Add Horoscope Google Gadget to Your Webpage

Horoscopes can be fun, though on the dumb & superstitious side. Google has created a method to add a horoscope to any web page.

Google has made quite a few of these modules normally reserved for their Personalized Home page available for use on other sites. If you are looking for fun gadgets to add to your site, check them out.

Why Blogger Why?

Back in August, I posted a rather scathing but minor complaint called BLOGGER SCREWED ME. More recently, I've noted another issue where I expected their software to work a certain way and it went another direction.

One of my blogs is a 'friends list' of my buddies and their respective web sites. At some point in March, I moved this from a separate site hosted at blogger -

http://arco-friends.blogspot.com/

- to a subdomain of my new site with Network Solutions, Arconati.name -

http://friends.arconati.name/

Though many of the pages of the blogspot site were ranked or linked to directly, I was able to publish the site on blogspot one more time with a javascript redirect back to the subdomain and this now goes correctly to the right place after I changed it at the registrar. The old site at blogspot is still there.

More recently, with a mind to bring all the sites back under one domain rather than scattered on blogspot, I attempted to do the same with my Quotes Archive. I had the blogspot site -

http://arco-quotes.blogspot.com/

- and was republishing this well spidered site onto it's own subdomain -

http://quotes.arconati.name/

But there was a glitch or something. The blogspot site disappeared almost immediately. Now all of the links to the pages on this site result in type 404 missing page errors. The page will say The requested URL was not found on this server. Yeah, that's not very helpful. I'm not sure what it was that I did differently between the two changes that caused this --if that is, it was me that screwed up somewhere.

As I said before, it's free. Oh well.

I've Started Using Flickr

I've recently started using Flickr for storing photos online. I've tried a few other ideas before, like Yahoo's photo sharing site for a bit, but the pull of the popular crowd has drawn me towards this point.

Sigh I guess I'm just as much a victim of peer pressure as anyone else. There are not many there right now (6 as of today), but I wanted to give a small preview for those who may be interested.

Let's Do the Google Shuffle Again

It would appear that my Google Pagerank, which I've mentioned many times before in previous posts -

• Holy Pagerank Three Batman!
• Google Pagerank Shuffle
• Google Pagerank Dip

- has all but dried up. Today from work, I checked and Arconati.us has a 1 and Arconati.net has a 0. Even Mudhorny.com has dropped to 0. All of these sites previously had a 2.

I'm initially sad for a moment, but then I recall that I'm only really doing these sites for myself and my family. I'm not selling anything. And also, as I need to remind myself and anyone else who obsesses with Google's Badge of Worth that it should not be the accurate measure of the success of a website.

In review, I am responsible personally for the following sites and their various subdomains.

• Arconati.us
• Arconati.net
• Arconati.name
• Mudhorny.com
• ColorburstVideo.com
• FergusonChristianChurch.org

And more recently, I am responsible professionally for Ferguson-Florissant School District's new site that is still in development.

Waylaid Chores and Imminent Season of Fall

Today was a busy day. We cleaned the kitchen quite a bit, as it needed it from the last few weeks while Lisa and I have been sick. Then I mowed the lawn, another task laid aside too long. Then we went grocery shopping to three different stores and then bought the girls their Halloween costumes. After that we came home and ate a quick, easy dinner and are resting.

There is no question that Fall is rearing it's ugly head. The smell of the air, the first leaves, the chill wind; all the signs are there. I don't like Fall, as anyone who gets to know me for a while learns that the Fall just depresses me. I turn a bit grouchy and meloncholy, although this is something I understand happens to a lot of people. Oh well.

Wherefore Art Thou, Olivia?

So, Wednesday night, I was just starting to feel a little better from the severe cough that I have been suffering from for the last two weeks or so. Lisa decided we needed to make a late trip to the grocery store bakery for some cake. We went right after picking up the girls from Pioneer Club. We got to the grocery store and headed to the cake section. We spent a minute picking one out and then Reese had to use the restroom, evidenced by her bouncing up and down.

With a wry sigh, Lisa took her to the bathroom while I headed to the checkout lanes. We both quickly asked Olivia if she needed to go. "Nope" was her response. As we all walked to the front of the store, I watched as Lisa and Reese with Olivia in toe headed towards the restroom by the service counter. I was hesitant for a moment, but confident that Lisa knew that she had both girls with her. She wasn't.

I started to checkout with no line and exchanged pleasantries with the cashier. No more than sixty seconds have passed.

Cake! What's the occasion? she asked. I was about to answer in an unsure manner, as there really wasn't one. But then I heard a different cashier, the one by the self checkout, speaking over the intercom.

Attention customers, we have a little girl up here named Olivia, and she is looking for her father named Jim... I heard but didn't believe it.

Here I am! I called out. And there around the corner was Olivia, all smiles and giggles.

There you are Daddy! she said, just like I was the one who was lost (which I guess I was). I picked her up quickly and held her close.

I was still apologizing profusely to her and explaining to the grinning cashier that I had thought she'd gone with her mom into the bathroom when Lisa and Reese returned and heard the whole tale. Apparently, you can't hear the intercom speakers in the bathroom (that's bad). It was only really about 60 seconds or so that she was out of sight, but that is quite long enough for me.

All is well that ends well. Still,... I shudder to think about it.