I woke up this morning, got a cup of coffee, checked my email, and then moseyed on over to DKos as I always do to see what's up. Something wasn't right. There was no color over on the right, no moving pictures in between every FP story, no loud banner blinking most unmercifully to tell me I'm the 100,000th person and have a super prize waiting if only I'll click on the damned thing…
In my foggy morning haze I rubbed my old eyes, thinking they were once again winking out on me. Then I went to the sink and splashed cold water on my face - and around here in December, the water's very close to freezing. Then I came back and reloaded to make sure that what was wrong was actually wrong, and there it was. There on the right where the most distracting ad would normally be, just above the "Welcome Back" box, the word "Subscribe" had disappeared from the header. Then I logged out and in again, just to make sure. Whoa.
I checked my messages, there was nada. I checked my email trash thinking I must have sent a message away that I should have paid attention to. Nothing but a lot of cheap Viagra and Cialis. Sure enough, I'd been zapped by the Magic Secret Gifting Friend sometime in the night! I am sincerely grateful and humbled.
I hope my benefactor lets him/herself be known, though perhaps half the fun is the anonymity involved for those who want it. But I've gotta say - this gift is sweet enough to make me cry, and I try not to cry very often. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I will work hard to deserve this wonderful gift, and someday I'll have enough to pay this kindness forward in some way for some other deserving Kossack in need (since lifetime subs will be going away). As happens so often around here and is always so impressive to me. I love this place. YOU are the reason why.