My dad and his lack of polish when he talks

So much for squeezing in a post in January. At least I'm back a lot sooner than a year later!

I'd like to get a couple of unpleasant experiences out of the way. It happened yesterday. Being a co-caregiver with my dad has not been smooth. 

Yesterday, he was yelling at my mom because she wouldn't swallow her pills. I had to intervene by saying that yelling at her isn't going to make her swallow her pills any faster.

He sets a lot of double-standards. He tells me not to yell at her when I am telling her to stop hitting me. She seems to have dementia, but we are trying to get a proper diagnosis. Having dementia would explain her inclination to hit me. Yet, it's perfectly okay if he yells at her for not remembering how to swallow her pills.

He is a jerk. He can be insensitive. He also can't express himself well.

A couple of hours later, I walked own the stairs with a stairlift that my mom now uses. I heard a thud. I asked what the thud was.

My dad said that it was the smoke detector that I had caused to fall from the ceiling because I was walking down the stairs.

Was he insinuating that I'm heavy walking down the stairs? Rude.

This smoke detector had fallen from the ceiling two weeks ago when my dad and I had helped my mom out of the shower.

I shot back that maybe he should have installed it properly two weeks ago. I did not cause this smoke detector to fall from the ceiling both times. Look into your faulty installation before blaming me.

He can be a prick. He often makes idiot statements.

He has said many stupid comment to me since I've been alive. I'll leave that to another post. All these incidents have resurfaced from memory.

He told my uncle a few years ago that he was fat. I was stunned and embarrassed when he said that in front of my mom, and my aunt and uncle.

My blog will now be focused on taking care of my mom and dealing with my dad who has actually been more difficult to comprehend. I'll also squeeze in good things about my life.

Comments on my blog - part 3

Here's hoping that I don't create an ongoing series of updates pertaining to my blog and its comments settings. I never thought that I needed to clamp down on spam. It was my first time doing so. I've had this blog for fifteen years, which is crazy!

To make a long story shorter, I changed my blog's comment permission setting from everyone to those who are followers of my blog. My understanding was that if you are deemed a Blogger follower of my blog, you could continue to comment on posts.

Well, so much for how things should be. I was touched when I saw Can't Comment on Cutiebootie's Blog and Message to Toronto as blog post titles. It was touching that they reached out to let me know that they couldn't add comments. I appreciate you!

When tons of spam messages flooded my blog, I initially changed the setting to allow only readers with a Google account to leave comments. I suppose that Blogger wasn't fast enough to clamp down. Two days after I had made the change, I was still getting spam messages. I decided to change it to only followers who could comment. The spam finally ceased.

On Sunday, I decided to change my blog setting back to comments accepted when you log in with your Google account. I left it that way for seven hours. No spam. Yay!

I then let Fondles and Michael know about my change. I'm happy that comments work for one of them. Here's hoping that it works for the other and everyone who has a Google account.

I will keep it on this setting for a bit. If it's still quiet on the spam front, I will consider giving everyone access to commenting.

It has been such a relaxing long weekend that I have decided to defer my self-spanking to this upcoming weekend.

Anti-blue light-blocking computer glasses

I ordered a pair of blue light-blocking computer eyeglasses. They are non-prescription ones. I am wearing them right now. They are comfortable! We'll see whether they reduce my eye strain.

This week, I have been taking more breaks away from my laptop, which has helped a lot. Luckily, I have two more workdays before a long weekend, so that should help me recover.

Since I have changed my blog's comments access to members-only, the spam messages have ceased. I will keep it on for a bit before I test out going back to the original setting. Exciting!

An update on getting spam as comments

Currently, if you are a follower of my blog, you can leave comments. Even if you have a Blogger account, you must be following my blog to post comments on here. I just did a test and can confirm.

I am sorry about this change. My intent since I started my blog was to have anyone who doesn't have anything offensive to say comment on my posts. Since these spam messages are numerous, I had no choice but to change my settings. Otherwise, I would have removed the comments section altogether, which would have made me miserable.

So, if you have a Blogger account and want to post messages here, please follow my blog. The Follow button is at the bottom right of my page.

Ever since I made this change, the spamming is gone. It's nice that things are quiet again.

