June 23, 2011 — Pardon my French, but the last few days have been a clusterf*ck in regard to my web hosting company and its “upgrades” that invariably have the same impact as “glitches.” Funny how that works!
I was unable to log in to this blog; it displayed incorrectly, nearly all the images were gone. WTF? I asked myself. I’ve been trying to figure the problem out, but if I can’t log in to the blog back-end system, I’m stuck. After much research, I found a suggestion to go into the MySQL database and change a URL reference. Hey, the database was one of the things that seemed to be working! That change allowed me to at least get logged in to this blog.
In short, the problem happened when an “improvement” the host company made prohibited the browser from referencing the base account URL to locate images and other files. The problem is that I didn’t know of this “upgrade” until all hell broke loose. The account URL had been the base reference for this blog and several other accounts — which means you have to go in and correct every reference to it. Yeah, I’m ready to wring some necks!
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I have another dah-ling key on its way from the netherworld of eBay … this one is a Lightning Bug in beautiful shape with its carrying case. Got it worth the money, and didn’t realize why until later: Newbie eBay’er.
Maybe buyers steer clear of new sellers; I usually do as well but this time, I goofed. Mr. Seller contacted me in minutes after the bidding ended, pushing for me to pay (his listing doesn’t state that the seller must pay in 24 hours or other requirement).
I’m not a scofflaw, and when I bid, I try to always pay within the sellers requested time. But this guy was like a chihuahua nipping at my wallet — he e-mailed me at least twice the next day before drawing a line in the sand: If I don’t pay by this morning, he’s assuming I don’t want the key and filing a complaint! The guy went from zero to ultimatium in about 24 hours!
His first e-mail was a little snarky, and they went downhill from there. I considering withholding payment for a couple of days just for the sheer entertainment value (ain’t I a stinker?). But like the annoying chihuahua, its easier to give them what they want and shut them the hell up.
I shouldn’t be so tough on the guy, this was his 3rd item he sold on eBay, so he’s plenty jazzed — and still worried about people actually paying for items.
I did decide to have a little fun with him — I sent him a chatty e-mail asking that he pack the thing securely in bubble wrap to avoid damaging it. I was pleasant and nice, after all, I DO want this key he has.