Large Fierce Mammal

Picture trouble originates at the web host. Please stand by.

Those of you who, like me, usually start the day with a visit to Master At Arms James A. Keating‘s Ezine MAAJAK World will have noticed that the last update was a week ago today. Knowing Jim lives in the mountains where power, internet access, telephone, and even traversable roads can be an iffy proposition at times, I wasn’t concerned because combining that with the demands of his business has always dropped him off the radar from  time to time.

In response to a polite inquiry of my own – Jim? Jim? Iz you daid? Should ah be touchin’ yo eyeball wit’ a twig, seein’ if y’all blink? – I was delighted late Friday night to get a reply that told the tale, although I was more than a little gob smacked at the magnitude of it all. A combination of severe weather and web host shenanigans have put our Man with his nose to the grindstone, his shoulder to the wheel, and his ear to the ground, all while trying to stay alive and get shit done in that position. On the subject of the weather situation, he had this to say:

The day after Thanksgiving — November 27th things rapidly began to deteriorate. Temperatures were running in single digits, 6* -8* F were the norm with sleet. So we became encrusted in ice. For two days we could even leave the place due to snow and mainly thick ice. Four wheel drive didn’t cut it. We lost power. The horses can’t walk on that shit, so it kept us double busy. Then unexpectedly one of our best mares died. Something with her heart. The entire ranch was devastated – spirits down.

Then things went real chaotic and temperatures raced to 60* F and the flooding began. Power returned for about 5 hours. I couldn’t believe what was happening, such rapid changes. Right on the tail of the warm up & flood came an incredible wind storm with hell-winds well over 60 mph. It flattened everything. Trees down, uprooted and branches too many to count scattered all over. One of our friends had their roof ripped off last night. We lost power again. Spent the day and night in the cars. The trees about the house were falling – huge branches like spears coming down driven by howling winds. We couldn’t stay inside – just too much danger/damage.

The pressure from the storm blew windows out all over down in the town. From the inside outward!  Including those behind my studio. Pieces of glass (big pieces) sailing like frisbee’s out into the alley and street. Thank God no one was killed. Lots to clean up for weeks to come. Some people will have a shitty Xmas and New Year (me being one of’em). The power just came back on today Friday around 400pm. We were cooking on the Bar-B-Q since nothing else worked. Pouring rain, freezing temps out there in our coats and POW – suddenly lights came on. At two days, we were getting damn cold even with our woodstove and by the third day with no juice I was ready for a change. Was VERY happy when power was restored!! Let’s hope that it stays on for more than a few hours. Here in the mountains it is quite surreal at times. The silence, the solitude and then no power – wow, it’s like a feeling of being on Mars at times. Heh heh – psyched out.

Psyched out? I hereby grant you yet another title Goode Sir – Master At Understatement!

On top of all this, all of Jim’s personal and Comtech websites are hosted with Homestead, and here is his experience there in his own words:

Homestead (the company I use) decided to MOVE to Houston Tx from San Jose this week. They notified few if any of their millions of clients. Mind you they do this SHIT during the busiest sales time of the year for us all. One day a few days ago my shit was just gone, could not update or connect. Still can’t! Called and called, no answers…  finally I got thru after an hour wait, the poor Homestead operators are hammered w/ pissed off folks. It isn’t their fault. The one fellow told me this “I get paid to have people yell at me”.

If you operate a website, or worse yet, a web based business of your own, you’ll feel his pain. The upshot is that the down time by Homestead to get back to full operation was originally estimated at 2 to 3 weeks, however the wind and rain storm that hit Jim’s locale hit San Jose the day after. Storm damage may now push Homestead’s plans into the 6 weeks plus range, but right now, nobody knows for sure.

Anyway, as of last night Jim had power, email, and telephone restored, so if you were planning on making any Yule tide purchases from Comtech, show them folks some LOVE. Just remember though that they’re putting the world back together over there, so be patient my Friends.

So for Jim and all the rest of the Keating Clan, however many legs you may walk on, I’ll close with those among the words of Winston Spencer Churchill that always come to mind when events converge to put any of us to the Test – “If you are going through hell, keep going.”