September 11, 2017

Stolen (and terribly photoshopped) photos

Thanks for the suggestions about the Kroger incident. I did end up writing the corporate office, because the more I thought about it, the angrier I was at the manager for lying to me. I wish I'd had called her out on it in the moment, but I was so stunned that I just didn't.

I do want to say that the employees at that store are very friendly (with the exception of the service managers). Some employees really go above and beyond, and I've never had a problem with them. This incident, however, was totally uncalled for.

I got a response from the headquarters today, and it was almost as laughable as the incident itself:


Not only was it a generic canned response, they actually advertised their Simple Truth product line in what was supposed to be an apology letter!

I'm pretty bummed. I have always been a big fan of Kroger--they have the lowest prices around where I live, and the next-closest grocery store is 20 minutes away. I'm not going to quit shopping there just because of that one employee, but I am curious if anything will even come of all of this. Like I said, the other employees have always been kind.


I had another issue arise this morning when I got an email from a reader who told me that my photos were being used on a website that was advertising some sort of weight loss program. The site was in a language I couldn't read, but sure enough, there were several of my photos. Funnily enough, they actually stole one of my "after" photos (after I'd lost 100 pounds) and photoshopped it to make me BIGGER. They tried to turn it into a "before" photo! BAHAHA 😂

And they didn't even do a good job with it. I know nothing about Photoshop, but even I could have done a better job. I posted a side by side and shared it on Facebook, hoping to get a response from the company.


What the heck, right?! Even the ground on the sides of my hips looks weird. Within minutes, I actually got a Facebook message from the company. Here is what they had to say:
"Dear Katie, I sincerely apologize for this. 

It was an advertorial that was done for an outside client and the client provided us with the whole article and photos. We double checked and the agreement said that the photos were the clients. We now clearly see that is not true and will take off all the posts that include the photos and will contact the client directly and inform them of the situation and will take necessary steps and actions towards the client to prevent this from happening again.

I informed both the advertorial and sales team of the situation and will personaly start pulling these stories down. Best, Daniel"
I don't know if I'm just gullible, but I believe that he is sincere about what happened on their end. Shortly after, he wrote me a private message from his personal page to apologize and explain further. I was happy with what he had to say, and he made sure that the article was removed, and anywhere that my picture appeared had been removed.

I was very surprised with how quickly that was taken care of. Usually I have to jump through a lot of hoops when people steal my photos, but I am relentless when it comes to following through on things like this. Now, if only Kroger could be so kind, hahaha!


I almost forgot to mention... I went for a run on Thursday 😱

At Tuesday's cross country practice, Renee and I thought a relay race would be a fun game for the kids (we were practicing at the outdoor track). We set up teams of four kids each (to do 100 meters before passing the baton). However, we were two kids short--so, Renee and I were defaulted into the race. I groaned, because I hadn't run in SO long and I didn't want to let my team down!

In the chaos of getting everyone to their starting positions, somehow I wound up being the ANCHOR (the last person in the relay). Talk about pressure! I was in the fourth lane, which is a longer distance run, and my team was coming in last by the time I got the baton. I started running my hardest to the center lane, and was neck-in-neck with Lucas, one of our faster runners. He glanced over his shoulder as I was going to pass him, and then he started running harder.

I managed to stay on his heels (the whole 100 meters, lol). I was totally spent, though. And then Renee said, "Let's do one more!" I didn't do nearly as well the second time. I did get to start the race, though, so at least I wasn't the anchor on that one.

I left practice feeling like I wanted to be able to challenge the kids. I wanted them to worry when they see me racing against them! ;) Anyway, it really did inspire me to want to go for a run. I decided that on Thursday's practice, if the weather was good (meaning that it wasn't too hot), I would run with the kids.

Holy hell, I was SO sore on Friday!! Hahaha, I only ran 200 meters, and my legs felt like I'd run a marathon. It's amazing how much fitness I've lost.

And on Thursday, it was raining--just barely. And it was cold. Which is perfect for running! On Thursdays, the kids run loops in a park, to get in as much distance as possible. A lot of the kids complain that their legs hurt, or they have a cramp, or a stomachache, or a headache, and a thousand other reasons to get out of running. Renee and I are good at being able to tell what's legit, and 90% of what they complain about are things that are no problem to run through.

