So what's the sense ??

There are days when I get a little disappointed with Multiply.

Today is one of them.

When I first got here a year ago, the scuttlebutt was that shops are not allowed to exist on Multiply. See one? Report it.

Then over time, it seems that maybe the shops aren't so bad existing on Multiply (staff's opinion, not mine but not sure if anything official has been said about it) After all, they generate income for Multiply by having the google ad thing on their site.

But (and that's a big BUT) they aren't supposed to post in your guestbook if you're not contacts and they aren't supposed to send one an invite if it's not desired. Like maybe if you want a shop as a contact, you do the inviting.

This morning, I got an invite to be a business contact. Hmmmm red flags go up.  I had to go to the site to see what's what. It's some juice. I don't remember what kind, but easy enough to check out as I didn't decline the invite yet.

Anyhoo. What my understanding was that if you received an invite from a shop or business when it wasn't initiated or desired by you, you can report the person. 

So I did.

Now I'm a little muddled lately when it comes to Multiply's stance when it comes to shop sites and the spam that may be generated from those sites.

Do they get deleted? A stern warning? A slap on the wrist?

Who knows anymore because I sure don't.

I reported him/her for the unsolicited invite, also stating that this person hadn't even been to my home page so they must have found me posting in one of the groups.

I go out and do a charter. Do my regular afternoon run. Pick up my son and out we go. He wanted a dvd and I needed to put some groceries in this place. Grab dinner on the way through town.

I sign in to my account and I have a message from customer service.  I open it up and what do I see as the response ??

Hi,

I would suggest that you block this user. Just go to their home page and click on the "Block" link at the right side. Blocked users may still visit your home page, but they will not be able to see any of your posts.

Britney

Off I go trotting back to my inbox, click on the invite notice, go to that site to see if it still exists.

Yep, it does. And in the guestbook is someone that is not overly thrilled they got an invite either. I debated whether to follow up missthemed's comment with one of my own.
But what's the point. The person don't care.

Will this person re-send the invite if there is no response from me in a few weeks? Don't know.

I will do as Britney suggests and block this one and this will be the first one I've blocked that will stay blocked.

I guess time will tell though. Enough reports go in about unwanted invites and the person might take a long walk off a short pier anyways.

Wow

When I leave here around 6:30 or so in the mornings to head off to do my first school bus run of the day, I might either go do the circle check on the bus first then head to the local coffee shop to grab my coffee, or the other way around. Depends on how cold it is outside and needing to give the bus a chance to warm up.

This coffee shop down the road in the little town I live in, that has a drive through window, which I tend to go through instead of parking my van and going in. But that depends on how busy the drive through lane is too. If everybody had the same idea at the same time and it's really busy, then I will go in, providing the other half of the country isn't inside the store lol. People will verge to that drive thru lane from two different entrances, so it takes a bit of courtesy and co-operation for all to get through without a hitch.

A little while ago, I had pulled into the coffee shop, made my way around the building with intentions of possibly going through the drive-thru window. A few cars there, but not so bad, but busy enough that a couple cars were on the street trying to make a left into the driveway.

One thing that I don't like seeing is people that ignore who is already sitting there, being intent on getting their coffee and heading down the road to their destination as soon as they can. And that is what was happening that morning. I saw a couple cars come north to make the right into the driveway, leaving the poor car and it's driver still trying to make the left.

I sat and watched a bit. Curiosity was winning and I wanted to see how long it would take for this person to make their way into the drive thru lane or would he/she give up and head off without their coffee.

The driver finally got into the driveway and moved along behind the others in front.

Then it came to whether he/she should go ahead of me or I go ahead of him/her.

Having watched the difficulty this driver was experiencing before, I motioned for him/her to go ahead of me and I slipped in behind. (turns out it was a him)

The guy places his order and moves up, and I place my coffee and muffin order next.

He moves up when he could and pays for his order.

I hit the window and the lady inside gave me the amount of what I owed. I must have put a puzzled look on my face as the lady said "the gentleman in front of you bought your coffee".

Wow. I didn't know who he was or anything, so I asked the lady to thank him very much for me the next time she saw him.

I thought, what a great thing he did when he didn't have to.

A few days later, I was in a bit of a rush, not having enough sense to get out the door a little sooner that day, when I hit the drive thru lane. Busy, but not overly busy but inside the shop was even worse, so I stayed outside.

The courtesy and co-operation thing was going along smoothly enough, so no big worries.

A lady in vehicle (suv maybe?) coming from the other entrance motioned for me to go ahead of her, which I was grateful for, being a bit rushed that morning. So remembering the generosity of the man from the other day, I paid it forward and bought that lady her the two coffees she had ordered.

Now to today. A couple weeks have gone by. Nobody had bought me a coffee, and the way things worked, I didn't buy anybody theirs.

I get back from doing my first run of the day, when I decide to take coffee home with me. I pulled in behind the the last vehicle in line. Get to the speaker box and ordered two coffees and a hot chocolate for my son. Work my way up to the window and had a five dollar bill in my hand ready to pay for my order.

The lady working the drive-thru window then says "The lady in front of you just bought your coffees"

Again, I must have had that puzzled look on my face. I was thinking "why?"

The lady says (I see her all the time and forgot her name) "Did you let her in or something?"

I said "No. I just pulled in behind her."

So then the speculation came about that maybe I knew her and was told her name. The name didn't ring any bells with me at all. But then I thought, maybe she is one of my kids' mom and she recognized me, even with me not sitting in the big yellow monster. I don't know. I don't recall seeing that last name on any of the mailboxes at all.

