Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Contact form is back up

I was able to fix my problem with the contact form. It was a glitch in the way my profile was set up at PayPal, nothing they did.

I like PayPal.

I want to say that up front. I like that they get the financial info & keep it secure. That's why all the phishers want to break into it. I never see anybodys info and I don't want to. That's too much information.

That's all I wanted to say at the moment. I'll be back later to talk about other things, but I wanted to let you know.

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Payment Problem

There was a payment problem and a few folks got over charged. I caught it right away, pulled the contact form and refunded the overcharges. It was a pain in the butt!

Missy Bugs is not responding to the California Naturals. She cried like there was no tomorrow when I got home tonight because Princess found her food and ate it. So, Bugsy needs to be monitored. Actually, Princess needs the monitoring, but Bugsy needs the food.

I got some news today that upset me. I'm not ready to share. So, that's the newest update. See ya'!

Sunday, January 28, 2007

WooHoo! Got a Firewall!

Wow! It took almost 6 hours just to connect it, but I got a firewall! It's a Linksys router with firewall. It should help keep the viruses out and make things a bit easier. I was on the phone with Linksys for almost 4 of those hours! Between Bellsouth and Linksys, it was really tough. But - and this is HUGE - I can now surf the internet, take care of email and be more together in running the business!

I also got a Po box, so now folks can mail their payments. That should ease the burden of Paypal and credit card fraud. I put the info on the contact page, so it's already up and in use.

I was able to get a carrier yesterday, so the cats can now be evacuated if I need to do that. It was something that bugged me. Especially after Katrina and Rita, that I didn't have enough carriers to go around. I got a larger one, so I can put Bugs and Queenie in the same carrier if I need to.

Meanwhile, Bugs has been having a real problem with her tummy. It was hard before she got fixed, and I thought it was worms from the fleas. She was the last to get a flea collar. But, it's not worms. She seems to be allergic to her food. I got a special food, California Naturals yesterday, but so far there's no change. The smell isn't quite as bad, but the diarrhea is still there. She's very uncomfortable. However, she's very cuddly and knows that I'm working on it. I'm about to try a chub of grain-free food for her. I'll let you know how things work out.

Queenie is very cuddly, and in heat again. She's the last to get spayed, but her chirps are usually not too intrusive. She's beginning to get on my nerves, though. I realized tonight that she's cross-eyed! That oriental bloodline in her is very strong. Her eyes are yellow/gold, and her fur is black, but her body is fine boned and long. She has a lot of oriental in her from someplace.

Pretty Girl (Cuddle-Fluffer) is keeping her cuddly stuff going. She wants scratches and cuddles every time I walk by her. She was next to my pillow this morning when I woke up. Beasley was on the other side, and didn't seem to mind too much. I found them next to each other, head to head, watching me last night while I worked in the kitchen.

I've been chasing them out of the kitchen lately. I'm tired of feeling penned in to a little corner by 3 cats who think that the kitchen is only for them! I need to be able to cook and clean, after all!

Princess is still loving and giving. Her serene nature is a blessing in this household of 5 cats! She's an oasis of calm in the playtime insanity.

Well, I hope to post again soon. I have more changes to the computer to make. A new virus program and an internet camera/microphone. Wish me luck!

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Yikes! It's been so long!

Yikes! It's been so long since I've been able to post! I didn't mean it to be so long, honest!

Bugsy jumped up on my lap one day while I was on the computer & I wanted to post about it. She's so cute!

Queenie decided that I'm OK again. She is cuddling on me again.

Pretty Girl now has "Cuddle Fluffer" as her nickname. She's very cuddly and loves to be snuggled.

Princess is very insistent on cuddles, and I'm so tired most of the time that she's getting testy.

Beasley is his usual, clingy, loving self.

I quit smoking the day before Christmas, and the nicotine replacement stuff I'm using has been causing some sleep disturbance. I've been so tired and it's hard to get back to sleep when I wake up. The longer I've been in bed, the harder it is to get back to sleep, too. So, maybe it's easy to get back to sleep at 11:45, a little harder to get back to sleep at 1:30, a little harder at 3:20, and harder still at 5:00. Then, the alarm goes off at 6:10 and it's time to get up. So, I've started going to bed about 10:30 at night, just to get enough sleep. That means taking my night-time pills at 9:30.

It seems to work, especially since there is absolutely nothing on TV. I'm reading my books (I got a 13-book series by Robert Jordan) and ignoring the TV except for the few shows that I can stand for reruns. I'll be glad when February gets here and they put some new episodes on TV again. I also got about 15 movies from a friend, so I have lots to do. That's a good thing, with the weather finally turning wintery.

Something really good happened, too. It was a "God Shot" as far as I'm concerned. My car has been confined to the garage since before Thanksgiving (mid November) because the gas was not getting to the engine. Everyone said it was going to cost a fortune to fix it. I changed the fuse and nothing happened. We all thought it was the fuel pump or the fuel pump relay. That's on the gas tank on my car. Lots of labor, drain the tank, and so on... Well, a friend from work gave me a phone number & said that person might be able to help. He came over, twisted the fuses in the fuse box, did some circuit testing & the car started! It was corrosion in the fusebox all this time! I even have brake lights again! So, the car is back on the road, just as gas prices come down again.

Anyway, I'm caught up as much as I can be for the moment. There is supposed to be a way I can email entries into the blog, and I'll try that I just never think about it. I've been crazy busy!

Till next time...

