Strawberry Filled Cupcakes

Couldn’t resist posting this.  Healthy cupcakes for the kiddos.  Not saying I’m not going to jump into them.

Grab your recipe and send a shout out to the creator of those goodies!

http://theovenmitt.com/2012/04/26/strawberry-filled-cupcakes-with-cream-cheese-frosting/

Thanks to “the oven mitt.”

Happy Weekend from FigVille USA.

Bank of America Account Changes

Major and Meaningful Account Mods. pssst.... do they not have anything better to do??????

We all knew it, didn’t we.  Bank of America was up to something – well, here it is!

Announcement:  All Bank of America Account Holders

“Two zeros will be added to the beginning of current account numbers to make them 12 digits long.  The expanded account numbers will appear on your account statements beginning May 18….

Beginning May 18, account statements will have a new format…. (blah blah blah)

While we update our systems during the weekend of May 18, some features in online banking, Mobile and Text Banking will be temporarily unavailable at certain times….” blah blah blah

It’s official!  The Bank is doing “Something” different!

Voted the not most creative banking system in …. what?    forever?   Okay, I’ll go with that.

Happy Day from FigVille USA – keeping you “in the know”

 

Air Duct Cleaning Scams

Thinking about getting your air ducts cleaned?  Think twice as I’m about to report that a true air duct cleaning cannot possibly cost less than a couple hundred bucks.

That’s right, folks, live and learn, same way our buddy Hal Stuftup did this past weekend.  Hal’s wife, Stella, saw a  deal she couldn’t resist.  Arrived via email from GROUPON.  Duct Cleaning with FREE Dryer Vent Vacuum for a paltry $60.   Heck yes she bought it.  Here’s what happened.

Van pulled in – unidentified – but unnoticed until it departed.  Two fellows came to the door with not much equipment.  A little chit-chat about this and that and time to get those ducts cleaned…well, that was after they took a coffee and cigarette break in the backyard!  (First tip-off)

Then they went about vacuuming the floor vents and swirled up enough dust to gag an elephant.  No problem, “see how bad those ducts are?” they pointed confidently to the dust filled air.

Hal asked about the dryer vent extra that was included in that Groupon.  ”Oh yeah, we’re going to take care of that right now.”  Off they went into their garage – walking around looking at stuff.  Hal and Stella accompanied them.  Didn’t notice much dryer vent action, but really didn’t know what to expect – first time cleaning and all.

Hour later, finis!  EXCEPT the recommendation to get $489 worth of deeper cleaning (this at a special discounted price).   Hal and Stella soon became suspicious.  And, who wouldn’t?  Especially since these people were pushing them to sign the dotted line.  Hal asked for their business card so they could back to them.  That request fell on deaf, dust drenched ears.

Handed Hal the receipt and estimate for more work along with an “Air-Care” brochure (mini).  And, pfffft, like a puff of smoke, they were gone.  Hal and Stella looked at the estimate – Company name:  Green Air Duct Cleaning Services.  Couldn’t find them on google, even tried bing.  But, here’s what they saw on Youtube:  http://bit.ly/IzFZpu.

You better check those Groupon specials twice, maybe three times = if it looks too good to be true, you’re right.

Going to check my air ducts right after I get Groupon’s phone number for Hal and Stella.  They (Groupon) should take some responsibility with their clients – dontcha think?

Pleasant Day to you.  By the way, haven’t seen much Charity Water Clickin’ – do what you can with those nimble fingers.

Signing out, for now – from

FigVille USA  where some things are not a figment of imagination

Google Art

Go ahead, I dare you… click their link

Journey around the world with 134 new collections in the Google Art Project

Nothing, right?  Not only nothing, but they’re advertising their nothingness.  Hope you enjoyed the journey as much as I did.

Formerly on Google Mail,

Major oops! factor here!  Just realized (after a Firefox visit) that Google is not at war with Firefox!  why bother to hook up safari users…gotcha!

