Countdown to the big......... BIRTHDAY!

This year I hit a milestone number. I have been planning the way I was going to celebrate for about a year now.  The plans have been many, and sometimes they change monthly, weekly and several times a day. It's not odd to have someone reaching a milestone plan their celebration, but you have to understand my history with birthdays to know the angst this particular one brings me.

My birthday is the day after Christmas. Yes -- the day after! After a month of preparation and partying for Christmas, who wants to celebrate the day after. I have grown up with "combined gifts", the obligatory birthday cake after Christmas dinner, or gifts forgotten. No school parties because everyone was on vacation, and for most of them - leftovers for dinner.

Now - not all of my birthdays have been the woe is me kind, as I got older, I started planning them myself. I've done the day after Christmas shopping (because doesn't everyone want to fight crazed crowds trying to get a bargain?!?), hitting the road to make the trek down to FL to see the parentals, and just staying in bed while everyone else cleans up the Christmas mess.  On and off the last couple of years, we've started going to sushi restaurants because that's the only food we haven't eaten during the month.

Yes -- the day after Christmas is quite the day to celebrate. We even had a suspension of the day as 8 years ago our first dog died on that day. My daughter refused to acknowledge the day as anything but the day Gizmo died for a few years. Thank goodness we've gotten past that!

That leads us to this year. The plans (all by me) have run the spectrum from taking a trip with the girls, taking a trip with the family, spending a week learning to be a rock star (yes - you can purchase this gift for me for $10,000), taking a limo to spend the day in the city, going to a spa, doing Karaoke, to planning my own party (complete with Pommery Louise champagne & purple M&Ms). Included in this plan is to wear a tiara the entire day. (We'll address that in another post).

Oh -- that brings me to the cake.  I want one of those fancy schmancy cakes. @CakeBossBuddy keeps ignoring my tweets. And........ it needs to be chocolate. My favorite. The one I've never gotten.

So what are the plans as of today? To spend the month celebrating in some small way. Doing the things that I love so that on the day it's no big deal. Or maybe, celebrate the month after. As for the actual day? Sleeping in and realizing it's just another day! I'll keep you posted!

How to lose 2 customers forever...

As you guys know, customer service is a huge part of what I do online. I pride myself in being able to turn around a volatile situation, always keeping in mind that the customer is always right, even when I know they aren't.

Last week I went to dinner with BFF @TwittyWoman and the guys. We went to a local restaurant (which, after much deliberation I have decided not to mention -- although if you follow me on 4sq...). Lets call it TR for That Restaurant. I don't frequent the restaurant much because years ago we had an incident there. We were out to dinner with another of our BFF couples and in the midst of a really good time, the appetizers were brought to the table and my husband immediately turned his away.  The 3 of us looked at each other, perplexed, as we watched him adamantly insisting that the waitress take away his appetizer. When asked what was wrong, he pointed out that there was a big huge ROACH in his dish. As grossed out as we were, my husband insisted that we didn't have to leave - and that it happens and we were sure that management would apologize. Dinner came and went  -- we even  ordered dessert and then asked for the check.  We dawdled expecting the manager at any time to offer us an after dinner drink, something in appreciation of us not making a big stink about the cockroach.  NADA. Okay, lets see if they comped us drinks, a dish -- anything.  Again, nothing. We were really shocked that they could be so silly as to not even mention the incident. We still didn't make a big deal, we just made the decision to stay away, and away we did for a couple of years.

Fast forward last month when my hubby had to meet a client. The client suggests TR as a meeting place and he says fine. The restaurant was closed for a private party, and the manager gave my husband a $20 gift certificate for his inconvenience.

Fast forward again to last week. BFF texts to say, "How about TR at 7:30."  I type out, "J will never go to TR" but before sending it, text J instead to tell him about proposed venue. I am surprised to see him answer, "TR is fine." "Perfect" I text the BFF. We start out at the bar and we have a drink and we only wait about 15 minutes past our reservation before we are taken to the table.  We're ready for another round of drinks so we order 3 glasses of wine. 10, 15, 20 minutes and the waitress finally comes over to tell us that our wine will be there "shortly" but they have run out of clean glasses.  We laugh at the absurdity of it. Another 10 minutes before we get our wine and our dinner. Thank goodness the dinner was good because the service was slow and slower. Each time our waitress came she seemed to give us less and less attention.

