Don't Mess with Texas Sign
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I am so glad I switched web hosts. I’m currently using DreamHost and the techs there are superb. The move was pretty easy, instructions were straightforward. I’ve been bugging them for 3 or 4 days now due to issues with setting up the store. They’ve been super helpful and none of the issues have been with their service, mainly things I didn’t know how to do.

For the first time I have a staging area where I can work on the site and update it on the backend and view changes before posting. If you’ve been following me, I generally have been working live, warts and all. The staging area is part of their package and the package I got is considerably less expensive than what I was paying before.

The last hosts couldn’t even read the damn ticket – I told them what I was having issues with, the backend – it was a complete mess and what was ok (the frontend). They told me the frontend looked good and was loading fine on their end, didn’t say anything about the backend. Also, they said I had a 10 second load time and acted like that was acceptable. They said loading time was due to the audio I have on my site (I don’t have any audio on my site – the player is hosted at Live365).

I totally recommend DreamHost if you’re setting up a site using WordPress.

— David

Hello World

Howdy all,

I’m in the process of setting up a online store and selling off some of our music and video library.

I’m going to be stepping back and shelving the news for now. It’s just really not good for my mental health. I am deeply concerned about the direction things are going in, but I need to take a break.

I do want to use the website to focus on things that are relevant to living a happy and productive life while navigating through the current insanity.

— David

I wanna bite the hand that feeds me
I wanna bite that hand so badly
I want to make them wish they’d never seen me
— Elvis Costello

https://youtu.be/eifljYPFW-E?si=qjQ1iOofo6xElPnl

Selling on the eBay store is going well, 100% positive feedback, 85 items sold of 170 listed (as of today exactly half of my listings have sold), every item shipped and received on time. No returns or customer issues. 

I had an issue though that has convinced me that I need to run the store from the website. I’ll still be on eBay, they are the biggest market for the things I sell but I need to become more independent and less reliant on a single platform.

The main difference this means is I’ll be here more, working on the website more. Actually turning it into a business. (I should have sold 850 items and had 1700 listed by now – that’s on me)

I’m expecting to resync the website with eBay next week, there are some items available on eBay that aren’t listed on the site. In the future I’ll have things listed on the site that won’t be available on eBay.

— David

Every night I’m back at the shack
I’m sure no one else is there
I’m putting the aerial up
So I can go out on the air
— Peter Gabriel

https://youtu.be/ZdLVIkMwtLs?si=UNCo9Q-5UxySbiTW

I’ve been working on the station’s music scheduling/playlists. With such a diverse library there’s a lot of juggling when setting up different rotations that flow from one genre to another and having it sound right, some things just don’t work together. A lot of it is just experimenting and then listening back and seeing what works and what doesn’t.

I added new rotations over the weekend and have been fine tuning it over the week. Set it up the tentative schedule last night. I thought it sounded great. Still tweaking it here and there but I’m happy with it as it stands. 

This morning I looked at the stats and all my listeners were gone.
Current listeners 0, they had all dropped off.
Haven’t had 0 listeners in the middle of the week in years.

After about 10 minutes I started getting some listeners but they weren’t the same ones.

I normally listen to the station from my computer, before it goes out streaming. When I want to crank it I listen to the online stream on the home stereo. 

I was listening on the stereo, music was flowing and I was really wondering what happened – the new rotations do sound great, what was going on? 

Then I got knocked off, lost the stream. Went back to the computer and the other listeners got knocked off too. 0 listeners again.

Apparently we’re having technical issues.

— David

… Walking now, over covered ground
There’s a chance if I move around
I need a moment to reflect
On the friendships I have wrecked
Why is it time, don’t I always try?
… I hear them saying (tomorrow’s just another day)
— Carl Smyth

https://youtu.be/NpIZkr2TBjM?si=fA7xRX4qNfJS1213

I’ve given up on scheduling. I was getting things done unless it was on the schedule. 

I had set up a schedule with repeating reminders that would reset everyday on a “To Do” list. Every two or three days I would go through the To Do list and check off everything I hadn’t done.

Things need to get done, but like rust – another day, another week – it’s not a big deal until it is.

— David

Yes, we speak of things that matter
With words that must be said
“Can analysis be worthwhile?”
“Is the theater really dead?”
— Paul Simon

https://youtu.be/-dnzhPprVVU?si=FvJj_n0mQ_VgP5Cf

The blog police say to keep your readers engaged you have to update regularly.
Next week I’ll be adding to the site and making some changes to the backend but for now I got nothing. All is good.
— David