SuperPost Sunday – Weekly Roundup #30

May 15th, 2011 71 Comments

slow internet connection SuperPost Sunday Weekly Roundup #30Hello My Lovelies,

Welcome to week 30 of SuperPost Sunday!

Wow – to think that I’ve been doing this roundup for 7 and a half months is pretty insane! And I have yet to miss a Sunday :D!

This whole “time flies” thing is but a massive understatement. Seriously!

Anyhow…I know I don’t need to tell you about all that as I’m sure you know exactly what I mean.

Where Time & Telecom Stand Still

A few of you have heard me make some snarky remarks in the past about the internet connection we have here in Lebanon. For a country that’s so hip and advanced in numerous things, the telecom industry is still stuck in the effin’ ice age!

I’m not kidding folks! You’d shoot yourself right after smashing your computer to the ground if you had to deal with the connection I have.

Okay…it’s not like it’s dial-up or anything like that, but it’s about a hundred times slower than the one YOU have at home. Oh, and wait till you hear the best part…

If it rains, the connection gets slower – and if there’s lightning or thunder, they’ll shut it down until it calms – and if you’re using it during peak hours, it slows down even more – as if that’s even possible!

For someone who pretty much lives online (in a roundabout sort of way), I seriously wonder how I’m not popping Prozac pills or repeating “Mmmm…Namaste” all day long!

But wait…I’m not done!

Would you like to know just how fast mine is?

512 KB for download and 256 KB for upload! Alright – you can close your mouth and stop laughing hysterically now cause there’s more.

Would you like to know how much I pay for this “thunder bolt” connection?

50 USD per month! Oh, come one – don’t gasp just yet – there’s MORE…

With those 50 bucks you get 2.4 Gigabytes of upload and download – then you pay extra for each Megabyte you go over!

You should try keeping Twitter open all day long and see how fast you go through that. I’m thinking 3 days tops! Or better yet – try loading a YouTube video during peak hours and see how long it takes – just for kicks!

But lucky for me, I’ve got some kind of sketchy deal with my sub-providers so that my upload and download are unlimited and my connection is much faster at night. But that’s just at home. Needless to say, my “internet guy” is on my speed dial for every time I sneeze and the internet stops working for some retarded reason!

Of course, a faster connection does in fact exist – though “faster” is a pretty big word here. If you’re willing to pay an extra hundred dollars or so per month, you can up your speed to like a whole Megabyte. WooHoo – sound the bells of joy and victory!!!

Don’t you just love the feeling of getting screwed (insert fat-ass sarcastic emoticon here)? Ha!

Actually, here’s nice snapshot of what my internet speed was while writing this post…

My Internet Speed SuperPost Sunday Weekly Roundup #30

You’re jealous aren’t ya? Admit it!

Now don’t get me started on our smartphone connections. Same bill, same speed, but you get a 100 MB limit per month and then it’s an extra dollar or so for each megabyte you go over. Yes…I’ve teared and developed sudden cases of Tourette Syndrome many a times upon receiving my phone bill!

But hey, all this is but the gist of it.

There’s obviously many ONE reason for why our Telecom industry is the way it is. MONEY! That’s right – money, money, money!

There’s just too many pockets that need to be filled and those sorry-ass (insert vulgar un-lady like word here) don’t give a crap about putting the economy of the country before their personal bank accounts!

But don’t take my word for it!

I’d love for you to read this fantastic article on the state of the Lebanese Telecom industry by my friend (IRL) Imad Tarabay, Chairman and CEO of Cedarcom. It’ll definitely shed some light on why all this is and what could be be done to change things around.

You might learn a few things as well – I sure as hell did! Like who has the fastest internet connection in the world? You’ll be just as surprised as I was.

I WANT to hear your thoughts on all this so don’t be shy. Put your comfy clothes on and meet me and my awesome community at “Central Perk” – otherwise known as the comments section. Gunther will be waiting to bring you cookies and coffee ;).

Alright – I think I’ve talked enough!

Time for 26 Goodies…

“Without further ado and blah blah,” here are this Sunday’s rockin’ SuperPosts on all things Social Media, Blogging Tips, SEO, Internet Marketing, Traffic Building, Online Money Making Tools and more.

