The website redesign is proceeding on schedule. We will be converting from a multisite to a single site and letting the blog posts and landing pages shoulder the load that multisite previously carried.
The amount of work that has to go into conversion is massive, because categories have to be reordered. Currently there are 1,672 blog posts on this site and I am sorely tempted to shed all of that weight. We’ll need writing articles, fiction posts like Ryder, and maybe couple of other categories like recommended read and maybe recipes. We might cap the blog to the last couple of years because I seriously doubt anybody is reading our posts from 2013. Theoretically I would want to save some of it for personal use, because it’s almost a diary, but I am not sure how I would do that.
Once done, it will be worth it, because right now the website is a hairy mess.
The last couple of days have been kind of lousy because Kid 2 moved out in the middle of protests and a whole bunch of things that could have gone wrong did. But we are trying to get back on the horse.
The office is looking nice, although slightly empty. My plan is to carry an armload of books every time I walk to it, and slowly fill the shelves. Also I ordered two pretty bookcases for the office, which we desperately need. We were both happy with the bookshelves so I tried to order more. No dice. Not available until July 4th. I signed up to be notified when they are back in stock, but I must be somewhat stressed out because I was bitterly disappointed.
Of all things happening now, apparently bookcases are it for me. ::eye roll::
Well, I must call BFF Jeaniene, who is furiously working on the last Ian book and see if it did her in. Then it’s Ryder, and some kind of food cooking, website design review, and whatever else the day wants to throw at me. I woke up late and now I am very angry about 2 hours of work time I wasted sleeping. Heh.
Update: AC guys came. You know how Bug at some point says that something is some sort of wonderful whatthefuckery he has never seen before? That’s basically what they said. They took pictures and went back to their office.
Can we see pictures of the office and bookshelves? you know the Horde loves home reno!
Is there a way the BDH could help with categorising the older posts, both to lighten the load and ensure they’re available to you (& the horde) into the future?
Haha lol Bug !!! I miss Bug !
I wanna see him with baby !!
Ahhhhhh Bug. When he posit, “is it too soon?” To Shadow and then feeds the dog an old treat… Tears. Genuine tears. Or maybe just jalapeño juice in my eye. But for real, his back story about why he became a swarmer would be epic. Love the Bug!
+1
I always wondered if the swarm permanently altered Bug, so if he ever had kids they would inherit the weirdness 😀 but they might kill him if he survives Nevada and Connor’s kid
+1
+1
+1
I am so sorry. Hope things get better and you get less stressed. What works with me is that I just roll with it – I’ve had a lot of practice with that recently, but I think you’ve had more knocks than I have. My daughter moving during all this would have been enough of a stress, without all the other stuff. I hope your AC gets fixed soon. If your house is too warm, that certainly doesn’t help!
Can we see pictures of the whatthef***ery HVAC?
David, if I’m not mistaken, the picture of the whatthefu**ery HVAC was shown in a previous post (“Ryder Towards the End of the Week”).
You will get there. Some days I just *need* to be in a crummy mood. Today is your day.
I like the thought of bringing in a armfull of books whenever you enter your office. That seems very claiming in a good way.
I support both of these ideas.
Just think of those 2 hours as fuel for your working. ????
Good luck with everything! ????
I totally agree with that. Sometimes its better to take the extra sleep than figjt rhe exhaustion ALL day long. It’ll all work out one interventions at a time.
Never fun when the pros say it’s something they’ve never seen.
Lots of hugs. There are days I just want to put my head under the covers instead of work. I totally understand.
Good luck on the redesign. It’s always harder to fix something than to start over.
If all else fails, print your old blog posts out and put them in a binder. You will have them if needed – which pretty much guarantees that you won’t ever need them. (You know : It’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. That has to be one of the corollaries to Murphy’s Law.) You could probably edit the posts lightly and put them up for sale. There are those of us who would buy them.
Time spent sleeping is never wasted. If you slept longer this morning, you will make up for it by staying up later or not falling asleep while trying to do something else.
Enjoy your “new” office. It sounds really nice.
Yes – Sleep is necessary and your brain works better if you get enough.
Print to Microsoft PDF. that way you have them all in a searchable PDF file that you can print any one portion of or not and it will not be huge file size.
Yes! Just what I was thinking!
I hope the things s that went wrong did not result in injury, arrest or insolvency for anyone.
The book case thing is the Covid isolation.
I vote for keeping recipes, book reviews and knitting along with the other things you listed. I frequently go back to all three.
Thank you both for the joy in this hard time! Your posts, with and with out the free story have been a welcome light.
Every one try to stay safe and healthy!
Extra sleep sounds like a good use for time to me. I hope the rest of your day goes well!
+1
I ended up archiving my old blog posts as a Word Doc. (I think we just exported them, but it’s been a while.) That way you have them in case you ever need to find something.
You can also leave them as unpublished so they’re not actually loading on the live blog, but I don’t know if that would solve your needs.
I regretted not saving a blog from a long time ago. I was one of the first 100 or so people who ever “journaled” online, [and wow, we were horrified at the idea of there being a single platform for this thing called ‘blogging’…. we swore that word would never take over!) (lol)… way back in the stone ages. I lost a bunch of posts that I thought I would never care about and sure enough, I was trying to find someone and their name/background… and it was in one of those old posts. Drove me batshit trying to find it.
Ooh! Do you remember the battles on Diary-L on whether we were Journallers or Diarists? The hand-coding purists? The eventual Horror of people “selling out” by putting ::gasp:: an ad or two on their page?
I remember the first time Kymm Zuckert linked to me. Suddenly I had *readers*!! And my traffic got ridiculously expensive.
And yeah, “blogging” was for people who kept web logs – lists of links to things they’d found on the internet – not those of us who told our little life stories! Aah, the nineties…
Time sleeping is never wasted. Good luck with the website redesign.
