Somethings to Think about …

Somethings to Think about …

I just wrote this on another forum a couple of days ago, where we were comparing differant people meanings of the word success; I think it applies here as well, so here it is…

I’ve known several people who thought that they weren’t successful until they earned so much money a year, owned a certain make car (Jaguar or BMW for instance), owned a vacation home, or a big boat. I always looked at these guys and asked them why they thought that money and items were success and they really didn’t have an answer. That always bothered me. It made me sad and I felt like they were missing out on the joys of real success.

I live on a beach, where lots of millionaires vacation each year, and I see these so called successful people every day. They have a lot of money coming in, they have the second house on the beach, they have the boat, they have the car, and they look around and say they still want more, but than they also have the mortages, the bank loans, the lease, and the sky rocketing property taxes. They have the “things” but they also have the debt and stress that comes with them. They tell people that at last they are successful, but than they are sad and depressed and end up with counseling bills on top of everything else, cause they need counseling to find out, why if they are so “successful” why than are they not also happy?

These same summer folks often look at me and my family…5 people and 200+ pets, living in a cabin just under 700 squ feet, on an income of less than $20,000 a year, and with a car that gets towed home several times a year cause it’s so old and beat up. They often ask us, how we can live like this and be happy. Why aren’t we stressed out like they are? Why aren’t we striving to be “successful” like them?

My answer is always the same. What is success? Is it money? Is it big houses and fancy cars? No. It is a family that loves you. It is haveing a job that alows ou to stay home with your family, even if it doesn’t make you rich. It is taking care of animals that were abandoned by their previose owners and knowing that they are now happy and safe. It is being able to walk to the beach each day and see the sunrise or the sunset, even if our house is the smallest one in town. It’s going to the movies with our children and talking about why we liked it on the drive home. It’s the weekly pzza nights, when we sit around talking and laughing in a tiny local pizza parlor, where we are so regular that they save our seats and know what to order without our seeing the menu.

No, success can not be counted in dollars and cents; success is counted in hours and minutes, laughter and tears…success in when you have a family that loves you, that you enjoy spending time with, and no amount of money can ever buy that.

Reporting harassment and spam to your forum

Today, I had yet another attack of keyword link spamming on one of my forums…the poster, has never joined and used a differant user name each time they left the posts filled with link spam. For days now I have been patiant with this troll and have asked them to stop posting links to their web site all over my board, however they only left “laughing smilies” and posted more links per post. I warned them that what they were doing was not only against my boards rules, but that it was againt ProBoards rules, and US government policy as well and warned them that if they conntinued I would have no choise but to do what I always do to keyword link spam trolls and report them to the FBI.

the posters responce was a touge smillie and yet another link spam….so as I warned them, their IP # is now publicly posted on my board, and I have just returned from the FBI’s reporting site.

It got my thinking though…I’ve used this method to get rid of trolls on all of my sites, and I’ve been asked before how do I send these reports to the FBI

well it’s simple realy, just go to their website, all the info is there. remember to point how that they are harassing you, disrupting conversations on your site, and causeing you to be annoyed because you have to spend each daay deleting their posts instead of working on your forums

for other admin who are having problems with link spam trolls here are a few places where you can report the harasment too.

http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/reporting.htm

http://www.fbi.gov/contact/fo/fo.htm

http://www.ic3.gov/

http://karisable.com/crpcrep.htm

http://www.nap.edu/netsafekids/pro_report.html

http://www.treas.gov/usss/financial_crimes.shtml

Also be sure to contact the web host that they used to build/host the site that they are spamming on your board…most cases the host will ban them and delete their site

and always keep track of the IP# and be sure you tell every org. you send the report to, both their IP# and the web site that the links open up to

I hope this well help some of you who have had link spam trolls attacking your forum

Reporting harassment and spam to your forum

What Is Success?

What is success?

How do you describe the word success?

What would it take for you to feel successful?

I thought it would be interesting to see what everyone thinks on this.

Of course it would help get the discusion moving if I posted my feelings on it, so here I go…

I’ve known several people who thought that they weren’t successful until they earned so much money a year, owned a certain make car (Jaguar or BMW for instance), owned a vacation home, or a big boat. I always looked at these guys and asked them why they thought that money and items were success and they really didn’t have an answer. That always bothered me. It made me sad and I felt like they were missing out on the joys of real success.

I live on a beach, where lots of millionaires vacation each year, and I see these so called successful people every day. They have a lot of money coming in, they have the second house on the beach, they have the boat, they have the car, and they look around and say they still want more, but than they also have the mortages, the bank loans, the lease, and the sky rocketing property taxes. They have the “things” but they also have the debt and stress that comes with them. They tell people that at last they are successful, but than they are sad and depressed and end up with counseling bills on top of everything else, cause they need counseling to find out, why if they are so “successful” why than are they not also happy?

These same summer folks often look at me and my family…5 people and 200+ pets, living in a cabin just under 700 squ feet, on an income of less than $20,000 a year, and with a car that gets towed home several times a year cause it’s so old and beat up. They often ask us, how we can live like this and be happy. Why aren’t we stressed out like they are? Why aren’t we striving to be “successful” like them?