So I asked the lady working the window if she would please thank her very much the next she sees her. (unless I figure out who she is exactly, then I will definitely thank her myself)

When the first genteman did this for me, I thought "wow, chivalry and courtesy is not dead yet." But I sure wasn't expecting what happened this morning at all. To me, there was no reason for her to do that. Except out of the kindness of her heart. And even if it does turn out I do know her somehow, sort of, she still didn't have to do that.

But I do thank her, very much.

Will I pay it forward? Of course.

My mini rant of the moment

Doesn't anybody read the previous replies in those idiot help groups ??

I was just reading one thread over at User Support and 4 people said the same asinine thing !!!

GRRRRRRRRRRRR
(well, not exactly asinine but does the poster really need to hear the same thing from 3 others too??? Not word for word but a case of 'you say tomato and I say tomahto' sort of thing)

And the day isn't over yet. There are a couple regulars that haven't checked in yet, so I would be surprised if the answer isn't given another once or twice by the end of the day.

I realize that people want to 'give back' and help the next newbie, which is great. But 4 times in the same thread ?? And I see that type of thing a lot in the help groups.

If someone was to check the viewing history, they would see I visit a lot, but don't say anything in many of them. What for? The correct help was provided and I didn't see a need to say the same again.

I'm not desperate enough to want my 15 minutes of fame by repeating the same thing someone else already said. And yes, it's mostly the same people over and over and over that is doing it. Not reading the previous replies. What are we going for? Recognition of being the most helpful on Multiply in Peter's eyes?

And yes, it bugs me.

I guess because I saw that alot in the Yahoo! Answers forum (the original one before they tweaked it) It was nothing to see many users in there provide the same answer. Drove me batty in there as well.

And I know some threads in the help groups here must confuse the newbies. I've been here a year and I get confused at times.
"I say tomahto, but let me give you an orange to help you with your next question before you even ask it" And the poor person is still trying to grasp 'tomahto'  and you're throwing oranges at them???

And I wonder why I have a hard time grasping at some things myself when I'm in there reading the replies.

Read the previous replies people! If the person is headed in the wrong direction, then speak up. But if they're on the right track, then let the person help them understand. If the poster is still not quite understanding, then provide the answer in such a way that they might understand. The 'tomato - tomahto' thing. But only then. If the poster is confused on the first reply, you saying the same thing for the 3rd and 4th times ain't gonna help them any.

I almost said something in that thread I was perusing, but I thought better of it and came here instead. Just had to get it off my chest somewhere.

Thanks for letting me rant.

Date Nut Bread

Description:
Was searching for images when I stumbled upon this blog.
http://www.gourmet.com/food/2008/02/datenutbread

This might be something I might actually try! lol

Ingredients:
3/4 cup boiling water
1 1/2 cups chopped dates
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 large eggs
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:
Heat oven to 350°F.

In a medium bowl, pour hot water over dates and butter. Stir and let the mix sit until lukewarm. In a food processor, puree 1/3 of the mix to make a paste. Stir it back into the bowl full of date mix. Add the brown sugar, molasses, vanilla, and eggs. Stir until combined.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the center and pour in the date mixture. Mix. Pour the batter into a butter-greased loaf pan.

Bake for 60 minutes or so; loaf is done when the top has risen. Remove the bread from the oven and cool it on a rack for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Friend

Testing something new I learned today.

Many thank you's to Snow and her endless patience with me.

Attachment: Friend1.html

Heyyyyyyyyyy

I was re-reading a particular blog here yesterday, and had even posted a couple comments in that thread, really debating whether this group should be deep-sixed.

I was having trouble figuring out how to open it up a bit but still having some semblance of control in here and not have it become chaotic like some other groups do.

So yeah, I was feeling (and still am to a point) that this group has no function .. no purpose ... and was even doubting whether it would even fly past its present look/feel/membership and only taking up space in our groups page.

But after having done some things on the spur-of-the-moment and regret it later, I closed the tab here and figured it would be best if I waited a bit longer.

WELL !! Lo and behold, Multiply has added some new features to the groups.
http://multiply.multiply.com/journal/item/264/Administrative_Assistance_Assistants

1. New members can be approved first. So I enabled that. Not saying my contacts can't invite someone and if you can vouch for them, then I will approve them.
2. First posts can be moderated, or all. So, for now, I have the setting at first post. Just in case someone slips through the cracks and gets in.
3. Now there are Admin Assistants. It isn't like Yahoo Groups where I can pick and choose what each Assistant's duties will be. The staff blog says you can't add or remove admins or assistants, you can't delete the group, and you can't edit the group's settings. What exactly an assistant can do, I have no idea, unless I add my test page ID and make try it out.

Now, the question is ... Do we stay private with these new features in place, or do we open it up and have it show in the Group Directory?

I was also wondering if there can be a bit of creativity found here as well.
And by that, I mean ... I know two members here belong to creative writing challenge groups. Would this be an idea for those interested? To have our own found here and have a new challenge maybe just once a week on a rotational basis so it doesn't stress out the members that belong to others? Would be the same idea in that you put the challenge on your page and only put the link to it here.

Even if to just help the group get up and running, do you have any other ideas?

That blog/thread that I visited yesterday last saw a comment just over two months ago. Not much activity here since. I know, people get busy. Their own pages, their own interests, health issues, computer issues, etc. Which I totally understand. And I'm just as bad.

How to get things going here? hmmmmmm

Yahoo - if anybody still cares lol

Seems Yahoo did something with the profile pages, without warning, the other day. Other than in their News Blog, that is. And their 360 team blog.
Hit a lot of people by surprise.

