Welcome to the Wednesday Coffee Hour here at Street Prophets. This is an open thread where we can talk about what’s going on in our worlds. BlueJessamine, your usual Wednesday host, has asked me to take every third Wednesday of the month to post a diary beginning this week. Let's hope I can keep track of my week after this!
Everyone is welcome to discuss all topics of conversation and to post photos.
Like a lot of jobs nowadays, my job requires that I sit in front of a computer most of the day. The programs I use for my work are all web-based programs. So, in between running reports and waiting for data to load, I have a lot of waiting around to do.
Because I'm already on the web, there is a lot of temptation to check out other websites while I'm waiting for data for a report.
Obviously, Daily Kos is one of the places I check in on several times a week. Typically, I will scan the front page and recommended list and then quickly scroll down the diaries in my stream to see if there's anything interesting to read. This is the only political blog I read on a regular basis.
I have never had a Facebook page and I've never felt inclined to join Tumblr, LinkedIn or Twitter either. I know a lot of people find all of these sites helpful to keep in touch with friends and family all over the world. The only social media site I belong to is one called NextDoor. I joined a few months ago when a couple of my neighbors sent me an invitation. It seems like a practical way to keep apprised of things going on in your neighborhood - both good and bad. There was a string of car burglaries in my neighborhood recently and seeing the warnings from people who'd been affected made me more careful about locking my car doors whenever I leave it parked in the driveway. There was also a lost cat on my street who was quickly delivered to his owner thanks to messages on the site. What I like most about the site is that you don't really need to constantly monitor it for messages; whenever someone in your neighborhood posts a message, you get an email.
The biggest online time wasters for me are the blogs related to home decor. So, these are the websites I visit in the evenings and weekends. A couple of years ago, someone introduced me to Pinterest and, although I have not joined, I probably spend more time there than anywhere else. There is just so much to look at - home decor, cute animals, food and drink, gardening, DIY and crafts! I sometimes wish I'd never heard of Pinterest because 10 minutes could easily turn into 2 hours for me on that site. Instead of actually doing all of the home improvement projects I have planned for my house, I spend inordinate amounts of time looking at pictures of other people doing stuff.
I used to check out I Can Has Cheezburger? and a few of its related sites: I Has A Hotdog, Lovely Listings, and Very Demotivational whenever I had a chance. Unfortunately, there just aren't enough hours in the day anymore. But where else can you find fun pictures to add to your diary? Below are a few I came across recently.
I hope everyone is being productive today. What's for dinner tonight?