+1! Sleep always helps ????
Do you realize how amazing you both are? each time I go to your blog there is always something interesting to read – whether it is making a beaded tree, knitting, food, family, other authors, the photos, everything you write is enjoyable no matter how many times I reread them. Okay Maybe I won’t go back to blogs of 2013 – but maybe?
Feel free to shed excess from site. Isn’t clearing things out what we are being encouraged to do now? A good clearing out makes me very happy. Might be just the thing for you right now. Make your website into what pleases you and that will please us.
Yes, it”s a kind of spring cleaning, isn’t it? I try to delete a lot when it comes to my photos I keep my knitting and other photos and information in separate folders and those folders in Umbrella Folders. Then every night I file away everything that’s cluttered up the desktop so I only have about 4 folders on the desktop.
A good friend saw my laptop desktop 4 or 5 years ago and said ,”you teach organization to people, do the same thing to your computer.” and was kind enough to teach me how ,
in a couple of minutes.
Your website is hosted on a wordpress platform, which has a MySQL database backend. It would be simple enough to export your blog posts from the database to a CSV file for safe keeping . Your web person should be able to to that.
If not, I would be happy to help you with that. After all the pleasure your books have given me over the years, it would be the least I could do!
That is so nice and maybe it would be a few clicks away. A way you rock!
If you woke up late it is because you need it, so don’t be angry, take care of yourself, we need you and Gordon. You don’t know are precious you are for us.
+1000!
I can’t help it Kathleen, but is that a polyp in the third fold?
I just finished standing in an appointment line at social distances with facemasks etc. with my internal medicine doctor. Fortunately, I don’t need another colonoscopy.
lol!
I have to join this post. It is truth.
I used to think that sleeping was a waste of time, but now I realize how much happier and productive I am when I get eight hours a night. Not always possible right now, since I have trouble managing stress. Like you, I’m sometimes surprised what sets me off, especially since it’s often something minor.
Not long ago, I was pureeing some soup in the blender and didn’t secure the lid properly. Soup EVERYWHERE. Except for the ceiling, thankfully. I was remarkably calm, though it took me a couple of hours to clean up the mess. But then there was the time I went to pick up my grocery order and butter was out of stock, and I actually cried on the drive home, because I was so deeply disappointed.
Surreal times.
I tried to make salad dressing in a jam jar yesterday. In went oil, vinegar, honey mustard and I went to give it a big shake. Didn’t put the lid on properly somehow and it went everywhere. Dripping off my glasses and everything….. ????
Aw, you poor thing! I was so stunned at the soup explosion that at first I didn’t react at all, though I did have the presence of mind to turn the damn blender off. Oil is the worst to clean up, so I can imagine it took you forever.
On the upside, my kitchen was spic and span afterwards. It would’ve been safe to eat off the floors, ha ha.
Can you drag everything into 1 folder, then back it up to an exterior drive or cloud?
I mean can you back up everything you want to keep for a “diary” to an exterior thumb drive or larger exterior drive, or does Microsoft have anything like iCloud?
You are such a great computer engineer that I’m sure you’ll find a way.
I am in kindergarten in the computer world, so my husband has trained me to ask google first, about anything of which I am curious.
As to saving more than a year for your readers, it became obvious when you asked for book titles, that only a handful of commenters read anyone else”s comments before jumping in. They didn’t even read what you said about retiring “Magic” after 10 books.
So please yourself and keep what’s meaningful to you.
Sleeping is recharge time – never a waste. ????. You two sound insanely busy. Don’t work too hard. I’ve been trying to find some adjustable hand weights since this covid thing started. They’ll be available the end of June which is about when the gym will reopen lol
Never be annoyed at sleep, if you slept that long, your body needed it. =) I hope both the Kiddos are safely settled at this point, and I’m glad my own Kiddo is going to be with us awhile longer (she’s 18). I have to go check things and make sure my own cooking is lined up for tonight. Tacos are on the menu here. =)
Since I don’t get notifications and before the move to put the comments on one page I could never find my comment to see if there were replies. So unless something it’s meaningful to you I feel like it won’t be too much of a loss for the comments part if that’s something you’re considering to lessen the burden.
Just breathe, one two three…everything will work out the way it was supposed to ….my old college professor used to say all the time…into every life a little rain must fall…he was right and sometimes it comes in handy….you are doing great…just breathe
Staying healthy requires good sleep so please request some PTO from the workaholic portion of the brain.
I’m on the other end of the bookcase issue as I am trying to declutter decades old stuff and will probably have to recycle some books (>.< I know….) or hold onto them until July or August (what's another few months after 15+ years though). Some will go up on eBay with proceeds going to charity.
zoolert.com and nowinstock.net have online alertable stock alerts for things like weights and flour. No bookcases but perhaps it will help someone else.
You didn’t waste 2 hours of time sleeping, your body used those 2 hours to help you with your stress levels. Sleep is important, it is healing. Sometimes our bodies overpower our brain….this is a good thing. Now you can work on your to do list refreshed.
This time is so stressful that any small thing can be the straw to break the camel’s back. We all have to be kind to ourselves and develop whatever coping mechanisms work.
Your historical blog posts have so much value. I recently sent a teenage friend who wants to be a writer to your blog to search for your writing advice. I showed her one on “show versus tell” and it made a big impact on her.
If you don’t want to keep very old posts on the site, I hope you will archive them. Whether or not they should be available to fans is your call.
I agree — the writing posts are the BEST!! I, too, have linked to them for young writers in my life, because the posts are so clear and the topics are illustrated with such good examples. I would love for them all to still be available to fans (me ;-).
But then, I’m a “save everything” kind of person… love to come across old photos/documents from my past — often enough I’m surprised/amused at what all I did that has faded from memory.