Social Media

There are some blogs I feel bad to neglect, yet delighted when I make time for them. They are the blogs where I intend to be more active, and I want to share some of those with you. These are blogs by people…

Facebook recently published a PDF document giving businesses a guide to best practices for marketing on the massive social networking site. The 14-page document, titled “Best Practice Guide: Marketing on Facebook”…

I do not want you to use social media to sell stuff and make money. I do not want you to use social media to attract clients and fill a practice. Sure, it works for those things. And I talk about that often because that’s what people…

When there are more choices and conversations to spend time on, one can easily become distracted. Social media as an industry has created many distractions — some of which are enjoyable, some not — that can easily…

When I look at social media I don’t see a way to lower your cost of marketing, increase ROI, or grow your brand. What I see is access to a global networking of inspiring people. You see, the benefits of blogging, tweeting…

Companies love to share their successes with social media. How it’s allowing them to “engage with fans and customers”, and how they’re “being part of the conversation”. Like it’s something new and wild and golly gee…

Blogging Tips

Sometimes you’re just flat out of ideas. It’s not a matter of talent — you’ve written great stuff in the past. But lately, when you go back to the well for a fresh idea, it’s coming up dry. This happens to the best of us…

It’s possible I’m going to cause a riot here. In fact, in writing this post, I’m going against something I believe in strongly – blog post regularity. I think posting regularly keeps your blog viable. It’s like in-person relationships…

Everyone tells me blogging is a relationship.You interact with such a wide variety of talent; get to know them through their blogs, listen to their say, read their takes on issues, find out strategies and basically have…

How to get your name on the blog of your choice is a topic much discussed already. But instead of speaking in abstracts, my focus in this post will be speckled with my own personal examples and past guest-posting histories…

One hundred and fifty-four million, four hundred and forty thousand blogs go completely and utterly unread. Let me write that number out for you so you can really take it in: 154,440,000…

Is your blog the best in the world? Often when we want to blog, we can struggle with what we see in the blogging universe. These blogs are doing better than our blog. Why is that? This blog has more followers on Twitter…

Internet Marketing

The web has truly shaped what used to be a controlled and very one-way messaging system into a completely real-time dialogue with millions of people. Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube…

Want to know a secret? Your website or blog is your business. Whether you make a few dollars a month on that site or thousands, it is still your business. Even if you don’t have it monetized, it is your PR campaign…

When you were a child you didn’t think about building websites. You never thought about market research or product creation. Pay-per-click campaigns on Google and Facebook Ads didn’t exist. Even if they did, you wouldn’t…

Good morning! It’s an amazing day here in Chicago. It’s Sunday May 1st and I’m decompressing from a terrific SOBcon this past weekend. SOBCon stands for Successful Online Business Conference. It’s hosted by the incomparable…

SEO

About to Publish A Post? STOP! Read This – by Lisa Barone, outspokenmedia.com

It used to be that it was just us writer people that were responsible for publishing blog posts. But, my, how times have changed. As business owners, marketers, and social media mavens, we’re all responsible for…

Online Money Making Tools

Do you want to make money blogging? As of late, I’ve been enjoying an increasing level of income from Site Sketch 101. I’m thrilled and excited to announce that I’m truly beginning to make money blogging, and today…

Online business is all about action; let’s skip the fluffy intro and get right into it …Why do you want to start an online business? Before you begin kicking up ideas for your grand, online empire let’s think of this question…

MishMash

How do you feel about marketing yourself? Does it feel too self-focused, conceited or arrogant? Whenever I write about personal branding, self-promotion or anything along those lines – I feel like I’m coming off…

Creative disagreement is a meme that seems to be doing the rounds at the moment.  If you want some backstory then read my post here: Is It Time For Comment Love-Ins To Stop? And read Danny’s post over at his Firepole…

I hate censorship. We live in an age where we don’t need to be part of an elite to have a voice. Dino Dogan is right when he says the age of social media superstars is over. I recently bolted at the flagrant redacting…

Over the past few weeks I have seen several posts talk about listening; either how to be a better listener or how to totally ‘suck’ at it. I apologize my blogging friends, I would link you if I could……a basic site indeed…

It’s been a long time since you went out with this one friend of yours, so when she asked if you wanted to hit this concert she was going to, you went ahead and said ok. You didn’t really know a whole lot about the group…

Have you ever written a blog post and within a few minutes or hours of publishing you just knew it was something special? In the beginning days of TSL, back when it was me and the crickets, I used to write blog posts…

Many of you know by now that I’m a mom. I also consider myself to be an entrepreneur. I jumped into running my own business four years ago, with a brief interruption to have baby #2, then got back in the saddle…

[image credit: via  megsy_62’s album]

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About the Author

Ingrid Abboud aka 'Griddy' is a whole lot of things with a ridiculous amount of interests. For one, I'm a Social Media enthusiast with a tremendous passion for writing and blogging. I'm also a pretty cool Copywriter but a more serious MarCom Consultant. But most of all, I'm the proud owner and driving force behind nittyGriddy.com - A Kinda Social Media Journal with Net News & more.

Visit Griddy's Website

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  • http://www.thesaleslion.com/ Marcus Sheridan,The Sales Lion

    OK, from the looks of it dear G, you’re getting behind on your comments (slacker 😉  and so I’m going to keep this short and sweet and demand that you don’t reply— just know how grateful I am that you shine light on my works here and there. It’s an honor coming from a person who I feel has boundless potential and talent, and can’t write a single word without making a little magic happen in the process.

