Lost and Found (geese and gremlins)
A weird thing happened here yesterday afternoon – I vanished.
Well not ME. I’m a fairly substantial gal actually. Pretty hard to lose me. No, it was my blog. It done went and *POOF*… vanished. Just. Like. That.
Now if you have lurked around here for very long, you will know that I am not terribly good with anything remotely technical in the web world. And I had been working hard on getting our cattle business website up all week, so had well and truly used up every web-savvy brain-cell I owned before this happened. So I did what I do best, I got someone else to help! My blog/web man Conor put aside his cow work (which I am sure rivetted him no end, seeing as how it was the first bovine-related website he has attempted) to try and track down the issue, with frustratingly little result. (Not Conor’s fault, we just couldn’t find WHY the blog site was down).
Some of you sent emails and tweets and FB messages alerting me to the issue – I was alternately panicked (and reassured) that someone actually missed me/the blog. And then – as I lay in bed late last night – I realised that I missed the blog too. Badly. Did that mean I missed me? Weird. What would happen if the site stayed down for another hour? Another day? Another two days? Forever? Would I shrivel up and die? You can see that I wasn’t totally calm and reasoned about the whole debacle.
And with the knowledge that Conor was away today, I tentatively crept into the computer this morning to see if it had magically restored itself (I believe in internet fairies, who fight internet gremlins on my behalf). But NO. No fairy magic for me! That naughty, rude DNS server message was there again. So I put on my ex-investigative journalist hat (okay, so I was never an INVESTIGATIVE journalist –semantics, people). I emailed, I twittered, I delved. I discovered a couple of things.
1. One’s web host is not NECESSARILY the same as the company who is the REGISTRAR of one’s domain. Who knew? This means lots and lots of finding support chat lines and email addresses and phone numbers…
2. If someone is not concentrating on entering one’s details correctly when setting up a domain registration, lots and lots of reminder emails can be sent to the wrong address about renewing domain registration. I wonder if that OTHER bush babe out there is sick of getting reminders about a domain they don’t own?
3. This results in an expired domain. Ex-pired. Dead as a doormat. (Can doormats ever be alive?) It was killed with neglect. I’m a bad blog mother.
4. Support staff at web companies in both Australia and the USA are very patient with silly bloggers who don’t understand internety stuff. Basically they were very nice about this goose who did not remember my own email address a couple of years ago. *sigh*
5. Internet Gremlins hide in more than one place. Just because you pay your domain registration DOES NOT guarantee that you can blog. It has taken two hours for me to get this to posting stage – according to the lovely Carl at Host Gator (I am on first name terms with several support staff at several internety companies) Time Warner is to blame. Something about hubs and California. And similarities to phones in houses and phonelines and… ummm…. sorry Carl, I tuned out several explanations (and terrific analogies) earlier.
I have now wasted almost a day on my blog. Where waste = all I have to show is new frown lines, higher blood pressure, lots of emails from you guys saying ‘where are you?‘ and this blog post. If it ever gets posted. With this possible future frustration in mind, I leave you with…
Duck a l’Orange. *
It’s got nothing to do with this post, except I need calming down.
And ducks and orange water I are what I do.
Geese and gremlins, not so much.
I need hugs…
🙂
BB
*I know that’s not right DW, but I cannot be ***ed googling right now. I might break Google…
26 Comments
Jindivick Wildlife Shelter
Love it! Welcome back! Quack quack!
debby
There, there, now. Everything’s going to be aaaaaaaaaaaalll riiiiiiiiiight….
debby
Oh. And I am prescribing chocolate. And chardonnay.
debby
In substantial quantities…
debby
🙂
Elizabeth
You appeared in my RSS feed just like always, so congratulations on all that good internet tracking! I had a pseudo-client (I don’t actually get paid for this!) who didn’t recognize why he needed to pay for either his hosting OR his domain and then wondered where his website went… It happens!
Carol/Red Dirt in My Soul
So glad you’re back… I DEFINITELY would have missed you, my dear antipodal ranch wife! Just because you seem to echo my life in opposite seasons, though, does not mean I want to go through this myself! And I just renewed my domain and hosting two days ago! 😉
Bill
Wow! I’m glad to see you on my screen. I was traveling and using strange wifi sites and my computer says Hello, I’m from google and I’m here to save you – there is no Bushbabe. I huffed and puffed and still there was no bushbabe. I didn’t know if you really were GONE or how to get you back. I’m so glad that you fixed it because I could not. It is sooo nice to hear your fonts rattling again!
Joan
Hug!
Jen
Hug!
missing moments
ack! how painful! glad you got it worked out!
Kelly
(((HUGS)))
I am SO glad you got things worked out and are back with us! Look for the positives: You’re more internet savvy now and you made some new tech support friends!
Norma in Alabama
Sorry for all your trouble but aren’t you glad you are missed and appreciated. Thanks for making it back to us.
Theresa in Alberta
I am just glad you are back!!!
Bush Babe
Awwww – you guys. In the immortal words of Jeff Fenech: Love yous all!
*walks away feeling quite chuffed*
🙂
BB
Gretchen in KS
VERY glad to see you here. (((((((((((((hugs)))))))))))))) Did you take notes? And save them in multiple formats and locations? (paper never helps me in MY home, but if it’s only on your computer, you may lose that at a very inconvenient time, too) Learning isn’t always fun, but it looks like you’re a good student. Love the duck!
Kylie
ooHUGSoo Welcome Back BB!
Florence
welcome back. Love your sense of humour. And your photos are brilliant. Wish a smidgeon of your talent would slide my way.
Amanda
Hugs…
Can’t have you disappearing again!
Leenie
Whewww! Sorry it took so long to find your way back. Internetty gremlins are a tough lot to conquer. Yay for your return! The whole world would miss BB!!
Jayne
Yay, you’re back again!!!
It’s ok, we’d have waited for you to catch up again 😉
Brigitte
Oh….hugs, hugs, lots of hugs. Wasn’t aware you had gone from cyberworld, as I was on holiday for a week. Would have missed you terribly. Love reading your blog, so don’t go walkabout again!!!! Please????? x
Nancy in Iowa
I will claim that this is one reason I don’t try creating a blog for myself! I am sooooo glad you persevered. It was bad enough when I missed almost 2 weeks recently because my keyboard went into a coma and I couldn’t type anything! My only computer access was through my mouse – it was painful. I didn’t even read blogs in that period because I knew I couldn’t type comments, and that’s like being in the dentist’s chair with your mouth stuck open and the dentist and assistant talking cheerfully overhead and you’re unable to jump in!!!
Your orange duck is a beautiful welcome back.
Inyureye
HONK HONK! Glad your back!
Linda
YAY! You fixed it and you are back!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com
Colin (HB)
BB – well “Duck a l’Orange” is a premier restaurant dish, so your vanishing act was not all that bad, if you were served this epicurean delight????
I sympathise with all your commentators who have PC “meltdowns, disappearing acts, and other things like cyberspace” and then trying to correct the problem with your server! (I say no more on the last one,I don’t wish to be jailed) – I sometimes think the old methods were more dependable, the telephonists with country party lines, the telegrams and even the pigeons!
Still if the “Duck a l’Orange” was of great quality, then the exercise was worth the inconvenience!
Colin