I had a heck of a time even getting near mine to see what they did with it!
If you used to go via messy to view your profiles, all you get now is a page that encourages you to upgrade your messy to version 9.
BUT if you go via messy to view your contacts, you can see their new profiles.
Doesn't make sense to me at all doing that, but that's Yahoo for you I suppose.

Anyways.
I have no clue who in my contacts here at Multiply uses messy and would be interested in what happened to their profiles (other than one), so I am doing this blog for a heads up sort of thing.

If you want to see your new profile, you have to type in
http://profiles.yahoo.com/your_yahoo_ID
Pretty blank if you even get to see it.
My first attempt at doing it that way had an 'oops nothing here' page.

So, what I ended up doing was going to ca.yahoo.com home page, signing in, then typing http://ca.profiles.yahoo.com to get to my profile. (The ca.profiles part is because my ID went through the canadian part of yahoo instead of the general .com part)

You can upload a picture.
You can set a 'status' message.
Set privacy settings.
You have an 'about me' section where you can fill in your interests (music, books, etc)
You have a guestbook.
Invite people from your messy to be contacts.
You can allow your updates to be posted elsewhere by contacts ... or not.
There is no spot to blog.
You can't tweak it (colors etc)

And yes, I'm still exploring it.

I had mentioned over in Y360 Refugees that it looked like something I had seen before and that I didn't like it. I had also mentioned how to get to the new profile in a round-about way. (My comment was removed from the thread)
I have contacts that try other social networking sites and will send me invitations from time to time. And no, I don't accept them. Sorry, what I should say is I've accepted a couple just to be nosy with that product, but then I ditch it. Actually go through the process of removing myself from there.

And it's the similarities of these other products that Yahoo has gone with. Some of them are basically the same, other than a few features are different. Like FB has the superwall and other toys you can add or play with. Yahoo's new profile looks similar to FB, but without the toys. And I know I checked out another one not too long ago and this new profile looks almost exactly like that, but I can't remember what site that was now.

But face it, Yahoo profiles of old didn't have a 'contacts' section. FB and others do.

And with Yahoo saying this time last year that the new "360" would let our blogs and whatnot transfer over, I am really hoping that this new profile isn't the universal one they yammered on about that would incorporate the present 360. Because there is no way to transfer your stuff over to this. Ziltch. Nada.

And yes, their new profile is BETA !! haha

If it wasn't for the people I do talk to over at Yahoo on messy, I might have ditched the whole thing long ago. Would have been a shame to lose the ID's I've had for so long, but .....
So that is why I was interested in what the new profile looked like.
And is why I hung onto my 360's to see what they will eventually look like, if and when Yahoo gets the product that they said would come out in the first quarter of 2008, out.

That's one thing I really like about Multiply.
You have a place to go to, to be heard, and have people listen and consider what you are saying. Even the Prez/CEO !! How cool is that ? !
Considers suggestions.
Talk to a real-life customer service rep with their live replies feature.
Staff that actually use the product. Even the prez.

Yeah. I hung onto my 360's but unless the new product is really really awesome (and I mean the one that will let our blogs and such transfer over to it), I may not use it. Depends upon some long time yahoo contacts. If they stick with it, then I will for them.

Ohhhh yeah. If you want to see what the new profile looks like, check mine ..

http://ca.profiles.yahoo.com/baby_scorpion_byte

Little Texas - God Bless Texas

Something for a friend .... may he forget about that idiot telemarketer and smile :D

Maybe even dance with us ? :D

Got my cowboy hat on .. how about you ??

Did I make a big boo-boo ???

Seems like it.

Try to make my home page more peaceful and less chaotic and my guestbook is hard to find now? I thought it was easy enough to find. Even sent out a blog about what I did and why.

But I've confused a few of you (all of you?)

Maybe I should unhide it

The Naked Cowboy .. a 'couldn't resist chuckle'

The Sheriff in a small-town walks out in the street and sees a blonde Cowboy coming down the walk with nothing on but his cowboy hat, gun, and his boots, so he arrests him for indecent exposure.

As he is Locking him up, he asks 'Why in the world are you dressed like this?' 

The Cowboy says:'Well it's like this Sheriff ... I was in the bar down the road and  this pretty little red head asks me to go out to her motor home with Her.  So I did.

We go inside and she pulls off her top and asks me to pull off my shirt. 

So I did.
 

Then she pulls off her skirt and asks me to pull off my pants. 

So I Did.

Then she pulls off her panties and asks  me to pull off my shorts. 

So I did. 

Then she gets on the bed and looks at me kind of sexy and says, 'Now go to town cowboy... '.

And here I am.






Son of a Gun, Blonde Men do exist

A Beautiful Day

Being such a beautiful day, a Sunday of our long Thanksgiving weekend, I was going to go for a walk when I decided that the kid and I should go for a drive instead. And I actually remembered to check the batteries in my camera, packing up a couple of fresh ones for just in case the others die on me. I still might have forgotten the camera (bad habit of mine) when my son grabbed it and ran out the door.

I've taken him with me on the bus a few times, but never on this particular route that I have as a regular run. And I know I see some great views in my travels but it was just a matter of those views coming through the camera the same way as I see them.  Unfortunately, some didn't turn out well and some not much better.

But to give you an idea of what I see every day when it comes to Mother Nature giving up some time for Father Winter and the beauty she bestows upon us before the cold weather and snow hits us.

************************************************************************************************************

I see this view three times a day. Sun, rain, snow ... all four seasons.