Hope and wish that you and yours are safe , healthy, and happy wherever they go????
Please Be Gentle with Yourself, it’s the gift that keeps giving.
Heart Hugs
Whatever you decide to do with the blog, I hope you keep up the April Fool’s post of Warlord’s Price with Hugh 🙂
Sleep is never wasted. It is precious.
I feel your pain on the back orders. For me it was trying to find birthday presents and a Frozen Pinata that would arrive in time. There’s not even an option for expedited shipping. Three weeks Disney??? Oh the good old days of 2 day Amazon shipping. Although waiting 2 weeks for a fridge when the compressor died is worse.
I discovered your blog 2 years ago so I have read some old posts (hello TECHNOMANCER) but do whatever you have to do. I hope you find a way to save it for yourself.
I only ask that if you clear out some blog posts that you keep any that contain short stories, like the one about Helen and Gerard (?), or snippets that didn’t make it into books. And the Twitter(ish) exchanges between characters and the book smackdown between Kate/Curran and Nevada/Rogan. Those are fun to reread occasionally.
Yes!
They are already categorized under menu / free ????
Oh, and regarding the protests… We had to evacuate work yesterday because there was a protest miles from our office so corporate told us to evacuate. On the way home I called a friend who lives near there to warn her and she said it was a peaceful, planned protest, which was the first I heard about it since I’m not on social media. The way corporate sent us home I thought there was rioting. Nope, just a peaceful protest.
I’d love it if you could find a way to archive your blogs, but I totally get it if it’s too much trouble. Sometimes stuff just has to go. Thanks for all you do!
And yeah, sleep isn’t a waste of time when there’s so much on your plate, more a case of body prioritising what it needed!
Take care. I hope you and your family stay safe.
Good luck with the website stuff. Hopefully Kid 2’s move works out. I am not cooking today it is going to be hot ????. So it is leftovers, cold sandwich or take out. I hate cooking on days when it is in the upper 90’s or more and today we are flirting with 100.
That sounds like what the DFW area is going to have starting tomorrow. Tuesday is going to hit 99. As one of the local meteorologists says “the gates of hell are opening.” ????????
Here in San Jose we usually have very little humidity when it is hot, which I appreciate. I don’t think I could live full time in a hot humid place.
Last night we ended up with leftovers as we forgot about the curfew. So I think tonight will be pizza we all love it and I don’t have to worry about leftovers.
Hopefully you can stay cool too
Sounds about right for our weather in the DFW area. The spouse is going to have to deal with the fact that if he doesn’t grill then salads are going to be in his future. Seriously this is the time the slow cooker and electric pressure cooker get their workouts along with the grill.
My doctor told me that he wanted me to use a wheelchair due to the condition of my joints. I’m 32 and have the joints of an 80 year old. Insurance of course through a fit and denied everything to do with it, so I self funded. Wheel chair was supposed to be delivered today, but because of everything going UPS isn’t delivering to areas that have active riots. (That’s what I was told when I inquired as to why my package was delayed.) it doesn’t seem to matter to them that the nearest riot is 30 miles from my location.
Please remember to be kind to yourselves. It sounds like you have so much going on at the moment.
I hope Kid 2 is safe and well.
xxx
Try to save the old posts even if for your own use. You won’t regret it. I’ve been blogging for years and sometimes I need to go back and figure out “what year was it we went…” or a recipe. Or someone will ask me about an event and I can just toss them the link. There’s also often pictures that are easier to find in a blog by year than in the unorganized mess of files on some random computer we don’t own anymore, but there are backups and…who has time for that?
I think I still have a box of books in the garage that never made it into the bookshelves via that “grab a few as I pass through” method. Good luck!
Sleep is never wasteful. Moves are also stressful and especially so if it’s your kids. Letting them be independent and make their own choices vs being helpful because parents do know best(lol). I always hate when you find something you like then stores stop carrying it. I tried mello yellow zero (diabetic)because of Caldenia in your books. Now can’t find it anywhere near where I live.
I am a firm believer that if you are otherwise relatively healthy, and you oversleep, it’s because your body or mind needed the rest. Try to let that alleviate your guilt a bit. It sounds like it’s been a super-stressful week. And remember: as long as Kid 2 is ok, then SOMETHING went right.
I realized after posting how preachy this sounds. I apologize. I myself need to take more time under today’s stress.
Washington DC is a small city. My brother lives close enough to the Monday night scene (as the crow flies) to have heard the flashbangs and shots fired. He went outside and heard the screaming. I grew up in Washington DC. In the city itself, not in MD or VA. It makes me so ill to see the military police called to violently attack peaceful protesters in our nation’s capital while nearby the man ultimately responsible for the lives of Americans vows to bring the hammer of the US military down on our own citizens.
Anyway. So sometimes stuff like this makes me aggressively peaceful. You WILL get the sleep you need and you WILL be well! As my father would have said, “I have spake!”
Why do people want to attack our military for curbing civil disobedience? They are our sons and daughters who serve our nation and defend our rights to protest and speak out. Better to attack those who are enticing others to riot, deface, destroy, and rob in the name of “justice” subverting the message of those who are trying to exercise their rights.
Peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy, and right now our police forces are equipped with military grade hardware. In the places where peaceful protest has turned into rioting (which was in no way the case on Monday night), it is the job of the police to handle it, and they are currently equipped with military hardware (which they shouldn’t be, but that’s another story).
Also, I believe you are confusing “attacking the military” with “not agreeing with the use to which the military is being put.” I have no problems with our soldiers, and many, many problems with ordering them against US citizens. We also need to look very carefully about where to place the blame for the looting. I have family and friends up and down the east coast *, and in at least two major east coast cities and one rust belt, I have first hand accounts that the looting and arson was primarily committed by white nationalist “counter protestors.” I cannot say this is true everywhere, but it needs to be thought of and looked into. But the army itself should only be used to defend the US. Otherwise we are under martial law.
