I'm So Sorry To Tell You This

I don't have much time -our computers have been up and down all night. Why? That in a moment.

It is with an extremely heavy heart and lots of tears that I have to tell you that our Grand Opening has been postponed until Saturday, Feb. 16, at 12 noon. I've been up all night doing nothing but finishing the pictures, typing up descriptions for literally hundreds of items, uploading the pictures, and being proud (albeit tired) when it was done. Then I sent it all up to Hubster's computer and -POOF - it disappeared. Every last word I typed and picture I uploaded. All gone. This was an hour ago, at 9:30 a.m. Then we couldn't contact the site at all. It's gone, and now I have to redo it all, and I don't have time to make it today.

Even if I did, our server keeps going down. Hubster has talked to them, but they've told us not to put anything of value (uh... like my entire store?) on there until Monday. They're having major problems with their servers; since tomorrow is Friday, they'll be working on it through the weekend. It was like taking an eraser and wiping a chalkboard clean.

Add on to that the fact that our phone lines were down for two days this week and continue to give us problems. The phone company can't come out until next week, so I'm lucky when I can get online. It's something called a "hard cross". Sometimes when I pick up the phone, I hear my neighbors talking (like the old party lines), and they can hear me. Not only that, whenever they pick up their phones, it bounces us right off the Internet. Great.

I must apologize to all of you. I had it within my grasp. I was going to have time to take a shower, to watch the shop open, to have everything in place and ready for you. I feel like a failure even though it's not my fault. I'm tired, need to take a shower, have been sitting in this damn chair for 12 hours (and on my feet for six hours before that), and my legs have swollen up to the size of balloons due to fluid retention (it's a part of the disease). I've let you all down, and that's the worst part of all.

So just to be on the safe side, we've set the opening for well past the date the phone company will be here and the servers will be repaired. The only good thing is that the site will be even better, I'll have even more merchandise for you, and the contest will be changed to include gift certificates, discounts, and yarn. I hope this makes up for all the trouble this has caused.

Please come to the shop a week from Saturday at noon PST. Please don't abandon me or it - I'll be ready to go if I have to drive to San Jose and strangle the dude running the server operation. I'm so very, very sorry.

I'm going to go knit until I fall asleep. This has been such a horrible night that I need to do something to wind down. Besides, if I don't get off pretty soon, my neighbors may pick up their phone and bounce me.

I'm so sorry.