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Wow! So Busy!/Flea Control Results, Cynicism

I have been so busy, that I haven't been able to keep up. Sorry about that!

Work is nuts, home is busy, and I've been extremely tired to top it off. I guess the weather and long hours are getting to me.

Anyway, I wanted to report on the results of the Breakaway Flea Collars, which I don't think I ever did. It seems that instead of killing the fleas right away, like the drops do, the collars are disrupting the reproductive cycle of the fleas instead. It takes a little longer to get rid of the fleas at the start, but they don't come back. This might be why the collars last up to 8 months.

So, we only have the passing flea, and it can't reproduce - result? The house is pretty flea-free!

I reported earlier on the odor control measures, so you have that. Get Microbe-Clean while you can. This is put out by an environmental group in Washington DC. If they lose their funding, who knows what will happen to the stuff. I lost it's predecessor when the company closed it's doors. So, get it now & have it on hand for when you need it. You would think that a GOOD odor control product would stay on the market for a while, but NO! - what they do is go and close their doors, instead.

I guess it's like the thing with pantyhose. You know: The one where the manufacturers stopped freezing the end product before selling it so that they would run easier & you would have to buy more?? Well, now you know: Put your hose in the freezer for at least 24 hours and they won't run as easily. If a product is too good, the sales aren't as great as they could be, so the manufacturer and sales outlets scream for changes to make the product not last as long - prompting the consumer to purchase more of the product.

It used to be that things were built to last. Now, they have "shelf-life" and "useful-life" built into them. Cars, clothes (fashion - which recycles), shoes, even canned goods! Sure, if a can has been in the cupboard for over a year, don't use it without heating it - (boiling it?) - but come on! 2 Years for a car that costs $25,000 or more????? After that, you need an engine?? Get over it! Cars made in the 20s and 30s were built to last forever. They fell apart from rust and bad maintainance, not because they weren't built properly. Even bridges and roads are built to "expire" now, causing cities, counties and states to replace them. A bridge made in the 20s should last at least a hundred years unless there was a problem with construction or maintainance. A road should be able to last 5 years unless it's subjected to extremes in temperature. Why is there road construction every 6 months on the same stretch of road? Why are bridges built only 10 years ago being replaced? More taxes on homeowners and gasoline that already costs too much to produce and trade across international boundaries.

Shoes are bad, because now they are made with plastic. Why re-sole a pair of $50 shoes when the sole you put on will last longer than the shoes themselves? That's if the shoes aren't falling apart already by the time the sole needs to be replaced. And fit??? Who ever heard of every foot being the same size and shape? No wonder people have feet problems! I know, I'm one of them. My family has a genetic disposition to short, wide feet. Try to fit that off the shelf!

I guess I'm a little cynical (little?) about things, but I've seen a few of these shenanigans over my lifetime, and I don't mind sharing about it, is all. Oh well, enough ranting and raving. I guess I just needed to complain today. Sorry about that.

Enjoy your day; pet & love your cat. It will lower your blood pressure. I guess I didn't get enough kitty-cuddles this morning.

Saturday, January 06, 2007

Cool New Tool!

I found a really neat social networking site: Tribe.net

I found all kinds of cat lovers and people in Knoxville. Not a bad day spent in front of the computer! However, I DO need to get my feet on the floor, my computer turned off and some CHORES done!

Found 3 cats that need homes, too. Their owner is terminally ill and that's a real shame. I got photos, but one was too big to upload to the website. The other is uploaded & I'll put them both on a high-traffic page as soon as I get the other "optimized" for the web.

Anyway, wanted to spread the word...

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Cool! Article Picked up in email!

Wow! My article, "What is a Cat Whisperer" got picked up in an email and is making the rounds of the globe! Boy! What a kick in the pants to be "syndicated" by my readers this way. If only Oprah Winfrey would pick it up and ask me on her show...

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...
I've been updating pages as I can. The emails have been really hot and heavy lately. I'm grateful, but it is sometimes hard to keep up. I raised my fee in mid-December, and it's still pretty heavy. I figured out where all the spam was coming from, and SBI now offers graphic-challenges for forms, so no computers can automatically spam me any more. It takes a low-wage human to do it. Poor things!

The kitties seem to be doing well. Beasley has a bit of hairballs but otherwise every one is doing well. Miss Pretty Girl is still having trouble hearing me, and the pyrethrin isn't cutting through the ear mites in her ears. I'm going to have to take her in to the vet and have her ears taken care of somehow. Without a car it can be difficult to say the least!

Meanwhile, I'm getting some pretty good response from my ads and blurbs about the store survey. Everything seems positive so far. I could sure use more responses, but they will come as they come.

On the brick-n-mortar store research front, I think I've found some property/retail space downtown. The catch is that I have to buy it, but that might not be a bad thing in the long run. I was referred to a store in NY City that's doing exactly what I want to do. Their website is doing absolutely nothing for them except costing them money, so maybe we can work out a deal where I fix their website and they loan me their business model so I can start my own store as a franchisee. It's probably an even trade, when you look at the cost of a decent website.

Bit by bit, if God is in charge (as He always is!) the store seems to be coming together. The cost of retail space for lease in other parts of downtown is running at $12/foot so the cost of purchasing the property is right in line. Just a little more, and it's not a lease - but something I can convert to my home if the store flops.

Well, gotta go eat some supper. The cats have been fed, but I haven't. My best to you in the New Year. May Prosperity and Health be yours!