Screen Names

I received an email from the group Bloggers Anonymous, from Snowbea, asking about screen names..

Since not all of my Multiply Associates have known me very long, I thought I'd pipe my answer here..

My screen-name/niche has evolved.

When I first joined YIM, I used a variation of my real name as an ID. (It sounded like a good idea, at the time!)

Interestingly, also, at the time, I also had a land-line telephone.  The main reason that I don't have a land-line telephone now has a lot to do with my evolution, as well.

One day, I received a delivery of long-stemmed red roses, a stuffed animal, a mylar "I love you" balloon, and a box of chocolate truffles.  Ironically, the sender had no idea that I thought truffles were Gold.  The stuffed animal was also a frog, and the sender not only didn't know how personal that was, to me, but didn't choose the type of stuffed animal, either, it turned out.

I really didn't think much of the gift, other than being surprised.. until the next delivery arrived, about a week, or so, later.

It was an internet company printed check, from what turned out to be a car dealership in the midwestern United States.  It was for an amazing amount of money. It was legit, as far as it appeared, and IT HAD MY NAME ON IT!

Quickly, two of my chat friends turned into raging lunatics.  Both were claiming that the check was theirs.  They had somewhat legit stories and explanations.. but that all quickly deteriorated to pure crap!

I know, for sure, who sent the flowers and gifts. I have no idea who sent the check, or who had the check sent. I had made it perfectly clear, all along, with everyone, that "Heidi don' t play that receive my check, cash it, and western union it to you" game.

I was rather angry to find out that this check was not a mistake.. but an intentional trap.

Both of my "friends" in Nigeria, were "American's on Contract with the Nigerian Government."

When I dropped my Yahoo ID, one of them called me.  He didn't speak very much English, at all.  (I had confronted both about the check and asked them to identify the sender, because they were both claiming it to be their own money.  Neither could ID the sender and both were full of crap excuses!)

Sadly, I don't know, nor really care if they both knew each other.  Anything is possible.  I had been suspicious of one of these men because his photos were too perfect.. model type perfect.  I guess they figured I was born "last night" and "in the dark".

I contacted one of my Egyptian online friends and asked several questions, looking for an ID that was in Arabic.  I used that ID for YIM.  My only real dilemma came when I decided to blog.

I spent weeks trying to think of an ID to use that would be unique and yet keep me incognito.  A while back, before this time, I had used a Nick, on IRC that was MsTess.  How that came about what a brain lapse.

My mother had sent me a greeting card about a Tussie-Mussie.  A Tussie-Mussie is a bouquet of flowers with specific meaning tied to the plants/flowers used to make it.  Its an ideal type of screen-name because each of us is made up of "our own" combination.

I hadn't remembered the name correctly, and chose the Nick "Tessie," though.  This evolved to MsTess and sometimes just Tess.  Without knowing it, however, I had named myself the name of a sister of a good friend of mine.  That made Tess even more personal and special, to me.

In one of my thought sessions, about my Y! Blog, I was really bothered that I couldn't figure out a name to use, that was unique to me, yet kept me hidden from the public, too.  Tess came to mind.  I created a last name for Tess, in what I like to refer to as "true J.K. Rowling Fashion."  I chose "London."

So Tess London was born. 

I could have a pen-name.. a pseudonym.. a nom de plume!

You will still see some of my ID's and screen-names reference Tess, in many different ways.

One day, it hit me. In the business world, its good practice to have your business name appear  as "first" on a list as possible.. this is why you see "A" or numbers added to the beginning of names.. the phone book is listed alphabetically. I need a tow truck, the list starts with "A"...

APlaceForTess was born!

After two years of blogging, Tess ran into a need to go into hiding.  Sadly, it was just necessary for my sanity and well-being.  A true blogger can not just quit blogging, though. It really doesn't work like that.  It was my first thought to leave the Y!  I had stood up to looney's in Y!Land before.. The crazies are everywhere, right?  Well..  my biggest problem was that my "crazy" was linked to someone I really liked and respected in 360.

