Dec 5th 2008 07:24 am Or was Roger the skinny one?

1992-01-31-gene-and-roger.jpg>todays-aj.jpg

The site is back! If you came to arloandjanis.com yesterday, you probably noticed that the site was down. I still don’t know exactly why this was, but there apparently were (all together now) “server problems!” Over the course of several panicky phone calls, the good support people at Earthlink, most of whom speak excellent English, assured me “the engineers” were working on my problem, and that all would be well. They were right. When I awoke this morning, all was back to what passes for normal.

The support people were nice but vague, so I don’t know this for a fact, but I might have paid the price of success yesterday. I recently upgraded my Web-hosting plan with Earthlink to avoid costly bandwidth fees, which were accumulating because of the increased traffic on this site. I suspect during the activation of my upgrade, the Earthlink engineers did the technological equivalent of hitting a water main with their backhoe. Or maybe it simply was my time. Earthlink has hosted my site for years with no previous problem.

The more cynical of you may have suspected me of running off with the proceeds from the food-bank auctions, which ended Wednesday evening. It was tempting, because the auctions were a huge success. I thank all those who expressed interest and especially the bidders. The proceeds totaled over $1,000. Along with the contribution from the good folks in Camp Hill, that’s going to buy a lot of nutritious food.

Posted by jimmyjohnson / Vintage A&J

15 Responses to “Or was Roger the skinny one?”

  1. JamesM on 05 Dec 2008 at 8:47 am #

    Maybe you could modify the blog so that it only displays the most recent post, or two. I rarely go down more than a screen or two, since I visit on a daily basis. That would certainly limit bandwidth, and would be good for performance, too!

    I recently have thought about doing that, because the blog functions are all at the bottom of the page: the archives, the search window, etc. I’ll bet those functions are under-utilized, because most of us forget they’re there. Now, you’ve given me another good reason. — JJ

  2. Wartown GA on 05 Dec 2008 at 9:42 am #

    Thought maybe you were helping find a new coach for the war eagles!!
    Glad you are back. Roll tide.

  3. Ginger in Auburn on 05 Dec 2008 at 9:56 am #

    Just glad you’re back up.

  4. sarah in oregon on 05 Dec 2008 at 10:42 am #

    Just wanted to say I missed you yesterday and I’m glad things are back to “normal” (whatever that may mean).

    I also want to say I got a huge kick out of today (Friday’s) cartoon. Honestly, are all cats the same? Ludwig’s sleeping positions are EXACTLY the same as my cat, Jeremiah’s. He does the same thing when I shake the dry cat food, which is he suddenly wakes up and snaps to attention in the kitchen. Setting new land speed records in the process.

    and I love the little details….like the Ludwig-type face on the box of cat food. Subtle but smile-inducing.

    I don’t post often these days, too many real life medical issues taking up my valuable Arlo and Janis time, but I just wanted to say (again) Thanks! Laughter is, indeed, the best medicine. :-)

  5. Burns on 05 Dec 2008 at 11:07 am #

    re backhoe: Ha ha! I was actually thinking more of the equivalent of dropping anchor on the main fibreoptic cable that carries the internet for half of Alabama! But I’m glad it wasn’t that you did not pay your domain name dues. (I did that once and lost my domain for a couple days…Blush)

  6. Sili on 05 Dec 2008 at 11:38 am #

    Yay!

    I tried bidding. Even beyond the point where my friend was telling me I was crazy. The auction ended while I slept, though. I’m glad to have helped press up the prices.

    Some day I’ll have a Johnson to put up next to my Kelletts and Willises.

  7. LVJeff on 05 Dec 2008 at 12:20 pm #

    Funny, Roger Ebert was just talking about this:

    http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2008/11/siskel_ebert_the_jugular.html

  8. Jim in southwest Illannoy on 05 Dec 2008 at 12:45 pm #

    JJ, I’m glad to see your site back up. Yes you were missed yesterday.

    I’m glad the auctions went well, and I’m sure the folks at the food bank are happy too.

  9. Tom from Glendora, CA on 05 Dec 2008 at 1:52 pm #

    Jimmy – I’m in IT and in general the support folks a user gets don’t really know what’s going on.

    That’s true for Earthlink, Verizon and all the rest. Half the time, if you could somehow get to the person who’s supposed to be the expert, they don’t know either.

    The three scariest phrases I hear at work are:

    1. Transparant to the user.

    2. I only changed one line!

    3. It’s a minor change that doesn’t really affect anything (of course, my first though is….why are you doing it then?).

    I cringe when I hear a programmer use any of these lines.

  10. Mary in Ohio on 05 Dec 2008 at 5:41 pm #

    Hurrah for you AND the Foodbank (and Earthlink too, I guess.)

    Sili: I used to go to a lot of farm auctions, and my favorite auctioneer, Harold Farnsworth, would always say “Thanks for helpin’!” THAT’s the phrase you’re looking for!

    Sarah – take care of yourself and get better>

  11. Steve from Royal Oak, MI on 05 Dec 2008 at 6:16 pm #

    To all cat lovers out there (even cat haters might like this one), you have to see this video:

    http://www.dnaco.net/~vogelke/pictures/water-leak/water-leak.wmv

    Apparently the owners were experiencing very high water bills and it wasn’t until they stayed home one day from work did they find out why.

  12. Rick in Shermantown, Ohio on 05 Dec 2008 at 7:54 pm #

    Jimmy:

    Actually, I was concerned that the ol’ malaria might have touched you yet again.

    Good to know that all is okay.

    Rick

  13. Lost in A**2 on 05 Dec 2008 at 8:27 pm #

    Mr Johnson, if you do start trimming the page, please make the cut-off the day
    posting expires on an item. I follow the comments until they stop happening.

  14. CIDU Bill on 05 Dec 2008 at 11:06 pm #

    Jimmy, I bet if you posted the mailing address for the food bank, a lot of us would be happy to make a contribution in your name — not only because it’s a good cause, of course, but because what the hell, you entertain us 7 days a week for free.

    Thanks for th’ love, Bill! And the excellent suggestion. We did discuss this a bit earlier in the week. I think it would be best if everyone motivated to contribute cash would make a donation to a local food drive. The people in Camp Hill and I would all feel good knowing our effort was bearing fruit elsewhere. Helping is helping.

    Having said that, the address is no state secret. It is: First Universalist Church of Camp Hill Food Drive, c/o Barbara Taylor, PO Box 86, Camp Hill, AL, 36850.

  15. Jean from Dahlonega GA on 06 Dec 2008 at 6:48 am #

    JJ, I must admit when I came to the site yesterday I felt rather like I was walking into a vacant house-a nice facade but all echoes inside. Glad you’re back. And yes, I got a good laugh at Loodie as he slept. I’ve seen my cats in those same positions though they are usually in the middle of the living room floor where we trip over them if we’re not careful. I think the funniest one so far was when Mira got on my desk chair and rolled on her back with her head hanging over the edge and began to snore.

    Tom from Glendora, CA, Do you remember a series of commercials from about 6 years ago that involved “Fred from IT”? My husband would watch them and nod his head in agreement with Fred’s problems (“Hey Fred, I sent you an e-mail to tell you the e-mail’s down) and regale us with the problems he ran into in his job.