Winding Down

All the email that had been stored on Yahoo now has been transfered to my external HDD. The Yahoo Group mail is archived so that I did last. It was all the personal email from friends and family that I wanted to archive. Everything else can be found online one way or the other. But I got all of it done. I feel better having done that.

I invited my gmail address to all the groups I own or moderate and changed the admin settings and went on no-mail for auntyalias@gmail.com . A "just in case" preparation because once I lose this land line and DSL all my Yahoo stuff will go with it. I really regret going for that AT&T/Yahoo partnership set up. I couldn't find any email that said I had a choice. It just sort of happened to those of us who use PacBell.

My website is backed up. In January I have to renew two domains and pay for my web hosting. I wrote to my contact at the webhost asking if I could go month to month while things are slim financially. If I can do that then maybe I can afford to renew the three domains (Norajean.com, Norajean-Designs.com and CITY-Lists.com) when they come up.

I posted the SOS to my website.

Now that I have the "virtual" house in order I look to the future, as uncertain as it might be. I have this attachment to the email I've exchanged with my friends and family. Back in the day we wrote letters to each other, had paper we could hold in our hands, something for our children and grandchildren to refer to. Now the exchanges are digital saving one's history is a technical challenge.

Push come to shove I'll do all I can to save the NoraJean.com domain. Even if I lose the webhost I can get another and reload my website when the finances are better. I might have to take a couple of steps backwards but I feel confident that I can regroup, no matter what.

I've gone through worse than losing an apartment. I've had practice in taking the big tumble when money dries up like a shallow pond during a drought. One just has to be determined to get back up, dust oneself off, and say, "Well that was real." and keep on moving on.

Where I'll end up if I lose this apartment I have no idea. I got a couple of girlfriends out of state who have said, "Come live with me until you're 62 and then get early retirement." I'm 60 1/2 now. That's not a long time to be obachan at a girlfriend's crib. I do cook well and am good company.

Even when I was young and marketable I couldn't get some guy to help out, not very much anyway, not with a couple of kids to take care of, so not being particularly marketable now to someone doesn't strike me as anything odd. Not really.

I am peaceful now that I have my email archived and organized. I've started sending out email to my Moderator teams on the Yahoo Groups, giving them the head's up that I might go MIA for a bit. That's why I am glad there are other co-owners who can look after the subscribers.

I'm so totally glad I have this blog as a back up and I'm going to start using this more regularly now that I am in the winding down mode.

An old hippy boomer who lived on communes, hitch hiked across the country with a baby on her hip as a teen mother, has a certain sort of flexibility when things go wonky. I never had a stable situation to get used to. Things were always on the edge of the abyss. There's a faint sort of familiarity to the oncoming storm.

I know the steps to this dance, the dance of uncontrollable change, the chaos cha cha. Well it's 3am and I should get some rest. Tomorrow I am going to be throwing out stuff that isn't going to come with me should I take a tumble.

SOS and Head's Up

http://www.norajean.com/2009/12-09-09-SOS.htm

The recession is hitting our family hard. I might have to keep contact with the outside world through this blog. My other blogs are connected to my website and if I can't raise the $160 I need to renew the domains and the website those free tutorials will disappear.

The link above is to an open letter and SOS to the polymer clay public and it's on my website, we're paid up until Feb. 2, 2010.

If I take a tumble and lose my apartment and my phone I'll be using this blog to post updates on my situation.

If you've used my free tutorials and want to help keep my website up and running, click the link above and I'll be thankful for your mercy.

NoraJean