Today I'm Blogging about Replying.

Last November I did a post, aimed at No Reply Bloggers; urging them to "fix" the problem.  I'm frustrated when I get a comment that I want to send an email reply, and the commenter has made it almost impossible.

Imagine my surprise when I got a comment, today, on a post that is 9 months old.  The gist of the comment was "It's not my fault".  Her argument was that it was Bloggers fault.  The post and comment are here, if you want to read it.

A lot of No Reply Bloggers use the Blogger platform and choose to be a No Reply Blogger, or are a No Reply Blogger because they don't know how or don't bother to fix the problem.

Other No Reply Bloggers use other blogging platforms, Word Press, Tumblr and TypePad, are very popular.  When I started blogging I found it difficult to comment on those formats, (on Tumblr you really don't comment, you "like" or re-blog).  I decided to jump right in and create accounts on those other platforms.  That made it easy to comment and get responses to my comments.

My suggestion to users of Word Press and TypePad, is get a Blogger account.  You don't need to use it, you can even redirected anyone who lands on your profile to your active blog.  Jump right in and become a Easy To Reply Blogger.

It's a win, win solution and it's a free solution.

Images are from Blog Stuff.

Thanks for stopping by and sharing my life with me,

Are you a NoReplyBlogger? Please fix it!

I'm very frustrated, if I receive a wonderful comment and want to say Thank You, I can't   Or, a blog friend has asked a question, and I have no way to reply, via email.  No Reply Bloggers are of my pet-peeves and below is how you can fix is if you want.

I took the following straight from here.  Thank you Amy.

Most bloggers love to reply to their comments, so if you've received a reply to a comment you've left on a blog, you're probably a NRB!  This means your Blogger settings are set to hide your email address.  Seems like a safe idea at first, but in reality it means you can't interact with any of the lovely blogs you follow, and worst of all, you can't win anything!!!  Tragic!

When you leave a comment on a blog, the blogger receives an email with your comment, and will usually hit "reply" to send you a sweet note back (hopefully one saying you won something rad!), BUT, if you're a NRB, the reply email address displays as "noreplyblogger@blogger.com" - ah!  SO frustrating for bloggers!

1.  Log into your Blogger account, and click on the drop down tab next to your email address on the top right corner.
2.  Click "Blogger Profile"
3.  The second line down should say "Show My Email Address"- if this box is not checked, you're a NRB!
4.   Check it!  If the email address shown (the one you used to open your Blogger account) is no longer working, you can type in an updated email address.  OR, if you feel creepy about all of Bloggingdom seeing your real, personal email address, go create a new address just for blog land and enter it here, making sure the "show email address" box is checked.

If you have any questions, leave a comment and I will see if I can help.  OH NO, WAIT!  If you're a no-reply blogger, I won't be able to reply!  Alas, the cyclone of frustration begins!  Luckily there are LOTS of other blog posts floating around with great instructions on fixing NRB symdrome as well, so Google if you can't figure it out!

all images here.

Be well and do good,

"no reply" - REALLY?

Getting a comment, is like receiving a gift. Some one has taken the time to say something to me on one of my blogs. When I can't reply, I feel I'm being rude.; as if I'm ungrateful for their efforts.

I like to, and I try to respond to the comments I receive, but sometimes I can't because you have your profile set to "no reply". If you could kindly change that, I will try to write back to you when you leave me a comment. All you need to do is go to blogger.com, click on "edit profile" and then "show my email address."

Amy over at Park City Girl has some more information on this if you're interested! Thank you!

I'm re-posting this edited version from Sew Inspired; this is one of my pet peeves, not being able to reply to comments; especially when the commenter has asked a specific question.

Bob Report

I thought I'd do a brief Bob Report today.  It's been 6 months since he got so sick; I'm happy to report that he's still getting better every day.  He's hasn't had any set-backs and to me, that's terrific.  Bob's back to driving.  Having your independence back is very important.  I drive if we're going somewhere together, but Bob can drive himself to PT, or the store.  Right now, he's at the grocery with my shopping list

Bob's also back to walking our dog.  I think he missed walking the dogs, more than anything.  Now that we're down to just one dog, it's a bit easier.