    Have a wonderful day.

    M

    • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

       Hey M,

      Me not reply? Are you kidding me?! Hahahaha
      But it seems you’re very right my friend – I have been slower than usual and I guess I have to switch back to my old ways of less sleep haha.

      And I would say it’s YOU who doesn’t have to thank me each time I include one of your kick-ass and inspiring articles here. You know that I truly love your writing and hearing your experiences through each one of your valuable posts. So whether you get bored of seeing your name here or not – I don’t care ;)! You’re still gonna’ be seeing for some time to come hehe.

      Thanks for all you said Mufasa – and of course a bigger thank you for all that you do and are!

      TTYL t…d

      Ciao

  • http://bigfeetmarketing.com Brad Harmon

    Sorry to hear about your internet connection woes, Ingrid.  I’ll have to remember this the next time I complain about Time Warner Cable here in Dallas/Fort Worth.  I guess it could always be worse.  We could have had an old woman cut our cable and knock out the entire country’s internet like happened earlier this year in Europe. 😉

    I’ve seen your site mentioned so often by Marcus Sheridan that I decided it was time to check out your site.  I like to kick back and surf well put together link posts like this one, but I don’t think I’ve seen one with so many great post titles in it.  Are they always this good?  

    Thanks for putting this together for us.

    • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

      Hey Brad,

      I’m happy that you came over :) – thank you! I’ll make sure to thank Mufasa for sending you my way. 

      As for my internet – although I could say that I’m use to it by now – it’s still rather frustrating and a pity that they don’t do much about it. And yes – the next time your internet feels slow – imagine it being run by little hamsters and you’ll be relieved hehehe.

      I’m thrilled you enjoyed this roundup. I do it every Sunday and although I’d rather not be the one tooting my own horn but I have to say that it’s usually jam packed with some goods ;). But hey, don’t tell folks that I was the one to tell you hahaha.

      Hope you find a few in here that are to your liking. Thanks again for taking the time to share your thoughts. Hope to see you around these parts more often.

      Cheers 

  • http://www.womanzworld.com/ Natalie Sisson

     And I thought my time in Argentina was slow where sometimes a 15 minute video would take 2 hours to upload. Great post and excellent to meet you via @johnfalchetto:disqus  

    • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

      Hey Natalie and welcome :)
      I would say 2 hours sounds about right haha. But of course – it would depend on the time of day and the weather lol. Sad but true!Great of you to drop by and share your experience with the internet. And thanks to John for pointing you in my direction :).

      Looking forward to getting to know you some more.
      Cheers

  • http://www.FirepoleMarketing.com Danny Iny

     Hey Ingrid, thanks for the shout out – I’m honored to be in such austere company! :)

    • http://www.FirepoleMarketing.com Danny Iny

       By the way, yeah – $50 for dial-up speeds? That’s INSANE!

      • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

        Well…it’s not dial-up but it sure feels like it sometimes! But in all honesty it’s not so bad – I mostly feel the difference when I travel and use the net abroad and come back here. Then it’s like WHoaaaaa! lol 

    • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

      Hey Danny,

      My pleasure! You’re crankin’ some kick-ass posts my friend :)! Thanks again for the kind mention of me. Much appreciated.

      Cheers

  • http://www.flybluekite.com Laura Click

    Ingrid – What a great roundup! I’m absolutely flattered you stopped by and commented on my blog and then included my post in this rockin’ list. I’m super honored to be listed along side Copyblogger, ProBlogger and my friend @joey_strawn:twitter  

    It’s been great connecting with you and I look forward to more awesome conversations. Until then, should I send over some hampsters to help with your internet connection?!

    • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

      Hey Laura,
      I loved your post and obviously couldn’t have agreed more with what you said seeing that I share those same thoughts and wrote about them :). I’m glad you like this roundup and I hope you find some great reads in here.

      As for @joey_strawn:twitter – I’m a big fan of his blog and writing style and have the utmost respect for him and his work. Great all-round guy!

      I look forward to connecting with you more as well :). 
      Oh, and you can send anything you want if you think it’ll help with my connection haha. But alas…

      Great of you to stop by and join the conversation. Hope to see you around these parts more often.

      Have a pleasant week.

      Cheers

  • http://hajrak.blogspot.com Hajra

     Thanks for including my guest post from we blog better. I got a comments directed from your blog. Should have made more sense to be here earlier! Thanks again :)Have a great day :)

    • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

      Hey Hajra,You’re most welcome. I really loved your post over at Kiesha’s. Happy to hear that it might have sent some people your way. Best of luck with the contest.Thanks for dropping by. Appreciated.Have a great week.Cheers 

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  • http://soulati.com/blog Soulati

    Can you hook up to satellite? Is that an option?

    • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

      Hahahaha!

      Forgive me for laughing – what I meant to say was I WISH!!!! :)

      Hopefully – they will do something about it soon. Especially since it’s been getting a lot of attention lately. But then again – not sure if they care enough what people are saying. 

      It seems money talks and people walk! Sigh.

      • http://www.expatlifecoach.com/blog John Falchetto

        Actually you can get internet through satellite. I am not sure in Lubnan how it works but I know people use to do it in Dubai (to avoid the proxy). 

        • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

          I’ll have to ask cause I’m not sure. But the good thing here is that nothing is censored or anything like that. You can access any website you want. So in that sense – we are not like the rest of the countries in the area. Then again – we never were to begin with ;).

  • http://twitter.com/NancyD68 Nancy Davis

    Hi,

    Now that is a great list. I love to find new blogs, so this is a great posting for me. i can’t imagine what it must be like with such a slow internet connection.

    Saturday, my computer got hit with a nasty virus. Thank God I have friends who can fix this kind of thing for me, otherwise I would not be joining everyone for coffee this morning (I have my own mug and it is clean)

    Anyway, I am glad to find good new stuff to read, have been lurking for a while, but now it is time for me to join the fray.

    Where is that coffee?

    • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

      Hey Nancy,

      I’m so happy you like this roundup :). I really do my best to scour the blogosphere for some great posts so that I can share them with you guys. I hope you find some that will come in handy for you.

      As for the slow internet connection – I suppose you get use to it after a while. You mostly feel the difference when you’ve been travelling and come back to use it. Then you wan to gouge your eyes out haha!

      Glad your tech-savvy friends were able to help you smush the nasty little virus you had. 
      Oh, and you really didn’t have to bring your own mug. Gunther is actually a great human dishwasher as well apart from his coffee making skills. Which reminds me – I should tell him to buy some cocoa tomorrow cause we’re running low ;).

      So sorry that he took some time bringing your coffee – he gets that way sometimes when he sees Rachel talking to Ross and just goes and sits in the back and pouts. So if you just ring the little bell on the counter – it will annoy him enough to come out and tend to ya hehe.

      I’m glad you’re a part of this community. It’s a pleasure to have you.
      Have a great week.

      Cheers 

  • http://hustlersnotebook.com Jk Allen

     Hey Griddy – Thanks as always for making us aware of what’s out there in your Sunday Roundup.

    Also, I’ve forgotten to thank you for providing us with full posts to your RSS. The funny thing is since you’ve done that, I’ve been a little M.I.A. But not because I’ve only been reading on my phone, and not coming to comment – but because of my lack of time, I haven’t had the ability to make my full stretch throughout my blogging network.

    Thank you so much for the mention Griddy. It’s really really a treat to see my post in on your Roundups…gives me a sense of accomplishment and honor!

    Make it a great week this week!

    • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

      Hola JK,

      How have you been?

      It’s really a pleasure doing these roundups although I’ll admit that they take quite some time to compile and all. But worth it nonetheless!

      As for my full feeds – thanks :). I’m hoping more people will be happy about that. I really based my decision on what people said in the comments of that particular Bring IT! post when I had asked them. Like they say – majority rules I suppose ;). 

      As for your post – you’re most welcome. I didn’t get the chance to leave my pennies on it and I’m sorry about that – but I did love it and that’s why it’s here. I hope more people get the chance to read it. Keep up the amazing job you’re doing – and it’s totally OK that life gets int eh way at times. heck, it’s only normal and thank Goodness it does. 

      Hope you have a super week ahead.
      All the best my friend.

      Cheers

  • http://www.expatlifecoach.com/blog John Falchetto

     Ingrid, you are living proof that slow internet is not the issue, slow brains, slow thinking and slow ideas are.
    Great content and a true voice will always come across, even if you are using a hamster powered internet service. 
    It’s just a tool and in the end doesn’t really matter, what you say is a lot more important Ingrid. 

    Thanks for including in this list of amazing bloggers :)

    • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

      Hey JF,

      You’re totally right with what you said here and thanks so much for the encouragement. It’s what we say and how we say it that makes the difference – unfortunately – sometimes it will take me a bit longer to say it that’s all lol ;).

      I’m thinking the hamster powered service might be faster at times – so I should really look into that option at some point hehe.

      I bet you must be getting ready for BlogWorld :). I sure wish I could join you and the gang there. I would have loved for all of us to be together hanging out and exchanging our brilliant ideas and jokes. I know you’re gonna’ have an amazing experience and just being with everyone will make it all the more worth it!

      No need to thank me for you including you in here my friend. You know I love your blog and everything you write on there or elsewhere. It’s been such a pleasure getting to know you JF and I look forward to many more months and years of learning, laughing and blogging alongside you and some others.

