SERVICE INTERRUPTION

Internet service has been patchy at best since I returned home from New Orleans. Regular posting will resume soon.

NaBloPoMo, IT'S ON!

Note: A comprehensive report on all our Halloween trick-or-treaters can be found just below this post.

This month, I've gone and done something foolish, I've joined the army. Not exactly the army, but I have made a long term commitment (long term meaning 30 days) that I'm not sure how I'm going to keep.

You see, I was at someone else's site last year and I read about National Blog Posting Month, then someone else I kind of know signed on for this year's run. I was not about be outdone by those two, so I decided I needed to get in on the action, too.

People who sign on for National Blog Posting Month agree to post to their blogs every day during the month of November. At the end of the month, people who actually came through will be eligible for prizes.

But I don't care about the prizes, I just want to beat Birchsprite and Ransom.

But in the harsh light of day (or late night, whatever the case may be), I don't know how I'll be able to keep this commitment. November is sweeps month in my line of work, I've got oral surgery in a few weeks, guests are coming over for several weekends, and I think there's some major holiday happening around there. I'm a busy and unimportant man, where will I find the time?

Then there's the quality issue. A post a day is fine, but do people really want to read 30 posts about how difficult it is to come up with things to write about? Right now, I've got something of a regular posting schedule going. Baby pictures over the weekend, Faroe Islands on Friday, and some other humorous thing in the middle of the week. That leaves four other posts each week.

But like the people at AA say, "one day at a time." Let the games begin.

HIT THE ROAD

I'll be out of town this week, so posts may be a bit infrequent until the weekend. But I posted a lot last week, so it all kind of evens out.

COMMENTS

I've tried to keep the comments section here a fairly freewheeling place. My idea has been that anyone can post pretty much what they want without censorship from me or even any impediments like word verification.

For the most part, the system has worked pretty well. People who post comments here tend to be witty folks, and comment spam has been extremely rare.

Alas, those days are gone. This blog has come to the attention of the Russian mafia, and they're just peppering the comments section with multiple spam attacks per day. Now when I say "come to the attention of the Russian mafia," I really mean, "come to the attention of some nasty little computer program developed by the Russian mafia."

I actually wish the first case was the true one. It's kind of amusing to imagine some gangster with a giant fir hat and a dueling scar sucking down a bottle of vodka while crouched over a computer in a Moscow basement. Finally he comes upon this site. After glancing at some baby photos and reading a post about how annoying daylight saving time is, he realizes that I must be taken out.

It's likely nothing so personal, but the spam attacks are just as real. So I've had to activate word verification for people that post. You can still post anonymously or under an assumed name, you just have to prove you're not a nasty Russian computer. I'm sure I could administer some kind of quiz, but I don't even know what questions to ask.

I actually hate word verification because I always mess up the letters when I'm leaving comments. I transpose characters a lot, just ask spell check. But if this helps keep our Russian friends at bay, then it will be worth the inconvenience.

So as you enter those nonsense words in the verification box, don't blame me, blame Vladimir Putin. He's run a country where organized crime has run rampant. And George Bush looked into his soul... that couldn't have helped.

Coming up this week, a fresh batch of pictures, and a poignant yet humorous exploration of drug addiction. All that and more on a very special edition of Workman's Waste of Time. Don't miss it, unless you're a member of the Russian mafia... or Vladimir Putin... or George Bush (I really don't want him looking into my soul via the Internet).