The bill comes and we put in the $20 gift certificate that we had along with $130 that was our part of the check. We joked about the waitress being able to figure everything out. When she comes back with the receipt to sign she tells us that only $9.00 could be used and only for one of the sushi dishes we ordered because it was only for sushi and the least expensive one at that. I was confused. Three of us had sushi, couldn't we use $18 of it if that were the case?  We look at the certificate again and surely it says $20 Gift Certificate with some really small writing on the other side that could only be read with a magnifying glass. This coupled with the really bad service is making me kind of mad.

The guys leave, but TW and I decide to stay and try to make things right. I want some satisfaction. We talk to the hostess who tells us there really is nothing she can do except get the manager on duty. Out walks this guy, and you know when you can tell someone is already on the defensive? I proceed to explain the gift certificate and how hubby got it and how I am only getting $9 out of a $20 gc. He says, "Well at least you are getting something."  And yes, I am -- but that's not what the certificate says! He goes on to say, it's not really a certificate, but a promotion to get people to try to the sushi. Well, okay, but 3 of us had sushi. so why not use the entire certificate? He can't really give us a reason except to say basically, "It is what it is." I say to him, "I'm in customer service and it's really not about the money, it's about the principal of it all." Look buddy, just say you're sorry, there's nothing more you can do -- but he never does apologize. What he says is, "It's not our fault we were closed, and goes on to tell me something that I know for a fact wasn't the truth, that my husband had to have gotten it on March.  NO -- he got it just a few months ago... my point to him is that why give it out at all? My husband didn't ask for it! I tell him that for a measly $10 he could have made a good faith gesture and we would have come back.  Instead, he is losing two customers FOREVER.

TW now tells him that her husband always has his Christmas party there and surely, he doesn't want to lost that!  Apparently he doesn't care about that either.  I tell him that I write a blog, Magnanimous Musings of Lu -- he should look it up because I will be blogging about this. He is unimpressed. And I am unimpressed with him.

SO... after even more deliberation, I think it's only right that I tell you that this is a restaurant in Smithtown... on West Main Street.... and they serve sushi, but they aren't a sushi restaurant but a seafood restaurant... and their name? Well it's the chemical equation for WATER.

BTW -- TW went back there to talk to the manager since her husband really does have his Christmas party there. She spoke with another manager, explained everything and said, "You know, really all my friends want is an apology."  Never once was she asked for our name, her name or any phone numbers and she never wrote anything down.  Needless to say they are looking for someplace else to party!

To Jump or Not to Jump....

This weekend is a journey to small town USA - otherwise known as Ludlow VT. A jaunt that I didn't want to take because I was too busy and too jaded to be away from it all.  My bff owns a condo here and she invited us.  After much deliberation I decided to break down and go with hubby and youngest.

This afternoon we went to a rope swing. How much more quaint can you get than that? A rope that leads to a lake.  Very Norman Rockwell. I thought I was going to watch the kids have fun.  Instead, I got a lesson on life -- on facing your fears -- or being comfortable enough in your skin not to.

There are thrill seekers and there are those who play it safe and there are those who fall somewhere in the middle.  I know that I am not a thrill seeker, and I am quite comfortable in that knowledge. Never was -- never will be.  I am a thrill seeker in other ways, but not in the physical thrill seeking kind of way.

I don't do rides that dip (I once freaked out on Epcot's Norway exhibit).  I've never been on Space Mountain and the thought of bungee jumping or sky diving make me ill. I don't climb mountains or ski, snow or water. I can get up and talk in front of 1,000 people, but that physical thrill seeking just isn't my cup of tea. But I digress...

So off we went with 5 teenagers:  3 thrill seekers, 1 middle of the road, and 1 play it safer. C, the bravest of the thrill seekers and only boy present (my son -- a play it safer, chose to go hiking rather than have to say he didn't want to swing) quickly took the rope and swung right in. He continued to do so until his twin sister A took the rope, hesitated a bit, and away she went.  Thrill seeker #3 (K), who had never swung before, took the rope..... hesitated a bit, and decided she wasn't ready. She handed off to her sister N who is middle of the road (although I didn't know it at the time, I figured she was just like the other 3).  N hesitated, swung, but didn't let go and swung back, barely missing a tree, and gave the rope back to her sister K. K took the rope, swung and away she went. Exhilerated, she was hooked. This gave N the courage to go, swing and as she let go of the rope, held her nose and went into the water.

