Okay! So I requested AdSense the other day, got all "hoity-toity" thinking I'd done something big. Thought the thing would work automatically. It didn't. I kept coming back looking for something to be different. It wasn't. Nothing happened.

Finally, I caught my breath, thought about it, and decided to do some research on why nothing was happening, why aren't any ads appearing on my blog.

Well, duh!

I needed to activate the thing, don't know exactly what it is called - Oh! It's a page element. That was what I failed to activate when I had my son hook me up with the Goodle AdSense account.

To cut-to-the-chase. I came by for one last visit for the night. No ads visible. I clicked around until I found the AdSense info and the place where I could add the page element needed to get the ads going on my blog.

GREEK-2-U?! Yea! Well, greek to me too.

All in all, I think it is done. I'll make this post, take a break, and check back to see if the ads are working.

See you later.

Looking back over the day I don't see that I accomplished a lot, what with checking on and monitoring all the different sites. It's one thing to start these things, it is another thing altogether to keep them up and to keep them up to date.

Oh! Yes I do see what I did. I wrote this week's newsletter for my website today, even if I did wait until almost too late. It is ready and waiting for proofreading by my daughter then I'll post it to the site http://www.dellgirlpublishing.com/. I hope lots and lots of people get a chance to read it this week and let me know what they think.

That was a semi-major accomplishment since I started with only a working title, two sub-titles, and a few accompanying details.

That said, I'm done for the day. It's been a good one. Tomorrow is Bible Class so I have to get up earlier than usual.

Later.

Everytime I think I'm done here something happens to bring me back. This time it is the kind and touching comments from a fellow-blogger, Musings. Now that I know somebody out there feels me, I have to stay.

Thank you, Musings.

Now to report on what I'v accomplished while I was away. To be more exact, I created and started my website first, then this blogspot (which as you know gave me trouble untold). I also started another blog at http://1dellgirl.spaces.live.com/. That blog was supposed to take the place of this one since it did not work for me. Now that I have the two, and feedback and input from Musings, both seem to work fine. AND, they have become unexplainably linked together.

That works for me. Perhaps now I can stop concentrating on not being able to find myself and get on with the business of providing that all-important-writing-advice-tips-and-how-to-information that I started all these sites for in the first place.

Some of my writing tips and help can be found on my website at http://www.dellgirlpublishing.com/. There are articles and information on various writing categories and also a subscription to my free newsletter on my blog at http://www.writingresource.base10.co.in/.

I hope I haven't left anything out, probably have. But, I haven't really had the time to re-group from all the tech-no-set-backs.

Now that my two blogs seem to be synchronized I'll get right to that - pronto.

Talk later.

Thanks again, Musings. You saved the day.

I thought about giving up on this blog, didn't seem to be going anywhere, doing anything except just sitting here - off in space. I mentioned that to my son along with the fact that I wanted to add some ads to the blog. He did that for me, got me all connected in the right places, and I opened my gmail today to find a welcome from Google AdSense. I replied as I understood to be necessary and, now I'll just wait to see what happens from here.

Will I open this blog one day soon to find it contains some ads from google? Will I continue to visit and return time after time only to find that nothing has happened?

We shall see! Won't we? I'll just hope for the best.

I am adding this PS over here at my Windows Live Spaces, changing the color just to be sure it happens like that. I had all but given up on finding myself in a Google seacrh, or any other for that matter. But I did do the AdSense thing (I'll explain later). And, before I logged on here, moved this post from over there to here. Then, just for the heck of it, I googled myself www.dellgirlpublishing.com and lo-and-behold - there I was!

I am google-able. Google me at www.dellgirlpublishing.com

SEE?! Never give up! It's never too late! After all the frustration, IT IS DONE!

My time away has been well spent. I created and published my third newsletter while I was away the last few days. Normally, I would have to wait for my very busy daughter to proofread, edit, upload, and publish them to my website - http://www.dellgirlpublishing.com/

Taking my own advice, I gave it all a try alone. Writing was relatively easy. Proofreading, though, is a strange invention. One handles a piece of work so much that little mistakes become impossible to detect. We're reading the piece with our thoughts concentrated on what we intend to say. Therefore, we miss little things that need to be changed.

After everything is complete and as professional looking as possible, I am ready to post the newsletter to my site. With Tuesday as my previously agreed upon deadline for publication to the web, I am already a day behind. I gathered my courage, took the bull-by-the-horns and set out to upload and publish it myself without bothering anyone.

I found my pdf file copy of the newsletter, opened the design suite of my web program, and immediately felt the tingly little flutters starting up in my stomach. Their first words were, "Uh-ooo, I forgot what she told me to do. I don't remember how she said to make this Adobe file get over here in the website."Those little buggers have kept me imobile and doing nothing for more years than I care to admit.

I answered them back, "Not today, guys. I'm trying this. Even if I have to delete this whole thing and start again. I am trying this."

I ignored the flutters, worked myself slowly through the maze of searching for what I needed and applying it. With the jitters sitting quietly on the edge of my computer monitor waiting to pounce if I faltered, I maneuvered my way through.

I uploaded my pdf file to my web design page and published my newsletter to my website - alone. It feels good to have done it myself.

Way to go Dell Girl.

So!?

I didn't post yesterday - again. No excuses to offer. Just the way it is.

Truth be told, I got busy very busy, actually really really busy monitoring all the new technological documents, blogs, webs, I find myself owning. If this phase were not so interesting and informative I'd quit and go back to Free Cell.

However, since I've started on this journey there's no turning back now. When I get stuck on a particular technical thing, I have to try and try again until I have it figured out. If I can't figure it out on my own, I then ask my kids. They're grown people and they understand that this is all new to me. So they're always ready to help and share what they know with me.

