In a Lather About Lots of Stuff
My recent attempts to reduce stress in my life are failing miserably. I think I am what people used to call a Type A personality. Believe me, I would give just about anything to be a different type, but I am bound to my DNA. (Mom, in case you are reading this . . . yes, I am saying it is your fault.)
What's stuck in my craw today (yes, I have a craw):
1. I cannot get a full night's sleep because I share my bedroom with four males. Three of them are dogs (two of my own and one foster) and one is the man I married. Three of the four lick their own penis . . . All. Night. Long. The fourth one snores intermittently, just loudly enough to keep me up (he also sleepwalks, but that's a tale for another day). Gideon usually kicks things off at around 2 a.m. Then Joker remembers that he has a penis, too, and gets started. Karl isn't usually as bad. He is getting old (almost 10) and I guess his wiener doesn't hold that much appeal for him anymore. I am implementing a new policy at my house: if you have a penis you are asked to pleasure yourself during daylight hours only, please.
2. People who think that rules don't apply to them. I volunteer for Boxer Rescue and we have a few policies that we enforce. If you want to adopt from us, you need to have a good track record at your veterinary clinic (among other requirements). It's all laid out on the website with wording like "PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU APPLY." People either a) don't read it or b) read it and think we could not possibly be talking to them. If you apply and you haven't taken your cat to the vet since the 1990's, your clinic is going to tell us that. Did ya think we wouldn't call? Or, because it is YOU, after all, we would overlook it? Also, we get lots of applications from people in very distant states, even though the website clearly states that we only place dogs locally. Sure, I will drive the dog to Dallas, but only because it's YOU asking. For anybody else, no.
3. This week I discovered a tool called CopyScape. This tool allows you to enter the URL for any given page on your website. It will then search ye olde internet and find other sites with matching text. As the webmaster for our Boxer Rescue site, I was curious to check for sites which might be using material from our site. I found three. These were pretty blatant - copying and pasting entire chunks of text. We were not listed as the source. Because I get pretty feisty about protecting my writing (even if it's just a page of policies and procedures, I still wrote it and because I am so clever and witty, even the policies and procedures reflect my own tone), I contacted the three sites. The first two sent very cordial replies indicating that they had not intentionally plagiarized our site and that they would remove the text. And they did remove it. The third one was less polite but I am still hopeful they will remove the copyrighted material from the site. The funny thing is, if someone asked me for some of our material, I probably would have been happy to help as long as they cited the source. I have been building the rescue site for seven years - it's what you might call a labor of love. This isn't the first time I've found my writing on other sites and I'm sure it won't be the last. But for anyone reading this, please know that all material you see on the internet is copyrighted. And using copyrighted material is illegal. If you see some material that you want to use, ask the webmaster and in most cases I bet they'll be happy to let you use it.
I'm done kvetching now (but reserve the right to update this post just in case I think of something else that is pissing me off). I'm reminded of a recent Lewis Black routine that I caught on TV. He said something like, "The good die young, but pricks live forever." He suggested running out of your house and cussing at little kids and telling them to get off your lawn as a good way to get started on a long life.
Personally, I like a little ire in my day. Keeps me from getting complacent. And writing about it keeps from from committing homicide.
What's stuck in my craw today (yes, I have a craw):
1. I cannot get a full night's sleep because I share my bedroom with four males. Three of them are dogs (two of my own and one foster) and one is the man I married. Three of the four lick their own penis . . . All. Night. Long. The fourth one snores intermittently, just loudly enough to keep me up (he also sleepwalks, but that's a tale for another day). Gideon usually kicks things off at around 2 a.m. Then Joker remembers that he has a penis, too, and gets started. Karl isn't usually as bad. He is getting old (almost 10) and I guess his wiener doesn't hold that much appeal for him anymore. I am implementing a new policy at my house: if you have a penis you are asked to pleasure yourself during daylight hours only, please.
2. People who think that rules don't apply to them. I volunteer for Boxer Rescue and we have a few policies that we enforce. If you want to adopt from us, you need to have a good track record at your veterinary clinic (among other requirements). It's all laid out on the website with wording like "PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU APPLY." People either a) don't read it or b) read it and think we could not possibly be talking to them. If you apply and you haven't taken your cat to the vet since the 1990's, your clinic is going to tell us that. Did ya think we wouldn't call? Or, because it is YOU, after all, we would overlook it? Also, we get lots of applications from people in very distant states, even though the website clearly states that we only place dogs locally. Sure, I will drive the dog to Dallas, but only because it's YOU asking. For anybody else, no.
3. This week I discovered a tool called CopyScape. This tool allows you to enter the URL for any given page on your website. It will then search ye olde internet and find other sites with matching text. As the webmaster for our Boxer Rescue site, I was curious to check for sites which might be using material from our site. I found three. These were pretty blatant - copying and pasting entire chunks of text. We were not listed as the source. Because I get pretty feisty about protecting my writing (even if it's just a page of policies and procedures, I still wrote it and because I am so clever and witty, even the policies and procedures reflect my own tone), I contacted the three sites. The first two sent very cordial replies indicating that they had not intentionally plagiarized our site and that they would remove the text. And they did remove it. The third one was less polite but I am still hopeful they will remove the copyrighted material from the site. The funny thing is, if someone asked me for some of our material, I probably would have been happy to help as long as they cited the source. I have been building the rescue site for seven years - it's what you might call a labor of love. This isn't the first time I've found my writing on other sites and I'm sure it won't be the last. But for anyone reading this, please know that all material you see on the internet is copyrighted. And using copyrighted material is illegal. If you see some material that you want to use, ask the webmaster and in most cases I bet they'll be happy to let you use it.
I'm done kvetching now (but reserve the right to update this post just in case I think of something else that is pissing me off). I'm reminded of a recent Lewis Black routine that I caught on TV. He said something like, "The good die young, but pricks live forever." He suggested running out of your house and cussing at little kids and telling them to get off your lawn as a good way to get started on a long life.
Personally, I like a little ire in my day. Keeps me from getting complacent. And writing about it keeps from from committing homicide.
Comments
http://greenbayvegan.blogspot.com/2007/10/in-lather-about-lots-of-stuff-i-love.html
Ya, and about all those dumb policies.... I thought I could just let Austin roam the yard, does he have to be tied up? Heartworm?? We don't have many squito's here, few and far between at my house. I mean he's my 3rd dog, I should have a little leeway.;)
I think I'm going to live a long life after writing this.... ;)