Two weeks ago I received an email from my web host provider with regards to my storage usage, and yes, that sentence IS just as boring as anything could possibly be, but bear with me a moment. The web host was unable to back up my site – this very site that you are looking at – because my storage exceeded my usage limit. My storage jumped from 1 GB to 16.5 GB over the last ninety days.

I understand the need for an automated system, but I feel like any person with any kind of critical reasoning skills might be able to deduce that there is an issue here that was not generated by my five monthly posts. However, we live in an automated world, and so I took it upon myself to follow the step-by-step procedure to discover from where such a jump in storage usage originated. And indeed, I found the issue: on July 7, 42583 files were added to my site.

CLEARLY THERE IS AN ISSUE HERE. And let me just say that this is not my first web host issue rodeo. At least twice before, I have encountered fairly significant issues, and it is always, always a problem originating from the provider: the extra files from a site migration ended up being duplicated, for example, or there is a problem with the firewall that mysteriously leads to thousands of spam comments crashing the site. It’s all very, very tedious and boring, but there is no way out but through. I contacted the web host provider, which led to a most trying afternoon. I spent a total of two hours in some kind of weird circular conversation, in which I would say that there was a problem on their end of things, they said no, there certainly wasn’t, I said there was, and they said I just needed to buy more storage.

I capitulated. I spent ten dollars on upgraded storage, because my site had not been backed up and I live in fear that it will somehow disappear without a trace and eighteen years of talking about grocery cart returns will evaporate into the ether. And not just grocery cart returns: the story about the professor with the absolutely monstrous body odour would be gone, forever, to live on only in my memory. I would never be able to recall that I had a similarly trying conversation with technical support almost exactly 16 years ago to the day; that particular incident ended with me sobbing and the technical support person calmly telling me he would stay on the line for as long as I needed to collect myself, and that perhaps I could get a glass of water while he solved my issues. I wouldn’t be able to remember when it was exactly that I gave myself a bikini wax and ran out of wax. What can I say, in the early days of the pandemic the honeypot spiralled out of control. It was a hairy situation, if you will. Imagine a world in which such important stories are not readily available for public consumption!

The point is, I have a lot of attachment to this blog, and so if ten dollars would give me a little extra security, then so be it. However! I wanted to get at the root cause of this issue, because if life has taught me anything, it’s that if you ignore a technological problem, it will grow and swell and eventually burst, like a giant bubble of gum that gets stuck into your hair and eyelashes. And so the weird gaslighting conversation between me and the web hosting help desk continued, with me saying there was a problem, them saying there wasn’t, me saying there was, and them saying not to worry, my site was now safe and secure, thanks to the upgraded storage.

Me: There is still an issue. There were 42853 files added on July 7. How did that happen?

Them: No. That’s just your site. You have 42583 files.

Me: I did not add them all on July 7. There has to be a mistake. Something had to have changed on your end. Did something get duplicated?

Them: No. Nothing changed. Everything is the same.

Finally, after 75 minutes on their online chat and 45 minutes on the actual phone, we had a breakthrough.

Me: Please, can you just look into the files on the backend. I am sure you’ll see something there.

Them: I cannot.

Me: *stares off into space, breathes deeply* I’m sure if you look…

Them: I am just a customer service representative. Only a technical support person can access the backend.

Me: *questions what just happened over the last two hours, questions sanity* Okay. Could you please put me in contact with a technical support person?

Them: Yes.

Me:

Let’s just gloss over the fact that I had requested technical support in the first place. The upshot is that I eventually received a message from technical support with the information that backup settings had been changed, resulting in a significant increase in storage usage. NO SHIT, SHERLOCK. After some investigation, I discovered that they had changed their backup system provider, which led to a duplication of everything. Technical support assisted me in a fix, which I stoically and dutifully applied. It’s fine, I’m fine, everything is fine.

So imagine my surprise when, a few days later, I received my annual renewal notice, and learned that the new and improved backup system was not a mere $10, but quadruple the previous cost for a third of the time period. Now listen. Writing is a hobby of mine and as with any hobby, there are costs involved. If I played golf or pickleball or tennis, if I was a crafter or fibre artist, if I was into photography or painting, if I had a dollhouse, all of those hobbies would come with costs in the form of fees, materials, or equipment. Web hosting fees and backup programs are part of the cost of having a writing hobby, and I have no plans to introduce ads or sponsored content or affiliate links in order to offset those costs. HOWEVER. This uptick seemed over-the-top, not to mention I did not consent to it, which is how I found myself on chat with customer service, again, for another 75 minutes at 5:00 am on a Friday morning. The happy news is that I was able to switch to a less-expensive backup platform. The sad news is that I was charged for BOTH platforms, which required yet another conversation with customer service to reverse the charges.

Weekly Reading

I was on a road trip this week, which called for lovely light reads!

28 Summers. I have read a number of Elin Hildebrand books, and this is far and away my favourite! I loved this story of a “same time next summer” affair that spans, as the title suggests, 28 Summers. The story really captured me and I became very invested in these two people who, despite everything, continue their once-a-year affair every Labour Day. I read most of it ON Labour Day this year, which was fun. Each chapter starts with “what we were thinking about this year” and it starts in 1993, the year I was 18, so I have very vivid memories of all of the references. What a lovely book of romance and friendship – and a steamy, sexy, kind of scandalous, affair.

The Shippers. This was a cute, fluffy, totally predictable and a little bit silly story of childhood friends who discover they love each other while on a cruise ship for her sister’s wedding. Listen, it’s just fun. Let’s not overthink it! Plus, the love interests are both mathematicians!

Part of Your World. A big-city, wealthy doctor accidentally drives into a ditch, and is rescued by a B&B owner and small town mayor. They come from different worlds and are in very different tax brackets. Can they make it work? Well, I think you know the answer. This was a sweet and satisfying book.

The remedy for a week of discontent is a road trip! We had a great time travelling to see friends and my parents; good times were had, wine was consumed, and games were played. Now it’s time to get all caught up on regular life – and to prepare for a very special 21st birthday tomorrow. Have a beautiful week, friends. xo