New Diet! Marriage in trouble? Help on the way!

I'm a real wordie, and I'd love to be a techie, but I just am not.

I'm always going to dictionary sites, the online thesaurus. (My old paperback thesaurus, which lost its cover long ago but has gotten a lot of use, sits on the shelf in dismay.) I probably consult more reference materials now online than I did back when I was in school just because so much is available. I try to check out who created the site, who supplies the information, etc.

I went to Dictionary.com. I used to be a great speller. I wanted to be sure I'm spelling a word right. Separate. Dictionary.com, like so many sites online, has advertising before it gives you the main content. Its advertising isn't random. It is triggered somehow (magic!) by the data the person enters, their search, whatever it is. So when I typed in "Separate," two of the ads I got were for divorce attorneys or divorce software! Gosh, I hadn't been considering a divorce, but now that this site suggests it, perhaps I'll mull it over....

We were joking about pearls, former vice presidents and things, and I went to the site today, typing in the word "Potato." The quest was to prove that the plural of that word actually is spelled, "Potatoes." What do you think the online dictionary tried to sell me? Yes. A low-carb diet plan. "NO!" It told me. "Don't think about potatoes! Is someone looking at me through the monitor? :-o "Protein..." It suggested instead.

Actually it didn't suggest protein, but when even the dictionary is getting involved in my personal life, I think it may be a sign for me to spend less time on the computer and more time making jewelry and interacting with real people!