Saturday, December 4, 2021

An Unusually Gray Post

Well, this may be a first. I cannot upload a single picture this morning, so here, on my photo blog, you're getting a post with no picture! COME ON, BLOGGER! WTH?!

When I upload a photo, I get a white box with a gray symbol in it. Others are having this problem too -- I've perused the "help" forum but I don't see any solutions that work for me. Some people are saying you can go into your Blogger photo archive and copy the URL for the picture and link it that way and blah blah blah but I can't seem to make that happen. And you know, life is too short.

So, sorry about that. As I often say when Blogger throws a curve ball -- you get what you pay for.

When I first started in journalism I had an editor who once asked us in a memo to "paint a word picture." My co-workers and I, all in our early 20s and convinced that we knew everything and that our old fogey editor was hopelessly out of touch, mocked this memo mercilessly. The fact that I still remember it says a lot about how often we made fun of that phrase. But now, here I am, painting a word picture.

Anyway, regarding the last photo in yesterday's post: It turns out the message on the signboard is a lyric from the Nirvana song "Lithium." My brother e-mailed me not long after I posted and solved the mystery, and then reader Ellen D. did the same (even providing a link to the song). Thank you, hive mind!

Otherwise, not a whole lot happened yesterday. I got my flu shot on Thursday at work, so I'm hopefully protected on that front. I felt kind of yucky yesterday and worried that I was coming down with Covid -- some of my friends at work have it -- but I think it was just flu shot backlash. I'll take a lateral flow test today to be sure. I'm supposed to go to a birthday party tonight and I certainly don't want to make it a super-spreader event.

Oh, and Ratana, would you please take your daily spam comments about your Thai gambling casinos elsewhere? I'm going to delete them as fast as you post them. You're getting nowhere here.

55 comments:

gz said...

That will be the effects of your flu shot.
I had the flu and booster on Monday evening...took four days to get back to normal..whatever normal is?!

gz said...

Tried a test picture post...no bother. I used to get the grey square when the internet was busy so uploading slow.... don't know if that helps

Steve Reed said...

Yeah, it seems the problem is sorted now (of course) -- but since I built my whole post around my inability to upload a picture I'll just let it stand! Back to our regularly scheduled programming tomorrow!

Moving with Mitchell said...

Yep, you get what you pay for. I was told by a friend that photos are working again on blogger. I do PAY FOR WordPress. What that means is when there’s a problem (and there are many), I can get immediate help, which usually means an hour on chat proving to them I’m not doing anything wrong. Argh. Glad you got your flu shot and hope that’s what the yuckies were all about.

e said...

I hope your test is negative and it is only the flu shot bringing you down. I've not felt well the last day or so either.

Anonymous said...

The presses have to stop at some time and what is ready to publish must go out.

Ratana is rather tiresome but she doesn't last long on my blog. I note she posts when major northern continents are sleeping. But here it is mid afternoon and I catch her quickly. Some of her comments have gone to the spam folder of late, a good sign.

I would actually pay a fair price for Blogger.

Yorkshire Pudding said...

I would have enjoyed this blogpost a lot more if there had been accompanying pictures. It is like a tree with no leaves, a house with no curtains, a BLT sandwich with no bacon. Strangely I haven't had any problems posting pictures...yet!

Tasker Dunham said...

Blogger seems to have several bugs at the moment. Sometimes I can't comment unless I restart the browser and go to the blog directly rather than via my dashboard.

Debby said...

I had my booster Thursday night. By yesterday afternoon I was achy and tired. It's just mild symptoms, but it's a pain in the butt coupled with mandatory overtime. I'm glad for the shot though. People go on about the side effects, but I must say, the only thing that has happened to me is that I can read minds. It's been life changing. My friend began to grow a third eye. Minor stuff. Nothing to be worried about.

jenny_o said...

Well, since I'm an enthusiastic reader, word pictures suit me just fine! You did a good job, by the way :)

My elderly mother and I had our flu shots last week, on the same day. I was worried that one or both of us would have a reaction (I didn't want to be tending to her while not feeling well myself) but luckily we were okay. Now for the Covid booster, once we reach the six-month mark from our second vaccine.

Marty said...

Grandson #2 has been down for 4 days with the flu in spite of a flu shot. Wonder how much worse it would have been without one. Although perhaps there’s a different strain floating about out there.

Bob said...

I got that symbol, too, but when I hit Select, it posted the pictures I had selected.

Ms. Moon said...

Same-same with the pictures and the symbol. Unlike Bob, when I hit select out of frustration, it posted the symbol.
And Ratana has been a consistent feature on my blog as well.
I have to say that we have some real first-world problems here, don't we?
You're probably just having a reaction to your shot as so many have pointed out here. You're smart to get tested though.

The Padre said...

Olgaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Anonymous said...

I hope blogger solves the photo problem. I noticed that on a blogger's post yesterday. He got a black box with a white symbol in it. Hey, I just went and checked his blog and the photos are there. Maybe blogger has already solved the issue. Yay!
Take care there, Steve. It's a little scary that you work with people who have Covid. Yikes.

Red said...

I felt pretty crappy after the third shot. Mr. Blogger seems to take a while to repair things.

Ellen D. said...

Thanks for mentioning me in your post! I love when I can find the answer to something like that. (thank you, google!) I think it goes back to my days working in a library when you feel so gratified when you find a lost book or find the answer to a difficult question from a patron. That last sentence just reminded me that they don't call them "patrons" anymore - now they are "customers" at my old library. :)

Sharon said...

