Friday, February 17, 2012

Boxes and Balls

I read someplace..who knows where anymore..that men’s minds were like boxes.  They stay inside their boxes and finish up everything in the box before moving on to the next box. Women’s minds are like balls of wire..one thought runs into another and another and another..you get the picture.

I now understand that I have to program the box that Far Guy is in.  If I want to do multiple things in town I say “I am going to town and I am going  to the post office, the dime store and the grocery store and I might even stop at the antique shop or for a cherry coke downtown. If you want to go along you are welcome to come.”  As long as he puts my complicated wire in his box..we get along just fine.  The same thing goes for making a list.  We make a list of things we need in town..his items are all neatly written down in the proper box..some of mine are there but some are still in my mind dangling on one of those wires.  Sometimes on the way to town I add my things to his list.

I hear many women say that their husbands won’t stop to let them take photographs.  Well then drive yourself and stop where you want. OR as you are leaving you could say “If I see something I want to photograph I would like to stop.”  He will say “Yes” and put it in his box…easy peasy.

On the other hand, if men have only one thing on their mind… or in their box..you should not go along to town with them with all your complicated wires.  Sometimes men should be left alone to conquer what is in their box.  If they only need one thing to finish up a project and they are bouncing off of the four walls in their box because they want to get to the next box..then you should roll up your wire and not get involved.
Frosty tree
Blogger now has a very complicated word verification system.  I do not use the word verification.  Blogger has a decent spam catcher and very few spam comments get through.  If you use word verification  on your blog you may be getting less comments from now on.  It is a very frustrating system..the words are all wavy and have crazy numbers..often times it takes two or three tries to get it right…it is in my opinion a waste of time.  If you are afraid of spam then enable comment approval.  I have comment approval enabled on posts over three days old. To change your settings go to your Dashboard then Settings then Comments:)
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37 comments:

rkbsnana said...

Well said on both matters.

Rae said...

We must both be of the same mind set today, because the comment thing is my post subject too. Looks like Blogger really riled a lot of nerves with the new change. I'm guessing they are a bunch of guys with box brains.

Country Gal said...

Well said ! Did you also know that men only use the left side of their brain where women use both ! And Google Friend Connect will be no longer by the end of March a site called Linky will be taking over ! here is the link to the Linky and it will explaine everything .http://viennacountrycove.blogspot.com/2012/02/have-you-heard-that-google-friend.html This will tell you all! Love your header ! Have a great day !

Anonymous said...

I agree completely on both matters!

linda m said...

Well said!!!

DJan said...

I was just cursing the new system a few minutes ago when it didn't work well for me. I had also heard that Friend Connect is going away, they just keep making it more frustrating. I also don't use word verification and have been impressed with Blogger's spam filter. I think you are right: it would be easier for me if I made comments on older posts approved, since most of the spam ends up on them. Love your header! We are indeed getting towards spring and that reminded me... :-)

Gail said...

Escellant post!!! I never thought of it that way but you are so right.

I have a spam blocker and detest word verification, don't use it. I just don't accept anon comments. Do not comment as much on blogs that use it. With all the great improvements lately to Blogger, it seems, to the paranoid me, that they don't want me around very much!

carrington said...

I went to a seminar once where they talked about this same thing - women's brains being circular and men's brains being boxes (or like file cabinet drawers that they open and shut). I find this to be very true but often forget that it is so. I read your blog everyday and as I am currently petless - I just love it when Chance has the opportunity to be the blog writer! Love the photos too!

Far Side of Fifty said...

Country Gal, I am not going to join that..it all seems ridiculous to me..Linky whatever..:(

Dreaming said...

Yes... our brains do work differently. I do like your 'proactive' approach to putting things in the box for the guys. How smart!
Have you seen the video about the boxes and wires? It is priceless: http://youtu.be/0BxckAMaTDc

RURAL said...

Ack, after writing this great big long comment, I pressed a button and swoosh it was gone. I LOVE!!!! this post.