Down the road, I'll give changing my settings back and see how things go.

Comments for followers

Hello,

I am receiving a flood of spam comments on my blog. My comments are open to everyone, including anonymous people who do not have a Blogger or Google account. Sadly, spambots are abusing this inclusivity.

If you can please become a follower of my account, you will be able to submit comments. I will change my settings to allow comments from Blogger followers. I reckon that if you're a Blogger member, you should be fine leaving comments, too. I wish that I didn't have to change my settings, but the spamming is excessive.

I'll see if I can get a comments plugin that may be more flexible and lock out spamming programs.

Thanks!

Missing detail from my previous post

Just a follow-up post.

I appreciate the comments that have come in. I do need to mention a detail that makes sense to those who have been following along for a while.

My ex-guy and I work for the same company. That's how we met -- at work.

He sent me his e-mail using his work account to my work account. Simply blocking him can be done, but it's unprofessional. Our departments work together now and again.

The consensus is to ignore his e-mail. It reinforces what I have been doing for months, which is reassuring.

Thanks to all who provided helpful, meaningful feedback.

Never-ending comments

I get tired of colleagues who have tons of comments and cannot commit to saying that a document is good to go. It is why this document has never been released to the world for a good year.

The odd thing is that this one colleague owns the document, but required two people to write the content. I am there to edit the content, along with my intern.

He "expected" that my team would use a template for this work. I said that my team has never owned these documents. As a result, there isn't a template.

I don't know why my manager committed to editing this document. It is marketing material, something that our entire team does not have the expertise to do.

One more day of work to go... thank goodness!

Goodbye, Google+

When logging into Blogger a few minutes ago, I noticed a bunch of warnings about deprecating Google+ functionality. Google+ is disappearing for good. I didn't love it when I first tried it out with my blog, so there's no loss on my end.

I tried to like it. I never switched over to Google+ comments for my blog. I have always used Blogger comments because they suited my needs. I like how my replies look -- indented from visitor comments.

Google tried hard to get into the social network realm like Facebook. It tried Hangouts, which I have turned off permanently in Gmail since day one. I didn't like it, either.

It's funny, but I like Gmail. I own a Google Pixel 2XL phone. I love Google music. The company has decent products, but social networks isn't one of its strengths.

Blogger comment notifications and business travel

For several months now, e-mail notifications for Blogger comments have died. I had to manually check in the Comments section of the Blogger editor whether you fine folks have left messages.

Well, the other day, I got an e-mail from Google, asking me to confirm whether I wanted e-mail notifications whenever comments have been added on my blog. Yes, please!

It's nice that things are getting back to normal.

My guy is set to go on another business trip this Saturday. He asked me whether I would like to accompany him. I would have typically said yes without any hesitation, except that I am training new students starting on Tuesday, along with two other colleagues in another country.

I am hoping that he goes on another business trip a month or so down the road. I'd love to join him and spend some time together.

Canning delays and relaxing with Airpods

I am hoping that this post is the last one about the toxic diva for a bit. She is still going to be canned. My manager has already initiated the process. The downside is that there is a legal process within the company. As a result, she won't be gone on Monday, so there is a delay.

I can only hope that she is gone sometime next week. She worked from home on Friday. Her e-mails got me so annoyed that my manager hinted that I should watch my blood pressure. Although he has the occasional, odd lapse in judgment, his heart is generally in the right place. He stepped in and replied, putting her in place. I de-stressed by getting a cup of hot chocolate.

He had a conversation with my mini-me, in private. He basically hinted that he was going to give her a number of added responsibilities, which she welcomes. He asked her to keep it confidential until he works out all the details. In other words, he has not let her know about the diva being canned, which I expected.

He proceeded to tell her that we need to be respectful with others and be professional. He added that there have been a ton of negative comments and rumours taking place about others. He confided in me, saying that judging by the look of my mini-me, she nodded. He knew that she had been affected by such negativity recently.

It's interesting that I don't see my working relationship changing with both my mini-me and my student after the diva's negative comments. My stance still holds true. If you have worked with me and know me, you know the truth. I don't need a diva to poison their minds with false, negative perceptions about me.

Thank goodness it's the weekend. I am unwinding. 