      Enjoy your week.

      Cheers

  • http://vizsource.info/ Kim Davies

    Hi, Ingrid.

    This is my first time here and I’m glad that I came in today. While I am sorry about the state of your internet connection, I am not sorry that I visited your site today after I added your site to my Google Reader for almost a week now. The wealth of reading materials that you posted here is great. Now, I know where to go if I find myself lacking of reading and learning materials. I’ll just dig up your roundups and I’m solved. 

    I see that you have Bill Dorman and Danny Brown in your list. :) They are cool guys who have welcomed me warmly into the blogging community and I am glad to have found them here as well. Seems like I am circulating in the right circle. :)

    Thanks for this great list! :)

    • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

      Hey Kim and welcome :)

      I’m glad you came over as well. It’s usually quite the party around these parts and the conversations are always filled with fun and interesting things :).

      Thanks so much for all your kind and supportive words. And a big thank you for adding my blog to your reader. I hope you’ll continue to enjoy what you see here.  These roundup are usually pretty extensive and loaded with insightful articles from different blogs and peeps – so I hope you find some that are to your liking.

      Both Bill and Danny are friends and it’s a pleasure and honor to call them that. Actually – Danny is somewhat like my unofficial mentor and I have the utmost respect for him as a person and professional. I can totally see how warmly they must have welcomed you into their communities and I hope you’ll feel at home here too :).

      Needless to say that both of these wonderful gentlemen are a part of this community and I always look forward to them dropping by and joining the conversation.

      Happy reading to ya.
      Hope to see you here more often sharing your thoughts.

      Have a good week.

      Cheers

      • http://billdorman.wordpress.com Bill Dorman

        And I’m like your unsophisticated cousin your parents make drag around when you go out to play. All your friends are saying, “man, Griddy’s cousin sure does talk funny and did you see that hair”?

        Seriously, thank you for the kind words. 

        • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

          Stop making me laugh – my jaw already hurts from the haggis thing you said up there! LOL 😉

          Seriously – it’s my pleasure and you’re most welcome – and they’re TRUE! 

          • http://vizsource.info/ Kim Davies

            You are so funny, Bill. You crack me up. 😀 I’m up there with Ingrid on the aching jaws.

            Thanks, Ingrid, for the welcome. I already appreciate a short reply to my comments but getting such a reply as yours is heart-warming. :) 

            • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

              Get use to it Kim! Bill has that special talent to make folks laugh over and over again :-)!

              As for my reply – well my dear…I believing in replying in kind to folks who what taken the time to stop by, share their thoughts with you and others and get to know you a little along the way. So thanks for doing that and I look forward to more of your super comments :).

              Cheers 

    • http://billdorman.wordpress.com Bill Dorman

      Hey now Ms Kim, that was a very nice thing to say and I even got mentioned in the same sentence as Danny Brown; wait ’til I tell that haggis eating Danny boy about that……….. 

      • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

        Hahahahaha! “haggis eating Danny boy” – LOL! 

  • http://twitter.com/janesheeba Jane Sheeba

    Hey Ingrid, 

    Slow internet problems irritate the hell out of me and you know what, it happens when I am just about to send the last email of the day, past midnight and am ready to wind up and jump to bed. Either the web pages keep loaaaaaading or the connection just cuts off. And here in India, if a breeze blows slightly stronger or if it rains, my connection cuts off :) You can imagine.

    Well that is a handful of nice collection that I need to check out.

    Cheers,
    Jane.

    • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

      Hey Jane,
      Tell me about it Jane! I know exactly what you mean when you say that if it rains or the wind is stronger or if the neighbor sneezes…..

      For some reason though I would have thought that your internet in India would be quite advanced and super fast seeing how strong you guys are with technology and all. 

      Sorry to hear that we share similar internet woes :(.

      Glad you like this week’s selection. Hope you find a few that are to your liking.

      Have a great Wednesday.
      Cheers 

  • http://www.allisondevelopmentgroup.com Erica Allison

     I can only imagine…I continue to be amazed at all you can crank out and to do it at the speed of ….well, a hand crank, makes it all the harder to imagine!  Truly, thank you.  That was what I was going to come over and say to you today.  Just “thank you” for pulling these Super Posts together each and every Sunday for us, for making it worth our while, for engaging with us each and every time and for being pretty awesome!

    Then, I saw I my post included here amongst some really awesome reads and I became even more grateful! Thank you again, Griddy. I always do some major catch up reading when I get here, now to have made it into the round up again…with @a76049f6a32a1e633a732b81bafb98c9:disqus , well, I must be living right!  In all seriousness, you know more than anyone how nice it is when your work gets noticed. It’s really quite nice and I do very much appreciate it.