Part of his recovery involves me giving him injections at home.  Every weekend I give him two injections of different Vitamin B compounds.  When we were newlyweds, I was very anemic, and Bob gave me injections of B-12.  Now I'm repaying the favor.

On Friday, we saw his Hematologist, in San Diego.  She had us go across the street to Mercy hospital, so I could learn to give Bob another different injection, each week.  This one will be in the arm, not the butt.  The Hematologist said so many men don't want their wife to give them an injection, so she was proud of Bob having no objections.

BTW, if you're a reader, today is the last day to enter my book give away at Loves Books and Tea. I'm giving away the winners choice of all the books I read in March. Only one person has entered and she's a no-reply blogger!

Thanks for stopping by and sharing my life with me,

Great Depression Story

Great Depression Story by Claudia Emerson
from Figure Studies

Sometimes the season changed in the telling,
sometimes the state, but it was always during

the Depression, and he was alone in the boxcar,
the train stalled beneath a sky wider

than any he'd seen so far, the fields of grass
wider than the sky. He'd been curious

to see if things were as bad somewhere else
as they were at home. They were—and worse,

he said, places with no trees, no water.
He hadn't eaten all day, all week, his hunger

hard-fixed, doubled, gleaming as the rails. A lone
house broke the sharp horizon, the train dreaming

beneath him, so he climbed down, walked out,
the grass parting at his knees. The windows

were open, curtainless, and the screendoor,
unlatched, moved to open, too, when he knocked.

He could see in all the way through to the kitchen—
and he smelled before he saw the lidded

pot on the stove, the steam escaping. Her clothes
moved on the line for all reply, the sheets,

a slip, one dress, washed thin, worn to translucence;
through it he could see what he mistook for fields

of roses until a crow flew in with the wind—
sudden, fleeting seam. By the time he got back to the train,

he'd guessed already what he'd taken—pot
and all—a hen, an old one that had quit

laying, he was sure or she wouldn't have killed it.
The train began to move then, her house falling

away from him. The story ended with the meat
not quite done, but, believe him, he ate it

all, white and dark, back, breast, legs, and thighs,
strewing the still-warm bones behind him for miles.

Do you have a poem you love, and want to share? Inaugurated by the Academy in April 1996, National Poetry Month (NPM) brings together publishers, booksellers, literary organizations, libraries, schools, and poets around the country to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American culture. Thousands of businesses and non-profit organizations participate through.

Weighing in

The column, Annie's Mailbox, appears in one of our daily newspapers. Recently this letter was one of those printed:

Dear Annie: We have six grandchildren and talk, e-mail and text often with four of them. They always thank us for the gifts we send for birthdays and holidays.

The same, however, is not true for the other two, who live out of state. They are both teenagers and quite capable of acknowledging gifts, but they don't. When we ask the parents if the children received their gifts, the answer usually is, "I think so, but I'm not sure."

Our children were raised to be properly grateful, but for some reason, our son doesn't feel his children need to follow rules of any sort.


We sent money to the kids for Christmas and never heard a word. I sent an e-mail to their mother asking if they got their cards, but she didn't reply. Our son believes it's up to the kids to say thank you and if they don't, we should accept it. He says we are expecting too much.

My first instinct is not to give them anything for birthdays and holidays this year. I wonder if they'd even notice. We are both retired and live on a fixed income. Should I stop sending gifts? Should I donate their share of birthday and holiday presents to the needy who would appreciate them?— Very Disappointed Grandmother

Dear Grandmother: Your son and his wife apparently don't believe their children should be responsible for even the most basic courtesy. Use this as an opportunity to educate these misguided grandchildren. Send each an e-mail and explain why you expect some type of acknowledgment for any gift, and that if they don't thank you, you will assume they no longer want your presents. If you wish instead to make a donation to charity in their names, by all means, do so.

This isn't exactly what Bob and I are experiencing, but it rang enough bells and we've talked about it, in the past. A couple of years ago I started diminishing the value of the gifts to the grandchildren who don't bother with a phone call or an email, let alone a written thank you note when we give them a gift. We truly love these kids and won't consider not remembering them for special occasions; but some times we've thought of it, because they don't seem to appreciate any effort we make.

How about it, how do other grandparents deal with this, or are you lucky enough to always be thanked.