Wires and Boxes, so perfectly put. I am going to make sure that I put hints in his box about all the little stores I need to go to the next time we go to town. So perfect. And as for stopping for photos, duh, if you want to take them, drive!

About word verification, I am a blogger that won't use it, I HATE IT!! Note there is a button on my side bar that says Word Verification free blog, and I will no longer be leaving comments on blogs that have it either, since I can't read the darn words and numbers anyway.

Gmail does a great job of filtering out the spam, I get
TONS OF IT, deal with it people. It only takes seconds to get rid of.

Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

MTWaggin said...

I have never heard the guy's box description but oh it is so very accurate!!! I'm with you on the word verification thing. Have a number of blogs I've tried to post to that it doesn't even come up on, screen just goes away. The other way people can catch the spam (of which I've never seen any) is to just do comment approvals. It's easy peasy too.

Ellen said...

You have described Hubby and me to a t! I couldn't have said it better myself. For the first 10 years I kept butting my head against a wall trying to get him out of that box. Life is much easier when we just accept each other they way we are and live in those perimeters. I laughed when you talked about your lists and also having to mention everything you want to do in town. So much like us. Regarding the word verification system, I DO NOT LIKE IT! It irritates me every time I have to do it. I'm getting old and my eyesight isn't that great. Sometimes I just can't tell what the letters or numbers are. I hope people heed your word and get rid of it.

Nezzy (Cow Patty Surprise) said...

It's soooo true that men's brains are just wired differently. The truly are able to do only one thing at a time unlike we chicks who work best when all the ball are in the air at the same time.

Yep, I don't use word verification and hate the new one. I could of commented on three blogs in the time it takes to set there and retype that guessin' game.

If I get spam or bashers and curses, I simply delete 'em. Very few get through anyway.

God bless ya sweetie and have a beautiful weekend!!! :o)

Dorothy said...

This post is very interesting and I know now why I don't go to town with my husband all these years. Went to church Sunday morning and then said go put in gas a I am almost out. Well, well, his brain (or whatevery) wasn't programmed for that little side trip. Now I kinow why. He is in the box!! LOL

Just Stuff From a Boomer said...

Your post says it so well. I am fortunate too, that Terry will stop the car for me to take pictures. If we travel any distance I sit with the camera in my lap. I've tried taking those photos at 70 miles an hour and that just doesn't work. But, as you probably have experienced, by the time you see something cool, we have zoomed way past it. That frustrates me no end. Now I see why. The driver has his mind in a box.

Terry and Linda said...

I am finding the word verification very hard and frustrating sometimes. Sigh!


Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com

Jacqi Stevens said...

Blogger..."a bunch of guys with box brains." Rae, I love it! Well put.

Judy said...

I don't think my blog uses word verification...if it does, someone let me know...

I'm going to try this box thingy on hubby and see if he thinks that way...hhmm...

Far Side of Fifty said...

Oh That was a great video..I loved it! Thanks Dreaming:)

Red said...

Now your explanation of brains explains why my wife goes to 17 different places in one trip and I go to one place each trip. I like it!

Red said...

Your blog is nice . I don't have to do the word thing , just click and go.

Nancy/BLissed-Out Grandma said...

You've done a great job of explaining how to make things work when you have two different styles of thinking. Some days, my brain also works like a box. When we drive together to take the kids to preschool, we often run an errand or two before returning home. But you're right, we have to mention all the intended errands to one another beforehand. (I also agree about word verification.)

LindaG said...

Great post! I noticed they changed the verification thing, and it takes me several tries, too. Very annoying!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Karen said...

