Coming & Going

11/18/2021

And just like that, my website is back.

Behind every website are a zillion lines of code. If you want to see what that looks like behind a page you are perusing – do this: On a computer (not on a phone) right click on any segment of a website. A box will open, click on Inspect and that will show you the code being used in that part of that website. You can’t mess with it, but you can see it.

This code is what the computer wizards work with. If you have kids in your life, entice them to take some coding classes a few hours here or there. Google “coding classes near me” and see what pops up. Sign them up for virtual classes. Coding skills are what sailing skills were to our great grandparents – a way to negotiate our world instead of being a passive consumer of it.

Len talked with the Go Daddy guy two hours the other day and neither of them could diagnose the problem or fix it.

This morning – it’s back. This is what Len’s suspects. Every website has to be hosted by a server; servers are a set of ginormous computers. Information going in and through those computers needs a unique code to be recognized. That code, different for each client they host, is called an SOA - Start of Authority.

Len suspects there was a mistake or Go Daddy got hacked – and our SOA (and maybe others), got garfed up. They worked on it two days and now it’s back.

I like understanding the sequences that make things work, even if I don’t really understand the process itself. And even though this is impressively technical, don’t you love that the process is the same as hut dwellers must have used thousands of years ago? Someone comes to your door – they have to identify themselves before you let them in.

Speaking of magical computers; I was at the reception desk of my physical therapy clinic, setting my next appointment. We agreed on a time, I had my phone’s calendar open and stated typing 10:30. Before I could type all four digits, I received the clinic email telling me what time my next appointment would be. That signal had gone to a satellite a hundred miles in space and come back to my phone, two feet from the receptionist’s computer, in less time than it takes me to type 10:30. 

…

Len is good. Every day his bruises are fading and his strength increases. We are hosting Thanksgiving this year- our family is bringing most of the food but we are having everyone together in our yard and garage. We have 4 kids under 5 who attend 3 day care sites in 2 cities. All adults are vaccinated but if any of those kids contracts Covid, they can get very sick plus their parents and all the rest of us will also have to quarantine two weeks. So we are gathering this year but cautiously and outside.

Yesterday Len and I worked in the garage two hours as we moved summer junk and tools out of the way. I carried and ferried. Len swept the floor. We dragged in the tables and chairs we will use for our get-together.

At the end of this Len felt fine and so did I.

When they say bad times can teach us to appreciate good times, they aren’t kidding.

I have never in my life been so grateful to clean a garage.

…

All these quotes are by Oscar Wilde, who was born on my birth date and died on Len’s.

“It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it.”
“The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.”
“A good friend will always stab you in the front.”
“Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.”
and I think Oscar has my number: “Quotations are a serviceable substitute for wit.”