Cynthia, first, military is NOT involved. The Posse Comitatus Act, passed in 1878, prohibits using US military forces against US civilians. Because that’s how you get tyranny. That is NOT the job of US military.
Please do not ever, ever, advocate for the use of military against its own citizens, because the day US troops are deployed domestically is the day your freedom as a citizen will end. This is the day your children will be shot in the head with explosive rounds, your husband will be murdered, and your house will burn. I have seen what happens when military is deployed against civilians. It scars you for life.
Amen.
People tend to confuse National Guard with military because the NG is being sent to wars outside the country, but they are the ones who are supposed to handle disturbances inside the country. When I was young, we called them “weekend warriors” and were horrified when they got sent to Kent State University and shot people who were protesting the Vietnam war. They were young, untrained, and had nothing except lethal force to stop that mess, so they used it. In today’s world, they are actually trained and can be trusted to carry loaded weapons, but it’s terrifying to me that they are being called in to stop the riots. I have personally never understood why people protesting an inhumane act want to destroy property or steal from any store they walk near, and I can understand when store owners want someone to make them stop. I’m hoping that the arrests of all the police officers involved in this incident will calm the crowds as we await trials for the one who did it and those who watched without the humanity to even attempt to stop it. Now we have to give the justice system time to work, and I hope we can all do that.
This could easily become a platform for assertion and discussion of one’s political viewpoint. With all that is going on right now it is often difficult NOT to end up expressing one’s personal opinion. One thing I particulary liked about this blog was the understanding that it would NOT be used to express one’s personal political views. House IA can of course do and say whatever they want to with this blog as it is theirs. I just enjoyed the fact that this was one place a person could go to get away from all the nonsense currently going on. I don’t think it is a good idea to ignore what is happening in the world and in our own country, but I didn’t think this was the place to discuss that in terms of personal political viewpoint. I sincerely do NOT mean to offend anyone, hope I have not done so, and apologize if I have. We are all entitled to our opinions, I just hope this blog doesn’t turn into a sounding board or outlet for personal political views, or an arena for (however “civilized”) dissimilar stances to collide.
I am sorry Kid 2 moved in the midst of all the protests and the pandemic!!! I can only imagine how difficult it has been on all of you! I hope that kid 2 is completely and safely settled in now, and that she remains safe. I selfishly hope that you soon feel happily and completely settled yourself, in your office. I say “selfishly”, because I imagine (and hope) that feeling settled in your office will allow your creative juices to flow at maximum, and lead to the amazing writing that I enjoy so much! I eagerly await anything you have written, as I imagine everyone else in the BDH does!
I hope we all stay safe and healthy, and I pray for healing for our country as well as all its citizens. Thank you House IA for all of your books and posts. Reading your writing takes me to a happy place, where for a short while I don’t have to worry about anything and can simply enjoy being immersed in the world and characters you have created. Thank you for your incredible talent and hard work!!! ????????
I agree. There is the Insurrection Act of 1807 that does allow the military loose on home soil. The 1878 Act put a stop to the 1807 Act due to the Civil War (or the War Between the States depending on where you live).
Even so, if the day comes that the military (not National Guard) does get loose on American soil, we are in a heap of trouble. The military will have their orders and nothing will deter them from those orders. They will shoot to kill if they feel that they are threatened. It won’t matter if the person is a civilian or not.
Thankfully, our military leaders said no and reminded the troops they took an oath to preserve and protect the Constitution, which includes the right to peaceful assembly.
Just think of all the joy you’ll have if /when you delete those that offer you too much unsolicited advise. And definitely keep the shorts, recipes , knitting and family.
I’m laughing hysterically on your behalf. (This is the laughter I cannot control when the disasters pile up.)
Please don’t shed any of the fiction posts as weight! We need those stories that don’t actually get published anywhere else (like Rogan POVs).
I sympathize with the whatthefuckery. I noticed when I went out to check my trail camera that my gutter elbow was disconnected from the offshoot that makes sure water doesn’t pool at the corner of the house. Someone (*cough* elderly aunt *cough*) stomped on the offshoot a couple years ago so it’s rather bent. I found a plastic flexible elbow that should fit on amazon, can’t be delivered until June 10 and we have RAIN coming. So I check Home Depot and they have the same thing and I can get 2 of them for half the price of one on amazon. Okay I’ll brave the store. I do online order (3 tries because the same elderly aunt had me order a christmas gift from Home Depot so her name was linked to my account and it kept thinking she was ordering it). I finally get the text at 3:24 I can pick it up. So I head out, and go inside to wait in the line for online orders. When I’m the next customer I read my text more carefully and it was telling me the code to open the lockers. Head slap. I get out of line and go to the lockers and there is nothing in my locker. So I have to get back in the line that has grown (with people who don’t know what 6 feet looks like). When I finally get up to the desk she tells me someone named VANCE picked it up at 3:24. I’m getting annoyed at this point and I’m like no. So I look at my email (came in at 3:24) and text (also 3:24), explain that to her and she calls the manager up. VANCE is the person who was supposed to load the locker. I explain again nothing in the locker, so they send a guy back to pick up my items. I finally get them and head home and then have to play puzzle pieces with these two plastic things, the gutter coming down from the house, the fence the gutter runs through, and the metal offshoot that goes into some other type of pipe. I try every configuration there is while running around my house because the only way from one side of the fence to the other is to go out the gate which on the opposite side of the house. The whole time one of my dogs is singing at the back door asking to be let in, I’m not sure if she realized I was walking around the house and hadn’t actually locked her outside? Luckily I bought 2 of them because I ended up connecting them together then using that to connect the original elbow and offshoot. Annoying and frustrating but it actually doesn’t look half bad when all said and done. I can add gutters to my list of home projects I’ve tackled. Last week it was replacing the tub faucet that came off during my shower, the most difficult part of that (besides finding an appropriate faucet) was caulking. Neat, no. Done, yes. Home ownership, such fun!
