The NFC B-Day Chat Thread

[bruceha2000]

Friends had a Lhasa many years ago. Could have been useful as a mop if you attached a stick to it. Otherwise it was just something to trip over on the floor. Maybe they got a lemon.

Hair cut done! Feels like I just lost 5 lbs off my head

Don't stand up fast I you are light headed Debby.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Belgian Sheepdogs, Shetland Sheepdogs and Lhasa Apsos.

Nice! Interesting combination. Belgian. Sheepdogs are the black ones, right? Also called I think Groendal? I love the Belgian Shepherds. Did you breed or show all those breeds or were some just pets?

My oldest DD has a Lhasa Apsos! That dog is quite a character. Very smart too

They seem like great dogs. I love some of those little dogs. I love Bichon Frise, Shih Tzu, Havanese, Maltese and/or Maltipoos, Papillion, etc. And some terriers. My friend had a Bichon and he was a great little dog

 

[Blooie]

Most likely earning myself a patty-slap here, but I’ve got a thistle in my kilt at the moment and if it gets back to the powers-that-be, so be it. I wasn’t about to post this in the thread discussing it because so many over there are over-the-moon with all this stuff and I’m so over it all. You folks know me best, and know that I’m pretty easy-going, so you got chosen to receive the gift of a rant.

These new systems are driving me crazy. First I lost all the ovations I used to have....I didn’t specifically post to get them of course, but it was so nice knowing that something I said helped somebody, and most importantly, the why. That changed over to simple “likes”, which almost seems in some respects to turn “helping” into a popularity contest and kinda cheapened the site down to being similar to Facebook. Next came the trophy system. Don’t even ask me to explain that complex maze. Now instead of using ovations carefully to let someone know that their particular post was extremely helpful or welcomed, that “trophies” number has become all important. A member draws ever nearer to some elusive point threshold and earns trophy points for giving and receiving those “likes”, regardless of the post they are “liking”.

And let’s not forgot the current race to rate coops. I get that there are great coops out there without ratings or reviews on them, and that there’s an inequity in recognition for the hard work members have put into their builds and their articles about them. I also get that having members go through all those pages has been a tremendous help to staff in weeding out antiquated articles that were never finished and finding glitches in the system. It would be a daunting and impossible task for just staff alone to handle in addition to all the other monitoring and such this site requires. But I don’t want someone to find my coop page and rate it because they get closer to a trophy that way, or because my coop is on some list of . And I don’t want my points to increase just because I’ve reached some artitrary number of ratings and reviews on my page. I want someone to find my coop and either think, “Wow...this one is nice and it looks do-able” or “This thing is garbage and the instructions make no sense” because that was honestly his/her gut reaction. And if folks choose to look at it and not rate or review it, well that’s okay too! Conversely I want to see a coop and if I chose to rate or review I’m doing it because it either struck me as being fantastically done and explained or because I see a major pitfall that I can politely address. Not for points, not for trophy count. I know some of you are doing the ratings project, so my apologies for kinda lumping you in there. But I subscribe to the thread, have been following it, and I see a lot of that there, present company excluded, of course!

The latest in this confusing maze is the year count. Should be easy, right? You get a banner for every year after a certain time on BYC. I love that idea.... very helpful, especially for newbies getting conflicting advice or wondering about how familiar someone really is with BYC when they post. But then they also announced that it will start at 5 years and that the member has to have posted at least once in 90 days. Well, I can’t guarantee that the way my schedule looks over the next year. Sometimes I’m doing good now to even look in for long periods, let alone post. So the last 4 years suddenly became nothing more than a rung on the ladder on the way to five......<sigh>Miss a rung, fall down to beginning.

It just really feels like in the rush to value some, others have had to be de-valued. Frankly, I don’t even HAVE chickens anymore, and right now I’m so perilously close to just bowing out completely it isn’t funny. I already have one Facebook account....I dont need two and I don’t need to pay for the privilege either. The only banners that seem to make any sense to me are the Friend, Spirit, Greeter, and Educator because the members choose those for the most part. Those aren’t numbers, those are hard-earned and based on nominations followed by selection. So I dunno guys.......if I wouldn’t miss you all so much I’d have pulled out the minute that 5 year thing came up. Maybe I’m just over-tired and over-sensitive right now, but I am literally crying as I sit here, something I rarely ever do anyway, but to do so over a web site seems ridiculous. I’m starting to feel like, “Thank you for your time and efforts the last few years, but unfortunately your ‘popularity’ has waned and you are no longer meeting our criteria for membership. Here’s your participation trophy - we’ve got plenty of super active folks to take your place.” There, I said it. Been saying a little something every time one of these threads come up but just too easily out-numbered and dismissed, I guess. I know they have to set guidelines, but doggone it, that four years MEANT something to me and I don’t want to hear it meant nothing.

