I tried Google’s Adsense, a piece of code that places “relevant” click-through ads on your blog. A good idea on the surface, if you don’t mind having ads somewhere on your page, and since it also generates income based on how many click-throughs you get, it could also be lucrative. The dark side? Ah, yes – there’s always a dark side. They have this nifty thing called a filter that allows you to screen out certain ads, types of ads, or ads from certain domains. So far, so good. The ‘bot that scanned my first few entries zeroed in on the fact that I have dogs (see previous post). So, naturally, the ads that popped were from a puppy mill (TMBWitW and I believe that there are enough animals waiting to be rescued or adopted that puppy mills are not needed), a German Shepherd trainer/breeder (if you wish to have a pleasant day, do not ask TMBWitW about breeders), and a couple of ads that popped from e-bay and finders.

Well, I blocked the ads from the puppy mills and breeders, but then the e-bay and finders ads filled up with bits about “Come look at the dogs we have for sale” – and if I were to block e-bay, that would probably shut down just about all of the ads that might show up. So much for generating income, no matter how small.

I did, however, keep the Google search feature. If you use it from this blog, that will generate a little bit of income. Not asking, just mentioning. It probably won’t add up to a whole lot, and since this blog site is free (Thank you, Blogger!) it’s not like I have a blog bill to pay or anything. I may try the ad thing again later, after I have varied the content of the blog a bit, or at least gotten more focused towards the Family.

UPDATE 4/22/08 – now that I am on my own domain, I do have a bit of a bill – but I’m not trying to support this with donations – yet.

I am married to The Most Beautiful Woman in the World (TMBWitW), the best thing that has happened to me since late December back in 1961. We currently have six dogs and five cats. Yes, we are slightly crazy, but you won’t see us on the news for neglecting these little overstuffed sausage casings:

These three are Sadie, a Dalmation/Pointer mix, Mackenzie, a Cocker/Dachsund mix, and Sara, a Black Lab/Welsh Corgie mix. Yeah – think about that one for a second.

This is Cinnamon – we aren’t real sure what she is. When we first rescued her, I was calling her “Little Brown Dog We Don’t Know What She Is.” Try training a dog to come to that one.

This is Princess (we didn’t name her!) who was rescued from a family that couldn’t have a dog in their apartment – which means that their cousin had no respect for them, since he dropped it off with them. Some people. She has grown a bit, as you can see in the bottom picture. She’s a boxer mix, according to our extremely wonderful vets.

This last one is Logan, a Great Dane mix. He is just 4 months old right now, and would you look at the size of those paws! He’s going to be a biggun.

Well, I’ll let you absorb this for now. I’ll write more later…

If you happen to run across this blog whilst Googling “Cartter,” then you probably have an interest in my family. Feel free to drop a comment here, or e-mail me directly. If you e-mail me, be sure you include “Cartter” in the subject. Spam is getting heavier and heavier, and I am loathe to stop using this e-mail account.

So – how are you related? What is your connection? Are you a direct member of my immediate family, or are you connected closer to the trunk of the family tree?

How are you keeping track of the connections? Software? What brand? Paper and Pencil like my grandfather did?

I am looking forward to hearing about you.

On a related note – how many times did you participate in this conversation:
BUREAUCRATIC DRONE: Last name, please…
YOU: Cartter, C – A – R – T – T – E – R
BD: C – A – R – T – E – R?
YOU: No, there are two “T”s in my last name.
BD: Two “T”s?
YOU: Yes, Cartter with two “T”s.
BD: That’s an unusual spelling.
YOU: Really? Everyone in my family spells it that way…

The Cartter family name was traced out by my paternal grandfather, Bruce Lanpher Cartter, in the book “The Wisconsin Cartters.” He included ancillary families and used the family farm in Black River Falls, Wisconsin as a starting point for the Wisconsin Cartters. I have been making some attempts to update his writings, but with working full time, chasing six dogs and five cats, serving on two boards, and being active in church I find I have very little spare time.

Let’s see what happens, shall we?