Website redesign is a huge project. I’m not a ‘keeper of things’ so I’d cut everything (except stories you only posted on the site) prior 2016. Keep a running four years. Save yourself.
Hope life gets easier. I have to say, though, sleep is never wasted.
Something I like and order is always out of stock, but it comes in eventually – hopefully. Just look at the delay as an opportunity to get something else done.
Kid moving out – ouch. No suggestions/ thoughts there.
Thankfully life comes at us one day at a time.
“Well I’ve not seen that before …” is never something you want to hear from someone doing work for you. We got it with our gas supply, the pressure wasn’t constant – a huge NO! – so we called the gas supply people in. After three days of digging holes here, there and everywhere – seriously we had three on our property – it turned out that the between-the-wars builders had used the set up for a single house to provide gas for three properties, so whenever any of us cooked or our central heating fired or we ran a bath it affected the amount of gas available to the others. After expressing shock and telling us how very lucky we were to be alive they set to fitting us all with our own supply and filling the holes as if they’d never been there. Or in the case of a fern bed they had dug up better than before and all for nothing, didn’t cost us a penny!
Mark Twain once said that two moves equals one fire in terms of stress, and lost belongings. I feel for your A/C woes, air conditioner season started out promising enough. Then after three days, the stupid thing quit on us, on a Friday no less. A call to the service provider said they could come out the next day for emergency rates. My wallet said, “no thank you”. So he came out today and had it fixed in ten minutes. It was the second easiest and fastest repair for him, and the second cheapest for me. At least it works now.
Please do whatever you want to with the website. However, I beg to differ with you that your friends don’t want to read your post back to 2013. In fact, I pretty much think that digging up old posts and relinking them for latecomers to the party is one of the main tasks of our wonderful moderator Rossanna….
Boo hiss on the bookshelves being out of stock. And, since we have switched the AC on in MI, I cannot even imagine how warm and muggy it is where you are. As a native of St. Louis MO, I know it is the muggy that is the worst. Pile those things on everything else going on and it’s no wonder you may have hit a wall. Virtual hugs are being sent your direction, as well as cooling thoughts.
Amen as to the muggy being the worst. I’m also a south of St. Louis native. ☺️
Good luck with everything you have ongoing.
Sleep is good, I have a Granny nap most afternoons now we are working from home.
Keep safe xx
IIRC, you use WordPress? Change the blog post status to Private – sorry, can’t remember the exact radio button as am furloughed so no access, but it’s top right where the Publish button is. That way, the URL remains as do your categories but only the site editors have access. Then you can take your time deciding what to do with them. Good luck!
It is so weird what can set a person off. I was horribly upset the day before my birthday because I knew there would be no friends or family, no gifts or cards. We just moved, mail is slow (there is stuff coming, eventually), but I felt like a 10 year old when no one comes to their birthday party. I’m 53 (now) for crying out loud. As my husband said, tears are just your emotions escaping, you’ll feel better (he is so good). But I sure felt stupid. Definitely stress!
Ouch, I have been tasked with changing our charity’s website, too. Too many years away from any tech related work has relegated me to a savvy user. Meaning, not tech. I seriously feel your pain. It will all work out.
Btw, we are the BDH. I really put it past us to go and search for posts from 2014 for some obscure thing you once said, and we remember was totally funny, and now must reread to laugh a little.
Here’s a pretty photo I took, when I accidentally woke up at 5:45am.
On the “move an armload of books as you go past” idea:
The idea is great.
You’d probably have an easier time if you had a dedicated “toter” that you could load up and grab as you go past.
It could be a tote bag, a laundry basket (NOT full), a milk crate, an empty box with handles – what ever you happen to have.
This also gives you the chance to pick and choose what goes each time….
Old blog post as a diary of sorts would be really cool to have. I hope you figure it out.
:sigh: I remember when I used to have matching shelving many years ago when I first moved into my own flat. Six perfectly matched 6ft by 3ft gleaming red bookcases in my front room, 3 matte black in the bedroom and a built in white shelf down the hallway. Eveything surplus stayed in the crates and I kept it all meticulously ordered. But these damn authors all just kept writing and writing and the next thing you know my fiction shelves got crowded and I needed new cases but they were no longer made in my style. Now I just have shelves and boxes and books everywhere. I know the order but no-one else can touch them – or maneouvre, since certain areas are in danger of imminent landslide.
Wonderful whatthefuckery is one of my favorite quotes ever. I use it all the time
Please consider leaving all your blog insights on writing and publishing. While I am not a writer, I appreciate your insight. Will it help to delete the comments from the blogs you keep?
Thanks for the glimpse into your
lives. It’s always a pleasure. I hope you get the whatthefuckery fixed.
Don’t you realize that you just double dog dared someone to go back and read those 2013 posts?
“They took pictures and went back to their office.” OK……Hope that means they are brain storming the solution….
Just to make you laugh. Customer called to state their AC isn’t performing. We had a guy out there three weeks ago to inspect both units. We sent the recommendations and proposals for replacement to the appropriate person (who forgot to read them).
Our HVAC guy is great. He was able to get model numbers and serial numbers….are you ready…..drumroll. One of the AC units is 37 years old. The other 23 years old. Can’t be fixed responsibly. HVAC guy stated the one unit is 7 years older than he is…. lmao
Well, hopefully the A.C. guys will come up with a plan to fix the issue. Life is so much easier if you just do the job right to start with. At least if it’s corrected the office should not flood again. All that computer stuff you mention just makes my eyes cross. I haven’t worked in an office for years so all I need to know is the basics to take care of personal stuff and that can be aggravating enough. Wishing you positive results in all your current endeavours , it’s time you get a break from all the negative.
