Image from Wikipedia
What happened to Zemanta? I’m away for one short month and WordPress has changed everything.
I feel a prompt post coming on…
Yo, readers! I’m back! Did you miss me? I told you I’d be back. Thank you for your patience.
I had a lovely blogging break and feel refreshed and ready to write again…or I did, until yesterday.
Back With A Bang…Literally
I had intended to write my first post-break post tomorrow, on the first (you will note that my break didn’t wash away my propensity for mangled sentences; there’s no break in the world long enough to make that happen), but I had such a day yesterday, I wanted to tell you all about it; and to boast about how kind the people of Stockport are.
The day began in the ordinary way: at 08:35, my Yorkshire Terriers Toby and Molly, my friend Pam and I left my house for our weekly walk along the river Mersey, on the Pennine Way. It takes us into the heart of Stockport, under the M60 motorway, but away from roads, so it’s safe to let the dogs off the lead.
We’d been out about fifteen minutes and Toby was a little way off, investigating smells. Have you ever walked Yorkshire Terriers? They were bred as ratters. Try throwing a ball – they’ll get halfway to where it lands and be distracted by a smell, à la Doug and squirrel in Up, and that will be that for the game of Fetch as far as a Yorkie is concerned.
Toby was nose-deep (probably in something disgusting), when his body language changed and he realised he was being stared at intensely by a large dog which had come up behind us, a husky-type dog. The husky charged, scenting prey. Toby legged it. He ran up the path, under the subway and followed the path until it turned left.
I acted instinctively, forgot I was fifty and charged after him, yelling his name in what was intended as a command but which came out as a whiny beg. Fortunately, Pam had the presence of mind to grab Molly before she ran after me running after the husky running after Toby. We must have been quite a sight, with the husky owner running after me running after the husky running after Toby…who ran into rush hour traffic.
I rounded the corner as he dashed across the far four lanes. The traffic in the two lanes closest to me had stopped so I belted over to the other pavement and suddenly realised I was running downhill, faster than I’ve ever run before, and I would very shortly be crashing face-first to the ground.
And lo, it came to pass. My left hand must have taken the impact because it hurt-hurt-hurts today, up my arm to my shoulder. I thought at first I had sprained it and I’m lucky not to have broken it, such was my momentum. It is worth the pain because my face merely bounced off the pavement, leaving no scratches or bumps, just temporary indentations where my glasses had tried to give me eyes in the back of my head.
A car pulled up, and another, I think. Someone helped me stand, a cyclist chased off after Toby, who was running the wrong way through the cars on a busy intersection.
See the triangle of grass above the .co.uk? I had crossed the diagonal red path above it and was now prostrate on the path to its left. Toby was running down the slip road in front of the Pyramid, which has a large white truck going one way and a yellow van going the other.
And I will stop there for today, for two reasons:
1. Always leave them wanting more and
2. My arm hurts. Which leads to three:
3. Always leave them feeling sorry for you: it may result in chocolate.
Linda ….. glad that somebody was willing to help you! What an adventure … an adventure that we shouldn’t have to go through. I truly hope there is a happy ending to this.
Have really missed you … have been checking out our link .. if it was still there.
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Thank you, Wivi.
I can’t tell you if it ends well because that would, well, spoil the end 🙂
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I know … but I wish for the best. *smile
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I have liked but really dislike the reason for the story. I know I would have done the same as you but the dog trainers always tell you not to run after a running dog but stand and call them back. I start dog sitting tomorrow for a week and now won’t be letting the dog off a long lead very quickly – it is a car chasing border collie. I hope the husky owner was suitably contrite at letting its dog chase yours!
Please can we have some calming jokes when your nerves have recovered?
Sally
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I don’t know what happened to the other dog or owner, I’m afraid. I hope the dog was okay because he was also in amongst all that traffic.
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More adventure than I’ve had since you’ve been gone. Welcome back, TB. I missed you.
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Thank you, Ron 🙂
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I have missed you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Bless you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Sorreee. No chocolate. Verboten. I hope you will get an Xray if your wrist still hurts. It’s one of the easiest places to cop a fracture.
Welcome back – now I can start to laugh again.
Love,
ViV
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She’s right you know. Viv’s always right on these matters
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She is, but the pain has definitely eased and the worst of it was in my shoulder and that’s easier to move now.
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glad to hear it xxx Take care.
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Thank you!
It’s sore but not damaged.
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When you come back, it is definitely with a bang. Thank goodness you didn’t break your hand, shoulder, face or anything else. I was feeling the stomach clenching terror, imagining poor Toby running across the 4 lane road. Marshall our old black lab did that to me once, ouff, it doesn’t feel good. I can’t wait until tomorrow for part 2. Ice pack for the hand may make it feel better. Poor Tilly.:(
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Thank you, Laurie. Poor Marshall – it’s so frightening for them.
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Great to see you back, though I wish it was in a less injured state.
Oh… and about Zemanta. They dropped that shortly after you took your pause. It was supplied by an outside company and either they or WordPress broke things off. WordPress says they’re developing something in-house to replace it.