I recently got a pair of AirPods. I don't think that I have paid so much for a pair of earbuds. However, the sound is incredible and I am enjoying not being chained to my device. The fact that they automatically connect and disconnect when you put them in their pod case is pretty cool. And, yes, I have them paired with a non-Apple device. They work well.

Revised spanking tally - number of spanks is in triple digits

Love our lurkers (LOL) day ended up being a two-parter event this year. My intent was to collect comments from day one. The number of comments that day would be tabulated and the final result, along with the various spanking plans, would be shared on day two.

I received four comments on day 2. Part of me wants to say no, that wasn't the original plan, and to reject them. The pushover side of me wants to include them.

Well, since I am creatively adjusting my spanking plans from LOL day, I am going to include the four late comments, but reduce the number of smacks. So, instead of eight smacks, they count as four.

Why? I want the number to be 34. It's sentimental.

When my guy and I first started dating, he didn't want to know how old I was. To this day, I don't know whether he knows how old I am. To him, it doesn't matter. He just wants to be with me and love me. It's mutual.

We were chatting one day, several months after we officially started dating. He said that I looked cute and young. I was curious how old he thought that I was. Without hesitation, he said that I looked 34 years old. He was and is sweet.

So, it's 34 spanks. It's final.

My guy and I agreed on the following spanking plan:

• 34 smacks with a wooden hairbrush
• 34 slaps with my purple acrylic ruler
• 34 whacks with a leather paddle
• 34 spanks with whatever implement my guy would like to use

My guy is happy to carry out this plan. I can't wait! I will definitely share the results of this fun plan. Thanks for helping out!

Love our lurkers (LOL) day 2 - the results

I hope that you had a wonderful Love Our Lurkers (LOL) day yesterday. I had a lot of fun checking out blogs that I visit regularly, and discovering brand new ones to add to my blogroll.

My goal was to have enough comments to get the number of smacks across my backside in the double digits. Thanks to everyone, both lurkers and non-lurkers, for leaving comments.

Fifteen fine folks left comments. The number of smacks that I will endure on my bare bottom will be thirty. I am more than thrilled!

I have votes for a leather implement, a ruler, and a hairbrush to be used on me. I still need to hammer out those details. Part of me wants all three implements used on me. I will need to discuss my strategy with my guy.

My guy likes the fact that I have a high pain threshold. Naturally, I am aiming for the following:

• Thirty smacks with the wooden hairbrush
• Thirty slaps with my purple acrylic ruler
• Thirty whacks with a leather paddle

I am adventurous. Yep, I'd be getting a grand total of ninety smacks. It just depends on how energetic and enthusiastic my guy will be. 

As always, I will keep you posted. Thanks for making my LOL day so memorable and fun!

Love our lurkers (LOL) day - your comments count towards smacks across my bottom!

It's my second time participating in LOL day. Yay!

I didn't plan the first one all that well. I had just read about it. I simply asked readers to pose questions and I responded enthusiastically.

I do know what it's like to be a blog lurker. When I first started out writing in this blog, I visited other blogs to find out what was out there for a spanking enthusiast. It opened my world. However, I didn't start commenting until much later.

These days, I am better at commenting. I just wish that I had more time in the day to read every blog out there.

So, please leave me a comment and say hi. I don't bite!

There is an added incentive. For every comment from a unique visitor (yes, you!), it will count towards two smacks across my bare backside. I will let you know what the final tally will be. My guy will do the honours in administering my sound spanking. You can also vote for a spanking implement that my guy should use on me.

I'd like to get in the double digits, so comments are encouraged!

A sweet review of the girl with the naughty name's blog (that is, my blog)

It seems like a long time. Then again, this year is blowing by too quickly for my liking.

Back in June, I participated in my first blogging challenge. Each day, you choose a topic to write about and your topic goes through each letter of the alphabet. I knew that it would be difficult for me to accomplish, considering that I had a major deadline that month at work and that I haven't blogged that regularly in years.

Although I thought that I would be going through a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and nervous breakdowns, I survived. I felt good that I had accomplished something important. I also managed to find a number of blogs that I love following.