Tried to buy a big chest freezer because we wanted to buy a beef. Every where is sold out and restock days are in September. It makes me gloomy.
My kids are tiny, but I’d love to have a copy of the “Teenagers and Sex” post. There were some terrific book suggestions that I will be very grateful to reference in 10 years or so. Thank you!
+1 That was one of the best posts!
Any chance of you reposting that small future story about Kate and Curren’s kid fighting that evil bad guy who had the slaves? I tried to go back and find it to reread it but I didn’t see it.
Do you mean the pre-Ryder, post Magic Triumphs story about Julie? It’s here for now: https://ilona-andrews.com/the-king-of-fire/
Found under Menu:Free.
Thank you for your efforts on the website. If the older posts were organized, I think there would be some traffic, especially for the recipes, writing advice, and fiction. I have enjoyed reading your posts, and I think others would too.
*raises hand* I went back and started reading your blog posts from the beginning when I discovered you lol don’t take them down!
I completely understand having one of “those” days. I had one last week and during a team meeting, via video, someone pointed out it looked like I was in a tent. My team lead’s instant response was it anyone wanted to work from a tent she didn’t care as long as their work got done. After the meeting she messaged me with “blanket fort?” and got a “Yup, it’s one of those days and there’s no wifi signal in the closet”. That was it. So seriously whatever makes your day better and remember you’re allowed to have bad days.
Would it be possible to have a category for House Andrews Recommends for authors the two of you have recommended over the years? Thank you ????
Put all blog posts into a book and sell them because you (sarcasm) obviously don’t have much to do.
Late on this, but FYI you can export the old posts. They can be then imported back onto a free wordpress dot com site for your own archive. You can choose to keep the site login only for privacy.
whatthefuckery Made me snort my tea. Winner of word of the day ????????
I read another blog. I started rereading at 2011. Some blogs like yours are worth some reading again. Thank you.
Please don’t feel pressured by me. Whatever you decide will be the right thing. I will live with it. Thank you .
There re services that will export you posts on some services, and collect them into a pdf, or even a hardbook you could buy. I just don’t know if there’s something for what I am assuming is a wordpress powered site?
Sleep is important, lack of sleep is when you end up deleting everything you wanted to keep.
I feel your ordering woes.
In March at the beginning of lockdown everybody went into gardening or balkonying like myself. All gardening centers were closed because nonessential goods (ha). So into the fray of online shopping.
I ordered a small Yuzu tree, shop wrote stock will be available in 6-8 weeks.
Shop in the beginning of May: „Yay, your tree is available and will be sent tomorrow.“
Next day: „So sorry, stock was over-ordered and you are not getting any. We will cancel your order.“ WHAT
So today the Yuzu is available again and. I ordered one. Hope for better luck this time!
Yeah, it would be nice to get Bug’s story. And see him in love. That would be epic.
A question: when signing in what website is the system looking for? And yes, I did just find out about the internet. I even have a flip phone, with large numbers.
Ideally, I want a dedicated room to house my books and all the walls would have barrister bookcases with glass doors to keep the dust out.
That would require some serious bank . . . .
I dream of barrister bookcases.
Hehe… Hate to say this, but according to the pictures you’ve previously posted , I tend to agree with the AC guys… never seen something like this before..
You obviously needed the sleep and will probably. E more productive because of it.
Good luck with the AC weirdness
So I just noticed the Space Chicken on the phone. hahahahhahahah
Is there any way to save the blog posts externally, maybe save tham as pdf ( no idea how much work that would be) in a public Dropbox cloud folder, but link to them from the blog? You have some great writing advice among the older posts and it would be a shame if it disappeared.
That way the website would be lighter but the content wouldn’t be gone?
What about software to clone your website to an offline copy in case you find something you need later?
I hope that the AC guy taking photos is a sign they aren’t punting it back to Electric 🙂
Best of luck!
If you’re lucky, just like Bug they’ll be able to deal with the problem and give you what you need!
Love the blog posts. Bug quotes, Space Chicken pictures, all this makes me itch to go back find the quote in the book.
Good luck with the Website reorganisation. It is your blog of course but it is a fabulous repository as well, so if you are still undecided then maybe those comments mentioning possible archive/export solutions contain something that would work in case you need to look something up after streamlining.
I’m totally with you on the bookcases, mine are also in progress.
“You know how Bug at some point says that something is some sort of wonderful whatthefuckery he has never seen before?”
I was just reading that section of WHITE HOT last night! So sorry it has spilled over into real life.
“Whatthefuckery” is now going to be what I use instead of the mundane WTF. Bug, being one of my favorite characters ever, it’s worth quoting at all times.
I hope the AC and electrical guys can figure it out without to much money being spent.
My sister also moved to Austin during the protests and made it through. I wish the best for you and your Kids no matter what.
Thank you for brightening my day.
This is labor intensive, but will save your “diary.” Print them all out. then delete them from the website. Why? Technology changes, but paper and ink is still something you – and your grandkids – and their grandkids can still read. I learned this from an archivist who worked for the University of Texas at Arlington’s Cartographic History Library (many, many maps). They accepted NOTHING that was not in print or a photograph so the document would always be accessible.
Please keep the story bits as a separate area of your website. Do love them and I move those posts to a folder on my email called “Ilona Andrews serials. ” And I do reread them.
Please do not do this. This is an out of date practice.