In the meantime, C, getting braver with each swing, was twisting and diving off of the rope into the water.  K also started twisting with gusto, and A followed suit, although a bit more reserved.  N just did her swings bravely in, but had no desire to twist and turn.

(See the kids jumping here: http://www.facebook.com/louisedicarlo)

Each one of them clearly demonstrating their outlooks on life by the way they approached the water. I asked the oldest M why she wouldn't go in. "Oh no Aunt Louise, I'm not sure I could hold onto the rope long enough, and I'm afraid I'd let go too soon and fall into the rocks." I totally identified with her. Even as a child I would have never swung the rope.

The difference between now and then is that then I would have felt defeated, feeling inferior for not having the courage to face my fears and have fun like the others. Today, in fact, right now as I am typing, the adults have gone back with the kids each to have a try at it. When one adult asked if I was going to go, I thought about the fun I had watching, knew there was no way I'd do it, and thought about how inspired I was to write about it.  "Nah" I said, "I think I'll stay behind and write."  I feel good about my decision. 

As a side note, M and my son went with them, both saying that they didn't want to swing.  When M came out and had on her bathing suit I asked her if she was going to try.  "We'll see Aunt Louise."  I'll keep you posted!

Just in.... Son (who insists that I report that he has swung before) and M did not go in!!!

Your mother would be SO proud

Today I was doing some customer service work for one of my clients. I had written a blog post for my business site awhile ago about online etiquette. I have been doing customer service online for close to 15 years (don't try to do the math - you know how old I am!) My experience is that people are extremely brave behind the face of anonymity. I have been in charge of teams of people and had otherwise intelligent people say the nastiest things to me - as their supervisor - and then expect no ramifications. They always stammer when confronted on their rudeness and when pointed out that they would never speak to a superior, or anyone, like that in person.

That brings me to today's scenario.  My client happens to send a decent amount of marketing emails. I am not expected to answer people who send nasty rude emails because they think our emails are stupid or they wish to be removed from our email list. I usually just remove them and do not even answer since they don't want to hear from us anyway. Today was different. I am tired of people not using the same manners they would use face to face OR even worse yet, maybe they don't have any to speak of. It is time for me to do a little Miss Manners!

I am plowing through the weekend worth of emails when I come upon the following, sent yesterday:
"Go and f*** your mother     you a**h**e     STOP sending me s**t

I want to reply (which is my favorite reply to rants like this) Your mother must be so proud... I think it, but I don't dare type it. I remove this member from our list and, still bothered, reply with the following:
"Thank you so much for your kind words about my mother. You have been removed from our mailing list."
Louise

Feeling good about my response, I continue along the emails when I find another email sent hours later from the first email yesterday saying...
"just f*** your mom a**h**e"

Ahhh I see they were having a good day. Knowing that I replied to the first email and don't want this email to go unanswered, I continue the "kill em with kindness" crusade. I reply again saying,
"Again -- thank you for your kind words."
Louise

As I'm ready to sign off, I see that I have a new email from my favorite buddy...
"look brother or sister i am trully sorry about those words i mean it     really sorry"

I giggle and know that I have made a dent in teaching this person a lesson. I decide to continue the lesson.
"Apology accepted.  Have a great weekend."  Before I even hit send I receive another email saying,
"no problem ma'm   sir"

I feel good that we've seen the light. This person will think twice before sending an email like that to an "anonymous" person.

I decide this is worthy of a blog post and I start typing.  Wanting to use the exact exchange I sign back into the email to start copy & pasting and see one more email from my friend...
"ohhh thank you so much and you have a great weekend as well
i am happy you accepted my apology"

Ahhhh - their mother would be SO proud!

Mama gets an iPhone

I am a Capricorn. Capricorns by nature tend to be pretty serious folk. I don't appear that way to the outside world - I am outgoing and vivacious. But inside my head - I am pretty serious. I over think way too many things. The flip side though is that I am sometimes incredibly impetuous. That was very much the case with my latest purchase (doesn't it always involve a purchase?)

On the morning of June 24th, I decided to get up early so I could quickly get in and out of the Apple Store to pick up my brand new iPhone4 which I dutifully pre-ordered on the morning of June 15th (yes - I remember the day because I put it on my calendar so I wouldn't forget). I live seconds away from the Apple Store so I set my alarm and set out to get to the store a few minutes before it opened. I figured between setting it up and a few people in front of me, it would take no more than an hour.

