Go Big or Go Home?

July 16, 2018 ~ msgracefulnot ~ 17 Comments

Last week I posted that in one day I had received 370k comments in my spam folder in the a 24 hour period. Things have slowed down a little bit, this morning I have 564K. SMDH!!!!!

When I contacted wp support, they suggested that I activate the comments option that makes name and email required. Ok did that.

I also added almost 100 individual ip addresses to the block list

I have added all the repeating words that I found in the posts (ty SDC for the tip)

I have blocked anyone using an email from outlook (as that was a huge portion of addresses)

I went through the 1.8k comments that I have approved in the past and removed any from an anonymous user as was suggested by another blogger. (thank you Ralph)

Tom and Tanya both suggested bot blockers and upping my spam control. Whatever version on wp I am using only allows me to use askiment, and it says it have blocked another 300k in spam.

I switched back to all comments needing to go through moderation ( sorry for this guys), but after my phone going off ever 2 minutes with notifications for an hour, I have now removed WP from my phone. Which means I will be checking it less frequently.

I want to apologize in advance if I miss something you have commented on, I am deleting spam in bulk, and although I do scan it first, there are literally thousands of comments.

The only other thing I can think to try is switching to self hosted. I have heard of sites like godaddy, siteground, bluehost. Would anyone mind sharing what host you use? I need a site that will “hold my hand” so to speak . Thank you in advance!

370K spam comments in one day

July 10, 2018July 10, 2018 ~ msgracefulnot ~ 30 Comments

I swear to anyone listening that no one can make this shit up! If anyone wonders, why I swear so much….this is ONE example.

No that is not a typo!….. What it is, is just my luck!…. I spent a good hour yesterday emptying my spam folder. (even with bulk edit, it only lets you empty 20 at a time). I had almost 2000 comments in spam, so it did take awhile.

I don’t know if you can read that, but when I was done yesterday it said I had -17 spam comments. Not sure how they came up with that number either, like I said just my luck?

When I signed into WP this afternoon after running all my errands this morning, I had 370K

Before I was done chatting with “WP support” I had another 7000.

When I started writing this I thought I was “gonna go off” about this, but to tell you the truth now, I am just plain exhausted. Below is a copy of the chat with wp:

I emptied my spam folder yesterday and today I have 370k comments in spam. Can you do a mass delete for me?

Help?

Hi there!

Hello

What type of spam are you talking about please? Is it comment spam?

yes

Ok, Comments can be managed via the WP Admin area of your site here:

https://yoursite.wordpress.com/wp-admin/

Click on that link and then on Comments tab on the left bar.

You can then select the spam comments and at the top of the comments list

that is what i did yesterday and I deleted all the spam comments 20 at a time

i got 370k overnight

I see.

In this case I advise you to blacklist this spam source

how do I do that?

You can do that by coping the email address of the spam comment and pasting it in the Blacklist textarea in this settings page here:

https://yourwebsite.wordpress.com/wp-admin/options-discussion.php

the messages are coming from no email address

Do you have an example for me to help you?

You may copy the IP address as well.

I mean instead of the email address.

you cant sign into my account?

ip is the www address?

The IP address appears below the comment author’s gravatar

The IP address is a number

I’ll send you a screenshot, hang on, please.

i think i found it

how do you add multiple ip addresses

Ok, one per line

and is there not a way to do a “mass dump”?

Actually no, the same IP needs to be added just once.

czadh@gxjyt.bo 6 minutes ago·www.herpescured.com

jbqxkqkot@yjhn.hk

they are all different ip addresses

I advise you to activate the comments option that makes name and email required.

i just want to make sure you are telling me I have to add them all manually? there isn’t on dump all spam bucket

Yes, that’s correct.

OMG!

There isn’t a way to add those IPs or emails automatically.

We already have an anti-spam tool

I thought so too, but why did I get so many?

askimet right?

it is working but the comments that passes through it, they need to be marked as spam or blacklisted manually.

Yes, correct.

ok, well ty for your time, I apparently have a lot of work to do

I think this comment option is really important to activate.

but it still wont dump the ones there

No, it’s just to avoid that amount of spam.

In the future

one last question

Sure thing!

sarcastic question

has anyone else ever had that much spam in one day

or am i just lucky?

I can’t tell, but making name and email requirements, makes it more difficult to robots send spams

Ok ty for your help. Have a nice day

Did I mention you can’t make this shit up?!?!?

Needless to say, I am NOT going to go through an add all of those ip addresses, and I am kind of disappointment that they were not able to help other than to suggest that I only let people with a wp account comment. That is what I have done for now.

I was thinking of switching to self hosted next month, maybe things will change for the better then. In the meantime, I apologize if you can’t comment on a post.

Has anyone ever had a problem like this? Help? Advice? Tips?

If you have nothing nice to say….

May 3, 2018October 5, 2018 ~ msgracefulnot ~ 29 Comments

My parents taught me at a very young age, if you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all. (I may still have the handprints on my face or belt marks on my ass to prove it.) Although, I don’t necessarily agree with the methods used to teach me this, I do think that it is a very important lesson to have learned.

