Well can you blame me? I went to the neat site that Mrs. Doubtfire told us about: The smiley central thing. That's how I can put all those neat stuff in the postings. I LOVE THEM!!!

They offered this IncrediMail thing. I had no problem. I downloaded it and I had such fun sending these e-mails with dolphins flying around in them. And animated aliens. Well, I just went to town.

Then in five minutes, I couldn't get my Outlook Express (which is my main mail server) to do anything. So I uninstalled the IncrediMail thing.

I wish I could have used it. It was really super. And don't put Alan in the same league with me. He has downloaded exactly one thing on this computer and he'll never download another, believe me.

Oh well, at least now everything works. And I can still put my favorite animations into my postings. Like this one for example!! I know it's for Halloween but who cares? It makes me smile!!!


I mean, this stuff WAS MADE FOR ME!!!!

Hope you are feeling good. Merry Christmas!!!

Dear Melody:

I have been enjoying your graphics. I think too that they have been made for you! I love the dancing skeleton.

Not being a computer guru myself, I avoid doing anything too comlicated on this machine. I am always afraid I will goof up something and then have all kinds of problems and have to undo them. Am fascinated by graphics and only wish I had the guts to try them. But am letting well enough alone.

Shirley H.

Shirley, this has to be the easiest thing I have ever done.
You know how you post on these boards. Well, when you want to insert a graphic, you go to:

http://bestsmileys.com/pageindex.htm

Just click on this link. It will bring you to a page of different fun things you can put in your post. So you look at all these hundreds of things and let's say you choose one. You click on that one and the page will immediately bring you to a second page and IT WILL SHOW YOU HOW THE LITTLE ANIMATED THING WILL SHOW UP IN YOUR POST. This will be on the right side of the screen. On the left side is the line of text that you will highlight and copy into your post. So when you are posting something, you will write your post, and then you will paste something that looks like img, blah blah, then when you hit the reply button on the botton of your post and you see your post on the sscreen, the animation you chose (like my skeleton for example), will appear like magic.

So to put it simply. go to the link for the smileys and put it in your favorite places. Then go and poke around and choose one of the names, (like eating, or drinking, or chistmas, or laughing), then click on that and go to the next page and you'll two things on the screen. You will see exactly what your animation will look like (they give you many choices. Pick the choice you prefer, go over to the left of the screen, and copy that link.

Now go to these boards, start writing your post and insert the link. finish your post and hit reply.

PRINT OUT THESE INSTRUCTIONS AND PRACTICE THEM STEP BY STEP.
you can do this.

I'd love to see your first animation.

Go Shirley, Go!!!!

Did you notice that the NeuroTalk software now has a larger variety of smiles and graphocs available to put in posts?

You can see them on the right side of your text box (including a "more" button that you can click to see the full list of smiles/graphics).

Or you can see them in the smile pull down menu at the top of the text box (there is a "show all smiles" option at the bottom of that list that will show you the full list).

Here are some smaples of what is now available here at Neurotalk -

These are very sweet.
But I LOVE MY DOLPHINS AND FISH!!!







Aren't these the coolest????

OK, mah dear Melody! I have begun the learning process - have put the link in my Favorites and printed out your instructions. Now to let this simmer in my brain a couple days and then practise in the dark of night. I am not feeling too much like doing all this right now. But it looks like something that will be fun and there sure are a lot of categories. Looking into each one alone will take a lot of time.

Right now my husband is having a bad patch with just getting over pneumonia - he is in the hospital and is going to go to another hospital for a period of rehab tomorrow afternoon, and then we hope he will be able to return to the health center where he has been for three years now after an initial terrible pneumonia that almost killed him. We are lucky he is still with us.

So you can understand how right now I don't have the energy to learn graphics. But I will get it done.

Thanks for the instructions, Melody. Your enthusiasm about so much is very infectious. Bless you for upliting us every day.

Shirley H.

I remember well what it was like to have a husband in the hospital. My Alan was hospitalized for 11 days for what they assumed was, and in no specific order, ROCKY MOUNTAIN SPOTTED FEVER, MONO, HEPATITIS, AN ALLERGIC REACTION, ETC. ETC.

I had told them "he just took celebrex, give him benadryl, you fools'.
Well, after the guys in the hazmat suits left, and they put him in isolation for 7 days, finaly somone figured it might be an allergic reaction to the celebrex. so eventually, after running 20 gazillion blood tests, and finding nothing, AND AFTER THE BENADRYl, stopped him from looking like a blown up lobster with a rash from his toes to his forehead, finally they moved him out of isolation.
Then the fun began. They put him in a ward with 10 guys. I used to bring cookies every day. We had a ball. There was one guy in the corner with mits on his hands so he wouldn't scratch himself. I used to read to him until someone finally told me he was in a coma and wasn't coming out of it. boy did they play tricks on me in that ward.

My best friend right now is in the hospital with pneumonia. They put her in ICU but she is doing so much better that tomorrow they are putting her a regular room.

So your hubby is in my prayers. So are you.

Take care,
Fondly, Melody

for your concern for my husband. He went to a rehab hospital yesterday afternoon where they are going to give him chest percussion to loosen up whatever gunk remains in his lungs and try to get him back to being weaned off the ventilator for hours per day - he was off for 12 day time hours before this latest bad pneumonia, and on the 12 hours at night. I hope they can get him gradually back to the 12 off hours.

I did get the graphics to work one time, Melody, so will keep on perfecting the technique. It seems complicated to me but I am gradually catching on. I know I will get it right every time, soon, if I keep on practising but I won't have much free time the next few days. Have to get to that new hospital on city streets I haven't driven for some decades. ARRGH. But I will get the job done. We live in Minneapolis, the next hospital is in St. Paul - otherwise known as "the enemy city". Just kidding - there has always been a friendly rivalry between the two Twin Cities.

Thanks again.

Shirley H.

Couldn't resist. Here's you and hubby out for a test drive.

Looks like fun!!!

Melody:
Thanks for the fun drive. I won't be working on mastering graphics for a few days because husband transferred to rehab hospital and I am refreshing my memory on the drive route there.

He is getting respiratory therapy for lungs after a bout with pneumonia. We hope he can get well enough to return to the health center where he has been for the past three years. He had polio as a 17 year old and is now almost 85. He is doing well and I will go there every day to keep him company, bring him newspaper, magazines, etc.

It just is going to take a little time for me to get back at the graphics practise. Have to rest up first. Takes energy.

Keep posting, Melody, I love your accounts of your life with Alan.

Shirley H.