    Now, to get you some speed!!!!  

    • http://hustlersnotebook.com Jk Allen

      I second you Erica – it’s amazing how Griddy does all of this, especially with a weak connection. I can’t even begin to imagine how annoying that must be. I have a pretty fast connection and catch myself complaining that it’s not fast enough! 

      • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

         Hey JK,

        You’re right in that it is annoying. Although it doesn’t affect my typing – it does however affect the time it takes me to write each post – especially this one. Loading each page, saving, going back and forth, reloading when the connection cuts or is slow, blah blah blah…

        Oh well…such is life. Some things – we have it good – others, not so great.

    • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

      Hey Erica,

      Forgive my late reply :(. I decided to try and change my ways and get some more sleep at night and  I’m not sure I’ll stick to the idea since now I”m behind to replying to folks. Grrrr… lol

      Thanks sooooo much for all your kind words of support. I really do enjoy writing this weekly series although it does take quite some time to compile and all. But it’s well worth it and then some!

      As for your post over at Gini’s – it was my pleasure! Needless to say that I loved it! It was a real eye-opener and I thank you for casting aside the doubts that some people have about working mothers. Again – I’m not one of them but I do know many and I admire them all the more! Great article my dear :)!

      Hope you’re having a wonderful week.
      All the best

  • http://twitter.com/lifeforinstance Life, for instance

     Griddy,
    Ah! I guess everything can’t be great about Lebanon, but thanks just the same FOR DISILLUSIONING ME!! I don’t know how you do what you do with such a slow connection! You’re posting, what – two times a week, writing post-length comments all over the B and doing heaven knows what else like Tweeting and rounding up these posts I’ve just been spending the last hour reading!
    I like what Stu called you  Grid-zilla, but I’ll just continue to call you my Lebanese friend.
    Lori

    • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

      Hey Lori

      Haha! Although I’d love to lie and tell you everything is perfect here – we all know better. And teh entire Telecom industry is one of those things. There’s just too much money involved for things to be the way they should I guess.

      It’s definitely annoying to have this connection – but you get use to it somehow. You feel it more when you travel and come back. But yes – loading each page, open many tabs at once and all those things – makes it a little nightmare at times. 

      I thought Stu’s Grid-zilla was hysterical :). I can’t believe me or anyone else for that matter had never thought of it before lol.

      You can call me whatever you like my dear – but your Lebanese friend sounds great too :).

      Thanks for always taking the time to drop by and join the conversation Lori. Always appreciated!

      Have a super day.
      Cheers

  • http://live-your-love.com/ Brankica U

     While I was reading your story, I was waiting to run into the little piece of info where you are saying that you are actually in Serbia :) I bet some people were shocked reading this, but it sounds so damn familiar to me. If you spend 5 Gb I had on my package and want to buy one more, that 1 is gonna cost you as much as those 5 Gbs. It sucks and I hate them!!!

    • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

      Hahaha!
      I know you feel my pain on this one Bran – or at least you did! It’s so sad that what we consider today is the basics – we get ripped off with! And there’s no much we can do either. I mean heck – there’s always more important things to attend to but what is a real pity is that they don’t realize how much it affects the country’s economy. Multi-national companies and business sometimes would rather have their Middle East HQ somewhere else because of this problem. 

      But then again – there’s not much you can do what all they care about are their pockets! :(

  • Jon

     Hey Griddy,

    South Korea got ya just a bit jealous? :)

    Sorry about the connection woes, I am patient with most things EXCEPT internet connection. Bless you for being patient (or at least tolerant). I’d have up and moved long ago.

    Srinivas’ article on Business Grow is amazing. Isn’t it fantastic how the social web is opening the doors and pull-out sofas to new opportunity and friendships?

    Thank you for the mention here – you’re the best!

    Jon

    • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

      Hey Jon,

      I couldn’t believe it when I read that it was S. Korea who had the fastest internet in the world. WOW! What a surprise and good for them.

      As for my slow connection – there’s not much any of us can do about it unfortunately. One day they might realize that the pennies they’re making now in the process are nothing compared to what they could have made in the long-run. Oh well…

      I loved Srini’s article and it was the perfect example of what this whole blogosphere can do for us and what’s it’s all really about! Truly incredible! And if you’re not a blogger – I don’t think you can understand that the way we do.

      Happy to have your post in here. Well deserved :).

      Have a great week.

      Cheers

  • http://billdorman.wordpress.com Bill Dorman

     Uh oh, I’ve made a round-up; thank you ma’am. I’ll be back to check out the others…….