This one I see only twice a day. I know you don't see it well here, but the road looks like it ends at the trees. You don't see the curve in the road. I've always felt like I was about to enter into a whole different era once I hit the curve. For some reason, I always think of it as the land time forgot. If it wasn't for the electricity and telephone wires, the pavement, and the various road signs along the way.

This is off to the side once you get past the curve and over the small bridge that spans Batteaux River. I was actually surprised it turned out as well as it did.

A little bit further down the road, before another series of 's' curves.

I thought this was an interesting tree. One of those that always catches my eye.

I had decided to get out and take a close up of it .......

.... and this is what I found nestled amongst the branches. Too late in the year for eggs or young birds, but caught me by surprise anyways, thinking that a family was raised there.

A few just because I liked the look of them.
I was actually standing under this one looking up.

A close up of the previous one.

Please allow me to introduce my son Billy. He's a good sport when it comes to me. This is what I call his classic pose of patiently waiting while mom does her thing, as weird as it might be at times haha

Just a few more that caught my eye while booting around in the bus every day.

This picture was taken by Billy. I wasn't sure what he was taking a picture of or how it would turn out. I just told him to let me know when he saw something and wanted to take a picture. And the little screen on the camera didn't give me a clue of what this picture was until I uploaded it onto my laptop. Turns out, it's a great picture and I really like it. He's been trying really hard to keep his fingers out of the way and this was a great success!!

While the previous picture was taken looking into a group of trees at the side of the road, this next picture was in the same spot, but turning to look down the road. I love going down this road because of the trees being so close to the road. But just wait. Down this road, turn the corner, go down a mile and you'll find something better.

There seems to be a lot of trees will yellow or orangey-yellow leaves. Not a whole lot of reds. Not sure why that is. Well, other than being the types of trees, but considering I can't tell too many trees apart, I like the mystery of finding a red one every once in a while haha.

Same tree, but a close up

The next two pictures are the same stretch of road and I just love the way the trees  create a canopy over the road. Feels like I should go under this canopy in a horse and buggy rather than my big yellow war machine (I know, I'll have to explain that haha)

The yellow war machine nickname of my bus came about the 2005-2006 school year. The one kid on the bus had started this whole King Chin-chilla fantasy thing with the younger ones and I was Goddess of the Yellow War Machine. Every morning, there would be new adventures in the land of King Chin-Chilla and his loyal subjects. (I don't remember all their names anymore, unfortunately) And while the King preferred the Goddess stayed at the castle, safe, she insisted on going with the King and his subjects to fight in her Yellow War Machine.

As much as driving the school bus makes me crazy at times, there are some benefits to it, so I can't complain too much.  I just need to take my camera with me more often. Especially once winter hits. Try to take pics of the good days as well as the nasty ones that make you ponder your own sanity being out there with the kids. haha

Just wanted you to know ...

Just wanted to warn some of you that I have changed my home page.

A lot !

I got really tired of all the boxes on my page, so I hid some.
Then a few weeks went by and I still wasn't liking what I was seeing.
Too long, too cluttered.
So I hid the rest. Except for the Welcome Box.
Yep, even the guestbooks are hiding now.
Sort of.
You'll find a link to things in the Welcome Box now.

I'm just finding things a little chaotic for me at the moment and my Multiply page was the one place I could put some control into the chaos. It doesn't solve the big chaotic issue, but hopefully everything else will finally fall into place soon enough.

Please forgive my absenses from your pages. Doesn't mean I have forgotten you.
I've actually missed you.

For those that are missing seeing my guestbook, this will help you get there
http://www.wolvesandrainbows.multiply.com/guestbook

Hallowe'en

Custom Colors - Andros base theme used for this one.

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color: #8B0000;
}
td li.gnoptsel a, td li.gnoptsel a:visited, td li.gnoptsel a:link, td li.gnoptsel a:hover {
color: #8B0000;
}

div#subnav li.gnoptsel {
border-color: #8B0000;
}

/* right rail links */
ul.sidelist a, ul.sidelist a:visited, ul.sidelist a:link {
color: #8B0000;
}
.railbody a.raillink, .railbody a:link.raillink, .railbody a:visited.raillink {
color: #8B0000;
}
.userlogo a, .userlogo a:hover, .userlogo a:visited, .userlogo a:link, td.rail div#rail div.userlogo a {
color: #8B0000;
}
.userlogo, td.rail div#rail div.userlogo {
border-color: #8B0000;
}

/* protect poll dialog box fonts */
td#cell_ {
color: #8B0000;
}

tr#row_vote {
color: #8B0000;
}

div#ownedfooter {
background: none;
background-color: transparent;
border-color: #8B0000;
}

td#maincontent {
color: #8B0000;
}

a.go, a.go:visited, a.go:link {
color: #8B0000;
}

/* various classes to describe link colors throughout the main body */
a.post, a.post:visited, a.post:link, a.editlinks, a.editlinks:visited, a.editlinks:link, a.compose, a.compose:visited, a.compose:link, a.vopt, a.vopt:visited, a.vopt:link  {
color: #8B0000;
}
a.editlinks:hover {
font-style: italic;
}

.breadcrumb a, .breadcrumb a:visited, .breadcrumb a:link, div.itemactions a, div.itemactions   a:visited, div.itemactions a:link {
color: #8B0000;
}

div.header li.gnoptsel {
background: none;
border: none;
background-color: #000000;
color: #8B0000;
padding: 2px 0 2px 0;
margin: 2px 6px 2px 6px;
}

div.header li.gnoptsel b.cn {
background: #000000;
}

#home_guestbook .replybox {
background: #000000;
border-color: #8B0000;
border-style: solid;
border-: 1px;
color:#8B0000;
font-family: comic sans ms;
font-size: 13px;
width: 330px;
}

