russian woman who tried this in 2009, it didn’t work then either.

As if that’s not enough, I find that s/he has written a similar letter to just about everybody with a Vivaldi box. Hmmmm….

So– in case y’all don’t know, let me tell you how this all works. She wrote out of the blue– I for one never heard of her before so I know that I never set anything up–and gets you to start thinking with the wrong end of your anatomy. You start getting romantic feeling for her, and as soon as she thinks she’s got you “hooked” she plans a trip to see you. In this case, moving across the UK shouldn’t be too formidable I should think– but maybe I’m wrong. In any case, she will start her trip with no planning and an equal amount of preparation, and if she gets to Heathrow, count on her not being able to get tickets or a passport without help. Could you please send $$$$?? If you do, you have just embarked on a “Perils of Pauline” story where she encounters problem after expensive problem, and of course you as the generous gentleman you are have to bail her out each time. Eventually, you either wise up or run out of money, and s/he goes on to the next “mark”.

 

The last time, the Russian babe set out on a trek across half of the continent. She got in trouble in Moscow, sent me the request for help along with her name, and a Google search of the name confirmed what I already had figured out from the first.

This is actually getting a bit tiring. I already have a low opinion about women having been through two divorces and a small number of not-great experiences, and these scams don’t improve matters much. I’d really like to think that I could find a woman who won’t use me, who won’t play with me as a means to get rich (won’t work anyway– I’m not rich) and who doesn’t use “love” as a means to deceive men. It seems I might as well wish for the winning lottery ticket since it appears I’m as likely to get one as the other.

I don’t fancy the idea of writing her. If she’s at all honest– something which I have reason to doubt– she can come out in the open and make it plain. If not– then fergidaboudit.

I was over on D&D just a little bit ago and it looks like the end is near. On the 26th the site goes to read-only and disappears forever on the 3rd of March.

On my section, I’ve deleted all of the photos and most of the blog, so that’s gone.

So, they drive the stake through the vampire’s heart next Monday. It’s been a slice, as they say.

It’s been awhile since the last post, and I have some time to kill until we get out and shovel some more snow (I hope the worst is over) so maybe a little something to show I’m still here.

 

We’ve been lucky here in the Chicago area so far, the snow has been light and powdery since it’s been below freezing when it snowed. Temperature is important, snow near the freezing point may be wet and heavy. That puts a strain on both man (who may suffer heart attacks while shoveling) and machine (snow blowers will tend to clog up with wet snow, not so much with the powdery snows). So, having it colder and dryer is actually a considerable help when it comes to moving snow from the driveways.

Colder and dryer isn’t so much of a help on the open road though. The wind picks up the dry snow and blows it across the road, a ground blizzard can close the road faster than the road crews can open them. That’s one reason you see gates on the Interstate highways out West, they close the Interstates because the wind sweeps the snow across the road and you can die out there real easy. Lose control and go into the ditch, and it can be hours before anybody knows you’re in trouble.

I’m at home today though, so the job today is to keep the driveway clear– and to while away the time in between moving snow.

I’ve been reading the stream here and have become aware that it is impossible to edit comments here. It is, further, not possible for the blogger to delete comments here, and — in my opinion based on experience– that is a very bad design flaw.

Over on WordPress.com, I have been hit with spambot comments pretty hard. The ability to delete comments that consist of little more than boilerplate designed to get the commenter’s link on your blog is priceless. These blogs are running pretty quiet right now because they’re so new the factory wax is still on the system, but mark my words– as soon as these blogs get some time on them they WILL get found by the spammers, and in that day you can bet that the ability to delete spam comments will be a godsend you can’t do without. So— how soon until we get effective spam-fighting tools?

 

Editing one’s own comment is another thing that should have been from the first. Everybody suffers from hoof-in-mouth disease once in awhile, the ability to go back and effectively take back what you wrote can be worth its weight in gold. It’s worth considering adding this to our blogs as soon as that can happen.

Just a thought, maybe the powers-that-be here might want to consider these things.

OK, not much of a title– but for a blog that barely exists– give me a break, eh?

As it is, I daresay that if I wanted a completely secret method of communicating something to someone else, a blog is hard to beat. I can fit all of the readers of my main effort into the bathroom– it’s a small bathroom– and have plenty of room left over. So, if ever I slip a cog and decide to develop a terrorist plot with my fiends, a blog is the perfect medium for communication with my evil henchmen. Nobody will ever know!

At this moment, it’s no joke that the only comments I’ve had on my main effort– this blog isn’t it– have been from bots looking for link-backs to blogs that exist to sell jackets and Blue-Ray devices. Jackets, mostly. A bot comment generally consists of an outrageous level of praise for my rather modest efforts at blogging, one even reaching to the point of suggesting that I was the answer to his prayer. In my opening post there, no less. Problem: Besides the outrageous level of praise, every comment linked back to a foreign-language– usually French, but also German and Chinese– blogs that were selling something. An actual, honest-to-God comment from a real person who maybe has his own real blog seems about as rare as hen’s teeth– but they DO exist, I’ve seen them on other people’s blogs.

So– it looks like a bit of a contest between this blog and my WordPress.com blog, as to which one will develop “legs”. I know the only way to develop a readership is to keep writing, but it has to be said that when your only replies come from spambots it takes the wind out of your sails to keep writing.

So– steady as she goes, warp factor one.