I wish that I could read a blog from start until finish. I was lucky to have found Han's blog. He has a good mix of post topics. Variety is good. I appreciate his hand at writing poetry and quoting poems from some of my favourite poets, such as Ogden Nash. He also posts intriguing photos that end up being etched in my memory for quite some time. I admire that he participates in far more blog challenges that I have.

We found each other's blogs through this challenge in June. I was flattered one day, a few weeks back, when he left me a message, saying that he was striving to read every post that I have written.

I used to do that with this blog. I have been told that I have a good memory. I am also a reflective person, so reading and reminiscing aren't unusual tasks for me.

I haven't read my older blog posts for a while. It is mainly because this blog can be divided into two distinct sections:

• My life as a married woman, which crumbled and I finally managed to end my marriage after years of knowing that it had a number of issues that could not be resolved.
• My life these days with my guy.

A few days ago, Han left me a message, stating that he wanted to write a post on his blog about mine. Reviews are both exciting and frightening to me. It's nice that someone loves reading every post that you write and comments regularly. On the other hand, it's the I-don't-know-what-he-is-going-to-say and I-may-not-enjoy-blogging-if-the-comments-are-negative feelings that I had. He reassured me by letting me read his draft. He also wanted to make sure that I was okay with the content.

His insight gave me insight on my life, which is refreshing. I could tear people to shreds. I have been through a bunch of negative experiences. I could let them all out on this blog, but it's just not me.

I am a writer by trade. This blog is an outlet for me. I don't talk about my love for spanking to anyone but those who are close to me, so I do just that on my blog. I am connected to people in the blogosphere who share the same passion as I do. These days, I am spanked more than dishing spankings out. It is an ongoing, exciting journey for me. I want to share these experiences, which has not changed since I started my blog.

And, yes, it took one reader who was upset that I wasn't customizing my blog post for his liking that made me review all comments here prior to publishing them. As much as I love readers following along, I do blog for myself first. It's just sweeter when readers enjoy what I blog about, too.

So, thanks again to Han for taking the time to read practically all my blog posts by now. Thanks to you, my readers, for your support. 

I am approaching 500 posts. Han made the observation that I have been blogging on and off for nine years. Wow! There are some rather large periods of my being away -- mainly from my divorce, from back surgery, and from my master's degree. Each blog post is a snapshot of a moment in my life, similar to taking a photo. I wouldn't delete any of these snapshots, whether good or nasty.

Perhaps I should go back and read my blog posts and see how far I have come.

Thanks,

Cutiebootie (a.k.a. the girl with the naughty name)

A brief note that I'm on vacation this week

Hello, everyone! This post is a short note to say that I am on vacation.

I am in New Orleans (I got here on Saturday) and am enjoying my stay so far. It is insanely humid here, which is why I decided to hibernate a bit earlier tonight in my hotel room.

I spent today in the French Quarter and French Market. I also managed to do a three-hour bus tour, shop, and quickly visit the food court of the outlet mall that is a short walk from the hotel.

Thanks to everyone's comments to my previous post. I have had issues logging into my Google account. I couldn't yesterday, but managed to right now.

I hope to at least keep in touch a couple of times this week. There are plenty of stories to tell!

Take care,
Cutiebootie

Under the weather during the holidays

 My backlog with blog posts is nearly over! I have been making minor changes to my blog these days. I like that comments on my blog are now embedded. I was getting sick of looking at the main Blogger comments page.

The following is a conversation that we had over the holidays. No spankings in this post, but the next one will have at least one. Enjoy!

My guy and I were to get together for Christmas. Unfortunately, my guy came down with a nasty cold and had to medicate himself. So, we didn't see each other over the holidays.

My guy is sweet. I know that as much as it pained him that we didn't spend time together, he wanted to make sure that I didn't catch what he had. I understood and appreciated his thoughtfulness.

It is a good thing that we stayed connected over the holidays. We continued to converse through texts and e-mails. We conversed on Christmas.

"I'm sorry that I can't give you your present today," I said, a bit sad looking at it while talking to him.
"You didn't need to get me a present," he said in his usual way.
"Yes, I did," I replied.
"You are my present," he said. "You are all I need. I get to unwrap you throughout the year."

He's both sweet and smooth. Sometimes, I can't believe that I caught his eye. I'm glad. I couldn't be any happier.