A Different Kind of Quiet

 ...and a different sort of problem.

Out of necessity, over the many years, I've had to be the tech-savvy one. 

It did not, necessarily, come naturally to me and was one of my "skills" I preferred I didn't have. However, it kept my staff and family afloat (mostly).

Maybe I'm just too stinking old to keep up with it, or I'm just tired of the trying, but I really can't anymore.

I rely on the Blogger "Reading List" to inform me when bloggers I follow have posted new posts. 

A few months+ back, it seemed that my reading list was not showing recent posts from blogs I followed.

I researched, pondered, and tinkered and found a simple resolution (manually refreshing my FeedBurner/RSS feed). (FeedBurner is the feed reader that Blogger (and other feed readers) use to retrieve posts.) I think I even helped a fellow blogger resolve the same issue on her blog.

And then "this" happened.

Over a week ago, I again noticed something seemed off with my "Reading List." 

No new posts were showing.

I manually refreshed my FeedBurner feed, cleared all caches, and tested.

Finally, a post from Saundra (Woodland Junction Blogspot) showed up so I thought all was well (again).

It wasn't and isn't.

The only posts that show up in my Reading List were/are Saundra's.

(Yes, I double-checked by going to a few blogs who post regularly and, sure enough, there were posts.... many of them...only none of them showing on my Reading List.

I did what I did last time (manually refreshed my FeedBurner feed)...did a test post (as sometimes things only refresh in the background until a new post is made) and nope. Still, only Saundra's posts show.

More researching, pondering, and tinkering ensued and the conclusion is not good.

This is not a FeedBurner/RSS issue.

Apparently Google Blogger is having a major backend/cache problem.

And this is giving me (and likely others) a major "backend" problem as well.

This also explains why I was experiencing that new posts were missing, delayed, or appearing out of order. To add insult to injury, all questions regarding this topic have been locked on the "Help" platform and replying has been disabled.

So.....Gameplan B: Find a workaround.

Ummm, another "nope." 

Essentially this would require bypassing Blogger's Reading List and use a separate feed reader (e.g., Feedly, Inoreader, NetNewsWire, etc.). 

Not necessarily a huge deal...but the deal becomes huge when I have to transfer my Blogger Reading List/followed blogs into the new feed reader, and Blogger doesn't offer a simple "export my Reading List" button that alternative feeders can directly import. Consequently, I would have to manually search out the feed address for each and every blog I follow and add it to the new feed reader manually.

I can't wrap my head around how long that would take me.

In short, I'm "fed" up with FeedBurner, feed readers, and feeds in general. 

I don't know what else to say.

Theoretically, each day I could look up each and every blog (I can remember) I follow and check to see if they posted anything new, but I follow almost 200 blogs (197 to be precise). (It actually was more until Blogger limited the number of blogs one can follow. Granted, not all are still active, but I don't want to delete them, you know?)

So I am stuck here.

And I am sad here.

Blogging has been a refuge for me for many years and I've come to count so many of you as my dearest friends.

But until (unless??) Blogger fixes things, I don't know when I will be able to see you or your posts. And, if things are mucked up in the manner that I think they might be, you may not see anything I post...including this post. 😢

Not sure why I bothered...but I'm developing an expertise in exercises of futility I guess.

Be well my friends.

You will be sincerely and dearly missed.

Anonymously Yours

 So you wish to remain anonymous?

I didn't think so.

For some time now, Blogger has been messing with at least some of us bloggers.

Things keep changing and rarely for the better.

Several months (a year maybe?) ago, I started having problems leaving comments on certain blogs when using my Ipad or phone.

I could not comment on at all on some blogs, and others only "anonymously" even though I was signed into my Google account and could comment on others using my blogger profile.

This meant I would either have to wait until I was at home, and my pc decided it would cooperate, or I would have to use the "anonymous" option and hope I remembered to identify myself so the blog post author would know whose comment it was...and it meant that the poster would not be able to respond directly to my comment.

However, I could comment on all blogs without issue if I were using my pc.

This was irritating me as I knew there had to be a logical reason.

It took an unduly long while, but I finally figured it out.

It's something called "cross website tracking."

I know there are others out there who have also had this issue* as I've seen the number of "anonymous" comments increase...and I'm not talking about those who choose to comment anonymously because they are cowards and don't want to own their rude or snarky comment(s).

This "fix" is simple, so if you would like to remove your cloak of anonymity, here's how you do it:

1.  Go to your "Settings" on whatever device you are using and from which you are having difficulty commenting (the screenshot is from my Ipad).

2.  Scroll down to the list of your apps (the list is usually nearer the end - after all the "general" stuff and is in alphabetical order).

3.  Click on the name of the web browser you use for blogging.  In my case, it's Chrome.  This is will bring up a larger box on the right side of your screen that gives you the info and options for the browser.

4.  Click on the toggle that says "Allow Cross Website Tracking"

to enable it.

5.  Say "thank you Crow."

You're welcome.

{*Note: This only affects those who use multiple devices - such as a phone and an Ipad, pc, etc. for   If you only ever use 1 device, you will not have encountered this issue.}

  

Hats Off to Uncle Sam...Yeah, I'm Late Like That....

I apologize for being so very long gone.  I do have a very good reason.  Trust me.  And not because I am a lawyer.  Life has just veered off course again...but this one I somewhat saw coming. I just did not want to acknowledge it in the ways I needed to.

Anywhat.

I am, as you have, by now, figured out, "back."  I had submitted my issue about my "disappeared" reading list to Blogger/Google Help...and, after several days weeks, they actually responded and informed me they had resolved the problem.  A rare, but so much appreciated, "Woo Hoo" moment. The "Whoops" problem, however, still persists.  My request to make the error message less irritable apparently, too, was ignored.

I have done little and accomplished even less recently that would hold your attention most likely.  I did finish up a Blackbird Design design I had been wanting to do for some time.  Now, well, like many other things these days, I am not sure why.  

{"Hats Off to Uncle Sam" by Blackbird Designs}

I also finished up (stitching anyways) "Oceanarium," a design by The Primitive Hare.

Kind of cheesy sayings I know, but I stitched it as a companion piece to "The Mermaid of Salem Bay," also by The Primitive Hare.  

I'm over my mermaid "thing" now.  Really. Truly.

The Buttercup (Ranunculus) has spent its beauty...

And the Bittersweet is coming into its colors:

Short-lived, however, as a hard freeze is expected by the end of the week.

I will leave you with a photo of my beloved moon.  I missed the "full" harvest moon as it was raining buckets here, but this was last night, so close enough....

Even when you can't see her, she is magical.