 

 

Magnum Ice Cream Bars

p. r. and packaging makes ya wanna drool

Was at Safeway gathering data for my late (as usual) blog re Safeway vs Whole Foods vs Costco – that’s a lot of shopping time – and with gas prices – well, anyway, ran into these delightfully exquisite looking ice cream bars.

First thing I did was put them in order (in my mind) from satisfying through fill up the truck with these babies.

Here’s the one I rated “satisfying,” in the store… and the one I’m going to re-rate right here –   What the Fig??

Ice cream oozing through top and mid layers of chocolate – deep holes at bottom – chocolate cracked = MESS.   I couldn’t eat that mess bolstered by a paper towel – so I sent it where it belonged – in the trash.  That – along with the other two in the package … in the same condition.

Nice name, great packaging and awesome product shots.  Not surprised that what you see isn’t what you get.  Only problem with it is you don’t know till you get it – sweet rip-off.   Oh well, another disappointing new product launch.

What’s MAGnetized you lately?

Signing off from Figville USA where quality rules.

WordPress Email Reply

So I sent an email to WordPress to find out why links were appearing on my blogs – oh! and ads too.  Seems that if you’re reading your own blog on your own pc or mac, none of these sorta things show up.

As I said, friend Fred pointed out those little glitches – otherwise I’d have never known what lurks beneath the surface.   I asked WordPress to please explain.

First they needed the (Clickable Link Ahead) URL for the blog – even though it appeared in the Subject line of the email ??  Next they asked for (Clickable Link Ahead) screenshots of those link lines appearing at random spots on the blogs.  Then they gave me instructions to do screenshots.

I sent the requested info and here’s why stuff like that happens.

WP Response:  I viewed your site in Google Chrome 17 in Incognito Mode, which disables all extensions, and attached a screenshot comparing the second screenshot you sent. You’ll notice that the following words are not double underlined:

* air
* ingredients
* eyesight

The very last screenshot you sent was very helpful because that displays a “Text Enhance” pop up, which is the the reason why some text is linked (where you didn’t add a link in the original post).

So, you’ll need to find that browser add-on—or program on the system—and uninstall it.

My Response to WP Response:  

Let me see if I understand what you said:  anyone using google chrome will see these links unless they disable (Clickable Link Ahead) “text enhance?”

 

If that’s true, I can’t (and tons of other wordpress bloggers) do anything about that if it has to be fixed by the viewer (the chrome users).

 

Why doesn’t WordPress offer a way to prevent that at the source.  Seems to me to make a blog look pitiful with links to sites that have nothing to do with the blog.  In fact, would appear to me, when reading others’ blogs -that whomever wrote it was hyping something.  I wouldn’t go back to read their blogs again.

 

WP Response:  That’s a complex question, so I’ll need to break it up.

* Text Enhance is a program (not linked with Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, or any other major web browser) that adds those links after the page is loaded. It doesn’t come preinstalled with any of those browsers.

* If a visitor has Text Enhance installed, it’ll add links—not originally on the page—after the webpage is done loading.

* If a visitor is using any browser without Text Enhance installed, those extra links will not appear.

I found this forum thread that has some suggestions on how to remove Text Enhance from Firefox (for example), but likely applies to other browsers:

http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/871383

So, now you have it!  If you have phantom links, you won’t know about it till someone tells you.  Hey!  Nothing’s Free except my manipulatable blog!

p.s.  If you don’t see me here anymore, it’s because I was banned for bullying (or some such thing).

Have yourselves a happy day – FigVille USA

Links on FigVille USA’s Blogs

Fred just called to ask me why I’m putting strange links on my past two rants.  I checked it out from my browser (safari) no links.  He saw them on Firefox and Google Chrome, not on Explorer 8 — so, if you’re seeing links, I would NOT bother to click ‘em, if I were you.   I know, I know, I can’t be me if I’m you, and we wouldn’t be having this conversation.

Anyhoo, I’ll be adding (link ahead) when I add them.  I’ve already written to WordPress about this – see if they can enlighten me.  After all, in the beginning was the Word..Press on!

Jenth at FigVille USA signing out – Happy Weekend!