Moving on again

My time with Siteground as the hosting company for this blog is coming to an end. Their very attractive $3 a month deal, which I have had for three years now, suddenly jumped to $30. In anyone’s books, this seems a bit excessive, but with the ANC doing their level best to drive the Rand into the floor (and then some way beyond), the company were, as the old saying goes, “having a giraffe”.

I mean, they’ve been good, but not that good.

[As a side note, the jury is still very much out on Flickr.]

And so – once again with the invaluable help and advice from The Guru – I’ll be heading (or should that be swerving, lol) to Veerotech in the very near future.

You guys couldn’t notice the seamless transition, so this is really just a post to tell you that if you do see anything a bit weird here over the next couple of weeks (like for instance the blog turning to a kitchen and bathroom store in Pennsylvania), then that’s probably what it is and normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.

Fingers crossed though, it’ll all be lovely.

Day 88 – There is news. Good news.

Late(ish) last night, following my seventy-fourth email to [company], I finally received the news that I had been waiting for: the domain 6000.co.za had been renewed.

I’m very grateful for this, but also pretty pissed off that it was ever an issue in the first place.

I had paid for a service, told them what I wanted and they just didn’t do it. That’s why, just as soon as I can, I will be moving the responsibility for this simple – but important – task to a different company.

Anyway, the good* news is that the blog is up and running for (at least) another year.

 

 

 

* delete if not appropriate

Day 71, part 2 – Moved

After 8 years of occasional bliss, overnight – while you were sleeping – 6000 miles… moved from South Africa to a new home amongst the bright lights of London town. The Big Smoke, innit.

Not me, obviously. I’m still here. Like I could get a flight anyway. Like I’d go to London anyway.

No: the blog. Away from Afrihost, and hopefully away from all the recent problems from which it has been suffering, and off to a new, more professional, much-recommended host.

The address remains the same. Do not point your browsers elsewhere. 

I cannot thank The Guru enough for his monumental efforts and extreme patience in sorting this out for me. From dealing with the slings and arrows of outrageous coding, through to taking  arms against a sea of well… actual troubles; and by opposing them, still having to deal with me and my lack of technological knowhow.

I am very grateful, and as soon as Level 5 lockdown is rescinded again in Cape Town, there will be wine.

In the meantime, please enjoy the new, faster, more streamlined and still every bit as poorly written offerings on here.

Day 70 – Did not sleep

A proper night of lying awake. Checking the clock, wandering the bedroom, considering life, the universe and everything.

There was no good news. Sorry.

It’s left me a bit broken this morning. I have managed to tip coffee all over my right hand in an exhaustion-induced move that was distressing because of both the pain and the wastage involved. In addition, it turns out that one can’t absorb caffeine through one’s skin and so there was no benefit in my mood or general responsiveness. I’m going to try tipping some more of it down my throat just now and see if that makes any difference.

After yesterday’s brief return to data capturing – a task I really didn’t understand just how much I didn’t miss – I’m moving on to bigger and better things today. Obviously, there’s a quiz to write (there’s always a quiz to write), some sorting out to do in the garden, some schoolwork and a Scout badge to assist with and – hopefully – an exciting new project which will result in a more stable website experience for everyone even vaguely connected with 6000 miles…

And then one more thing to look forward to. Bihari are doing deliveries and I am absolutely here for that. No jalfrezi on the slightly limited menu, but plenty of their really decent alternatives. “No Cook Thursday” just became a thing – for today at least. And assuming that I’m able to stay awake until they arrive with my curry.

UPDATE: Booked the curry. Life is good again.

Day 67 – Many problems

There are a lot of problems with the blog and the way it’s chatting to the server it is hosted on.

That’s why some of you might have seen a 503 error if you came here this morning. In fact, it’s been up and down like the proverbial yoyo all day:

 

 

Let’s see if there’s anything that can be done about it.
The smart money seems to be on an errant plugin.