The link verdict plus some miscellany
After yesterday's question post, I thought an update on the consensus would be appropriate.
Links
Thus far, a whopping 86% of you have said that you prefer links to open up in a new window or a new tab. So, with apologies to the other 14% of you, I'm going to keep doing links the same way I always have....majority rules on this one! 😉
Some of you were asking if I could make links open in a new tab instead of a new window, but I don't think I can do that on my end. If you want new window links to open up in a new tab, you'll have to mess with the settings on your browser. Mr. FG has my system set up to function like that, and it's super handy-dandy. I much prefer to have multiple tabs than multiple windows.
Pictures of me
The consensus seemed to be that it would be fun to have more pictures of me on this here blog of mine, but not necessarily wardrobe pictures. A lot of you wanted more real-life pictures instead, so I'll try to deliver.
Also, a number of you wisely pointed out that a photo of me every day for a month might get kind of tiring for me and you suggested I spread the pictures out a bit. I can see the wisdom in that for several reasons.
So, I think I'll try to get a some pictures of me up here once a week or so, and I'll rope Joshua and Lisey into helping me with the photography part of things.
You know what's weird? I am always very interested to see pictures of other bloggers, and I rarely, if ever, think that they're being self-centered or self-promoting. But I always worry that I'll come across that way if I post pictures of myself.
So, I guess I need to think more like a reader and less like a blogger, and just post pictures of myself without thinking too hard about it.
Mr. FG and my dad are the bomb
Why? Well, the check engine light has been coming on intermittently in my van, and the problem was one of the air/fuel sensors (again!). For some reason, my van has a California emissions system (which makes no sense since I live on the east coast), and it has air/fuel sensors instead of oxygen sensors.
I don't know if the oxygen sensors last longer, but I have to say that I'm not impressed with these air/fuel sensors. This is the third one we've replaced since we bought the van in 2002.
Boo.
Because of some time constraints, we considered taking the van to a mechanic, but our previous one had developed an unfortunate habit of saying inappropriate things to me (he was a great mechanic and had great prices, but there are some things you cannot tolerate in the name of saving money), and the new one we called wanted $159 just to diagnose the problem. For something complicated, that made sense, but I felt like that was sort of steep for a problem that is so easily diagnosable.
So, we called around, found the part for $180, and yesterday, Mr. FG and my dad installed it in my dad's garage.
It only took them about an hour and now for a price only slightly over the diagnostic fee, my van is all fixed. Yay for the men in my life! There are a lot of money-saving projects I can get enthused about doing, but I am not faintly interested in working on my car's innards, and I am very happy to be utterly dependent on them for stuff like this.
Today's 365 post: Decisions, decisions
Joshua's 365 post: It's the leaning tower of Pyrex!
Wow...interesting. I always thought the web-wide consensus was opening in the same window, but maybe I'm behind the times. 🙂 I know people are used to having everything in tabs now.
From what I read it's audience-dependent. If a blog or site has a strongly nerdy/techie kind of audience, then the same window goes over better. I guessed that my readership was not that type, and it appears I was right.
I'm a little behind the times in the whole, voting on the tab/new window vs. current window thing, but I wanted to weigh in! I read most of my blogs through google reader, so when I click on something it automatically opens for me in a new tab (yes, a setting on my browser!) But when I'm on a website and want to click on a new link, I'm in the habit of, no matter what the settings are, right clicking and clicking open in a new tab. That's just my own personal habit though! Even if you did set it up to open in a new window, I'd probably still do that!
Yay for the diy with your van. We have a 1988 mercedes that we are happily nursing along by ourselves. Since it is so old we don't have to worry about rebooting computer systems. My Honda is WAY beyond us.
Whoa...that's impressive. 1988, huh?
Lol me too. I love gardening, cooking & baking, painting, repairing things (walls, furniture, etc), pretty much everything EXCEPT for car repair. I don't know why, but I've just never been interested!
Good thing we have men in our lives that do like it! 🙂
Yes, we have to love our mechanical men!!! That picture of you is beautiful!!! That wonderful smile!!!!!!
That's a great photo--you PLUS a new baby!
I hear you regarding fixing things ourselves! I have a front load washer, and got the extended warranty when I bought it. About 2 years in, the latch for the door broke, and I had to have it repaired. Under warranty, and the guy who came out was very nice. 2 years later, the darn thing breaks again, one month after the warranty expires. This time, I started checking on the internet and I found many, many pages devoted to problems with front loaders in general, and this brand in particular. I also found where to buy a replacement, and detailed instructions on changing it out. My brother-in-law did this for me (I have arthritis in my fingers) and it took him 15 minutes. Cost was $85.
When something is out of warranty, find out for yourself how to fix it and where to buy replacement parts. It will save you loads of money!
About the tabs: If you right click and then click open in new tab, it will fix it. Or on my mac (I'm not sure about PCs) I just hold the command button down when I click on it.
I KNOW you are so humble, so you probably don't want to hear this, but...
gorgeous picture of you and the new baby!! 🙂
Aww, thank you! 🙂
On a PC, hold down the control (ctrl) key while clicking on the link and it will open in a new tab. I always have a million tabs open at once - I like that better than having a millions windows open!
I'm sure you probably looked into this before changing your sensor, but what most people don't know is to check your gas cap first. One, you need to make sure your gas cap clicks a few times to make sure you aren't emitting anything to set off the check engine light. And two, your gas cap could be failing. Just a couple thoughts considering you have replaced it three times now ..... I am from CA and grew up in a shop and so many people would bring their cars in for the same problem and either one of these things is all it took to fix it. Primarily making sure your gas cap clicks a few times after re-fueling.
Yeah, we did check that. I wish that was the problem because it's a whole lot cheaper!! The check engine light is off now, though, so the gas cap wasn't the issue.
There are three A/F sensors...one has never gone bad, one has gone bad once, and one has gone bad twice. Boo to the A/F sensors.
I'm so glad to hear that your DIY adventure worked out well, especially because it didn't put any money into the crass mechanic's hands. Yay for mechanically apt husbands and fathers!
I think the men in my life might have been especially motivated to fix this themselves because of the crass mechanic...neither my dad or my husband are too happy with him.
The mechanic basically said that there was, uh, more than one way to pay for car repairs at his shop, and I was very clear on what he was talking about. Sigh. What possesses people to say stuff like that??
Wow I had a phyiscal reaction when I read that. Totally disgusting. I'm genuinely sorry that you had to hear that and that there are still people out there who think it's ok to say things like that. Guess he doesn't have a mother or sister to think about.
Oh, gross. I'm so sorry that someone said that to you! Does the guy own his own shop? Because that is the thing that I would want to know about an employee of mine (if I had any). It also might be worth filing a complaint with your local Better Business Bureau. The man needs to realize that there are consequences for that kind of behavior, like lost income or a negative mark on his BBB or Yelp page.
I just need to say that your new niece is delicious!!! I can almost smell her newborn babyness in the photo {swoon}