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Thanks for that info. I loved Zemanta because I wasn’t worried about copyright issues.
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Try this:
http://www.google.com/advanced_image_search
The last menu is for usage rights, which lets you search only for images that can be used freely. Just remember to include a photo credit.
I was originally disappointed to see Zemanta go but the advanced image search is fine; I can even make the pictures bigger without them turning grainy. Unfortunately, it is slightly more work.
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Thanks again! You are a really useful person to know 🙂
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You’re back! yeah!
and you’re hurt! boo!
I do hope this tale will have a happy ending, and that you will get that wrist checked out.
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All’s well that ends well. And isn’t if it doesn’t. Shakespeare…what a dummy he could be sometimes 🙂
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Welcome back dear. Really missed you. So you had fair share of ups and downs. Thanks God the pain has eased out. Have a nice weekend.
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Thank you, Indira 🙂
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I will read the post in a minute, just got to say ‘Welcome Home’ It is great to have you back. Hope that you are feeling a lot better and that life is now in full swing…You were surely missed and it was great to see your post in the inbox…now I shall go back to read it
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having read it …I can only say….it could only happen to you!#
Now I know its not funny, its hilarious and I had tears running down my cheeks..you came back to WordPress with a bang!!!!!
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It was meant to be… 😀
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Now THAT is how to come back with a splash!!!
Literally, and literarily.
Wonder what it would cost to mail Whoppers across the way…
Be. More. Careful.
Because you couldn’t possibly be more funny.
And I did miss you, tremendously. ❤ K
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Oh, and, YES! Zemanta is gone. Imagine. They posted something about getting our own, elsewhere. Sighs. They say there’s a new one with antique photos and drawings. Cannot find it. Been doing without photos and without you, too, so we’ve had it worse than you. 😦
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You are so sweet! 🙂
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Welcome back…and a new adventure begins right away. 🙂
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You couldn’t make it up.
But I could…
But I didn’t.
🙂
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I hope you had a Dr look you over and especially your face. Mine never recovered from bouncing like a tree off the ground and that was three years ago. Take care and healing hugs.
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Poor Granny! No doctor, but the Hub is the next best thing. He patched me up nicely 🙂
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Here I am, the caboose. Yes Zemanta is missing so what gives? Did you do it? Dianne
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Did I??
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Oh woe is you! Help yourself to the Maltesers!
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P.S. My current post could be bad for your health!
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I’ll just take the Maltesers, then. Thanks for the warning.
Though I did see a cute Yorkie in your picture…
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I thought by now you would have given up using ‘cute’ and ‘Yorkie’ in the same sentence!
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Never!
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Welcome back Tilly Bud! You have been missed dearly! I have thought of you often & wondered out how you were doing. I am so sorry you fell, I know what it’s like – one fall resulted in a broken wrist, another one in a torn rotator cuff – so you were very lucky! Please let us see more of you again! Malteser to you for surviving!
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Oh my! Nothing like that for me; I got off lightly.
Hope you are okay.
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So glad to hear from you, but really sorry to hear about your fall. In September my face hit the pavement and I have a nice little upper lip scar to remind me to be careful. I had no errant doggie to give me a good story either! It does sound like the while episode ended well, or well enough. Do take care!
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You poor thing!
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A lovely surprise to find a blog from you in my mail box ! Oh, how I hate what ever has happened to my favorite few…you being my “bed time mood setter” to read something fun before I go to sleep ☺ (Joan Borysenko advised to start ones day and end your day with something you enjoy…not the news on tv which is never pleasant)
Peace and love to you and your family…
Siggi
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😀 I read ‘bad time mood setter’ at first 😀
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WoW…what an adventure. It is nice that there are still kind people in the world…
it is an advantage in times of distress, that anyone under a certain age, thinks forty and
above is elderly and we need help and there for do. … ☺ I:m just a bit sarcastic that soon I’ll be turning seventy and remember when I THOUGHT the same thing…
now I’m way over the elderly limit).
Am happy you didn’t break your wrist…or anything else.
Peace and love,
Siggi
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Welcome back!
Ouch! Your poor wrist 😦 I’m glad somebody was willing to help you. Our Yorkshire Terrier was a devil for running of and pretending not to hear people calling his name (he was actually deaf in one ear, but he could hear perfectly well in the other one. He just liked being naughty!).
My sister’s ex-husband has a Jack Russell who likes to chase buses. I’m sure you can imagine the heart attacks she’s given anyone who has the misfortune to be walking her…
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Good grief! I got off lightly 🙂
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How wonderful to see you back! It would have been better that your return was not quite so dramatic though! What a scare – my heart was in my mouth, in fact it still is.
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Thank you, Elaine 🙂
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Good grief, Tilly! I was thinking about you only yesterday, wondering when you’d resurface. Glad you’re ok apart from the wrist, which I hope isn’t serious. xx
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No, the worst damage was to my shoulder, thanks. On the mend now.
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Well, lookie here! She is back. Mangled and sore, but back in spades. Whatever that expression means. My mom used it all the time. Welcome back!
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Ouch, I bet this will come back in your nightmares.
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