Spam Fret!

You know what makes me feel a little queasy, and causes me to lose faith in my fellow man? The fact that spammers would not send out spam if it didn’t sometimes work. There are ACTUAL PEOPLE clicking those stupid things and handing over money. I know this observation has been made before, but it keeps hitting me afresh.

And speaking of spam, I was looking idly to see if an email I was hoping for had maybe gotten stuck in the spam filter, and I found FOUR non-spam emails in there. FOUR! Two containing time-sensitive questions! And that’s just in the last month: spams get deleted automatically after 30 days, and I had TOTAL FAITH so I NEVER CHECKED! How many people have I appeared to TOTALLY SNUB over the last year and a half? AAAAAAAAAGH!

And I can’t even say, “If I haven’t gotten back to you, it’s my spam filter’s fault,” because sometimes I do take kind of a LONG TIME to answer, and I HAVEN’T been answering emails for the new baby name site but have just been tucking them all aside for later use. Well, how about this: if you have been thinking, “…Hey, why hasn’t she answered my email?” (unless it’s for the baby-name site, because so far I’m not answering those, just saving them), it wouldn’t hurt to re-send your email. And I’ll start checking the spam filter more often.

Also, look how Henry sucks his fingers:

I’m just going to start saving for braces now. No sense waiting.

32 thoughts on “Spam Fret!

  1. Woman with a Hatchet

    Cute!

    Not the spam, Henry.

    Has spam or its larval form – chain letters – EVER been cute? And I do sometimes wonder about the folks that believe that guy in Africa is gonna send them money.

    I wrote about it here after one too many frustrating letters from my mom.

    Reply
  2. Jen

    CUTE picture.

    So I’m wondering if you got to try the berry dessert? Is it just me or is it possibly the yummiest creation evah? I might just have to make myself some Right Now.

    Reply
  3. My Buddy Mimi

    I read somewhere that if 1 in 100,000 people click on the spam then it is profitable to send it. But then sometimes I find myself wondering what exactly it is that will make me gain three inches–a pill, some kind of inflatable device, a strap-on, or what–but then I would be that fraction of 1% that actually clicks on the link and makes them send more. I just can’t let myself, if only to satisfy my curiosity and get a good laugh. Does anyone out there know what the product actually is?

    Reply
  4. launchingsloth

    Do you know, I thought this was going to be about actual SPAM? Like real SPAM sabotaged your diet or something?

    I hate to say it, but all of my spam problems VANISHED when I got my gmail account. VANISHED I TELL YOU.

    Henry! He’s suddenly looking so much older! I think it’s the hair. (I wanted to say the opposite of ‘receding’ hairline, but I could only come up with ‘encroaching’ and that sounds creepy.)

    Reply
  5. Giselle

    I used to suck my fingers that way! Henry rocks. Way to buck the normal/boring thumb sucking.

    And my teeth are fine. I think it is preferable to suck them this way, because it is so uncomfortable and weird you can’t just walk around and do it once you get to be 4.

    Reply
  6. Swistle

    Christina- We think so, too! He doesn’t look like Edward did at this age—but he looks like Edward NOW.

    Jen- I didn’t yet, because although I have the cake mix I didn’t have the berries, and then I started thinking, “Well, maybe I’ll just make the cake! With buttercream frosting!” and a little light in the back of my mind started flashing, “Danger! Danger!” so I put the cake mix on the shelf and backed away.

    My Buddy Mimi- I’ll bet it’s the same as the “bust enhancers”: a pill or herbal supplement that at most causes some slight swelling. You know, I got a spam that said I could “add 8 inches.” ADD 8 inches? Are we talking here about mating with HUMAN women?

    Reply
  7. Jess

    I sucked my thumb for, like, nine years and everyone always said how I was going to need braces, etc. And my teeth are perfectly straight. No braces required. I hope it works out the same way with Henry. Minus the nine years of thumb sucking, perhaps.

    Reply
  8. Tessie

    I feel this way about pop-up ads, which is why I’m SO CAREFUL not to accidentally click on the 99.999% of the surface area that results in victory for the advertiser.

