…but I managed to figure out what was wrong with my website and fixed it.

The last two days have been absolutely frantic for me. Mostly this is due to my OC personality as it pertains to my career and website. I finally found a temporary reprieve from the career stress after making a mad dash to get something mailed today. I got to the USPS 30 minutes after the next day delivery cutoff. Hopping back in the car, I used my cell to call FedEx while driving in what I hoped was the right direction. Turns out it was. I made it to the depot with ten minutes to spare before the last pickup of the day. Whew!

In the back off my mind while running around like a chicken with its head cutoff was my website woes and the work I have ahead of me to get everything moved. I’m usually a person who likes change. In this case, it terrifies me. I’m comfortable where I’m at, but then things don’t work. Right now I’m getting by, but if one tiny query messed up, it would pretty much shut me down. No one can run a business with the threat of imminent closure. Especially, a person like myself with website-itis. Every button I press causes me to cringe in fear that something is going to blow up in my face. I can’t handle it.

The benefit to all of this madness? When you’re running around on the verge of panic you wonder what the hell you’re doing this for. Why are you suffering through all of this stress? Wouldn’t it be easier to just let things go? Prop your feet up, read a book, watch a movie, and eat tons of chocolate.

It’s at moments like this when you remember how much you love to write, how great it is to build a story and get lost in another world. It’s always all about the writing. Unfortunately, the by-product of being a successful writer is the website and the mad dashes to get your ms in the mail before a holiday weekend.

So I’m going to finish the website mess I am absolutely detesting to the bottom of my soul and then I’m going to write. I have a new computer and laser printer to hook up, a necessary expenditure with all the printing I do, but that will wait. I’m going back to writing. Just to remind myself why it’s all worth it.

We’re building new fun for you.

Sorry. I’m going to attempt switching servers over the weekend. I’m having a ton of database related issues and since all the interactive parts of my website are database driven this is not a good thing. This will be a long, arduous, labor intensive project. Please forgive me if things seem wacky.

And by the way, I’m terrified. There are limits to my web saviness. I hope I don’t run into any during this process.

The message board has a new skin. If you go there you might get a bit confused about where you are. Just thought I’d warn you. If you get lost, you can always choose the default skin in the dropdown box on the bottom right. (Only shows up if you’re logged in.)

Also I’m upgrading my WordPress to the latest stable release 1.5. All-new and supposedly much improved. (Not sure how they can do that since WP is the bomb as is. ) So if you come by and the blog looks funky, that’s why. Bear with me. I hope I don’t mess anything up.

*****UPDATE*****

Mess things up?? Oh my gosh, my blog database totally exploded and crashed my blog. I had a freakin’ heartattack. Thank the Lord I made a copy of my database directly before the upgrade or I would have lost a ton of stuff. So, all you WP users out there, DON’T UPGRADE!!! And if you do, backup your entire database first. Jees, my heart is still racing. I have this plug-in One Click Backup and it saved my blog. If you haven’t installed this plugin yet, you should.

Well, I just discovered how important my blog is to me. When I thought I’d lost it I was thinking, “How will I talk with my friends? What will happen to the hundred+ people who surf through here each day?” I was prepared to switch servers just to get my database back. So, just so you guys know, you’re valuable to me. I’d go to great lengths to keep you in my life.

I’m writing and editing like a mad woman. ‘Nuf said ‘cuz you knew that already.

My new laptop arrived today. Later, while I’m watching CSI:Miami, I’ll load it up with the programs I’ll want with me while travelling: Outlook, WS_FTP, FrontPage, WriteWay, my e-Bookman manager. Fun, fun, fun.

The developers of my message board software were defaced, just like Alison’s site was not too long ago. That freaked me out. While my site is professionally designed and maintained, I handle my own blog and message board–two confusing, database, php-driven open source programs, which I self-installed and manage. This means if something were to happen to either one or if my server was hacked using a vulnerability in either one, I would have no recourse. I’m not willing to risk my site by using a potentially unsafe program. So I’ve purchased the license to a professional grade message board system which comes complete with installation, maintenance, upgrades…everything. Over the next day or two they will convert my message board, moving the existing posts and users to the new board. This board has the same features as the existing one and several additional features that I don’t have now, like skinning capability and a calendar for events. All in all, you shouldn’t have any trouble getting around. Hopefully, the migration will be smooth and trouble free.

I hope everyone had a good one. It rained here, but not too bad. Hubby went out this morning and came back with a new computer for me, so I’m happy. I won’t be able to switch over until after my deadline, because transferring everything I need will take all day, but I’m excited to try it out eventually. I did switch monitors though because the new one is bigger. It’s nice.

I’ve wrote a huge chunk today and got a couple of chapters ready to send off for critiques. There are a couple of things about the heroine that are bugging me, I hope I get them worked out. Must. Have. Stong. Heroines.

There are some nefarious individuals out there who are sending very official looking Paypal e-mails. These e-mails are designed to get as much financial information out of you as possible. If the letter addresses you as “Dear Paypal member” or something else other than your full name, it’s a spoof. That’s the only tip off you’ll get that it’s not a real e-mail unless you view the source. Paypal will always address you by your full name in their greetings.

The e-mail uses actual Paypal images (bandwith stealing) and then does a bit of finagling so that if you mouseover the link it will show that it’s taking you to Paypal, but it’s actually taking you somewhere else. If you get one of these e-mails, forward it to spoof@paypal.com.