 

[drumstick diva]

Blooie, I am very sorry you feel this way. I grew up in a home where my father was very demanding. I was just never good enough. When I got a dog at age 11(with my money) and read dog magazines, learned to trim etc. etc. - he called me the "Dog nut." My mother started up with " if you don't stop talking about dogs, you won't have any friends."

Oddly enough my friends loved to hear about my dogs, and would come over to get advice from me about their dogs. I started having my articles published in the same dog magazines I first read. I brought one magazine to school to show my teacher. She thought it was wonderful (just a small filler piece).

When my parents came for school open house the teacher told my parents they must be very proud of my article being published. They were embarrassed because they never bothered to read it.

Went to high school - new friends not only were excited for me, they came to local dog show to cheer me on. My dog lost - he was only a $ 40. wonder. They didn't care- it was nice having them around.

Taught myself to trim dogs, my typing teacher was thrilled that I had dogs. My gym teacher turned out to have bought a kennel from someone I had known(slightly) and said she was raising and showing dogs - same breed I had. My geometry teacher showed me pictures of her dog (same breed as mine). What a small world, and none of them called me a dog nut. Only my family was ashamed of me.

I grew up NOT expecting any praise from my parents and it did hurt but, I persisted in being ME. Sure I cried a lot and thought if some dog fanciers were my parents, how different my life would be. Never happened though.

After high school I had my own grooming salon, I wrote for several dog magazines (no compensation) because I wanted to. I didn't get rich or famous but, I loved doing it.
I ended up with a breeding and show kennel and had many champions. But I was distraught when dogs would die. They have short lives compared to people but, my last oldies each made it to 14 years give or take a couple months. Losing them fairly close together I made the decision to not get anymore. I couldn't take their loss and I was developing my own health problems and couldn't afford healthcare for any new dogs and myself. Instead I love on the neighbor's dog.

I LOVE BYC because there are so many great folks to talk to (my siblings think I am nuts, and my son is undecided). It's not a popularity contest to me. When I latch onto something I love, I give it everything I've got. I'm not a quitter. I don't need people lining up to kiss my ring. As long as I enjoy the ride, I will keep on going. No rewards, no cash compensation, no thongs of adoring fans. I do it because I want to. I don't consider it a popularity contest - because I would continue if I was the only person left on BYC. I advise people to do what they love. I give 'likes" especially to newbies because everyone deserves some support and to know their voice is heard. I'm not my parents.

Also did charity walks- I loved to walk. I was never competitive - too slow, but, if I started a walk I would finish no matter what the distance or weather. My father asked me how much I was paid. I told him nothing I am raising money for the charity. Of course I was a NUT to do that too. He didn't understand the concept. I was a total failure in his eyes until his last years- my mom died first (cancer 77) my father lived to 90. I was his caregiver and he was galloping along toward dementia. When I made his meals, I'd ask if he liked it. He called everything I cooked crap BUT, he ate it all.

I used to bake his favorite "brown, square things." once I figured out he meant brownies. He especially liked it if I put ice cream on top. The LIKE was short lived and he'd go back to threatening me with his cane. He also used the F word on me and much worse. I walked 4.5 hours round trip to get his "fixodent at Walmart. I got home as it was getting dark. As soon as I came through the door, he brought out his "Brylcreme"and wanted me to go back out and get it. I told him no more walks until the next day. He had quite a rant going, so I took off for bed.

This is going on and on and I admit it's ridiculous. Sometimes we all need to rant. But if we don't like our lives, it is UP to us to change them. Amen.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Nice! Interesting combination. Belgian. Sheepdogs are the black ones, right? Also called I think Groendal? I love the Belgian Shepherds. Did you breed or show all those breeds or were some just pets?



They seem like great dogs. I love some of those little dogs. I love Bichon Frise, Shih Tzu, Havanese, Maltese and/or Maltipoos, Papillion, etc. And some terriers. My friend had a Bichon and he was a great little dog

Yes, the black ones. I showed them and bred one litter. We sold them when we moved to FL, too hot for them. I showed the male Lhasa a bit but the hair care was crazy. We had some lovely pups. I showed the Shelties and bred them, and did obedience, got titles, ribbons, prizes. Great fun.

 

[Blooie]

I’m just overtired. Nite all.

 

[MROO]

but doggone it, that four years MEANT something to me and I don’t want to hear it meant nothing.

They mean a lot to those of us you've helped, too. No matter what the points and the trophies and the "stuff" say, what YOU say is what counts. And the reasons why you do things the way you do, count. Rant away. Like your posts, even your rants have wisdom. Please stick around.

 

[007Sean]

Most likely earning myself a patty-slap here, but I’ve got a thistle in my kilt at the moment and if it gets back to the powers-that-be, so be it. I wasn’t about to post this in the thread discussing it because so many over there are over-the-moon with all this stuff and I’m so over it all. You folks know me best, and know that I’m pretty easy-going, so you got chosen to receive the gift of a rant.