That respect was enough to have me rethink my screen name.  I buried the Y!360 Tess.  Tess will always be a part of me. I still use a variation of Tess on eBay and Imeem.  I think she will never die while I am still breathing.  I'll let you know if she ever receives snail mail. LOL

Now, here I was.. back to square one...  what to use as a blog ID.  Kenny Chesney helped me with that.  *wink* 

In the song "I go back," he sings, "a taste of the salt on the Carolina shore." 

I am a Cali Girl.  I've always been a Cali Girl.  But this Cali Girl was in Carolina... I am a transplant..  the wheels started to tumble..

I have a thing for using "z" to pluralize words.  My family history niche name is FamilyHugz!  With that in mind, I twisted Carolina into CarolinaDreamz.

I quickly set out to niche market my new name.  I changed many of my ID's.  I created new social networking groups.  About this time, Y!Mash came on the scene.  My "name" there is "Heidi, the Blogger formerly known as Tess."  It works for me.

I registered the dot-com domain.  I created my google ID.  I set up email.  I opened an account of Etsy, Facebook, MyBlogLog, My Yearbook (which I hate), Skype, and Del.icio.us!  99% of the CarolinaDreamz you find out there, in 'netland is ME.

I do have an alterior motive.  I am an entrepreneur.  My niche building and link dropping is part of a grander plan that hasn't been established yet.

there is more to come..

How am I feeling? you've asked..

There is not much going on, on the sofa or in my family room, so there isn't a lot to blog about..

Since some of you have asked..

I feel like there is a cut in my gut! I am the same pain, this week, with no medication, that I was in, two weeks ago, with a lot of drugs in me..

so that's good.

I'm hoping to be up and about, again, next week.

All of the staples have been removed and the doctor has cleared me for life again..

Thanks for asking.. *hugz back*

new types of questions.. oh my!

1. WHAT COLOR ARE YOUR KITCHEN PLATES? They are red/green with apples. When I first checked out this house to rent, I knew it spoke to me when the wallpaper border, in the dining room, matched my dishes.

2. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? Harry Potter, what else? But I'm considering Dresden files since I read Douggie's blog, last night.

3. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? No mouse pad.. laptop touch pad.

4. FAVORITE BOARD GAME? Milles Bornes

5. LEAST FAVORITE SMELLS? Chemicals.. allergies..

6. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU WAKE UP IN THE MORNING? what time is it?

7. FAVORITE COLOR ? pink!

8. LEAST FAVORITE COLOR? can't think of a color I don't like.. I'm not fond of yellow gold

9. HOW MANY RINGS UNTIL YOU ANSWER THE PHONE? well, it vibrates so none

10. FUTURE CHILD'S NAME? Mary-Ellen Elizabeth - "Beth" (its a family history thang)

11. CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? Vanilla

12. DO YOU LIKE TO DRIVE FAST? not exceptionally.. but I don't drive slow.

13. DO YOU SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL? no

14. DO YOU LIKE THUNDERSTORMS? yes LOVE them...

15. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CAR? 1968 Chevy Nova

16. WHAT IS YOUR SIGN? Aries

17. DO YOU EAT THE STEMS OF BROCCOLI? Broccoli is the only food that I can't eat well since my WLS, so yes, but no thanks.

18. IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY JOB WHAT WOULD IT BE? a well paid executive secretary

19. IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY COLOR HAIR, WHAT WOULD IT BE? I like mine.. I call the color "nutmeg" (Look into a can/jar of nutmeg.. browns.. reds..)

