As you Appliantology groupies may have noticed, there’s been an increase in spam postings in the repair forum recently. Because of this, I’ve had to change the group membership setting from open, meaning anyone can join without needing my approval, to restricted, meaning I have to approve all new members before they can post in the forum. I hate having to do this because 1) I like the group to be completely open and 2) it means more work for me– never a good thing. But, from experience, I know this is an effective deterent to spammers because they’re easy to spot. They always use nonsensical usernames like, ngkhj876, or they give some vague reason for wanting to join that makes no reference to appliance repair such as, “I really like your group!”

Unfortunately, it also means a slight delay before a new, prospective member can get help in the forum. But, while I’m laid up recovering from the microchip implant in my spine, I can check in with the forum more frequently and approve pending members. So, the inconvenience for the new member would be equivalent to, say, running out of toilet paper while on the john and waiting for their spouse to bring a new roll. Or something like that. You get the idea.

Anyway, this will all hopefully be only temporary until this wave of spammers passes us by. In the meantime, I invite you to join me in singing a rousing round of Popeye the Sailor Man.

Today’s Affirmation for Effective Appliance Repair: All of me is beautiful and valuable, even the ugly, stupid, and disgusting parts.