Vortech Hosting Stole My Money People

Well, I guess this is just the week of crappy customer service, eh? Please let it be known that Vortech Hosting, a shady operation in Florida, is NOT the way to go if you want a web host. I'd been with Vortech for years, not because they gave outstanding service, but because it's like having a checking account. It's just really really hard to extract yourself from a situation that requires all sorts of moving this from here to there, whether it's money or web pages. Over the years I've had a few particularly nightmarish experiences with Vortech but at least on those occasions I was eventually able to get a human on the phone to help.

However, the last FIFTEEN times I called to get them to help me resolve some serious issues I did not receive a call back or even an email back. This despite the fact they brag that they have "24/7" Live Support. That was hardly my experience.

In most cases, I have to have a really, really, really bad experience or string of experiences to walk away-- this has been true in my marriages and in my business interactions. In the former, that's foolish tenacity talking. In the latter, well it's a cross between laziness and foolish hope that things will get better.

Last month, my amazing, kick ass, genius web guy, Michael, moved ALL of my many web sites for me to a much much better hosting service-- DreamHost-- which came recommended by a lot of folks. I wrote to Vortech and told them to cancel my account. They informed me that I'd have to keep on paying through the end of August. I informed them this was not okay. They said it was in my customer agreement. I pointed out that, while that might be true, they had agreed to offer 24/7 customer service and failed to provide it, making the whole agreement moot in my eyes.

And then, today, I got an email that they'd just taken more money out of my account. Okay, so now what do I do? I'll call the Better Business Bureau and file a report. What else? It so chaps my ass when people give super crappy service AND then don't do anything to fix things. My request to cancel the account wasn't at all unreasonable. And these chumps are screwing me.

Not good.

Spike on KUT

if you happen to be listening to KUT around 4:45 today you can hear my very silly review of Seussical the Musical. not my favorite show ever, but i tried to be generous.

Join The Crowd

Anybody remember about eleven years ago that Turkish guy set up a web site looking for a date? And the url was forwarded to about eighty million people? Okay, so since then you've received nine hundred bazillion links sent to you by friends insisting you have to look at this article or watch that video. I don't send out a bunch of links. But today, as I was doing my usual news junkie thing and perusing the NYT most-emailed list, I came across this article about a YouTube video which really rocked my world. It's this guy dancing his silly dance all over the world, including here in Austin.

Watch it here.

About four million people had watched it before the Times article published. Now it's moving in on five million.

How To Make A Button

I recently wrote about how I went to a David Sedaris reading. He recommended a book of short stories by Miranda July. I was saying how much I love Sedaris AND July. This post got the attention of the folks at Vice Mag in England. They wrote to tell me about this very funny, very short video featuring Miranda July called How to Make a Button. Check it out.

Going Postal

I've had the same p.o. box for 11.5 years. I got the box because my first ex-husband was stalking me, and I had to go into hiding, and this was one way to try to keep him off my trail. In general, I love having a p.o. box-- I had one way back in the '80's in Knoxville, and this was the source of many excellent letters, the majority of them from Big Red. I'd get up, hungover, stumble to the p.o., listening to Leonard Cohen on my walkman (remember those?) and perk right up whenever there was a little something waiting.

My Austin p.o. box is less thrilling, sullied as it is by the catalyst that prompted its rental. And, since I moved to another neighborhood, now I have to drive to get my mail. But I hang on to the box for all sorts of reasons. Spending as much time in the p.o. as I do-- I'd estimate I make at least 300 trips there per year-- I've gotten to know some of the counter workers, or at least their clerk personalities. Today I got to interact with this newish, granola-ey woman-- remember the show Hodge Podge Lodge? Does anyone remember that one? That's who this clerk reminds me of-- not some new, Whole Foods faux-hippie. I'm talking the real deal, old school, long graying braid, probably has been making whole grain bread with her bare hands and homemade wine with her bare feet for at least forty years. She's not the most chipper of the p.o. lot, but today we sort of had a conversation. It went like this.

Me: Do I need more postage on these? (handing her envelopes.)

She: 21c on this one.

Me: (rooting in my bag for stray dollars) Okay, and can I have a sheet of stamps?

At this point, I strain to see what choices I have for new 42c stamps. My eyes are crap now, even with the bifocals, and so I say

Me: I can't really see them. Oh, wait, you have the hearts. I'll take the hearts.

She: Which hearts? We have three? The wedding hearts, the purple hearts, and the Valentine hearts.

Me: Oh, let's skip wars and marriages! I'll take those red ones.

She: I'll bet some of those men who got purple hearts wish they could've skipped what they had to do.

Me: As a wedding officiant, I can tell you I'll bet some of those people who got wedding hearts wish they skipped what they did.

Random stranger in line: HAHAHAHAHAHA.

I'm glad someone thought it was funny. Clerk Granola didn't crack even a hint of a smile.

Wolfie

Henry's new nickname is Wolfie, seeing as he loves clothing with wolves on it. Here's a couple of pictures Big Red took of Wolfie and me the other night, front and back. Please note the state of Texas bleached into the Wolfman's hair.

About (One of) My Job(s)

Great article in the Statesman today about coworking, with a focus on LaunchPad Coworking, which is what I work. I can't say "where" I work since it's not open yet. But it's what I do-- I blog for LaunchPad Coworking, and we open in September. Check out the article here.