My latest delimma is finding myself (my blogs and some posts) after I finish with them and post them. It's like looking for a needle in a haystack. One particular post I made, somewhere on the www. remains forever in oblivion. I've searched using every possible variation of what I thought I originally said. Still, no luck. I can't find it.

That's where I'm headed today, to search for the missing post. If I haven't found it by late afternoon, I'll just post another one asking the same qusetion, trying to get the same help.

So, I didn't post yesterday after I promised (myself) to be more diligent about posting more frequently. I also promised my readers I would provide insight on what I have learned along the way. I told you I would share my experiences and hope other first time authors would do the same here.

What happened?

I decided to do a little research on other authors' websites to see if I am on the right track with my own website - www.dellgirlpublishing.com . My research methods were obviously a "tech-no" no-no. I started by googling my own website name. Knowing my site is new and probably way way down on the search engine list, I skipped over to page 100. From there I went backwards, 99, 98, ygtp. By the time I reached page 81 or 78 or something like that I get blocked by a "SORRY! We cannot let you go on page. What you are doing looks like phishing" or something.

Stopped dead in my tracks. So taken aback, I couldn't go on. At that point, I couldn't even find this filed-in-obscurity blog I've started.

I started my post earlier, got side-tracked by a phone call, had to stop dead in the middle of posting. Thought I could do the phone request quickly and get right back to my blog. Wrong! Not a multi-tasker, I mishandled something, got even more side-tracked, lost my way. Everything I had done up to that point - obliterated, gone, zapped - I return to a blank screen.

The annoying little-blog-assistant- helpmate at the bottom of the page says, "Now Blogger saves your drafts automatically!

Well, where's my stuff?

I start clicking around trying to find all that wonderful information I'd typed in earlier. Nothing. Nowhere to be found. Nothing but a title. With a big white blank space below it. I clicked on everything on the screen, tabs at the top, sub-headings, items on the menu, tabs on top of the post page, and everything across the bottom of the screen.

The silly-yellow-alledged-little-helper still states, "Now Blogger saves your drafts automatically! Even has the nerve to have an exclamation point behind it. Like that means something. It lies!

It won't fool me again, and don't you be fooled either. Save your work as you go along. Having learned that lesson the hard way in the first place (back when I first started using the computer), you would think I would know better.

This is not even close to what I had in mind to post today. I started out well-intentioned. My purpose was to pass along some interesting technical information I had learned to others. That didn't work out.

Now here I am, reduced to whining and sniveling. Blithering on about my trials and tribulations with that lying-little-trecherous-supposed-help-mate, the one that's supposed to save my work automatically. I don't like being reduced at all. It's demeaning.

I'd better go before I lose the last of my dignity here.

Until tomorrow or later or whichever comes first.

Hello again,

I suppose I need to say a little something about where I've been, what I've been doing, what has gone well, what things did not go exactly as I planned, etc. I've been so busy since creating this blog I haven't had time to say anything, at least not in writing. I think about it then I add, just as soon as I do "X" I'll do it. Or as soon as I finish "Y" I'll do it. And, so it goes.

I've created a website featuring my first book, At the Starting Gate. That was quite a feat for someone with minimal computer skills. I did it though. Although it continues to be a work-in-progress as I need to constantly monitor it for looks, content, format and so on, I am rather pleased with the results so far. I spend a lot of time mulling over whether to leave the content as I typed it or should I change it or what. Those things can be quite mind-boggling for a new-comer.

That said, I should go now. There a couple of things I need to do to the website. Please come visit me at www.dellgirlpublishing.com .

I won't stay away so long next time even with all the new and technical things I must learn and do - daily.

I promise.

Hello world! Here I am.

What am I doing?

I have no earthly idea, but here I am. One thing I do know, is that I am trying to become more 21st century savvy. I have sometimes been labeled as being old fashioned. Now here I am, trying to BLOG at my age. As a young woman, trying to impress Mr. wonderful, I would often say - I'll try anything once.

Another thing I know for sure is I have a serious disorder, one that I diagnosed myself recently. It is either MPD or MPIMD. Roughly translated that means Multi-People-Disorder or Multi-People-Inside-Me-Disorder. Either way, I have many people inside me. They all have various functions and they serve me very well. The disorder is not something that needs taking to the doctors since my family has adjusted nicely to each one. Some of the people inside me include a dancer, a music lover, a recycler, a seamstress, a crafter, a jeweler, a teacher, a writer, and a drama queen. No! No, no, no. Not your average everyday drama queen who gets off on making others miserable but, a lover of all things drama - drama shows, drama books, crime drama, mystery drams and so on.

Let me introduce you to one of the people who dwells within me, the head person in charge today. Should I use the thesaurus here? Dwells? Ummm. That word?! Dwells? I could say, resides? Maybe I could use another word? What? Ummm. Should I use the thesaurus or should I just let it stand? What? What?! Oh! I'm diddling. I need to get on with it.

The writer is dominant today. When the writer is out she usually leaves a trail a mile long. The desktop computer, the scanner/printer/fax machine are turned on in the den, the laptop is fired-up and ready in the bedroom. Notebooks, folders, tablets, pens, pencils, and highlighters lurk nearby in the vicinity of each computer. Sometimes it is all neatly stacked and arranged in an order only she understands. Other times, like when she is actively writing, everything is strewn about seemingly haphazardly. But there is a method to her madness.

When the writer is dominant, one needs only to walk into the den to know it. The four light fixtures of the ceiling fan, the two-tier floor lamp next to the computer desk, and the reading lamp on the work table in between the two all have 100 watt bulbs in them - all turned on.