.replybox {
background: #000000;
border-color: #8B0000;
border-style: solid;
border: 1px;
color: #8B0000;
font-family: comic sans ms;
font-size: 13px;
}

.textarea {
background: transparent;
color: #8B0000;
font-family: comic sans ms;
border: 1 px solid;
border-color: #8B0000;
}

.replybox, .replyboxread, .quotet {
background: #000000;
border-color:#8B0000;
border-style: solid ! important;
border-: 1px ! important;
color:#8B0000;
font-family: comic sans ms;
font-size: 13px;
}

.replybox textarea {
color:#FFFFFF;
font-size:13px;
background: transparent;
}

.railbody p{
display: none;
}

/* border */
div.stats div.infobox .boxbody {
border:2px solid #8B0000;
}

/* bg-color */
div.stats .infobox {
background: transparent;
}

/* assign transparent for transparent box */
.stats {
background:#000000 none repeat scroll 0%;
}

/* text color */
div.stats {
color:#8B0000;
}

u {
text-decoration:none;
border-bottom:double;
}

.replydeleted {
display:none;
}

.itemboxsub .icon img {
display: none;
}

ul.sidelist li, ul.sidelist li a {
list-style-image: none;
background: none;
}

li.gnopt a img, li.gnoptsel a img {
display: none;
}

.itembox .viewmore a.add, .itembox .viewmore a.select,{
background: none;
}

input {
background-image: none;
background: transparent;
border: 1px solid #8B0000;
color: #8B0000;
font-family: comic sans ms;
font-size:13px;
margin:3px;
padding:5px;
}

#home_guestbook .replybody img {
display-width:250px;
max-width:275px;
width:auto;
}

.userlogo, .contactbox, .railbody .userlogo {
background-color: transparent;
font-size: 10px;
font-family: comic sans ms;
}

td.rail div#rail .railbody .userlogo {
border: 2px solid #8B0000;
background: transparent;
font-size: 10px;
font-family: comic sans ms;
}

.voptlabel {
color: #8B0000;
}

div.box, div.box div.boxbody {
background: #000000;
}

.quotet {
background:transparent  -25px;
}

/*SITE CUSTOMIZATION BACKGROUND*/
div#customize_body.customize_body{
background: #000000 ! important;
}

/*SITE CUSTOMIZATION TITLE*/
h2.hph2 {
font-size: 18px;
font-weight: bold;
color: #8B0000 ! important;
font-family: comic sans ms;
}

/*SITE CUSTOMIZATION LINKS*/
div#customize_body a {
color: #8B0000 ! important;
font-family: comic sans ms;
font-size: 12px;
}

.posteddate {
font-weight: bold;
font-size: 12px;
color: #8B0000;
display: none;
}

/*Removing Icons from themes*/
/*Top header:*/
li.gnopt a img, li.gnoptsel a img {
display: none;
}

/*Boxes:*/
.itemboxsub .icon img {
display: none;
}

/*or (this also removes the space used by the icon - thanks to bindra)*/
.itemboxsub .icon {
display: none;
}

/*Right rail (most themes):*/
ul.sidelist li, ul.sidelist li a {
list-style-image: none;
background: none;
}

/*Plus and arrow on itemboxes:*/
.itembox .viewmore a.add, .itembox .viewmore a.select {
background: none;
}

.quotet img {
display: none;
}

.quotet {
background: transparent url(http://images.wolvesandrainbows.multiply.com/image/2/photos/14/600x600/38/quote-red-start.gif?
et=Xxiv8nTmvSY6ALbjQ%2BSUfg&nmid=100880486) no-repeat left 27px scroll;
}

.quotet i {
padding-top: -5px;
padding-right: 30px;
padding-left: 25px;
background: transparent url(http://images.wolvesandrainbows.multiply.com/image/2/photos/14/600x600/37/quote-red-end.gif?
et=2btZ1f8IJaP6FKg5v1xmsA&nmid=100880486) no-repeat right bottom scroll;
}

/*TAGS ON THE RIGHT RAIL */
div#mainbox_1 div.relatedlinks {
color:transparent;
background-color: transparent;
border: none;
color: #8B0000 ! important;
font-weight: normal;
font-size: 14px;
text-align: align left;
overflow-x: auto;
height:600px;
width: 110px;
position: absolute;
top: 955px;
left: 710px;
z-index:10000;
}

div#mainbox_1 div.relatedlinks a, div#mainbox_1 div.relatedlinks a:link {
color: #8B0000;
font-style:oblique;
}

div#mainbox_1 div.relatedlinks a:hover {
color:#8b0000;
text-decoration: blink;
font-style:normal;
}

div#mainbox_1 div.relatedlinks a:active {
color:#8B0000;
}

div.relatedlinks a, div.relatedlinks a:link, div.relatedlinks a:visted {
font-size: 14px ! important;
}

/*border*/
.tablediv1 {background-color:#000000;
}

/*main*/
.tablediv1 tr{background-color:#000000;
}

/*top*/
.tablediv1 th{background-color:#000000;
color:#8B0000;
}

/*text*/
.bodysummary{
color:#8B0000;
}

/*hover*/
.tablediv1 th:hover{background-color:#000000;
color:#8B0000;
}

.tablediv1 tr:hover{background-color:#000000;
}

.tablediv1 {
margin: -1px;
border: 2px inset #8B0000;
}

.itemsubsub {visibility:hidden;
}

.itemsubsub a {visibility:visible;
}

.itemsubsub nobr {visibility:visible;
}

.replyboxstamp {visibility:hidden;
}

.replyboxstamp a {visibility: visible;
}

/*edit pop up box*/
div #edit_content_box_contents {
background-color: #000000;
}