    Reply
  9. Drob

    The only thing worse than spam filtering is no spam filtering. I missed an email about a friend’s death last year! (I showed up at a party six months later with a bunch of mutual friends, and I was the only one there who didn’t know this guy had died. AWKWARD). But I still go months without checking the filter, and there’s so much spam in the filter that I’m sure I miss important messages.

    Reply
  10. Maggie

    I hate spam – and I have the same thought that people ACTUALLY believe it. It boggles my mind.

    I have also noticed that I am missing some emails in my spam folder – and since I download my emails to outlook, I have to go to the online site even to check it! But I started to check once every few days, for fear that I am going to miss something. I’m sure there is a better way…I just don’t know what it is…

    And oh my word, could Henry BE any CUTER? I don’t think so!

    Reply
  11. Alice

    i worry the same thing about spam! especially those nigerian “i want to send you 10 million dollars, honestly, you just seem like a trustworthy person” ones. I MEAN COME ON. there are literally people who do this? really? that’s so depressing.

    Reply
  12. Cindy

    I feel the same way about telemarketers. Everyone hates them, but if it wasn’t profitable, they wouldn’t do it. Who are these stupid people buying stuff from spammers and telemarketers and ruining it for the rest of us?

    Reply
  13. Jen

    i have a thumb sucker and, as cute and CONVENIENT as it is now, i wonder about her teeth too. then again, curly-haired jess did it for nine years so maybe i’ll stop worrying.

    completely unrelated comment to previous poster my buddy mimi: i think i’m in love with your mint green tub. (baby’s cute too.)

    Reply
  14. may

    Oh man, he’s just getting cuter and cuter! Makes you want to have another, doesn’t he? ;)

    I sent you two e-mails recently and have been wondering if you’ve been too busy or if you finally realized that corresponding with me isn’t worth it. Either way, I think it’s grounds to start an e-fight. And since I’m not dieting, I can kick your skinny e-butt.

    Reply
  15. Bird

    I have heard that the two-finger method is the worst of all the finger-sucking varieties. On the other hand, my brother-in-law was an avid thumb sucker and didn’t require braces. Who know?

    Reply
  16. Jenny

    Wow!

    He looks so big all of a sudden!

    I sucked my thumb until I was 13. Really. I don’t know why you need to know this. Also, I had braces.

    Reply
  17. Don Mills Diva

    This post cracked me up. I get hundreds of e-mails in my spam folder every day and the subject lines are insane. How the hell clicks on these, or worse sends money to them?

    Reply
  18. desperate housewife

    All I can say about spam-openers, telemarketer-customers, and infomercial-buyers is this: Ain’t it a shame when one idiot has to go and ruin it for the rest of us? I mean SERIOUSLY. It angers me more than it probably should, considering the other things out there to get angry about. But C’MON. Think of the time wasted filtering emails that would be saved if no one OPENED FREAKING JUNK MAIL.

    Reply
  19. LoriD

    I just heard on a radio show with a Pediatrician that thumb-sucking (and probably finger-sucking) is not a problem (dental-wise) until the child is 4-1/2. So, Henry has time to shape up.

    Reply
  20. Angie

    Spamments, really? I seriously always wondered why the word verification (not just on yours). Now I know. I thought it was to make sure you proofread your comment. Not that I do. Or that you REALLY wanted to comment. And that I do.

    KEEP BELIEVING

    Reply
  21. Swistle

    Angie- Another blogger took her word verification off, and it was SUCH A RELIEF when I was leaving comments, not to have to do the stupid word verification. So I took mine off, too, and nothing happened, and there was much rejoicing. And then one day I got over 100 spamments (mostly for male enhancement products, but also some really awful p0rrny ones and some weird ranty religious ones), distributed over many, many posts, and I had to go through and delete each one individually, and it took hours. So now we’re back to the suckage that is word verification. Sigh.

    Reply
  22. Laura

    Holy cow! That can’t be Henry… He looks 5 or something in that picture. Plus, how good does he look against a white background? Very good. That is a beautiful shot, Swistle, even with the hand in the mouth thing going on.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.