These new systems are driving me crazy. First I lost all the ovations I used to have....I didn’t specifically post to get them of course, but it was so nice knowing that something I said helped somebody, and most importantly, the why. That changed over to simple “likes”, which almost seems in some respects to turn “helping” into a popularity contest and kinda cheapened the site down to being similar to Facebook. Next came the trophy system. Don’t even ask me to explain that complex maze. Now instead of using ovations carefully to let someone know that their particular post was extremely helpful or welcomed, that “trophies” number has become all important. A member draws ever nearer to some elusive point threshold and earns trophy points for giving and receiving those “likes”, regardless of the post they are “liking”.

And let’s not forgot the current race to rate coops. I get that there are great coops out there without ratings or reviews on them, and that there’s an inequity in recognition for the hard work members have put into their builds and their articles about them. I also get that having members go through all those pages has been a tremendous help to staff in weeding out antiquated articles that were never finished and finding glitches in the system. It would be a daunting and impossible task for just staff alone to handle in addition to all the other monitoring and such this site requires. But I don’t want someone to find my coop page and rate it because they get closer to a trophy that way, or because my coop is on some list of . And I don’t want my points to increase just because I’ve reached some artitrary number of ratings and reviews on my page. I want someone to find my coop and either think, “Wow...this one is nice and it looks do-able” or “This thing is garbage and the instructions make no sense” because that was honestly his/her gut reaction. And if folks choose to look at it and not rate or review it, well that’s okay too! Conversely I want to see a coop and if I chose to rate or review I’m doing it because it either struck me as being fantastically done and explained or because I see a major pitfall that I can politely address. Not for points, not for trophy count. I know some of you are doing the ratings project, so my apologies for kinda lumping you in there. But I subscribe to the thread, have been following it, and I see a lot of that there, present company excluded, of course!

The latest in this confusing maze is the year count. Should be easy, right? You get a banner for every year after a certain time on BYC. I love that idea.... very helpful, especially for newbies getting conflicting advice or wondering about how familiar someone really is with BYC when they post. But then they also announced that it will start at 5 years and that the member has to have posted at least once in 90 days. Well, I can’t guarantee that the way my schedule looks over the next year. Sometimes I’m doing good now to even look in for long periods, let alone post. So the last 4 years suddenly became nothing more than a rung on the ladder on the way to five......<sigh>Miss a rung, fall down to beginning.

It just really feels like in the rush to value some, others have had to be de-valued. Frankly, I don’t even HAVE chickens anymore, and right now I’m so perilously close to just bowing out completely it isn’t funny. I already have one Facebook account....I dont need two and I don’t need to pay for the privilege either. The only banners that seem to make any sense to me are the Friend, Spirit, Greeter, and Educator because the members choose those for the most part. Those aren’t numbers, those are hard-earned and based on nominations followed by selection. So I dunno guys.......if I wouldn’t miss you all so much I’d have pulled out the minute that 5 year thing came up. Maybe I’m just over-tired and over-sensitive right now, but I am literally crying as I sit here, something I rarely ever do anyway, but to do so over a web site seems ridiculous. I’m starting to feel like, “Thank you for your time and efforts the last few years, but unfortunately your ‘popularity’ has waned and you are no longer meeting our criteria for membership. Here’s your participation trophy - we’ve got plenty of super active folks to take your place.” There, I said it. Been saying a little something every time one of these threads come up but just too easily out-numbered and dismissed, I guess. I know they have to set guidelines, but doggone it, that four years MEANT something to me and I don’t want to hear it meant nothing.

I feel the same way, I'm not posting or "liking" for the numbers. I post because I want to help someone that's going through some situation that I've been there, done that, point of view and maybe my answer will help them and not have to wade through all the muck I did, in that situation.

I don't particularly like the new "year" badge either, I understand the concept but why put a 5 year date as being the time your able to be considered for that badge? I'll answer my own question; because lots of members don't stay here long enough for it but at the same time their using it as a way to "judge" whether someone has enough experience to give sound answers to questions asked in these forums.
Just because you have been a member on BYC for a 100 years, doesn't mean you know diddly squat. It has no bareing on whether or not I think you have knowledge of the subject...your answer will determine if you know what your talking about or just spitting out words to see where they splatter. That's one of the reasons I joined because so called Educators were "spitting out" awfully wrong answers, of which it was obvious they had no real world experience. And I couldn't correct them unless I was a member.
( I'm not directing this at you Blooie, at all) when you answer a thread, you know what your talking about, you have a vast knowledge of a lot of subjects, and I value your answers, your thoughts.
I understand how you have worked hard to get to where you are on this forum and I too don't think it's right to just "toss" all that out the window over a predetermined parameter.
I for one don't want to see you leave. I look forward to reading your posts and articles.
You have contributed so much to the enrichment of Backyard Chickens, your leaving would be a sad day for sure. And I think I can speak for most members, it would be a great loss to this community.