Imagine my surprise when I actually saw a few cars ahead of me turning into the mall parking lot. I got worried when I saw a LOT of cars in the parking lot. I was horrified when I got into the court to find two HUGE lines.. one for unreserved, and one for pre-orders. I made my way to the end of the pre-order line and  tried to assess the waiting time. From my calculations I figured 2 hours. Right!

I'm back so what did I learn

I ended my digital cleanse on Friday and I thought I would be up and online at 9:01. The truth is I was exhausted from the night before and didn't rush back.


I don't know what I was expecting. I got a good amount of welcomes and ribbings (and a nasty comment said in jest that I chose to ignore), but it was very non-eventful. It made me think about an article from one of my favorite bloggers/writers Gretchen Rubin (author of the new best seller "The Happiness Project"). Many months ago she wrote an article on Unconscious Overclaiming. "unconscious overclaiming; i.e., we unconsciously overestimate our contributions or skills relative to other people’s." I think this is especially true with our time online.  So I guess I expected my return to be memorable.


I've been asked a lot about what I thought my digital cleanse accomplished.  I didn't learn anything new... everything I experienced I had already known.. maybe I had just forgotten about it since I have been enamored with social media since the mid 90s.  That's a long time and, social media has been my "mistress" since day 1. I thought I would accomplish a lot more, and I thought I would do a lot more without the distraction of social media.  I did however, become re-introduced to a lot of things that led me to the computer in the first place. This is not unique to me - I'm sure everyone can relate...


1) A wife and mother is not supposed to expect remote control time. The family was not pleased to have someone else requesting tv time.
2) I do not have enough seating area in our den and my "presence" during group time made things even more tight.  My kids did survive sitting on the floor just like I did when I was little.
3) I think I have adult ADHD. I cannot complete a project from start to finish without numerous distractions. Without social media, I just found other things to use as an excuse.
4) I do not need to let people know what I am doing every minute of the day.  It is fun doing things and enjoying them by yourself.
5) As much as I enjoy my virtual friends, my family and IRL friends are pretty awesome and I need to make the same time for them as I do for everything else.

With hours to go - I WANT TO CHEAT! Day 7

Let me explain - if I had the evening I had tonight earlier in the week, digital cleanse or no digital cleanse, I would be tweeting/updating/linking/texting and anything else you can think of.

It started with a friend of mine saying how nice it would be to drive into the city together, she got her daughter tickets to see Nick Jonas (insert daughter's scream) and the Administration. I don't have a teenage daughter, but I am not dead so I know who that is. I immediately asked if she would be up for a play - Bye Bye Birdie and as she was saying sure I was researching tickets  - and much to my delight, found 2 tickets center row orchestra (5th row to be exact) to go see John Stamos (insert MY scream). I have been wanting to see this play since it opened.

Now  - I follow @JohnStamos and he always says "If you come see the play, let me know." I wanted to tweet and let everyone know I was going, but refrained. We went to dinner first, put her daughter & a very responsible young lady in a cab and went into the theater. I was dying to post a picture from our seats we were so close. I took a picture but refrained from doing anything with it since I only had to wait til morning.

Intermission came and I oh so wanted to let my friends know - but my hands were tied. Against the rules and for the first time this week I thought that this digital cleanse was absurd.  How stupid to just not post something so exciting.  But I didn't. The play was fantastic and I told my friend that I had every intention of meeting John. I told absolutely ANYONE who would listen that I was on Twitter and that I was supposed to let him know I was there.  Hey - whatever works. I got a security guard to show me where to go wait, I had another guard take my business card (which has every single way to get me on social media) to give to him. I got pushed to the back, but when I saw him come out of the door and tried to make my way to the beginning of the line, I was too late as he was already a few people down the line. This required something to get his attention. I started yelling "John - Twitter, I follow you on Twitter." He immediately stopped and came over to talk to me.  I handed him a card and said, "You must follow me so I can tweet you a picture."  "Are you funny?" he asked.  "Yes I am and I am a top tweeter from Long Island."  Oh this dratted cleanse I thought to myself. "Well, that is quite an accomplishment" he laughed. He signed my Playbill and said he would follow me (insert MAJOR internal scream).