I think my husband must have holes in his box:) Well he can go to town on his own, and end up making quite a few different stops that I didn't hear about before he left. Although he is more willing to make the drive for just one thing than I am. And if I go with him, he's quite willing to make all the different stops I want to make, and is happy to sit in the car listening to the sports guys on the radio. That way he's not breathing down my neck while I'm poking around some thrift store. One conveniently has a McDonald's close by, so he sits in there and gets the coffee and muffin deal and reads the newspaper, and then comes back after a pre-arranged time and goes through the checkout with me so we can get the Tuesday senior's discount:)
If I have the camera, he's more than willing to pull over. He'll be saying 'did you want me to stop', and I'll be saying 'no,no, that's okay....'.
And yeah, that word verification now is a PITA. I was okay with the other one, although I long ago removed it from my blog. All comments appear directly, but they are all also emailed to me, with a link right there to the post. The spam ones that appear in my inbox, almost never appear on the blog, but if think they might have, I can easily check right there and then. I think maybe two have, and I can usually tell by how that they are written that they might have made it through. I find it interesting how certain posts seem to attract most of the spam. There are a few posts that might be a year old or more that seem to gather the most.
And Connie, if you've made it this far, I've wondered how you got the reply option in your comments. I went back through the settings and couldn't seem to see that option.

Teri said...

This is sooooo right. I learned to work around my husband, as you do. But he would get so frustrated at me for not finishing things... or for saying that I was going to the grocery store, but not leaving the house immediately after I said it.

Karmyn R said...

It is sort of true - except when my husband goes outside to do yardwork. He'll tell me he's going to mow the grass. I keep waiting to hear the mower. On his way to mow, he sees a bush that needs to be trimmed. So he'll go get the cutters out of the garage. While in the garage, he decides it needs a little cleaning up. When he walks out to the garbage can, he sees some other project. It goes on and on and on.

Muffie said...

Oh did this post hit home! I used to be able to give an unlimited amount of verbal requests on my "honey-do" list. Then it was only three, then one, and finally they had to be written. Now he loses the list! Love it. I'm going to change my comments set-up.
Peace,
Muff

Mary Aalgaard said...

Great description of boxes and wire brains. So true. And, I agree about the word verif. Very annoying.

carolina nana said...

That's a great illustrations of the difference in the way men and women think. I agree and I do a lot of things alone so I can stop where ever and when ever I want.
Blessings

Rita said...

I was chuckling all through the boxes and wires brains--LOL! So true. :)

I hate the word verification in the first place and took it off my blog long ago, but this new one is horrible! I detest it! I have already just laid eyes on it a couple of times and passed on commenting. I'm afraid that is going to happen more often with me. I may do more reading with a lot less commenting.

Far Side of Fifty said...

Karen, Go to your dashboard then settings then comments and then select embedded comments. The reply function is only available with that format:)

Karen said...

Got it, thanks Connie!
I haven't seen it often, or yours might be the only blogspot blog I've noticed with the reply option. I've seen it often on Wordpress.

Lanny said...

Ugh on the new verification I am coming across. I think it is odd because I had no experience with spam until I went Word Press then it was horrible! I was having to deleat hundreds of comments a day. So you are so very right I like coming somewhere where I don't need to jump through hoops, especially hoops that seem to be manufactured for my failure.

Boys and girls, men and women, are built different. God made it that way. For a reason. To make our lives rich and deep.

LadyFi said...

The new word verification on Blogger is driving me nuts - some of the words are impossible to read. And it's so unnecessary! That's why there is a good spam program built in!

Maria said...

Oh, I love this entry. How true about men and their boxes. Your points reminded me to plan ahead when out with my camera and my husband. I will have to look at my method for handling spam. I think I have comment moderator in tact...one of my blogs gets a lot of spam. Anyone anonymous goes into that filter. I don't accept anonymous entries anymore..but I think that means people have to set up a blogspot account to comment. I do love comments. My two main blogs have been a bit quiet from time to time, I do admit it..I can be a bit spotty. Lately I've been in the mood for writing so my Photoblogatory and my Positive Blog have been updated with an entry. Smiles! Maria

Anonymous said...

Wires and boxes - I think you've hit the nail on the head. I've been having trouble commenting on Blogger blogs using my Wordpress ID which links to my Wordpress blog. Will try a test, and failing that, use my Google account. Fingers crossed... Jo :-)