Don't Be Too Hasty

Image provided by
Mike Fisher @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/bfs_man/

I decided that I needed a category for those times when I write about the idiocy of my daily life. I’m calling it Pure Nonsense. I think it fits perfectly. Hopefully you’ll learn from the stupid decisions I make during the course of a day. And to start it off…

 

Sometime I really wonder if I have total lost my marbles. A year ago at this time, right in the mist of the holiday season, I was writing posts on a blog – my blog – that had its own domain. If I remember right –I’m not sure at all about this – it was that next February when I had some serious problems with this blog. It was so devastating that the blog entirely disappeared off the Internet.

Believe it or not, I kept my cool. For some this isn’t a great feat, but we’re talking about me, the one who has had GAD (General Anxiety Disorder) for decades. I let my jets cool completely – took a little less than three months – and got myself a new blog here, at WordPress.Com. The logic was that in order for me to continue to keep my cool and still blog, which I love to do, was to have someone else worry about what was going on in ‘the back room’. This is what the people at WordPress.Com do.

I already had a few blogs here but have kept them private for several years now. What is my reason for having all of these blogs? I can’t seem to find the right name for a blog. I’ve had this difficulty all along. I’m not real sure about the name of this one either. Yet, as I sit here trying to think of a more suitable name, all that I come up with is just as murky as the name I chose.

Things have been going on rather nicely since I decided to hook up with WordPress.Com again. The only snags I’ve been battling with are the name, which may never be resolved, and the template. This template I have now is okay, but I wish it had a footer for widgets, and I’d like the edges of the content area to be more precisely squared off instead of the soft corners. Am I being too picky? If you’re nodding your head, there’s a good possibility that you’re right.

Some of you may also be thinking, “Why doesn’t she just get one of the Premium templates?” There’s a good reason, believe me. I’m astonishingly fickle when it comes to design. This isn’t just a case to do with blogs either. I’m indecisive when it comes to clothes, hair, and interior design too. I am an unreliable farce when it comes to anything having to do with visual art. I’m sure I’ll be changing the visual design of this blog within a month as of right now. I’m already looking for a new header image.

About two weeks ago, I started getting antsy about blogging. My first thought, which I should have dismissed, was to see if things had changed at my host site. Completely ignoring my reasons for returning to WordPress.Com, I got crazy notions about moving this blog over to my host site so that it would have its own domain.

I went straight to my control panel there, bypassing the support pages to look for host issues as I should have, and installed the WordPress software into my space. When I tried to log into my administration section, I ended up seeing my homepage in all of its ugly glory. You would think that this would give me an undeniable clue that issues were not resolved at my host site. Instead of paying attention, I went into the mode of being on a mission, going straight to the page where I could fill out a support ticket. (Yes, I did get to the support pages but didn’t even think about the page showing issues.) In my letter to the support team, I told them what happened when I tried to get to the administration section and reminded them that I had this problem before and they should look at the last ticket I sent (last January or February).

Within twenty-four hours, they had the problem solved although they neglected to inform me. I just happened to go to my paid space to see if they had done anything. Here it is, over a week later, and they still have yet to send me a notice saying all is well in my ‘back room’ now.

I have my domain showing as being in maintenance mode to anyone who might drop in to see what’s up. I’m gathering plug-ins and trying different templates. As I look and dismiss each design that originally appealed to me, I ask myself why I’m putting myself through all of this. Do I want to make money? This is a plausible reason for having one’s own domain, but at this time, and maybe forever, my goal isn’t to make money with a blog. Do I want more bells and whistles? No, I don’t think so. What I have at WordPress.Com is really enough. Do I want more control over my blog space? Um… yes, I guess I do but I’m not getting this with my own domain unless I want to pay for extras. Sorry but I’m a poor soul. The money isn’t available, and besides, the control I want isn’t absolutely necessary for what I’m trying to accomplish.

And what am I trying to accomplish? I want to be a better writer with my own personal style that can’t be duplicated. By writing in a blog online, I figure I’m getting the practice that I need and can play around with how I write. Plus, I get the bonus of getting feedback from people like you. 😉

 

Once again, I’ve been too hasty in implementing my plans before really thinking them through completely. I do, however, have one redeeming factor on my side. My domain and space leases come to an end this next February. By coming to my senses, as few as they may be, before the end of my leases, I haven’t invested anything but a little time on an ill-thought-of endeavor.

My advice to you is this: Don’t be too hasty.

 

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