Route 153

Advertising? It’s Not Me September 27, 2011

On several occasions, Lali has told me she’s seen advertising on my blog, wondering if I made money from it. The answer is no. Because WordPress had stated that there was no advertising on free accounts, I assumed my account had been hacked. Apparently, sometimes ads appear, and sometimes they don’t. Occasionally I see ads on Mali’s blog—but rarely. Again, I figured hacking.

But earlier this month, Lali noted it again. So I queried WordPress:

I never see ads on my blog page, but a friend says they are there, a lot. This morning she wrote: “I just went to your blog, and there was a big, flashing advert for Showtime just below your post. Bold and intrusive, to say the least. I can’t believe that WordPress hasn’t warned you about this.”

Eventually, I got this reply:

To support the service (and keep free features free), we sometimes run advertisements. We try hard to only run them in limited places. If you would like to completely eliminate ads from appearing on your blog, we offer the No-Ads Upgrade: http://en.support.wordpress.com/no-ads/.

So, apparently now one has to pay to keep ads OFF one’s blog.

I understand that WordPress is a free service and someone has to pay the bills. But I don’t like that they never said anything about this change and that my blog has been running advertisements that I don’t see and don’t know about.

I just wanted to let all of you know: It’s not me.

Words of Wisdom September 19, 2011

Before we left for vacation, our friend Jim offered this advice:

Q: How do you know what kind of bear is chasing you?

A: Climb a tree. If the bear climbs up after you, it’s a black bear. If it knocks the tree down, it’s a grizzly bear. If there aren’t any trees, it’s a polar bear.

Em’s Rules September 7, 2011

At some recentish late-afternoon/early-evening gathering in Parts West, my six-year-old neighbor Emily was encouraged to recite her bedtime rules, which are as follows:

Rule #1: Stay in bed.

Rule #2: Stay quiet.

Rule #3: Don’t talk about fight club.

Rule #4: There is no rule #4.

Rule #5: Don’t talk about fight club.

Her mother notes that these rules work for all ages.

Bus Stop, First Day of School September 1, 2011

Lynda and Thom and Rich out waiting for Kristina and Nolan and Emily and Jade, and Dorothy gardening as always, and me with my bike about to try the rail trail to see how far I can get before water or washout turns me away. The bus stops, four kids file off, stories of the happy day begin—The most awesome first day ever!—aftersnack plans fall into place, and I take off down the hill on two wheels, just like I always did after school.