.mmreplylinks a {
color: #8B0000;
}

/**CALENDAR**//
table.globalnav, div.caldiv1 td:hover.calday, .caldiv1 th, .calday, .cald, .infobox, .infobox .boxbody, .tablediv1 tr.bg2, .tablediv1 tr:hover.bg2, .tablediv1 tr.bg4, .tablediv1 tr:hover.bg4, .tablediv1, .tablediv1 th {
background-color: #000000 ! important;
}

table.globalnav {
border: #8B0000;
width: 95%;
}

.caldate {
font-size: 13px;
font-weight: bold;
color: #8B0000 ! important;
background-color: #000000;
}

.cald, .calday {
border:1px solid #8B0000 ! important;
background-color: #000000 ! important;
color: #8B0000 ! important;
}

.cald {
  float: right;
text-align: center;
padding: 0px 4px 0px 4px;
margin: -3px -3px 3px 3px;
width: 20px;
}

.calevent {
margin: 0px 0px 8px 0px;
}

.caldiv1 th, .tablediv1 th {
color: #8B0000 ! important;
}

.caldiv1 th {
  font-size: 10px;
font-weight: bold;
text-align: center;
}

.caldiv1 th a, .caldiv1 th a:visited {
color: #8B0000 ! important;
}

Life is not about waiting for the storm to end, but learning how to dance in the rain.

Definitely wasn't me, but wish I had.I don't know who said it, but when I find out, I'll put it here.

I love going for a walk in the rain, so why not dance ??

A Batty Hallowe'en

This is made for the Custom Colors base theme.
If you're using something other than Custom Colors, you will have to go through the process of selecting it but don't worry about uploading a background or choosing the right colors.
Whatever colors you have showing, will be replaced with this code. Just highlight and delete the code showing when you click on Customize My Site >> Custom CSS.
Just hit preview before you save to make sure you got rid of your previous code.
Let me know if you use this and have a problem with it. Wasn't copying & pasting here with ease like it should have.

HAVE A BATTY HALLOWE'EN !!

*************************************
(copy and paste the following code)

div.contentwrapper {
    background: transparent;
}
div.bodywrap {
    background: transparent;
}
/* body */
div.bodywrap {
    background-color: transparent;
background: transparent;
}

div.contentwrapper {
    background-color: transparent;
background: transparent;
}

body {
    background-color: transparent;
background: url('http://images.allthingswild.multiply.com/image/1/photos/upload/1200x1200/SNw3ewoKCCsAAApkLBM1/halloween-graveyard.gif?
et=qeEQhYROI94CSn61fj4uqA&nmid=0') fixed repeat;
}

/* part or rail where ads are */
.rail {
    background: none;
background-color: transparent;
color: #000;
}

.railstart {
    background: none;
background-color: transparent;
color: #000;
border-color: #000000;
margin-right: -1px;
}

.railbody {
    background: none;
width: 118px;
background-color: transparent;
color: #000;
}

.railend {
    background: none;
background-color: transparent;
color: #000;
}

div.header {
     background: none;
border-color: #000000;
background-color: transparent;
border-bottom: 1px solid #000000;
}

td.rail {
     background: none;
border-color: #000000;
background-color: transparent;
color: #000;
}

td.leftnav {
    background: none;
border-color: transparent;
border-right-color: #000000;
border-left-color: #000000;
background-color:transparent;
color: #000;
}

div.leftnavsep {
    border-color: #000000;
}

div.railsep {
    background: #000;
}

td.leftnav a.mopt, td.leftnav a:link.mopt, td.leftnav a:visited.mopt, a.mopt, a:link.mopt, a:visited.mopt {
    color: #000;
}

td.leftnav a:hover.mopt, a:hover.mopt {
      text-decoration: none;
background-color: #000;
color: transparent;
}

/* site title */
h1#page_owner_title {
    color: #000;
}

/* page title */
h1 {
    color: #000000;
}

/* item title area */
.itemboxsub {
    background: none;
background-color: transparent;
border-color: transparent;
color: #000;
}

/* calendar editting */
.caldiv1 {
    background-color: transparent;
}

.caldiv1 th {
    background-color: transparent;
}

.caldiv1 td {
    background-color: transparent;
}

.itemsubsub {
    background: none;
background-color: transparent;
color: #000;
}

/* item contents area */
.itembox {
    background: none;
background-color: transparent;
border-color: transparent;
color: #000;
}

.itembox legend { color: #000;
}

.itemboxalbum {
    background: none;
border: 1px solid transparent;
background-color: transparent;
color: #000;
}

div.relatedlinks {
    color: #000;
}

.stats {
    background: none;
background-color: transparent;
border-color: transparent;
color: #000;
}

/* links inside itemboxen */
.select a, .select a:visited, .select a:link, .select a:hover, .viewmore a, .viewmore a:visited,
 .viewmore a:link, .viewmore a:hover, .itembox a, .itembox a:visited, .itembox a:link, .itembox
 a.select, .itembox a:visited.select, .itembox a:link.select, .itembox a:hover.select {
    color: #000;
}

a.select, a:visited.select, a:link.select, a:hover.select {
    color: #000000;
}