I turn around and see if the friend got my picture with him and she says she got his picture, but not with me.  Damn - I run now to the end of the line and wait patiently for him to make his way back to me.  When he gets to me he says, "Hey Twitter" and I ask him if we can do a picture. As you can see - he did, and then as he disappeared said, "Talk to you on Twitter."  You can bet that my FIRST tweet will be to him as I end this cleanse... and for @JohnStamos, if this digital cleanse wasn't ending tomorrow at 9AM I would be on there tonight tweeting about this totally awesome night!!!

Day 6 - No spring in my step

I didn't wake up singing today.......... in fact, I had a hard time getting up.  Why? Because I didn't get to sleep that early last night. I didn't tweet, post, update, read or waste time online. I have no one to blame but myself. I worked a little too late. And I'm getting sick. I have a headache and my stomach hurts and my throat is scratchy. None of which has to do with social media.

The day kind of dragged, it was a 13 hour work day and I missed not having a distraction. I lived, but I missed it. I did get a call from the BFF asking how I was holding up and updating me on some of our friends. She is being protective and making sure nobody is talking smack (is it cool to say that anymore? If not, don't get me started - that's for a future post).

It's getting old.......... texts coming in that I can't answer, updates talked about that I don't know about - we live in a digital world and it's not fun being the dinosaur.

Day 5... no peeking allowed

Wake up, get out of bed, put a comb across my head............  LOVE that Beatles song and today I woke up singing it. NOT because of my cleanse - but because I am going to sleep early. This is surely something I can continue after January 8th. Sleep.... it's a beautiful thing.

As for the cleanse, it is starting to get a little old.  Not because I miss the social interaction (which, I most certainly do) but it is starting to interfere with business.  The inconvenience of having to look up a phone number when a text message comes in, when I can hit reply in 2 seconds is annoying. Not being able to answer an email that has come in from my phone because I shut down the work email just 2 minutes before a colleague emailed me looking for help is a little disconcerting. That was the closest I've come to cheating since that first day... a colleague emailed - "L if you get this email, write back, I have a question."  Now - I could have called, but I didn't have the phone number.  Email addresses have replaced phone numbers for a lot of people. I will answer it first thing this morning.

On the friend end.......... I got a call today from one of my best Twitter buds calling to see how I was doing. Of course my wonderful iPhone was being all temperamental and the call didn't come through so I got a VM, but it was good to know I've been missed but the last thing she said had me giggling, "We know you're peeking............"  LOL I'm not peeking :-(  I'm DYING to peek... but it is against the rules and I promised myself after the first day that I would and could do this and follow the rules. We know you're peeking....  for the first time this week - I am looking forward to Friday...... and fighting the urge to peek!

Day 4 - I didn't even blog

So I'm not sure I'm supposed to blogging because "publishing post" is most certainly posting and posting (as well as reading) is clearly against the rules. I decided to journal, and I will click send for the last 4 days on Friday. I'm writing this on Day 5 morning though, because I didn't even think about going to the computer last night. Now granted, it was my first day back to work and I worked late, and after being off for almost 2 weeks - I was tired. I looked forward to going to sleep early and waking up early and feeling awake (which I did and do).

Day 4 was easy again, but I miss my friends and I wonder if they miss me. Social media friendships aside though - I did notice how much social media is integrated into the business world. Yesterday throughout my "work" day, I received 3 text messages (all of which I answered with phone calls), and a Facebook page request - ALL of them business related. Seems this should be factored in next year (yes - I'm already thinking of doing this again).

I find it odd about all the people IRL who are mocking me. Is it because they don't think I'm strong enough? Is it because it makes them nervous that I might ask them to join me? Is it because they are just as addicted and don't want to think about it? Although - what I've noticed is that I'm really not addicted..........  no more addicted than I was to the phone, tv, radio - or any other distraction I've had through the years...I have no physical discomfort - bodily or emotionally without social media.

I do miss it though.........

Day 3........ the cleanse continues

I had truly expected to be in a tizzy today. 3 days into any kind of habit (or breaking of) tends to be the first real hurdle. I must say that today came and went without any cheating of the social media kind. If there was any day that made me wish I could tweet/post/update, it was today. I had a lot to talk about today. First off, I won my fantasy football league.  A Twitter league no less.  And I won, the whole enchilada, and I could not go to Twitter and tweet about it. I have no idea if anyone else mentioned it, or if anyone will be congratulating me tomorrow. I hope they don't think I'm an ungracious loser.. but they can always email me.