I decided to run the opposite direction of the kids so that I would be able to see them more often and yell at encourage them to keep going. Most of the kids don't listen to me when I tell them to run slow and easy (because they're competitive and want to show off by running fast), and they get worn out on the first lap. Then they take walk breaks waaay more often than they are running. The kids that listen to me have no problem running the entire 30 minutes without taking walk breaks.

Anyway, I was being a stickler at this practice, and every time I'd turn a corner, I'd see kids walking. Immediately, they would start running again when they saw me, haha. I had to stop to talk with the kids numerous times, to correct running form or slow their pace, or things like that. So, my run wasn't consistent, but that wasn't the reason I was running. It just felt good to be doing intentional exercise! I only did 2.25 miles (I probably could've gotten in three if I hadn't stopped so much).

While this doesn't mean I'm going to start running regularly again, I liked it enough that maybe I'll run again this Thursday at practice. Now that we are getting some fall weather, I actually won't be surprised if I feel like going for a run once in a while.



Finally... (just one last thing)...

I've been thinking a lot about how to go about the different direction of my blog (as I mentioned in my post about The Pursuit of Happiness). I've been wanting to write more regularly in order to develop a good routine for the school year, and one of the things that I have always wanted to do is have a particular topic for each day that I write.

And since these things always seem to use alliteration, I was thinking days like, "Mental Health Monday" (my issues or general issues surrounding depression, bipolar, anxiety, etc); "Tasty Tuesday" (post a new recipe that I tried that week); Weight Loss Wednesday (my Wednesday Weigh-in, but also any other weight loss stuff I want to write about); Thrifty Thursday (budgeting stuff, thrift store finds, etc); Family Friday (any personal things I want to mention about we've been up to lately). I'm a little stuck for Saturday and Sunday (at least for the alliteration!). So maybe I'll make those days a grab bag, if I feel like writing then.

I think it'll be easier on me if I know what topic I'm going to be writing about, and it will help to be more consistent in case certain people only want to read about certain topics. So, you may see that soon. I did just make a new recipe for dinner today, so maybe I'll post that tomorrow for Tasty Tuesday! ;)



12 comments:

  1. How about "Surprise Saturday"? You could post whatever you feel like posting that day.
    Thank you for all of your realness, Katie. Love reading your blog.

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  2. I don't think you have to put so much pressure on yourself regarding the blog and structure! (Unless it is helpful for you and makes you feel more clear.) at least for me, I just like "listening" to you journal. That makes me feel good and supported and not alone. I check the blog at least once a day and it's part of my routine every morning for me to help get myself going. I appreciate anything and everything you have to say. :)

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  3. I always look forward to reading your blog and think that having a specific topic for each day is a great idea.

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  4. I love the idea of different topics on different days! I would know what to look forward to reading! Also, I think Kroger's customer service is pretty sub-par. In Wisconsin we have Pick n Save stores but they were recently bought out by Kroger. We're slowly getting the Kroger brand stuff but I haven't really had many good experiences so far! I'm hoping it's just an adjustment period right now since I always loved my Pick n Save stores

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  5. Interesting how a national company like Kroger plays denial with you while a photo-shopped internet program owns their error and apologies. I would have thought the exact opposite.

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  6. Good grief that's a lot to take in between Kroger and having your photos stolen! Jeepers! Love the idea of the topics on different days!

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  7. Kroger totally dropped the ball on making this right. And to include a plug for their products in their correspondence was inappropriate.

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  8. Love you idea of blog topics each day of the week. For the Sat.and Sun.blogs, you could just do one and call it Weekend Wrap-Up.
    Glad you enjoyed running again, I'm sure it will be motivational to keep it up since you're coaching the cross-country team. I need to find some of that motivation....somewhere!!
    It sure sucks that company used your pictures (even though the Photoshop job was horrible), glad it got taken care of so quickly. Must be a foreign site, since you said you couldn't read or understand the language.

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  9. Love your blog! And I'm excited about Thrifty Thursday, I love reading some of your tips. I recently went to Goodwill to shop for my two boys and was BLOWN away at the deals I found on name brand clothes - for $2.99!!

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  10. You could make it "Whatever Weekends" and use the weekend days to talk about whatever didn't quite fit the other days of the week but still are worth mentioning?

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I used to publish ALL comments (even the mean ones) but I recently chose not to publish those. I always welcome constructive comments/criticism, but there is no need for unnecessary rudeness/hate. But please--I love reading what you have to say! (This comment form is super finicky, so I apologize if you're unable to comment)

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