Terms & Conditions

Introduction | Site Content | Privacy | Comments & Contacts

I don’t know anyone who likes legalese, and I’m no different. Unfortunately, I also don’t know of any web site owners who can avoid it.

Generally, if everyone acts like polite adults, things on this web site will move along just fine. The specifics are below. If you have questions or concerns about any of them, send a message and we’ll talk about it.

1. You have reached the personal web site of Catherine Collingwood Estes. The web site address is collingwest.com.
   • This site can also be reached using the older address of sonria.org; however, that URL should be considered outdated.
2. The site is administered using the laws and regulations of the United States of America and the U.S. State of Georgia.
3. I’ve taken a number of steps to prevent spam and malicious code; and if you do experience that sort of problem please let me know. However, again, I can’t guarantee that such things won’t be present, nor can I accept responsibility for them. As such, please keep your personal security features such as firewalls and spam prevention turned on.
4. The site is administered using a local installation of WordPress, including several plugins. The site’s appearance is a customized version of Ron Angelo’s Asteroid (as a child theme). Automatic updates are enabled, but there may sometimes be latency in versions and features.
   • My hosting provider is Bluehost and I am happy to recommend them; my interactions with them have always been friendly, prompt, and professional.
5. The site’s appearance, customizations, text, and other attributes are copyrighted to me. All rights are reserved; there are no automatic licenses, except that:
   • Links to this site (including sub pages) are permitted, unless done with the intent to defraud, install malicious code, or otherwise violate legal codes and common courtesy. I reserve the right to ask anyone to delete a link to any portion of this site.
   • Brief quotations and summaries that fall under “fair use” laws are also permitted. If you do quote or summarize anything here, I would greatly appreciate it if you let me know.

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6. Most content of this site is appropriate for all ages. However, I can’t guarantee that all of it is appropriate for minors and accept no responsibility for the site content’s suitability. Parents, please monitor your children’s Internet activities.
7. The contents of this site are meant as general advice only. I’m not a lawyer or financial advisor, and if I were, I wouldn’t post specific advice online. You should independently verify information on the site before using it as a basis for your personal decisions. I can’t be held responsible for any adverse events that result from failure to do so.
8. Unless otherwise attributed, any opinions you find on this site are solely those of the poster or commenter. They don’t represent any other person or organization, including, but not limited to: current and former employer(s) for myself or anyone in my family; current and former parish(es) for myself or anyone in my family; current and former educational institutions for myself or anyone in my family; or any other person or entity that is not me.
9. The presence of an external link and/or a quotation should not be considered an affiliation, endorsement, or agreement, unless that is specifically stated. Please keep in mind that I cannot control the content or policies of external sites.
10. Portions of this site contain links to fan fiction. Please be mindful of the additional disclaimers attached to said items.

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11. User accounts and uploads are not permitted on this site. As such, no personal information is collected unless you leave a comment on the blog or send a message through the contact form.
12. If you leave a comment on the blog, the site collects the data shown on the form alongside your IP address and browser user agent string.
    • An anonymized string created from your email address may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. If you use this service, your profile picture will be visible to the public once the comment is approved. Be aware that use of the Gravatar service means consent to its privacy policy.
    • You may also opt in to saving your name, email address, and web site using cookies. These are for your convenience, so that you don’t have to fill in the details again if you leave another comment. Under most circumstances these cookies will last for a year.
13. If you send a message through the contact form, the site collects the data shown on that form alongside your IP address. No other information is collected.
    • This information is used to review the message itself, and if necessary, to send a follow-up email message.
    • Please note that the question about blog post quotability is a required field. If this question is not answered “No,” your contact form message may be quoted in a future blog post.
14. Since this is a personal web site, any personal information that may be collected is used for spam protection, analytics, and convenience. Your information will never be sold or used for marketing purposes. Under most circumstances, information will never be shared with a third party at all.
    • If sharing of personal data is necessary for legal reasons (subpoena, police report, etc.), only the minimum required and necessary amount will be shared.
15. If you have left a comment or sent a message, you may request an exported file of the personal data on file about you. You may also request that that data be deleted. If you make such a request, the only data I will keep will be that required for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

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16. While polite and constructive criticism is always welcomed, any contact or comment that contains flames, trolling, or similar offensive and non-constructive content will be ignored and the IP address blocked.
    • The same goes for any contact deemed to be spam.
    • Comments and contacts from bots and artificial intelligence applications are also not welcome.
17. All comments and contacts, as well as Gravatar avatars, should be appropriate for general audiences. I prefer no use of profanity, but if you feel it’s absolutely necessary, please keep it minimal.
18. Comments and contacts containing threats (against me or anyone else), doxxing, bullying, stalking, or other illegal and unethical items will be reported to the appropriate authorities for potential further action.
    • This is not limited to threats against life or property. Threat of any illegal or unethical action may trigger a report.
    • Those who submit such contacts or comments will also be permanently banned from submitting any further messages.
19. Please feel free to submit suggestions about blog posts or additional content for the site. However, at the moment, I am not accepting proposals for guest posts written by third parties.
20. If I have reason to believe that a contact or comment has been submitted by someone under the age of 13, I will not approve the comment or republish the contact form contents. However, I can’t be held responsible if someone conceals or misrepresents their age.
21. Blog comments are moderated the first time a user posts, and may be moderated again at my discretion or after your annual cookies expire.
22. The decision to approve or decline a comment is entirely mine and those decisions are final.
    • You don’t have to agree with something said here. But you do have to keep it relevant, polite, and constructive.
    • As long as it meets those guidelines, chances are good that I will approve the comment.
23. Please be aware that I can’t help you with your personal situation (and I won’t try) unless I already know you.

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Whew! If you’ve made it all the way to the bottom of this page while reading all that’s on it, I appreciate your willingness to go through all that verbiage — and I salute you for doing so, since most people don’t.

If you have any questions or concerns about what you’ve seen here, please send me a message. While I reserve the right to say “no,” I’m almost always open to listening to legitimate and well-intentioned ideas.