It’s been almost a month since I’ve been able to post here. I’m hoping it’s like riding a bicycle, and I’ll get the hang of it again. I knew I’d be insanely busy throughout December, so I scheduled a bunch of posts (one a day) to auto-post. I figured I’d have time to tend comments when I had connectivity, but not any time to do any real writing.
I’ve been very unhappy with WordPress’ scheduling mechanisms. Perhaps it’s just user error (PEBKAC, even — Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair). As a result I decided to delve into the XML-RPC stuff and write my own autoposter script. Something I could schedule in cron, and have it tweet some promotional stuff, too. I like writing my own stuff once in a while. The level of control is so much higher.
Problem is, my hack-job autoposter script melted down. And in the process I discovered some, um, truths about the way I’m backing everything up. Backups, after all, aren’t about backing up. They’re about restoring. They’re an insurance policy, too. Most people try to optimize their insurance policies for risk vs. cost. I do the same with my backups, choosing carefully what I back up to optimize my costs. Not carefully enough, though, I suppose. And while I can get my blog database back, no problem, certain new things didn’t get caught in the backups. Like my autoposts. So my December series about Linux tuning is turning into a January thing. At least I have all the graphics saved.
I think everybody has their own version of the mechanic’s car. Doubly so for “experts,” quadruple for consultants. You know, the mechanic, who can fix everybody else’s vehicles, but doesn’t have time to fix up his own. It’s just the way things are, and it doesn’t make anybody a hypocrite or a liar, or anything beyond normal. For me, it just means I understand when people tell me they haven’t had time to make it better, or they took a risk, perhaps didn’t realize they were taking a risk, and got bit. Most people are a little embarrassed about it, and I get that. I am, too.
But you fix it, and move on. After all, it’d be really embarrassing if it happened twice, right?