I am a book conservator and a librarian currently at a University. I understand the seductive lure of deleting out-of-date, “not interesting content”, but Please consider archiving your backlog of posts. I’m not sure if you guys have considered depositing your records/archives with a University, but this stuff is exactly where University Archives are headed with their digital content for research. I have been following your blog for a few years now, and your content is reflective and intellegent, and a great source for future research for authorship in digital age, study of Fandem phenomenon, even our current situation now with COVID, and probably loads of other stuff I can’t think of because mostly I deal with old books.
IF you are interested in Digital Preservation or Archiving plan or just have questions, I am happy to point you in the right direction of some sources or names of digital preservation librarians. I won’t even push my University Library (although we do have a pretty awesome sci fi collection). Choosing your archive is like choosing your doctor: personal recommendations are good, but you have to do your research and ultimately go with your gut on who you trust.
I had someone out to look at the, er, vintage alarm system on my house– which doesn’t work, until it does. It predates the ban on exterior alarm bells, so, when it decides to start going off, a loud clanging bell on the exterior of the house starts going off. The last time it was triggered, people were replacing the hall carpet and encountered the “mat” under it.
Anyhow, the alarm company took several pictures of the “brain” of the alarm, which was nothing like they’d ever seen before. It cannot be repaired, only replaced. (Which would be fine, if the replacement would involve removing any of the old alarm equipment, but they’d just add more things.)
Sorry to hear of troubles; may all straighten out. But now I’m wondering how I could have forgotten Bug and his “some sort of wonderful whatthefuckery” comment. Love it!
Because I am sure that you and Gordon don’t have anything better to do than lounge around eating chocolates and banana bread waiting for AC guys and bookshelves, consider gathering the blog posts and publishing them on Kindle. I am willing to bet that your hardcore fans would pay money to have it.
Perhaps a project for K1 and K2 to curate. Since they had a ringside seat as it were to the show.
Oh, yeah … recipes. I forgot the mention of that. Which immediately had me trying to think of normal recipes that could be given horrifying names. A Borgia Special, perhaps.
Now I am going to have to go back and read the blogs from 2013 before they all disappear! LOL!
Not meant pressure to you to put all the old posts back on the new site: I’m that crazy person thathas read all the way back into the beginning of time (when I didnt have a book in my hands from my favorite authors) .
I’m glad you got the extra sleep. All we can do is the best we can each day and some will be better than others.
If possible I would be happy to help categorize blog posts for a few hours a day. I had to do something similar when I started my blog and imported my posts from the blog where I previously reviewed which was ending.
I’m an archivist and we take the records – paper and digital – of authors in my area. You may consider contacting a local archives, or one further away who collect writer’s records and see if they would be interested in acquiring your digital material. They would preserve it and likely make it available to the public to use. They would definitely make it available for you to use. That would spare you the trouble of dealing with it yourselves. You could pick a date and donate everything from before it.
Life was easier when websites were built with html editors. I just downloaded everything and kept a copy. I hope there is a solution for your site. This really is a diary.
Wonderful whatthefuckery is fun, except when you have to sort it out and make it workable whatthefuckery. I don’t understand why they don’t want to just remove what was done to put it in there and install it correctly. Disconnect the hoses and wires from both ends, attach new ones and run them into the house correctly. Jackhammer to the concrete, release all those hoses and connections so they can be moved, move them, redo the concrete. Seems kind of simple to me, but it’s a lot of work.
Taking pictures and going back to the office to check what to do reminds me of when my neighbors didn’t like the lot lines and decided to just take over half of my lot between us and them. They pulled the marker pin so no one would ever know — as if surveyors don’t exist — and when I called in a surveyor after they planted a tree on my property, the man was stunned to see what his measurements showed him as he looked at where they had mowed and planted. He went to his office, looked it up on the county auditor’s site, and yes, his numbers were correct, so he put in a new marker stake and I put a string up to mark the line between the two stakes, and they moved their tree and stopped mowing down all my wild violets in my yard. But his disbelief at what they had done was clear, and I got it fixed, so I’m OK with it all. Years later, they still are not, and they move the actual fence I put up on a regular basis because they want more room to do things on this side of their house and their lot has no room. Before anyone asks, yes, it’s illegal to remove those surveyor’s stakes, and no, I didn’t want to go to court over it. I just keep hoping they’ll move. heh heh
I’m sure there is a solution, I’m sure it won’t be cheap or easy, but once it’s done, it’ll done and you can move on.
My kids are older now, with families of their own, and only now do I realize how much we worried our parents when we moved overseas, traveled like crazy, and a host of not really stupid but different choices from those they wished we’d made. I couldn’t see why they were worried if I wasn’t! I do get it now, and try really hard to give the “It’s your decision and you’ve got this” vibe when something like this comes up with my kids. Inside sometimes I’m thinking…uh…are you sure??? The stress is all internal. I just plan to provide their back-up should they need it, but sometimes it’s just hard!!! Sounds like that was this week for you guys, so sending positive energy your way.
Recipes!? Yes please. I thought I saw a recipe for the Honey Muffins on the blog somewhere but I can’t find it in a search. Good luck with the redesign!
I don’t know much about blogs… but isn’t there a way to archive older blog entries that someone else has already figured out that you can make use of without too many headaches (I would have said without any headaches but I am trying to be real here:).
And just FYI… since I’m a newbie (joined less than a year ago), I do go back and read your old posts when I have time… and sometimes when I don’t or should be doing other stuff.
Please don’t take this as something else that you have to do and go complicating your life. I just wanted you to know that all your words are valuable to me — even the old ones. 🙂
Do not shed to much website weight ^^ we love all these post and I still feel the loss from that one deleted Nevada Pregnancy snipped (ahh it hurts so bad) that the thought of deleted posts is giving me shivers
Now I have to go and read all the old blogs back to 2013! I don’t want to miss out on any just in case! LOL!
It’s not just the bookshelves. It’s everything plus the bookshelves.
