Runs for Cookies

Posted: 26 Sep 2012 06:00 PM PDT

Sometimes when I wake up early, and don't have to get out of bed just yet, I'll use my iPhone to check my e-mail. Which is what I was doing this morning when I read an e-mail from a reader who said that someone had stolen photos from my blog and was using them in an advertisement.

She had taken screen shots (brilliant) and sent them to me with links to where the ad was. I was SO UPSET. It was my before and after photo, as an ad on someone's site. Following the links, there were actually three separate parties that were profiting from my photos.

My immediate knee-jerk reaction was "Ohmygod, I need to delete my blog!" Of course, that was overreacting, but I just felt very violated. I showed Jerry, and I started crying. He told me he'd get the kids ready for school, so I could start working on the problem. There was no way I was just going to let it go! And I knew I wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything until I'd done what I could about the problem.

I sent e-mails to all three parties. The source of the problem was actually a Blogger blog. Some guy took my photo, removed the watermarks, and posted it on his site as "amazing transformations" or something. Then he sold it to an ad agency, who made an ad linking to his site. The ad was also on their website, stating "You won't believe how her body looks now!" to get people to click. And that ad was in their network, meaning it could show up on all kinds of blogs and websites.

The original Blogger blog owner removed it within about five hours after I sent the e-mail. The ad agency still has it up, however, and I'm pissed. I'm not going to link to them, because they earn money every time someone views their site, so the last thing I want to do is give them traffic. Same thing with the Blogger blog owner--he had TONS of ads on his site, so every time someone views it, he's earning money.

Anyway, I'm working on filing a formal complaint about the ad agency. In the meantime, I'm feeling upset that this happened. I know that it happens all the time, but it still sucks when it happens to you.

This afternoon, I decided to go to Kohl's to spend a gift card and Kohl's cash. I really needed a new bra, and while I was there, I looked at all the clearanced pajamas. They had a whole bunch of the Vera Wang collection on clearance for less than $10 each--which is super cheap! I normally only get those when my mom buys them for me for my birthday or Christmas ;)

This isn't from the fly attack today, but I have
no pictures of it to share, unfortunately

When I got home, I saw Estelle chasing a fly in the house--nothing unusual. I watched her for a minute, and then noticed something very unusual. There were flies everywhere! Looking at the window, I counted 14 flies. I called Jerry in, and he couldn't believe it either. I went to the back sliding glass door, and counted another 10-15 flies there.

This was SO STRANGE. The windows in the house were all closed, and there weren't any flies around before I left for Kohl's. They all just came out of nowhere. I grabbed the flyswatter from under the sink, and started swatting. The flies were dropping like... well, flies. I started counting, and lost count at 30. Every time I thought I'd gotten them all, there was another buzzing around.

Jerry and I searched the house, wondering where in the hell the flies came from, but we were clueless. Our house isn't dirty or gross, so I have no idea where these things came from. We'd never seen anything like this before! Jerry and I were killing all the flies (well, I was killing, he was following with a paper towel to pick up the dead ones), and he said, "I feel like I'm on an episode of Hoarders!" Hahaha, that's exactly how I felt too.

We killed (most of) the flies, but Jerry went and got some fly paper from the store just in case. That stuff is messy. And we haven't gotten a single fly with it. It's bugging us both (pun totally intended) about where the stupid flies came from in the first place!