Dear Weebly...

Dear Weebly,

I would like to register a compliment. 

Thank you for answering my questions in such a timely manner. 

I appreciate your endeavors to help your customers and your quick response to my inquiry. I have taken the advice given to me by your wonderful customer service person, Sylvain. 

While you might not have an eCommerce solution for digital downloads now, I have seen Weebly grow to meet the needs of it's customers. I will implement the suggestions given to me as they are the best solutions received. Keep up the great work!

Sincerely,

Troll River Publications

Do Ads Make Your Blog Legit?

Everybody hates ads, except marketers. 

But when I go to a website and I see ads I go through a gambit of emotions. 

The, ugh ads phase. 

The oh! Shiny! phase. 

On to, hmmmm, I might...*click* phase.


Because deep down, if a blog has ads, it's probably worth having a peek--at the blog that is. 

Ads seem to give a website more credibility underneath the first reaction of "STOP SELLING ME STUFF!" -- oh, wait, that's just another blog topic. 

Don't get me wrong, I love blogs with no ads. Serenely show me your bio and the topic--I'm happy! 

But ads do two things. 

1) Gives the website credibility.  
Providing that the ads take up less than 20% of the page.

2) Distract me from the topic. 
I'm a clicker and I'll click right off your blog out of curiosity or need. 
 
So...one half of me doesn't mind ads while the other half looks for the fast forward button. 

Here's the Question:

Should you have ads on your blog? 

Well, I'd say if it's you're product or Google Ad Sense is working for you--absolutely! 

But if your a happy-go-lucky blog that meanders from topic to topic (no we don't know any blogs like that!) then maybe not so much with the ads. 

And Now, One long winded AD:

Speaking of ads...I'll just skip the flashy lights and say my first Shorts-off micro story is on Amazon! 

But, those who sign up for my monthly "Love Letters" email will get the next installment But For You, Yes for free in your email! 

Shorts-off #2 - But For You, Yes is to be given freely to anyone who likes Romantica short stories. 

Go HERE to sign up! 

I won't distract you often, and our conversations of "Love Letters" is private so I won't be sharing your name or email with anyone. 

Those that have signed up, be prepared for a wonderful story about Andre's troubles about telling his girl how he REALLY likes it! Find out in "But For You, Yes". 

Okay, totally cheesy. Did it work? *click*

Make Iced Mocha From Home! A Recipe

Fuel for every writer

I love me Starbucks, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, Wanda's drive thru Coffee shop, little out of the way niche coffee shops that have style, ambiance, or the will to stand-up right with duct tape, but there are times when I just have to sit here and write. 

That's when I decided that it was time to make my own! I Google'd and found the ultimate secret ingredient! It makes the mocha and it's prolly already in your house!

Please take note that "Stephie sized" means that I took a spoon, collected the ingredient, and dumped it in. A spoon could be a heaping full or tipping the bag and shoving ingredient with two strokes of said spoon. You may need to experiment for taste.

Here it is:
 
Iced Mocha:

All The Ingredients you'll need

3 Stephie sized tablespoons Brown Sugar
2 Stephie sized tablespoons GHIRARDELLI Chocolate (unsweetened cocoa)
4 cups Coffee
1 Stephie sized splash Vanilla extract (Almond extract does well too) 
1 cup Stephie sized Milk
12 Stephie sized Ice Cubes

TAGG, A GPS Collar For Dogs And Cats

Have you had the nightmare of this scenario? You come home from a day's work or a quick errand and you're beautiful dog doesn't greet you at the door. You call their name but get no response. You search the house and find the back gate wide open and your beloved pet...is gone. 

Frantic you race down the street calling your pets name. No sign, so you get in the car and start mentally scrolling all the places you think they'd go. The park, a neighbor's, the local coffee shop you walk to sometimes in the morning. 

What does a dog find interesting? Where do they go when alone? You troll, but eventually you're pasting signs up, calling the local pound and searching the internet for anyone who might have found your pet. 

I know some in-door cats that sometimes escape too. 

This has happened to me. We were lucky, we got the dog back because of a persistent young woman who thought our Siberian Husky was the most beautiful creature, saw he'd been well taken care of and probably lost. 

Last weekend, I almost ran over two strays crossing the 118 freeway without a care. They were taken off the freeway and retrieved. 

I've had Emma come racing around the open back gate because of a faulty latch and that scared the piss out of me. Luckily, Emma knows she's got it good here, gets walked everyday and understands the concept that we might leave, but we will always come back. She's also been the culprit of opening gates at other peoples houses and waiting in the front yard for us to come home. 

One day I thought, we're in a new day and age. Being lost should be a thing of the past! So I looked for a GPStracking situation that would work for my dog and found TAGG, the dog GPS tracking collar.  This is a fantastic idea! You not only get to track the pet, but get to see their daily activity (how many miles did Emma run today? She's got an exercise program). It warns you when they are approaching the boundaries you set. It can be worn everywhere--even water.  

Now, the scenario would go like...You come home from a day's work or a quick errand and you're beautiful dog doesn't greet you at the door. You call their name but get no response. You search the house and find the back gate wide open and your beloved pet...is gone. 

You open your laptop, or your go to the app on your mobile phone, switch the GPS collar ON and...find your dog 1.2 miles away in someone's yard. You get in your car, get your dog and scold/hug him the entire drive home.