My answer is always the same. What is success? Is it money? Is it big houses and fancy cars? No. It is a family that loves you. It is haveing a job that alows ou to stay home with your family, even if it doesn’t make you rich. It is taking care of animals that were abandoned by their previose owners and knowing that they are now happy and safe. It is being able to walk to the beach each day and see the sunrise or the sunset, even if our house is the smallest one in town. It’s going to the movies with our children and talking about why we liked it on the drive home. It’s the weekly pizza nights, when we sit around talking and laughing in a tiny local pizza parlor, where we are so regular that they save our seats and know what to order without our seeing the menu.

No, success can not be counted in dollars and cents; success is counted in hours and minutes, laughter and tears…success in when you have a family that loves you, that you enjoy spending time with, and no amount of money can ever buy that.

Poll about Bush

Was reading this: Poll about Bush

Quote:

I think, given the circumstances, he’s doing fine. Not many would have been able to cope with such tradgedy such as 9/11, the war, Katrina, the tsunami, etc

Quote:

I think he is doing a good job and I would like to see anybody who disagrees to do a better job themself.

I agree…personally I don’t think anyone who has not walked a mile in his shoes has the right to say they could do better than him, unless they are fully prepaired to give up their own life and family and take on the job of president themselves…maybe he’s made mistakes, but let me ask this…can you name a president that hasn’t? he’s only human after all…give the man a break, he’s doing the best he can

for those who want to throw stones at Bush…think on this thought for a while…

“If you think your so perfect, try walking on water.”

Garden growers?

Seeing how planting season is almost here (the ground has finally thawed so it can be tilled) I was wondering how many posters here are getting ready to start planting? Once growing season is here we grow most all our own food, everything from corn and peas to carrots and potatoes, to tomatos and squash and all things in between.

apples are so hard to grew, they require more care than vegies…ours usually get used for hen feed cause they get full of worms we only have 4 apple trees, so not much ever comes of them anyways…we usually end up going to the local orchards to pick our apples there rather than grew them…Macs are what most of the growers in the area havewe don’t have any regular cherries, our winters are too long and our summers too cold for pie cherries, but wild choke cherries grow along the brook, we don’t have to do anything to them at all, but the cherries are very sour, not sweet like regular cherries.

 I also have a perrenial flower garden…the prize center piece being a white rose bush over 100 years old and belived to be nearly 200 years old, that belonged to my great-grandmother, Rose Ricker.Anyone else here got gardens?

Internet forums… Why I like them

i LIKE BOTH…ON THE BIG BOARDS YOU MEET AND TALK WITH THOUSANDS OF DIFFERANT PEOPLE EACH TIME YOU VISIT (LIKE EbAY COMMUNITY)…

hey, I hit the caps button…I hate that…fixed now, finish my post…

On small boards you can really get to know the people, and make some close friends,

anyways, I like them both, I think that all forums provide something good, so I try to check out as many as I have time too.

Writing: When & Why

When did you first start writing?

What do you enjoy most about writing?

What is it that compeles you to write?

I wrote my first book in 1978, and haven’t stopped since… I like writing scifi/horror/romance… I don’t know if I’m more addicted to my characters or to the act of writing!

What books do you like?

I like books by my fave authors:

Keith Laumer
Douglas Adams
Sir A.C. Doyle
H.G.Wells
Edgar Allan Poe
Dr. Suess
J.K.Rowlings
Stephen King
Charles Dickins
Little Golden Books

lots of asst. Sci-Fi and Horror stuff

What books do you like?

Writing Exercise: How was the universe created?

I was just reading this: How was the universe created!!

the answer is 42…just ask Prak  

LOL!

This topic poses an interesting question actually. Some people say God created everything, others point to Big Bang…I wonder, what if it was both? What if God created us and He used the Big Bang to create us?

Or how about this…me being a writer and creator of 3 universes and over 700 characters makes me question this theory:

what if the creature we call “God” is really just a writer, like me or Stephen King or whoever else, right? Okay, so one day, the man named God decides to write a book, about a planet he calls earth and alien creatures he calls humans…if it was true that God created us and as some religions teach, that God knows everything that is going to happen before it happens, because he’s “the author of life” (as some preachers call him), than isn’t than true by that logic, that we do not exist at all and are nothing more than a figment of the imagination of a writer who makes us do and say whatever he wants us to do and say….

weird theory I know, but I’ve questioned it for years ever since I heard a preacher say that God was the author of all things and that we do his will…I asked him, than why should we bother to do anything at all, and than questioned creation against his teachings, and that’s how I came up with the above creation theory.

Well, you know me, I have to turn everything into a writing course, so, this is your next writing excercise.

Do you look your age?

I am 30 years old, and still get asked for my ID at several places; when I go shopping on a week day, store workers well often stop me and ask “Why aren’t you in school? It’s not a holiday is it?”…my friends tell me that I should be glad that I look so young and that most women in their 30’s would die to be in my shoes, but I really hate it, and am annoyed at having to always have to prove I’m over 18 every where I go.