When I first discovered your books several or so years ago (Kate book 1), I also discovered your blog. Before too long I was reading your blog posts back as far as was available and going forward. It was fun, it was interesting to read blog posts when a new book was coming out, and all the funny stories you have written about life. I found your blog to be way more entertaining some days than reading a book I wasn’t all that interested in reading. I read a lot and it is hard to find authors I consider terrific.
But at the end of the day, it is certainly your decision to make as to whether you retain an archive of old posts available to your readers. I kinda like the idea of putting them in some format we could purchase. 🙂
Thank you for the eye candy on the previous post! Thank you for Ryder, and all your books, (some of which I am currently re-reading.) Thank you for sharing snippets of your corner of the world as you create worlds for us to revel in. 2018 sucked for me and mine, 2020 sucks for the world. Much thanks for helping us get through it all. House Andrews is most honorable and beloved, may it “live long and prosper!” (My favourite greeting for this time… No elbow stuff as in “Young Frankenstein” , also known as “cubital foreplay”)
#1 – I read the most recent blog & was exhausted thinking about the variety & amount of work you get thru in a day – 2 hours extra sleep is just the mind & body saying ‘had it’ & give me some TLC????
#2 – when I’ve had it with the bad news coming from CV-19, & riots, I read KD W – makes me appreciate we at least haven’t had a magic flare????
#3 – & while speaking of KDW, where did Kate & Erra lay her grandmother’s bones??? I’ll lay odds that was an experience.
Camerc
I’ve kept my 7 yo in daycare for her own safety, but she was home for 2 weeks when 5 people at the daycare tested positive right before Memorial Day weekend.
In those 2 weeks, she has not cleaned her room. She has not once taken a dish to the sink without being told. She has left yogurt containers all over the place. She spilled yogurt on the couch and instead of cleaning it up, smeared it around and then put a pillow on it to hide it. She has decided that she isn’t going to use plates to eat, and dumped a bagful of potato chip crumbs all over the floor.
She has written in sharpie all over the garage. And my truck, whom I love. She colored the walls of her room and her rocking horse with hair chalk. She opened a bottle of decorative sand and spilled it all over the bathroom. Her behavior with cars at the end of our cul de sac resulted in 2 neighbors texting me with concerns about her safety. Five minutes after being told to stay in our yard, I had to go retrieve her from the neighbors backyard, where she is expressly not allowed to be. She cut her hair, and many dolls’ hair and left clumps of hair all over the house. She left the fancy porcelain teapot out in the garage, on the floor, when she isn’t even allowed to have it in her room. She spilled water all over wood tables and didn’t clean it up. She was supposed to draw a happy card to cheer up a little girl who had to move, and she drew a vampire with creepy eyes and bloody fangs. She decided to eat in my bedroom – absolutely forbidden – and got cherry juice all over a quilt that a dear friend made me.
I could go on and on. This is just the highlight reel. I’m ready to start investigating foster care, because I can’t do this.
Your blog posts are a very rare bright spot in very dark days. Thank you for that.
I have shown people your 2015 review of Jupiter Ascending more times than I ever imagined! Since it arrived on Netflix, and everyone has more time to watch movies, I have enjoyed people’s reactions to the review and then the movie. Even the smallest post can resonate with someone years later. ????
Sorry for the website woes. I have to agree with the others who said extra sleep is not time wasted, You must have needed it. So much stress going around! I did laugh out loud about the Bug comment but at least the AC guys didn’t say to call the electrician. Hah!
Having diagnosticians of any kind shaking their heads in WTF wonder is like a punch in the gut. Doesn’t matter whether it’s a doctor, plumber or computer repairman, no one wants to have the dubious honor of being the story they tell at the bar or the case study in the book they write about “weird things that I have seen in my career.”
When I first signed up I went through and read all the blog posts. It was a wonderful way to pass the time between books.
Aw, I hope you guys get everything figured out soon, and I hope Kid #2 thrives in Austin. Drink some fancy tea sometime today. It always helps me deal with “what tha fuckery?”
Right?!! You want someone to say “Oh yea, we see and fix this stuff all the time” Who wants to be unique?! Ugh!
Ehh, you’ll start early next time – sleep is never a bad thing .
Have a wonderful day …or whatever, don’t let me tell you what to do 😉
Thank you for the Bug review of the trench/electric. It totally cracked me up. I have been wondering what is happening with it. Hopefully they have a solution at hand which will not be very painful or expensive and help eliminate future flooding!
Hope everything looks up!
You guys have a double problem ,and office for two ,has to be a challenge in and of its self, but if you can hit it eventually on the mark
My side reference to Bug….it will be great…
Life does not really get better, or worse…just different….my line
I continue to read re read listen to and love your books so cheers!
I know what you are going through.
I have a blog, only with about 1,000 posts, not as much as you, and I switched to a theme that comes with a page builder to give me more control over the site.
UGH, UGH and another UGH.
Hang in there.
I keep reminding myself that the end result will be worth all the nerves, the anger at things not working and clashes between plugins, and the rest of the UGHs that come with this project.
Yeah last straws are like that. I always try to remember that the straw doesn’t have to be big, it just has to be the thing that is a little bit too much. Mine are ALWAYS stupid. They have been as dumb as being unable to find the cap to a pen. And because I have high functioning entirely unmedicated ADHD this generally spirals in to a thing I think of as a “manic episode” (no I don’t know what they are really called.) where my emotions spiral wildly out of control and I end up I tears because my pen cap is missing…. luckily I have the best partner in existence who will help me deal with whatever it is. Usually be reminding me of what I started the post with, the last straw doesn’t have to be big, is just has to be too much on top of everything else.
Some one may have already posted this, I didn’t read through all the comment but there is a site that will turn all of your blog posts into a PDF document or some sort of compressed data file so you can make it a book or whatever else you want