Lately, I haven’t had anything nice to say….so I haven’t said anything. This isn’t to say that my life is terrible, but to be honest, I don’t even like being with myself lately …..so I say nothing. I don’t like that I am getting angry over small things, and more importantly I don’t like that I don’t understand why I’m upset.

A friend said to me today, “Are you ok Grace? I’m worried about you.” My response was “No I’m not, but I will be.”. I KNOW that I will be. I don’t know when, but I will get through this slump whatever it is, just like I have 100x before.

For those of you that use music to relate or express your emotions….the song Downtime by Jo Dee Messina kind of sums up what I am feeling at the moment. If you listen to it let me know what you think. How do you handle those days when you’ve got nothing nice to say?

You’re doing what? With who? Where?

April 19, 2018October 5, 2018 ~ msgracefulnot ~ 14 Comments

Phone conversation with Thing One:

Grace : “While I am in Boston I am going to meet a couple of friends that live in the vicinity whom I met in the blogging world.”

Thing One: “OK, mom, don’t forget the “proof of life” pictures.”

Grace: “you got it kiddo”

Friday, April 6, 2018

proof of life — Grace Fullnot….last seen wearing pic

Grace: Good Morning kiddo

Thing One: What’s wrong?

Grace: Nothing, just sending you proof of life, Bill will be here in a few minutes to pick me up.

Thing One: Why aren’t you smiling?

Grace: Seriously?… Because I am freezing my ass off, and besides I wouldn’t be smiling if I was kidnapped 😛

Thing One: I’m gonna need another picture

smile — The things you do for your kids….

Grace: Better?

Thing One: 😀

SMH….for those of you who don’t know…SMH is Shaking my head. (I really do that A lot!)

Superman was supposed to pick me up by 10. I’m expecting a little Honda Civic to pull up…. he tells me when he’s on his way that he will be driving a truck instead…..ummmm……. itty bitty roads….

“Let me know when you’re close, I might have to meet you on the corner?”

Before I knew it, ( early even ) there he was loading mine and my companions suitcases in the truck. Bill and I were heading to Salem for the day, where we would be meeting Karyn and Steve after exploring Salem for a bit. My traveling companions were going to Pax East at the Boston Convention Center, and we would meet up again at a new airbnb apartment near Salem for the night.

Superman Really Does Exist

Before we ever decided to meet in real life, Bill and I spent hours on the phone. (not all at one time, though he did provide a big shoulder when I was struggling with Sara’s death) but we’ve talked about our illnesses, our common expression of saying, “are you really sure you want me to answer that?” when people ask for our opinions, and so on and so on. Not only is he a great writer, but a great friend.

The real reason I am not posting his picture, is because he wasn’t feeling well and hasn’t been for awhile. That’s HIS story to tell though, if you want to check it out. As I said, he is a great writer, and just an all around great guy.

After eating breakfast at a little restaurant in Salem, we wondered around to find the Salem Witch Museum (my choice, not his)

I’m not going to say much about the experience, because hearing about the amount of hatred that people endured during the witchcraft trails still gives me the chills, but I did want to share this postcard. The last room of the museum is painted with the words on the postcard….. Very thought provoking!

Of course it was snowing in New England…AGAIN

snow in new england — Just flurries though for the time being

Let me tell you a little bit about the other two bloggers that I got to meet.

First of all there is Steve Markesich

Of course you can read his About ME page, but I want to tell you about the man I met. I’m not sure exactly how our path’s crossed. ( I think he was doing the “my publisher said, I need to add as many people on social media as I can for the book I am writing thing”) Either way, Steve’s is the first blog I ever started following.

I love the honesty, openness, and determination he displays when he writes about living with Primary Progressive MS. MS is a nasty monster, and while I would not wish the disease on anyone, it is good to know you have people like this with you on this scary ride. Poor Steve has also become a dear friend (didn’t know what you signed up for did you?”) Please take a moment to check out his blog MSich Chronicles. He does a great job of sharing how he overcomes the challenges that MS has laid at his door.

I had the privilege of meeting Karyn who writes Karyn’s Domain.

Karyn and my paths first crossed around the time she wrote this The best blog I ever read. She sent me a message saying that she had found my blog after reading Superman’s posts in their entirety, and looked forward to getting to know like minded people….

As many of you know lately my life has been filled with Drama, drama, drama, and I haven’t had much time for keeping up with ANY blogs, but the day after we met, I went to her website and saw this post. (Honestly at first thought from the meme, I thought she was talking about me….lol). This woman quit her job, and hiked the Appalachian trail!!! How can you NOT want to know more?!?!?! Actually , there is much more to Karyn, I encourage you to follow her on her journey as she discovers where she is headed next. I know that I will be.

I would like to tell you that our “little get together” lasted until dawn and that we all just barely escaped being arrested for a noise disturbance. But to tell you the truth…. we got together and just talked…..and it was perfect! (in hindsight, they might have brought duct tape for MY Mouth)

Thank you all for making the trip and spending your time with me. I look forward to our ongoing friendships!!!!

My One thing box…. so DOING IT WRONG…..