My kids also went to their first NFL game today. Last game of the season - Jets vs Bengals and they had field level seats. A few people I talked to on the phone told me they knew because they saw my kid's facebook updates. Ahhh yes, the reason I joined social media to begin with - the keep tabs on my kids. I felt a little pang of jealousy, but no desire to sneak a peak.

My bff called to see how the cleanse was doing - she knew I was going to be alone all night. I assured her that it was going fine. And it is.  She's been keeping tabs on the scene - lurking to see if there is anything she thinks I need to know. She informed me that my cousin was 2 days without heat (as noted on her FB page), but other than that - all seems to be relatively quiet.  I called said cousin and left a message for her. Another friend of mine text me to see if I went to the game or decided to stay warm. I called her back and told her I was snug as a bug in a rug.......  She didn't seem to mind that I replied with a call instead of a text. My son text me 4 pictures from the game and I called him back. Yes - I have been following the rules.

I expected to have just a productive day today - day 3 without social media. Yes - all the things it has been distracting me from. I have certainly made some progress in my projects but certainly not nearly as much as I thought.  And why? Because other things got me distracted. This digital cleanse has reminded me that my lack of organization at home comes from my lack of organization. And my easily distractive nature.

Tomorrow I go back to work after being home for almost 2 full weeks. My usual routine is wake up, grab a cup of coffee, tweet, update, email, tweet some more, shower, tweet head to work - you get the idea. I'm interested to see how the morning routine goes.........

Digital Cleanse - Day 2

Waking up to day 2 was quite a change from my usual routine. Because I went to sleep early last night (I was actually IN bed before 11) I woke up feeling refreshed instead of groggy. I didn't jump to get my phone (since texting and reading email on anything other than your PC or laptop is against the rules) and instead got up, let the dogs out and waited for my coffee to finish. I checked my email, grabbed a cup of coffee, watched the snow fall and then.... went back to bed where I held a conversation with the hubby - something we haven't done on a Saturday morning in years (maybe decades). Although he was still half asleep, I talked anyway. This being in the moment - without distractions, is a nice feeling. I realize it is something I haven't been in a very long time.

Today I did the laundry, spent a lot of time with hubby, wanted to go to the movies but didn't because of the snow, and did some more organizing.  I got my nails done, ran to the mall real quick and never thought about my phone. I went to dinner at the bff's and did not bring my cell. I did not wonder what anyone was doing. I was attentive to what everyone said and they had my full attention. Not that this doesn't normally happen, but at the slightest break, there is always the urge to go look at the cell for a text or a tweet or some kind of  "update." I was so into the moment, that I never even looked at my watch. When I got in the car I had to ask hubby what time it was because I had no clue.  So far it has been easy - but I know the first day or two is. I'm sure the digital DTs will set in at any time now.

The digital cleanse

It is no secret to those who know me that I love to follow celebrities.  I have a whole list on Twitter of celebrities. I follow them for entertainment purposes only. I don't tend to "follow" what they say to do until this past New Year's Eve when I saw a post from John Mayer asking people to take the digital cleanse with him. I was intrigued so I went to his blog and read the rules. The guidelines were as follows:

Guidelines:

*email only from laptop or desktop computers

*cell phones can only be used to make calls, and no text messages or e-mails are allowed - if you receive a text, you must reply in voice over the phone. E-mails must be returned from a laptop or desktop computer.

*no use of Twitter or any other social networking site - this includes reading as well as posting.

*no visiting of any entertainment or gossip sites.

It started today at 9AM and will commence on January 8th at 9AM. I have decided to blog during my detox...

Day 1

I got up at 8:50 which meant I only had 10 minutes to post my final tweet for the week. I got online, wished everyone a Happy New Year and told them about my digital cleanse.... I didn't stick around for the responses because it was already 9AM. I pretty much stay on my social media sites all day - so this was a new experience for me. I was tired and had some cleaning up from last night's festivities so I was pretty busy. It was easy. I realized that I was curious if there were any comments about my impending disappearance. I have to admit, I cheated and just checked my @replies on Twitter (clearly against the rules). For me, this was a good thing because instead of support, I saw a lot of nay saying. I wonder... would people say this stuff if I was doing a colon cleanse? A spiritual cleanse? I am extremely determined now to do this.