If you have a dog that likes to wander, then the system cost of $100 and $8/month for tracking services after the free 3 months is worth having your pet come home. 

Before you panic though, do consider that 85% of lost dogs are found. 74% of lost cats were recovered. I looked on ASPCA's website to find out if a GPS collar was really necessary. 

It seems to me that if you don't want to have a heart-attack, you'll buy the piece of mind. 

Have you ever lost a pet? Did you recover them? Does the GPS collar seem worth the price? I'd like to hear your stories! 

Fergy Was...

...Talented. She could do all the moves important to dressage up to 4th level. Only her injuries hindered her from going further.

...Loved by the best human mom a horse could wish for. Mom really helped her in every way to make her comfortable and healthy.

...Great at her job. Which was to take care of mom while riding. Fergy didn't allow others near Carol while she was around and took that responsibility of protecting mom from everyone around her seriously.

...a Babe In Total Control of Herself.

...Defensive about her room. You'd pull back a bloody stump if she didn't want you near her stall. But when it was time to come out, she was ready and willing.

...wonderful to ride. Fergy loved dressage. She loved the arena. She loved showing. Most of all, I think she really loved trailer rides.

The first time I met Fergy she ripped the baseball cap off my head. She made me smile. When I went to get her to bring her to Majestic Equestrians she dragged me to the trailer and jumped inside. No coaxing necessary.

When she retired due to injury, mom decided a life of leisure in a quiet place 5 minutes away from home was best. I got use to walking Fergy every morning. Our jaunts through Chatsworth Park and down Chatsworth Street were too few for my liking.

Fergy 1984 - 2013

Hiking: Los Angeles, CA: Deukmejian Wilderness Park - Rim of the Valley Trail

Back in October 2012, I took the OMG are you kidding me? Dunsmore Creek Trail.

This time I took the switchback and went up to the Rim of the Valley Trail. 
 
The switchback makes it easy,  but don't be fooled by the short back and forth lures. To get there you start off at the fantastic facilities at the parking lot and go up to the trail head. Follow dirt and take the first left. You'll see the humble beginnings of the switchback that gently slopes in a languid, passive taunt, hiding as just another trail to pass the time. Up and up you go, traversing back and forth. "You can do this!" the trail encourages! And yes, you don't notice that the incline is almost a 45 degree angle. The trail is gentle and charomed with creek bed rocks as all the trails in Deukmejian have. You see the beautiful view as you see at the top header of this page.

Then, when you think you're at the top and the view is as gorgeous as it gets, another "easy" switchback taunts you in the distance. Take a look at the picture below: 
Easy, right? Just a few steps and you'll be strolling up another easy switchback.

I thought so too. Until we started our way and I saw another option open to us marked-Difficult with a capital "D".

 So, I says to Emma, with her 1 inch tongue - "What do you say?" 

Emma was all too happy to spend a longer time exploring! 

Ha! I scoffed at the Difficult warning. How can another sloping switchback be difficult? Then, we started down. Went went down, down, down. 

We went down so far, we hit earth bottom. There was water and lots of it! My camelback was still filled and I brought extra water for the trek so we continued. The mountain claiming "difficult" was no where in sight. We descended onto forest floor and came to sights only angles knew about.      


The profound silence with only the flowing babble of water refreshed our resolve to find the top of the mountain. 

Crossing the rock bridge over the creek made the whole scene feel like we were in some sort of wild forgotten Japanese garden, but I believe the beauty of this trail was the careful architecture of this nature made oasis. 
 

People could not plot the trees or the river or the leaves the way nature could. Simply put, we'd descended to a place that felt like home. 

I didn't want to leave this canopy of tranquility until I saw the steps beckoning us to our goal - The Mountain that needed to be taught it was not so tough. 

So, a giant man-made stairway led us into the sun! This was where it got conversely claustrophobic and acrophobia. 

A one person trail with the right side a cliff and the left side a drop off to death was a bit perturbing with a dog that laughs in the face of vertigo.

Emma was running, running, running back and forth while I made sure my steps were firm and my ankles wouldn't break over. Tripping or falling because of weak joints wouldn't be the excuse I'd want to give my family for missing out on Thanksgiving dinner. Which, by the way, this hike was on Turkey day. 
So when I saw the peak after endless back and forth over a gorgeous view, I raised my fist and claimed, "I have you!"

To which the mountain exclaimed, Come and get me!

I totally did! Me and Emma did it together! When we got to the top, we realized, it wasn't the top. A fellow hiker walking down from the trail told me this particular path led up the towers another 4 miles. Wow! I'd just hiked up this behemoth for an hour and a half. I was ready for cranberry sauce. 

So, after snapping a picture of what was to come, we turned back and started our way to family dinner. I'd felt blessed for exploring the bottom of the earth when we got back to the terrace of the forgotten garden. The way down proved the incline formidable. But after the death defying drop of doom and death was averted, we had a easier go of the incline that led us down to paradise.   

Stats: 

Miles: 4.0

Speed: 1.8 mph

Climb: 1,125 feet

Time: 2 hours, 12 minutes

Dogs: on leash--one trash dispenser at trail head

Notes: Bring water and sunscreen. You will be out in the sun for the last stretch.

Theme: Grasshoppers that eagerly show you the path.

Emma: Gives it a 4 inch tongue difficulty. (Modestly difficult.)

Thank you all who helped put this trail back in order!