Now you have me worried for my next post. Can I have a daily photo blog without a photo?
Thanks for speaking to Ratana about those blasted comments. Same here, I delete them within an hour or two. Surprisingly, he/it hasn't posted in the last two days. (knock on wood)

Colette said...

I hope Ratana listens to you. S/he's bothering so many of us.

Margaret said...

I would hate not being able to post photos, but as you said, it's not worth fretting over. Typepad(which I PAY for) has had issues with my photos showing up; they are there, then get caught somehow in their cache and don't display in my posts. I've contacted them so many times about it that I've lost count.

Kelly said...

Interestingly enough, a photo shows up in the preview to your post in my reader (Bloglovin').

I got my booster on Wednesday and just had a sore arm. At least I'm done (for now).

Angelicastar said...

Blogger is break dancing today. It just deleted my comment. (lol) Yes we do miss seeing Olga. If I lived in London I would baby sit for you all. Olga the fur baby. If you notice I never call them dogs but fur babies. I am so glad you told Ratana where to get off at. (laughing) People are trying to stay positive and be happy and here come more bullshit. I do read your comments but I will never comment on your commenters comments. People should be able to think and feel the way they want to. You just get tired and most likely it is some type of scam. I curse them out so bad when they call my phone I feel bad for them. (laughing hard).

Mage said...

Ratana has found me too. Grey boxes have found my "Geeeee-zer" husband also.

Allison said...

I have labeled all of my Ratana comments as spam, yet blogger still let's them through. What is up with that? It's a persistent little devil.

The bike shed said...

My first exercise at art school as to 'Paint the taste of ice cream!' I later did series of abstracts on the 'sound of the sea...' Juxtaposing senses forces creativity into new directions. In painting the taste of ice cream we were learning to respond with visual marks rather than copy what we could visually see.

gz said...

Ratana is one of the reasons I moderate comments!

Margaret said...

I use Bloglovin' too and there was a meme sort of thing. All these statements and then "I'm not gonna crack." I don't know Steve well, but it didn't seem like something he would post. Did you get the same?

Steve Reed said...

As Andrew said, I would be willing to pay a nominal amount for Blogger, if it helped maintain the site's stability.

Steve Reed said...

It was nothing -- just flu shot reaction I guess. Hope you're feeling better!

Steve Reed said...

Yeah, that's the downside of Ratana's posting -- she may stay a few hours as I'll be asleep. But I'll catch up to her eventually. I too would be willing to pay for Blogger if pressed.

Steve Reed said...

Well, I agree with you, but as the Rolling Stones famously sang, "You Can't Always Get What You Want."

Steve Reed said...

Yeah, I sometimes have commenting trouble too. I've found if I navigate away from the page and wait a few minutes, I can often go back and comment with no problem.

Steve Reed said...

Nothing at all! I don't understand the concept of "mandatory overtime." How can your employer demand that you put in more than a full work week? Isn't that against labor laws? Seems like overtime would have to be voluntary.

Steve Reed said...

Glad to hear you were OK! I was too, aside from just a couple of hours of feeling run-down.

Steve Reed said...

Oh, ugh! Yeah, apparently the shot never protects against all varieties -- just the ones that are expected to circulate in any given year.

Steve Reed said...

I hit "select" and it posted the big symbol. I even previewed the page and got the symbol. I just could not get past it!

Steve Reed said...

Same for me about the symbol! And yeah, the yucky feelings were transient, thank goodness.

Steve Reed said...

Padreeeeeee

Steve Reed said...

Oh, there are numerous people at work who have come down with Covid. We work with unvaccinated kids, after all! I'm not too worried because Dave and I are both vaccinated and boosted, and I think if we did get sick we wouldn't get it too severely. (Knock wood)

Steve Reed said...

Yeah, they eventually get around to it. I guess it's the middle of the night in San Francisco!

Steve Reed said...

Absolutely -- I love solving mysteries. I should have tried to Google the phrase myself but didn't even think of it! Interesting that they've switched to "customers." Why does everything have to sound like a business?

Steve Reed said...

It was a short-lived problem after I wrote about it. (Not that I'm claiming any credit! LOL)

Steve Reed said...

Ratana is an annoyance.

Steve Reed said...

That's frustrating, when it's a service you pay for! It ought to work! They really need to sort that out.

Steve Reed said...

How weird! I don't know what you're seeing but from Margaret's description it doesn't sound like my doing.

Steve Reed said...

I would love to leave Olga with you for babysitting if you lived here! She's a lot of dog, though -- maybe more than you're ready to take on. LOL

Steve Reed said...

The twin curses of modern blogging!

Steve Reed said...

I just delete them. Marking things as spam doesn't seem to make a bit of difference.

Steve Reed said...

Interesting assignments! I guess that was basically my boss's thinking. His request wasn't really so outlandish. I don't know why we thought it was!

Steve Reed said...

I moderate on everything older than five days.

Edna B said...

Seems Ratana is busy getting all of us. So far, I'm not having a problem with Blogger. Fingers crossed! You have a super day, hugs, Edna B.

The Padre said...

Brilliantly Played Brother

Cheers

37paddington said...

I think we all got that "paint a word picture" advice from old school editors. How funny that I would now be considered an old school editor too.

Kelly said...

Margaret.... I saw the same photo you did. It seemed weird.

Ed said...

Ratana really gets around these days.