    Good thing you are making oodles of money on the internet, blogging gig, huh. You should be at warp speed; I really think it’s that whole goat milk concoction thing going……….just sayin’……

    True story, back in the day I was in a college class and there was this surly obviously non-American dude w/ a definite attitude sitting next to me. We were filling out paperwork and on his I saw Beirut High School Beirut, Lebanon. I don’t think he was appreciating my humor so needless to say, we didn’t go drink beers together. It was right after that there was serious with a capital S conflict in Beirut. HOWEVER, if you tell me when I show up on your doorstep and you will have good beverages and friendly company I am all in ’cause I know you haven’t steered me wrong yet. The point of my story is, I think it’s that dude handling you internet………………just sayin’……………

    You da best and I will get back to your post. That damn Davina, there is no way can catch her. I want to be in the top 2………….

    Hope your weekend went well.
    B

    • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

      Hell yeah you made the roundup Bill! And don’t think it’s the last time either okay?!

      I just love how genuine and open you are through your words – both in your posts and comments.

      Oodles of money? Ha! I wish! I actually don’t make a penny from this blog – just friends :)! Maybe one day I will add pennies as well.

      He didn’t appreciate your sense of humor? How dare he? What’s his name? I’ll talk to him hahaha!!

      If it’s Pascal then it’s him for sure! hehe

      My dear Bill – this place will always be a friendly one with great drinks, company and all.

      Good luck catching Davina. I tell ya – if it’s Marcus and Davina again this month – I’m gonna laugh!

      Talk to you later ya’ll man! 😉

  • http://www.thejackb.com/ The JackB

     Thank you for the list. I always need new reading material.

    • http://billdorman.wordpress.com Bill Dorman

      Hey Jack, I see you out and about today; hope you weekend went well. I’m just trying to catch Davina so I thought I’d say hello……………….not really, there really are some good ones to check out this week. As I mentioned to Stu, I really don’t know how Griddy does it; truly amazing. 

      • http://www.thejackb.com/ The JackB

        Weekend hasn’t been bad, just goes far too quickly.

        • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

          I hear ya on that one! 

      • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

        Hahahaha
        Competing for that first place medal I see – eh Dorman? 😉 LOVE IT!!!

        Griddy does it cause she loves it but she also lacks a bit of sleep which she’s slowly trying to catch up on lol.

        Thanks so much Bill 

        • http://billdorman.wordpress.com Bill Dorman

          I was over at our buddy @JohnFalchetto’s place and he replied to me ” Thanks for stopping by and carpet bombing the comments” :). How appropriate, huh? I like that saying….

          I don’t know if you ever watch the show CSI on TV but they would catch me everytime; they would see my fingerprints everywhere.

          I’m still in awe of you knowing the parameters you are working w/in; but I’ll go easy on the praise, we don’t need to get carried away now, do we?

          Hope your day has gone well ma’am, see you around. 

          • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

            DO I watch CSI? Are you kidding me?! I watch the Miami, Vegas and New York ones! Love em! Although now I sound like a geek so don’t tell anyone please okay? haha

            But in all seriousness – you always learn some random stuff from that show.

            What? No more praise? Fine okay! Hehehe

            Hope you have a great Thursday my friend.

            Cheers 

    • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

      My pleasure Jack :). Hope you find some in here that are to your liking.
      Enjoy
      Cheers 

  • http://www.techwork.dk Thomas

    Are you kidding me? 50 USD per month for such a slow connection…!!

    That’s it. I am never
    going to move to Lebanon (I guess I didn’t was anyway). It sounds like there isn’t
    much competition in the telecom Industry down there. I have a 10Mbit/1Mbit and
    my employers
    is by the way paying the bill for me 😉

    • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

      Yup Thomas – 50$ at home and another 50$ for the office :)! Fun, fun eh? lol

      But trust me – there are other amazing perks to living here which kinda make the slow internet worth it – well…maybe not worth it but at least bearable. 

      Hopefully – our telecom industry will change very soon! Fingers crossed ;)!

      And lucky you my friend. My employer is Ingrid Abboud – ummm…ME! So she pays all the bills for me lol.

      Cheers

      • http://www.techwork.dk Thomas

        She must be a great
        gal that Ingrid Abboud paying all your bills and everything 😉

        • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

          Yeah – she’s not too shabby! hehe 

  • Anonymous

    Griddy!

    Sucks about your internet speed; just calm down from time to time, remain lady-like (lol), and get a fresh perspective on things. Here’s what you have:

    – You have an awesome blog
    – You have an awesome community of bloggers
    – You have an awesome quality for writing great content

    Need I go on? Sure, your internet may still be stuck in the times where arrows were the world’s greatest weapon, but hey, this is life. Let’s kick back and be grateful that we even have internet at all. There’s a lot of unheard voices out there in the offline world :-/

    Now, a big THANK YOU for featuring my post on ProBlogger! What did you think of it? It seemed to create a bit of a debate, which I loved reading. Would love to hear your thoughts too Griddy :-)

    And once again, an amazing bunch of posts from an amazing bunch of bloggers. As soon as I read this, you know what I do? I kick back, take a deep breath, and relax in the knowledge that the blogging universe is in safe hands.