January 13, 2018February 9, 2018 ~ msgracefulnot ~ 15 Comments

A few months ago, the LAST time I almost had a “mini mental breakdown” from trying to be superwoman ( GRACE, the damn costume does NOT fit) a really great friend of mine said, “Damn it Grace, will you just slow down?!?!? Focus on ONE THING, just one thing at a time!!!” “Yeah, yeah” I replied. ” I got it. (as I added 20 more things to my to do list)

We finished our conversation and she said, “I’ve got it! I am making something for you.” Ok? I didn’t really think much more about it…..

A month later, a box arrived from Florida, ( I live in Illinois)…..hmmmm Not medical supplies, (they come from Texas)…. Not my prescriptions…(THOSE came LAST week) too big of a box to be more bills ( besides that, medical collectors like to use big flashy envelopes so that all your neighbors know you are a slacker)

Duh, Florida! Bones is from Florida!!!!!!!!

She said she was sending you something…..

My mind went back to what I THOUGHT was our last conversation in which we had talked about going thrift shop shopping for an ugly “tiki like” statue.

The side story behind the “Tiki statue”.

Although I have “known” Bones for almost 3 years, we have only ever “hung out” (in person) two times. I live in Illinois, she lives in Florida. We “met” playing an online game on facebook, and it was over a year of talking on the phone, skype etc before we actually met in person. She was supposed to come stay with me for a week in Sept. of last year, even had purchased her airline ticket, but Hurricane Maria hit the day she was supposed to fly out. 😦 So the trip was cancelled.

We tried to find time in our schedules to pick another day, but with the holidays coming and my daughter’s upcoming wedding, we decided to wait and try again next year. To hold ourselves “accountable” we agreed to purchase the ugliest statue that we could find to be left at the other ones house. The only way you could get rid of the statue was to “deliver” it in person to the other one.

So back to the package…..

Why was she sending me the Tiki package? That wasn’t our plan. We were going to pick one out together….. 😦 and it was supposed to be HAND delivered or retrieved…. Hmmmm well I’m just not gonna open it! 😛

The box sat by the door for 2 hours before Einstein pestered me enough to open it.

I’m glad I was sitting on the floor when I did. Fucking tears came out of no where. When I opened the box this is what I saw…..

ONE THING

She had HAND MADE me my very own “One Thing” box to remind me to….. SLOW THE HELL DOWN!!!

Who knew that this woman that lives more than 1000 miles away from me, that I met playing an online game, would become one of the best friends anyone could ask for?!?!?

The box is not only a box to collect my to do lists. Bones did research on why I use the ORANGE ROSE as my blog picture. (Orange is the color for MS awareness and I printed the rose on our 3d printer, when I was feeling especially blah one day to remind myself that there is still beauty in the world) I know….. cheesy, but it works for me. She found images of butterflies, which I didn’t know also represent MS awareness.

Inside of the box she taped the picture of me skydiving that I had posted on my newly created blog’s welcome page. She included cut out One Thing “tags” with a letter explaining that how I was supposed to use this box. She said, ” This is for your LONG list of To-do’s, but…. BUT you can ONLY place ONE task on each piece of paper.” Of course there were more “rules”, but you get the gist?

Well I’m still doing it wrong……

I THOUGHT I was doing it right, but I was writing tags like the ones on the left, when I probably should have done more like the ones on the right.

Just because the words fit in the box, does not mean they will fit into a day!!!!…smh

Plan BOSTON?!?!? Seriously what the hell was I thinking?!?!? Yep I’m gonna plan a trip with 3 other people all by myself in one day! Doh! I tried, I reached out to everyone to confirm airline selections before booking. I couldn’t reach anyone, but outgoing messages were sent. So let’s start with cleaning the house. I probably should have chosen to vacuum OR dust OR laundry instead of tackling all of the rooms and all of the chores at once....but but…the tag said ONE thing…. and I only wrote ONE THING!!! CLEAN THE HOUSE!!!!!

I did manage to make a lot of progress on the lists on the left, but didn’t actually finish anything except for cleaning the house. ALL OF THE LAUNDRY washed, dried, folded AND put away!!!! All the dishes, vacuuming, dusting, and I even washed the floors and cleaned the bathrooms. As I laid down, (passed out) on the couch, utterly exhausted, I looked at the vacuum cleaner that I had neglected to empty or put away, and started the next day’s list….

The next day…..

I laid on the couch all damn day and most of the next….I was in so much pain.

WHEN will I learn?!?!?!?

I really don’t understand why I push myself so hard. smh I’m sure it has something to do with no longer being able to work outside my house, and self worth and all that, but I KNOW I will PAY for it later, yet I keep doing it.

Definition of Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/unknown_133991

Thank you all for listening to me ramble! (WordPress is cheaper than a shrink)

Anyone have any ideas why I’m always in such a hurry to get EVERYTHING done?

Bones? Have I told you lately that I love you?!?!? ( get that song stuck in your head)

I never dreamed that this blogging adventure would lead me to so many supportive people and new friends. 🙂 I’ve had the time of my life 🙂 🙂 🙂