#uploadtools a, #uploadtools a:visited, #uploadtools a:link, #uploadtools a:hover {
    color: #000000;
}

#importtools a, #importtools a:visited, #importtools a:link, #importtools a:hover {
    color: #000000;
}

.cattitle a, .cattitle a:visited, .cattitle a:link, .cattitle a:hover {
    color: #000;
}

/* navigation and title bar */
div.owner_nav {
    background: none;
background-color: transparent;
border: 1px solid #000000;
}

td#content-start {
    border-color: #000000;
}

table.globalnav {
    background: none;
background-color: transparent;
}

table.globalnav h3 {
    color: #000;
}

.navinput {
    border: 1px solid #000000;
background-color: #6459ED;
color: #000;
}

div.gndd {
    background: none;
background-color: transparent;
border: 1px solid transparent;
color: #000;
}

div.gndd a {
    border: 1px solid transparent;
}

div.gndd a:hover {
    background-color: transparent;
color: #000;
}

div.ddsep {
    background-color: #000;
}

h4#post_new_content_sections {
    color: #000;
}

/* owner navigation links */
span.signoutid a, span.signoutid a:visited, span.signoutid a:link, span.signoutid:hover,
 a.signoutid, a.signout, a.signout:visited, a.signout:link, div#ownedfooter a, div#ownedfooter
 a:visited, div#ownedfooter a:link, li.gnopt a, li.gnopt a:visited, li.gnopt a:link {
        color: #000;
}

li.gnoptsel {
    border-color: #000000;
background-color: transparent;
color: #000;
}

li.gnoptsel a, li.gnoptsel a:visited, li.gnoptsel a:link, li.gnoptsel a:hover {
    color: #000;
}

td li.gnoptsel a, td li.gnoptsel a:visited, td li.gnoptsel a:link, td li.gnoptsel a:hover {
    color: #000;
}

div#subnav li.gnoptsel {
        border-color: #000000;
}

/* right rail links */
ul.sidelist a, ul.sidelist a:visited, ul.sidelist a:link {
    color: #000;
}

.railbody a.raillink, .railbody a:link.raillink, .railbody a:visited.raillink {
    color: #000;
}

.userlogo a, .userlogo a:hover, .userlogo a:visited, .userlogo a:link, td.rail div#rail div.userlogo a{
    color: #0b5eb4;
}

.userlogo, td.rail div#rail div.userlogo {
    border-color: #000000;
}

/* protect poll dialog box fonts */
td#cell_ {
    color: #000000;
}

tr#row_vote {
    color: #000000;
}

div#ownedfooter {
    background: none;
background-color: transparent;
border-color: #000000;
}

td#maincontent {
    color: #000000;
}

a.go, a.go:visited, a.go:link {
    color: #000;
}

/* various classes to describe link colors throughout the main body */
a.post, a.post:visited, a.post:link, a.editlinks, a.editlinks:visited, a.editlinks:link, a.compose,
a.compose:visited, a.compose:link, a.vopt, a.vopt:visited, a.vopt:link  {
    color: #000000;
}

a.editlinks:hover {
    font-style: italic;
}

.breadcrumb a, .breadcrumb a:visited, .breadcrumb a:link, div.itemactions a, div.itemactions
 a:visited, div.itemactions a:link {
    color: #000000;
}

div.header li.gnoptsel {
    background: none;
border: none;
background-color: transparent;
color: #000;
padding: 2px 0 2px 0;
margin: 2px 6px 2px 6px;
}

div.header li.gnoptsel b.cn {
    background: none;
}

#home_guestbook .replybox {
background: transparent; /*#6459ED;*/
border-color: #000000;
border-style: solid;
border-: 1px;
color:#000000;
font-family: comic sans ms;
font-size: 12px;
width: 330px;
}

.replybox {
background: transparent;
border-color: #000000;
border-style: solid;
border-: 1px;
color: #000000;
font-family: comic sans ms;
font-size: 12px;
}

.textarea {
background: transparent;
color: #000000;
font-family: comic sans ms;
border: 1 px solid;
border-color: #000000;
}

.replybox, .replyboxread, .quotet {
background: transparent;
border-color:#000000;
border-style: solid ! important;
border-: 1px ! important;
color:#000000;
font-family: comic sans ms;
font-size: 12px;
}

.replybox textarea {
color:#FFFFFF;
font-size:13px;
background: transparent;
}

.railbody p{
display: none;
}

/* border */
div.stats div.infobox .boxbody {
border:2px solid #6459ED;
}

/* bg-color */
div.stats .infobox {
background: transparent;
}

/* assign transparent for transparent box */
.stats {
background:#000000 none repeat scroll 0%;
}

/* text color */
div.stats {
color:#CD6839;
}

u {
text-decoration:none;
border-bottom:double;
}

.replydeleted {
display:none;
}

.itemboxsub .icon img {
display: none;
}

ul.sidelist li, ul.sidelist li a {
list-style-image: none;
background: none;
}

li.gnopt a img, li.gnoptsel a img {
display: none;
}

.itembox .viewmore a.add, .itembox .viewmore a.select,{
background: none;
}

input {
background-image: none;
background: transparent;
border: 1px solid #000000;
color: #6459ed;
font-family: comic sans ms;
font-size:12px;
margin:3px;
padding:5px;
}

#home_guestbook .replybody img {
display-width:250px;
max-width:275px;
width:auto;
}

.userlogo, .contactbox, .railbody .userlogo {
background-color: transparent;
font-size: 10px;
font-family: comic sans ms;
}

td.rail div#rail .railbody .userlogo {
border: 2px solid #000000;
background: transparent;
font-size: 10px;
font-family: comic sans ms;
}

