Hey there I'm Robert MacEwan the author of Ideal Absolutes. If you're new to macewan.org, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed.
Oops. I “held” a posting opportunity on PayPerPost. That’s a big no-no, boys and girls. It will get your access to the site suspended for two weeks. 
It was my fault and I’ll take my punishment. I grabbed the Hamilton Beach Eclectrics (trademark) video opportunity and, despite my knowledge of the inherent punishable offense, went downstairs to film it. Yup, I put a placer on the blog to hold it.
In our home, going downstairs is never a simple journey. The destination is fraught with as many obstacles as the stairway full of small dogs and dim lighting. I grabbed the camera from Val’s studio, walked into the kitchen and began to remove the articles I needed for the short video. Val had her back to me as she cooked dinner and Ruth sat in semi-darkness in a chair in the breakfast room. I looked more closely at Ruth and realized something was wrong. “Ruth! Ruth! Are you ok?!” “No,” she said quietly, “I really don’t feel at all well.” Let me interrupt here and say that she’s fine, I don’t believe in health-news suspense when I write about a 90-year-old woman. (that’s Ruth on the left, she was on a high school trip to Washington DC, 1930s)
She was dizzy, disoriented. Val grabbed a container of yogurt from the fridge. I looked at her and she said, “Grab a spoon, open this… it’s her blood sugar.” Then she asked Ruth if she’d had anything to eat since the pear at lunch. “No…” I ran upstairs and grabbed my Halloween bag
of Reese’s Pieces and Peanut Butter Cups. Now, you have to realize the level of panic here if I was ready to give up my Halloween candy (just kidding.)
It took a few minutes and Ruth came around enough for me to help/half carry her to her bedroom. Val changed her dinner menu to broiled fish, spinach salad, and mixed veggies. After we’d all had dinner, Val helped Ruth get ready for bed. I went back upstairs to my computer and completely forgot the video. I should never have held it in the first place but when I read about the “competition” — I really wanted to win one for Val.
Ruth’s in bed today. We think she may have the virus the grandboys had a few weeks ago. I heard Val say to her “You can be sick today, all day. Stay in bed. I’ll be the nurse, you be the patient. I mean it. Don’t get up.” Ruth murmured something and went back to sleep.
Sorry PayPerPost. I shouldn’t have held the opportunity in the first place. I know better than to do that. For one thing, it’s wrong according to the TOS.
For another — my family comes first and often in unexpected ways.
###
**SLAP**!!!
‘Holding’ is in direct violation of our Terms of Service and given the 6 hours a blogger now has to submit a post, it is unacceptable.
Specifically: Attempting to ‘hold’ a post by submitting to the ‘Take this Opportunity’ screen, but failing to provide a written post to the requirements of the Advertiser will result in immediate suspension of your account.…We highly value and actively preserve that strength, and trust we will not find you holding a post in the future.
{ 1 trackback }
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
That is really scary about Ruth. My Mother was diabetic so I know the panic when you realize their blood sugar is so low. I hope she is all right.
So, that is holding? If I click Take This Opportunity but then something comes up and I can’t write the post in six hours, I can get suspended from PPP? Jesus! What if my house catches fire or something? You were having a medical emergency for heaven’s sake. This makes me really nervous now. Especially because the opp in question required you to record, edit, upload, and embed a video, and that takes time. Sheesh.
It’s confusing, isn’t it?
Man, I so hear you about a journey through the house not being simple…
Hey Davio!
Good to hear from you. Let’s set up a blog!
Hi there,
Just so that I understand correctly: Are you saying that you simply accepted the opportunity and have now been banned for two weeks because you didn’t complete it? Or did you submit the link to PPP before actually making the video and completing the blog entry?
This:
“Or did you submit the link to PPP before actually making the video and completing the blog entry?”
That would be a welcomed opportunity…When you are ready to take on a new student I am here and want to learn!!!
D.
Thanks for the reply. I just wanted to be sure as I’ve on a couple of occasions taken an opportunity but been unable to fulfill it for whatever reason so I didn’t know if that could cause a ban.
Family always comes before money. I’m glad that Ruth pulled through.
I’ve also had days where I was unable to complete a post in time, but have never received an email warning me about not fulfilling the opportuntiy. Perhaps we should ask PPP to change their timing requirements for videos as it’s not always easy to put together a decent vid in six hours. This would let us take an offer without being as rushed to complete it
Jason, if you reserve an opp, and simply don’t submit it, you will not be in trouble.
If you reserve an opp, and submit it, without meeting the terms of the opp, e.g. copying and pasting the opp description on your site as the blog entry, instead of content, then you will be penalized.
Make sense?
Leave a Comment