Ok – here’s my currant rant – partial feeds. I hate partial feeds! It’s annoying. I mean, I use a feed reader to make it easier and faster to read all the blogs I love and enjoy. But ya know, when you only offer a partial feed, I have to break my momentum to go to your page and finish reading.

Small annoyance? Hardly. My time is just as valuable as yours. If you’re going to take the time to write the blasted thing, have some respect for my time too and allow full feeds.

Really. It’s gotten to be that I’m deleting feeds from my Bloglines because even though I love the blogs, I just can’t take a bunch of extra time to go surfing all over the place to read them. That *IS* why I use a feed reader to begin with – to save time so I can read all the blogs I like. Not just yours.

So – please. Do your readers a favor and allow full blog feeds so those using a reader can be as efficient as they need to be. I doubt you’ll lose any readers over it.

But I bet you WILL lose readers over partial feeds. Like me.

~Annie (lsandrsn on the forum)
====================
Twitter
GTalk – silverlunace

Other blogs:
Main
Writing
Website

You know, it’s really too bad Marco is so narrow minded because the Tumblr interface is so nice and easy to work with. I really wouldn’t mind having a regular blog there.

And I know I said I was going to steer clear of Tumblr yesterday in my little rant, but it’s hard to be mad at something you like. It’s like being mad at one of your kids – you’re mad for a while but you still love them nonetheless and pretty soon, all is well again. You can’t even find a little spark there later on and whatever was done, falls by the wayside, to be forgotten.

Not that I’m forgetting Tumblr’s mash slashing anytime soon. I don’t love them that much. But I *may* consider using them for stuff I want to keep track of that just doesn’t fit anywhere else.

Unless someone can tell me of another service that is as clean and user friendly . . . ?

~Annie (lsandrsn on the forum)
====================
Twitter
GTalk – silverlunace

Other blogs:
Main
Writing
Website

Tumblr. At first glance, it looks like a reputable service. The weekend maniacal deletion of several hundred newly created blogs proves otherwise.

With a sleek design and very streamlined interface, it’s quite appealing. But the business practices of Tumblr’s lead developer, Marco Arment leave a bad taste in my mouth and at this point, I will not recommend them nor use them.

To think my blog could be suspended at whim with no explanation – apparently AGAINST their own Terms of Service – is not a thought I care to explore.

Without a doubt, this practice is utterly wrong, rude, and hypocritical.

In fact, their TOS clearly state that if there is a problem with your blog, they will advise you via email and give you 72 hours to correct the issues.

Apparently those are just empty words. Empty words that are a front for a horrid business practice, one that clearly shows they will do whatever strikes them at the moment regardless as to what is right or moral.

The bottom line – stay away from Tumblr. They’ve obviously shown they cannot be trusted.

Earlier today a friend of mine in the Thirty Day Challenge sent me a link to a post from emomsathome.com called “94 Way to Keep Kids Busy for the Work at Home Parent.”

At first, I thought, “oh, cool. Parents can always use that kind of information.”

But as I read the article, I ended up with an entirely different feeling. The article seemed more like a list of ways to park children in another room with no parental contact, like “out of sight, out of mind” almost.

That left me feeling quite disturbed, especially as a work at home parent myself. With 4 of my own ranging in age from 3 to and 13 as well as 3 step-children (ages 11 to 13), I know how difficult it can be for parents to actually get any work done with kids around.

But keeping them at bay with a myriad of activities is not good for them nor you. Sure, there is a time when a bundle of activities is appropriate – that I agree with – but as a daily routine? No way!

I know for me and a lot of other wahp (that’s work-at-home-parents), the whole premise of working at home is to BE WITH our children, not send them off to another room or outside – alone. To that end, we work early mornings and late evenings when the kids are sleeping.

During those times when I really must have peace and quiet during the day, I do have an office in our home where I can sit with the door closed. But for the most part, I am in the main area of the house or outside – right in the thick of things. And the kids can chat with me or whatever while I’m working.

I take breaks throughout the day to help them with things, watch cartoons, play games, or whatever else they want to do. And we always eat lunch and have snacks together. Because let’s face it, sometimes we need breaks too. And I find that if I schedule in there WITH THE KIDS, we’re all much happier.

And as for taking a PDA type device or blackberry type phone to the park or the zoo or whatever – I say hell no! Not on your life will you catch me with such a thing. I may take my laptop to diddle around with or use for listening to music as we’re at the park or whatever but very rarely to work unless we’re going to be gone for several hours and there’s work I must get done on deadline.

But 99% of the time, if I’m out with my family, I’m out with my family. I’m there, 100% heart, body, mind and soul. My family knows they have my undivided attention . . . and that’s the most important part.

There’s a saying that goes something like “be fully present in whatever you’re doing” and that’s especially important with kids. They know when your mind is elsewhere.

Let me tell you a little secret – if your kids know that when you’re with them at the park or doing a family activity, that you are really and fully present in the moment with them, they’ll be much better behaved and self-entertaining when it’s time for mommy or daddy to work at home.

Use those moments outside of your work for something other than working and you’ll be much happier and more productive too. Life is a two-way street. Show yourself and your family as well as your clients or customers that you truly care by taking care of things that matter – play when it’s playtime and work when it’s worktime.

~Annie (lsandrsn on the forum)
====================
Twitter
GTalk – silverlunace

Other blogs:
Main
Writing
Website