    Cheers Grid-zilla 😉

  • Anonymous

    Griddy!

    Sucks about your internet speed; just calm down from time to time, remain lady-like (lol), and get a fresh perspective on things. Here’s what you have:

    – You have an awesome blog
    – You have an awesome community of bloggers
    – You have an awesome quality for writing great content

    Need I go on? Sure, your internet may still be stuck in the times where arrows were the world’s greatest weapon, but hey, this is life. Let’s kick back and be grateful that we even have internet at all. There’s a lot of unheard voices out there in the offline world :-/

    Now, a big THANK YOU for featuring my post on ProBlogger! What did you think of it? It seemed to create a bit of a debate, which I loved reading. Would love to hear your thoughts too Griddy :-)

    And once again, an amazing bunch of posts from an amazing bunch of bloggers. As soon as I read this, you know what I do? I kick back, take a deep breath, and relax in the knowledge that the blogging universe is in safe hands.

    Cheers Grid-zilla 😉

    • http://billdorman.wordpress.com Bill Dorman

      Have you ever seen her replies? AND she goes to other blogs and comments all while sending telegraph message and smoke signals. Unbelievable, I really don’t know how she pulls it off; I think she is outsourcing her comments to America somewhere………

      You the man Stu, you need to be featured. 

      • http://www.expatlifecoach.com/blog John Falchetto

        So if her internet speed was faster who knows how long her comments would be? 😉

        This goes to show that internet speed has nothing to do with creativity.

        • Anonymous

           I do wonder what would happen if Griddy had unlimited internet, at whatever speed she required. My guess is that she would be slapping down e-books for comments 😉

          • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

            Ha! 
            But believe it or not – I do have unlimited internet – at home! At the office – I’m limited to that 2.4 crap!
            But as I was telling JF – if my comments were any longer I think people might ban me from their sites lol. 

        • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

          Noooooo thank God it’s slow in that case haha!
          Can you imagine my comments being longer than they already are? People would ban me from their sites! 😉 

          Thanks so much JF :)!

      • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

        Haha Bill,

        Out sourcing to America eh? But wouldn’t India be cheaper for me? I mean come on – you already know the price I pay for telecom – give me a break will ya? hehe

        Thanks for the smiles Bill ;). 

    • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

      Hey Stu,

      I’m really doing my best to do all those things you mentioned :)! But I won’t lie to you in that I’ve had to hold myself back a few times from calling “internet guy” at 2 am haha!

      Thank you so much for pointing out all the amazing things I have – I’d like to think they’re all true and I hope others think that way as well.

      The only reason it frustrates me so much is that the reason for the internet is not a lack of equipment or technology – but it’s a matter of money and who gets to pocket more of it! So that kinda sucks but oh well…it wouldn’t be the first country to have these types of problems.

      I loved your post on ProBlogger and I’m sorry I didn’t get the chance to leave my pennies over there yet – was trying to finish a few things over the weekend but I sure hope I make it over there again to say a thing or two! And yes – the comments are always the fun part to read :).

      Hope you enjoy the reads here and that some come in handy for you.

      And a big phat LOL to Grid-zilla :)! That is just too funny Stu – I can’t believe I never thought of that!

      Thanks so much for coming by and taking the time to leave your thoughts. Much appreciated as always.

      Wishing you a great week ahead.
      Cheers

  • http://www.ramblingsofawahm.com AllieRambles

    Ingrid,

    I’m sorry about your slow internet speed.  My husband is an IT computer geek so he is always looking for the fastest, best computer stuff out there.  But today he is watching Netflix and my son is on XBox Live so they are sucking the life out of our Internet.  I really should just go shopping, I really need a purse.  Or go see a chick flick with a friend (actually Thor is HOT! That would work.)

    Anyhow, Hajra’s post on We Blog Better was a great read.  It had the usual content but I loved her point of view.  It was almost comical and it got her point across.  I voted for her in the contest.  So thx for posting her here too, I’m sure it will help.

    Have a great rest of your Sunday!

    ~Allie

    • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

      Hey Allie,

      LOL!
      It seems your reasons are slightly different than mine but worthy nonetheless haha. Hmmm….watch chick flick or shop for shoes and bags? Oh, the tough decisions one must make in life! Heck, do you have time to do both? Cause I really can’t decide between these too and personally I wouldn’t want to – I want BOTH! lol 😉

      Hajra’s post was in fact pretty great and me laugh a few times. But she’s spot on with the points she made.

      Thanks for sharing your day with me Allie :). I appreciate it and always look forward to seeing you here. 

      Have a great week.
      Cheers