20. IS THE GLASS HALF FULL OR HALF EMPTY? Half full

21. FAVORITE MOVIE? I'm not sure I know.. Practical Magic minus the hoakie parts??

22. DO YOU TYPE WITH YOUR FINGERS ON THE RIGHT KEYS? yes

23. WHAT'S UNDER YOUR BED? Nothing is under "my bed" but I'm on the sofa bed, so a sofa cushion.

24. DO YOU HAVE YOUR SOULMATE YET? No, I do not "have"

25. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? baseball

26. YOUR SINGLE BIGGEST INTENSE PAIN? my back

27. PERSON MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? ?

28. PERSON YOU SENT THIS TO WHO IS LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Not applicable

29. KETCHUP OR MUSTARD? Both

30. HAMBURGER OR HOT DOG? Hebrew National Dog

31. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SEASON? Spring

32. THE BEST PLACE YOU HAVE EVER BEEN? Julian, California

33. WHAT SCREEN SAVER IS ON YOUR COMPUTER RIGHT NOW? a slide.com slide show of my garden and my cats

34. FAVORITE FAST FOOD? The new Italian Beef sammich at Fazoli's

35. IF YOU CHOSE YOUR OWN NAME WHAT WOULD YOU CHOOSE? I like my name.

States I've physically been to.. in some form or another

I found this in Silly's blog and its been over a year since I posted it on my old blog, so I thought I'd add it here.

I so need to get to the North East!


create your own personalized map of the USA or check out our California travel guide

Thursday, I think!

Happy Birthday Richard!

Its been a rough week, adjusting to home life, while still not well. How do I feel? I feel like there is a cut in the side of my gut! *smile*

My pain medicine runs out by 2am. I've been religious about writing down my dosages, to make sure I don't screw this up. The medicine that was not lasting four hours, in the hospital, was moved to six hour doses, when I came home. UGH

I only took one pill, at each of my last two dosage times and ouch is too small of a word to describe how that worked out. I'm waiting to hear back, from an alternate surgeon to see what they can do for me.. my surgeon is out of town and the other surgeon is in surgery.. figures! I hate the idea of paying a co-pay for one or two doses, too, though. UGH squared.

I've been trying to sort some numbers to file my taxes, as the state extension is shorter than the federal extension, but you have to do the federal paperwork before the state, so that makes a whole lot of sense, eh?

I haven't turned in transcripts for last school year and still need to order some curriculum for this year, too. UGH cubed

Sorry for the update delay.. I'm just exhausted.

I'm amazed that my gall bladder ultrasounds, over the last four years, have hidden the truth, or flat out lied? I know that there will be a change to the way my surgeon, as well as those he knows, looks to diagnose, now.. who would have known?

I also wonder how much the five days of hospital, surgery, nuclear medicine testing, ultrasounds, and two emergency room visits are going to cost? I had to pay $100 co-pay for the first ER visit.. oh yeah.. there is an ambulance ride too, to pay for.. oh boy! how fun! I can't wait?? LOL

No amount of money could help me not have a daily headache, though. That is the first major difference, that I've noticed since I woke up from surgery.

They say that my over all health, over the last four years, can be directly related to this "toxic" and "poisonous" growing gall bladder. I'm amazed at their "for years" words the most. Who would know that something, so direct, could cause such health hells for years??

I'm hopeful to less "I don't feel well for no real reason" in my future. I wonder if I should write a letter to my primary care physician, that quit, last year, feeling he couldn't help me. I'm sure he just thought, after so many years, that I was making up how rotten I felt. Maybe just a nice note, from me, that says "guess what? this is why, have a great life"?? I just may be able to get a new doctor now, too??

I also wonder.. if this is all the reason's for the passing out episodes I've been plagued with, over the last few months?

Things that make you go hmmmm..

Thanks, again, for all the e-cards and well wishes. You all are so wonderful... *smile*

OH, btw, a normal gall bladder is 2-2.5 inches (5.1-6.4cm). Mine was 10 inches (25.4cm). I don't know how ultrasound works. I was told it was "elongated" or "enlarged", but the surgeon was shocked and says he's never seen one so large, so I wonder why something four times larger than normal didn't show grossly over-sized in ultrasound?