.voptlabel {
color: #ccc;
}

div.box, div.box div.boxbody {
background: #FFB6C1;
}

.quotet {
background:transparent  -25px;
}

/*SITE CUSTOMIZATION BACKGROUND*/
div#customize_body.customize_body{
background: #000000 ! important;
}

/*SITE CUSTOMIZATION TITLE*/
h2.hph2 {
font-size: 18px;
font-weight: bold;
color: #6459ED ! important;
font-family: comic sans ms;
}

/*SITE CUSTOMIZATION LINKS*/
div#customize_body a {
color: #6459ED ! important;
font-family: comic sans ms;
font-size: 8px;
}

.posteddate {
font-weight: bold;
font-size: 12px;
color: #ffffff;
display: none;
}

/*Removing Icons from themes*/
/*Top header:*/
li.gnopt a img, li.gnoptsel a img {
display: none;
}

/*Boxes:*/
.itemboxsub .icon img {
display: none;
}

/*or (this also removes the space used by the icon - thanks to bindra)*/
.itemboxsub .icon {
display: none;
}

/*Right rail (most themes):*/
ul.sidelist li, ul.sidelist li a {
list-style-image: none;
background: none;
}

/*Plus and arrow on itemboxes:*/
.itembox .viewmore a.add, .itembox .viewmore a.select {
background: none;
}

.quotet img {
display: none;
}

.quotet {
background: transparent url(http://images.wolvesandrainbows.multiply.com/image/2/photos/14/600x600/30/quote-orange-start.gif?
et=9HiDkwNGRTltSKRmzC15bQ&nmid=100880486) no-repeat left 27px scroll;
}

.quotet i {
padding-top: -5px;
padding-right: 30px;
padding-left: 25px;
background: transparent url(http://images.wolvesandrainbows.multiply.com/image/2/photos/14/600x600/29/quote-orange-end.gif?
et=f81flyHXLQ5IpmpAO0f4ug&nmid=100880486) no-repeat right bottom scroll;
}

/*TAGS ON THE RIGHT RAIL */
div#mainbox_1 div.relatedlinks {
     color:transparent;
background-color: transparent;
border: none;
color: #f6459ED ! important;
font-weight: normal;
font-size: 14px;
text-align: align left;
overflow-x: auto;
height:600px;
width: 110px;
position: absolute;
top: 955px;
left: 710px;
z-index:10000;
}

div#mainbox_1 div.relatedlinks a, div#mainbox_1 div.relatedlinks a:link {
     color: #6549ED;
font-style:oblique;
}

div#mainbox_1 div.relatedlinks a:hover {
     color:#ff0000;
text-decoration: blink;
font-style:normal;
}

div#mainbox_1 div.relatedlinks a:active {
     color:#6459ED;
}

div.relatedlinks a, div.relatedlinks a:link, div.relatedlinks a:visted {
font-size: 14px ! important;
}

/*border*/
.tablediv1 {background-color:#000000;
}

/*main*/
.tablediv1 tr{background-color:#000000;
}

/*top*/
.tablediv1 th{background-color:#000000;
color:#6459ED;
}

/*text*/
.bodysummary{
color:#6459ED;
}

/*hover*/
.tablediv1 th:hover{background-color:#1346A5;
color:#6459ED;
}

.tablediv1 tr:hover{background-color:#1346A5;
}

.tablediv1 {
margin: -1px;
border: 2px inset #6459ED;
}

.itemsubsub {visibility:hidden;
}
.itemsubsub a {visibility:visible;
}
.itemsubsub nobr {visibility:visible;
}

/*edit pop up box*/
div #edit_content_box_contents {
background-color: #00008B;
}

.mmreplylinks a {
color: #6459ED;
}

If Dogs Could Talk ....

(these were so cute, I had to share)

The leg might be broken, but I can still annoy the fluff out of you

Mum said all I have to do is give you puppy dog eyes and you'll feed me.
How'm I doing ??

I don't get it. Where's the milk ??

Think you're good, huh? Just wait until I sneeze.

Therzzzzz no way *hiccup* that was juzzzt *hiccup* milk

If the puppy dog eyes don't work, use more conventional methods.

I .... hate .... you

Wellllll I'm a gemini .... aaaaaand I love long walks on the beach.
Aaaaand I, like, love tennis balls ! ha ha ha

I'm not .....*yawn* ... tired, ok?? I'm.... just .... a little ... sllleeepyy ....zzzzzzzzzzz

Why are hoomans so unkind ??

BUT I DON'T WANNA GO !!!! aaaAAAAaaaHHHhhhhHHHH

I'd better be getting paid overtime for this

Ahhhhhhh !! A mouse !! Quick ... on the chair

Rrrrrr .... like a tiger ... Rrrrrr

What ?? I didn't ..... I .... I .... I was just thirsty

Go on. Tickle me. You know you wanna

Hey ! Did you take my Old Spice ?? No, seriously ....

Why did I eat so many cookies ?? Why ???

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE !!

He he he. I went through your bag, man, and found this little
bag of green stuff.
So I totally ate it. Awesome he he he

Sup Shorty?! You bangin tonight ??

Kid? You're asking the wrong guy.

You'd think looking like a panda, I would get a bit more
attention around here.
Hello ?? Pat me please. Helloooo ??

Whasssup ??

Bread? You're seriously giving me bread ??

Why don't they *sniff sniff* want to play *sniff* wiff me ?

Why get a tea-cup chihuahua when you can get a beer mug chihuahua ?