Someone "hacked" many WordPress blogs last week, and apparently those hosted on servers operated by my hosting provider were particularly hard hit. In one sense I'd like to think I was targeted specifically because someone felt what I was saying was particularly worthy of silencing and thus - the hack. But more likely is that I had a file that was unprotected and became a faceless victim just like thousands of others. Either way - the problem with WordPress is that the mechanics of how it works and how it can be fixed are totally foreign to me so it's either learn those details or move to someplace less vulnerable. While I contemplate the former I'll implement the latter. As I often say to people - life is often about Plan B so I've almost always got a backup plan ready to go.
I haven't updated the blog in over a week and the hack is part of the reason. The other reason is that when I'm with Elizabeth life gallops from waking to sleeping with very little room for the "luxury" of blogging or answering email or otherwise being connected. So, I'll take this opportunity to bring everyone up to speed on events in my world.
The schedule of the past week was impressive. I arrived into Charleston at 9pm last Friday and by 4am we had the kids in the car (sleeping away) and were on the road to DC where we had made arrangements to attend Easter Mass at the National Cathedral and to go to the Easter Egg Roll at the White House on Monday. The mass was wonderful, the Easter Egg roll was a blast, we visited Elizabeth's grandfather's grave in Arlington, the kids re-visited some of their favorite Smithsonian exhibits, and we were generally go-go-going from early morning until night. The weather was wonderfully warm and sunny, combined with the fact that the cherry blossoms and other flowering trees were at their peak and the city was absolutely packed full of people on spring break meant that there were hordes of people everywhere.
Perhaps second most significant is the fact that my work apparently didn't want me to go, wouldn't allow me to work remotely, and so decisions needed to be made. NOT going was non-negotiable for me so - long story short - my employment there is over. I've reached a point in life where my balance involves some level of non-negotiable life experiences and some flexibility to do my job as measured by delivery not hours spent in a cubicle in front of a laptop. I'll write more about this in upcoming entries, but for now the important point is that I'm continually trying to fit myself back into a career that I outgrew a long time ago and it's just not working well. What next? Not sure yet. I'll start working on that this week. As I say - all about Plan B.
On Tuesday we drove to Asheville NC and visited a dear friend and her partner there. It was wonderful to see them, their amazing home, and the beauty that is the mountains around Asheville. I met this particular friend in San Francisco the week I originally had my face re-engineered by Dr. O and she has had a special place ever since. Despite the fact that we don't see each other often it's a connection that neither time nor distance diminishes. Those are the best kinds of friendships.
I left Charleston at 5:30 yesterday morning and was in LA by 10am. I took the FlyAway bus to Westwood to speak at the Out For Work Conference there and was in bed by 9 last night - exhausted. I caught my flight home this morning and as I type this I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed for the first time in a long time. It's one of those simple pleasures that is nice to come home to.
There's lots more to say, lots more going on, and I expect I'll have some time this week to catch up here so I'll keep this relatively short. This is an experiment, of sorts, with other blog options so we'll see how this works. I've got my fingers crossed. :~D
9 comments:
Hello Donna! Welcome to blogger! I've been using blogger since 2003 and never had so much as a hiccup (knock on wood) in all that time. I'd toyed with going to Wordpress for a while, but it was too much work. Blogger is owned by Google as I understand it these days, and they are pretty good about keeping stuff running.
So God willing, this will work out well for you and you won't need to move again.
Glad you're still looking for viable options when your WP site got hacked. I wouldn't be surprised if yours was targeted because of the content - some people might not be able to argue with you so they'd try to do the next best thing for them.
Blogger has thus far been relatively stable for me, though I recently stepped away from blogging. I'll be sure to add this site to T-Central so others can follow your page as well.
Sorry about the job, Donna. But I know exactly what you mean. Some life experiences cannot be denied for any reason. I trust and pray that you will find a more flexible job that will allow you the life choices that you desire.
Donna It just blows my mind that you would blow off a great job just so you could go to DC with Elizabeth and the kids,especially in the terrible recession that were in. I guess you've got a money tree in your back yard or stock in some big company.....lol Glad you had a good time but I worry about how you'll survive financial without a job.
Brandi Parker
Hey Brandi: I'm glad you found me here! I hope all is well. The fact of the matter is that giving up the job was more than the income - it had health insurance, life insurance, and any number of other things that are important practical concerns for me. But I don't handle ultimatums well so if they were truly wanting to work with me there would have been a discussion about flexibility. Jobs will come and go and it became obvious that this one needed to go. As irrational as it might sound - I'd do the same thing ten times out of ten.
Welcome to my Blogger world!!!! Sorry you had to deal with all the other site and job stuff. On a lighter note, up for a Wednesday evening run through Scottsdale? =)
My name is Jason Hare I was browsing internet and found your blog. The author did a great job. I will subscribe to your RSS feeds. Thank you for your contribution. I am a web designer myself. And here some examples of the websites that I designed for cash advance online payday loans canada company.
Good Day! William Jones . payday loans
loans toronto This website is one of the best I loved it greatly
AAA Toronto Payday Loans 1172 Bay St #101, Toronto, ON M5S 2B4 (416) 477-2817
Post a Comment