 

[N F C]

@Blooie first off, you know I love you gal so don't you dare leave us. Your wisdom and sense of humor would be sorely missed and no one could fill your unique shoes.

I agree 100% with you on several points but will limit myself to the anniversary badges. I too looked forward so much (it was ridiculous really) to getting my 4 year badge. To me it meant I had made a commitment to sticking with this place for a long period of time (long for me anyway) and had finally reached a milestone. Having finally reached the 4 year mark and getting that badge meant something important to me. Then the new system was rolled out and no one had anniversary badges. I mentioned it every time we were asked about system improvements because to me, it was important. Now the anniversary badges are back and I have to wait, again, to get one because 4 years apparently wasn't that important after all. A bit of a bitter pill to swallow...especially when I see people that rarely add anything to the community with twice the number of years as members but they get one just because they are alive and post once every 3 months.

Guess your rant gave me an opportunity to rant too (see how helpful you are?). Always know you can say what you feel here on this thread, you're part of our little family and we are blessed to have you here (however much time you can spare).

 

[sharron]

Blooie, I am very sorry you feel this way. I grew up in a home where my father was very demanding. I was just never good enough. When I got a dog at age 11(with my money) and read dog magazines, learned to trim etc. etc. - he called me the "Dog nut." My mother started up with " if you don't stop talking about dogs, you won't have any friends."

Oddly enough my friends loved to hear about my dogs, and would come over to get advice from me about their dogs. I started having my articles published in the same dog magazines I first read. I brought one magazine to school to show my teacher. She thought it was wonderful (just a small filler piece).

When my parents came for school open house the teacher told my parents they must be very proud of my article being published. They were embarrassed because they never bothered to read it.

Went to high school - new friends not only were excited for me, they came to local dog show to cheer me on. My dog lost - he was only a $ 40. wonder. They didn't care- it was nice having them around.

Taught myself to trim dogs, my typing teacher was thrilled that I had dogs. My gym teacher turned out to have bought a kennel from someone I had known(slightly) and said she was raising and showing dogs - same breed I had. My geometry teacher showed me pictures of her dog (same breed as mine). What a small world, and none of them called me a dog nut. Only my family was ashamed of me.

I grew up NOT expecting any praise from my parents and it did hurt but, I persisted in being ME. Sure I cried a lot and thought if some dog fanciers were my parents, how different my life would be. Never happened though.

After high school I had my own grooming salon, I wrote for several dog magazines (no compensation) because I wanted to. I didn't get rich or famous but, I loved doing it.
I ended up with a breeding and show kennel and had many champions. But I was distraught when dogs would die. They have short lives compared to people but, my last oldies each made it to 14 years give or take a couple months. Losing them fairly close together I made the decision to not get anymore. I couldn't take their loss and I was developing my own health problems and couldn't afford healthcare for any new dogs and myself. Instead I love on the neighbor's dog.

I LOVE BYC because there are so many great folks to talk to (my siblings think I am nuts, and my son is undecided). It's not a popularity contest to me. When I latch onto something I love, I give it everything I've got. I'm not a quitter. I don't need people lining up to kiss my ring. As long as I enjoy the ride, I will keep on going. No rewards, no cash compensation, no thongs of adoring fans. I do it because I want to. I don't consider it a popularity contest - because I would continue if I was the only person left on BYC. I advise people to do what they love. I give 'likes" especially to newbies because everyone deserves some support and to know their voice is heard. I'm not my parents.

Also did charity walks- I loved to walk. I was never competitive - too slow, but, if I started a walk I would finish no matter what the distance or weather. My father asked me how much I was paid. I told him nothing I am raising money for the charity. Of course I was a NUT to do that too. He didn't understand the concept. I was a total failure in his eyes until his last years- my mom died first (cancer 77) my father lived to 90. I was his caregiver and he was galloping along toward dementia. When I made his meals, I'd ask if he liked it. He called everything I cooked crap BUT, he ate it all.

I used to bake his favorite "brown, square things." once I figured out he meant brownies. He especially liked it if I put ice cream on top. The LIKE was short lived and he'd go back to threatening me with his cane. He also used the F word on me and much worse. I walked 4.5 hours round trip to get his "fixodent at Walmart. I got home as it was getting dark. As soon as I came through the door, he brought out his "Brylcreme"and wanted me to go back out and get it. I told him no more walks until the next day. He had quite a rant going, so I took off for bed.

This is going on and on and I admit it's ridiculous. Sometimes we all need to rant. But if we don't like our lives, it is UP to us to change them. Amen.