My day disappeared and my eyes won't focus!

Well, today was the day - the day in which I would tackle the world of internet domain hosting companies and hopefully win.  My old domain hosting company has been letting spam past their filters and into my inbox.  Up to a hundred a day.  Really, I don't need help with my debts, or an online ultrasound degree, or a quote on a forklift, or any of the other delights these emails were offering.  Nor do I need 100 spams a day in my inbox. 

So yesterday I called my former domain hosting company.  My fingers are itching to name them right here so the world will know who they are, but I'll be a responsible citizen and keep it to myself.  Anyways, for weeks now, I've emailed them & complained about spam.  They've said  nothing's wrong, and as soon as I signed off, magically the spam would stop for a couple of weeks, only to start up again.  I'd email, they'd deny/deny/deny, and magically the spam would stop again.

But yesterday the LiveChat operator, Nichelle, suggested that I re-type every last one of the spammers email addresses into their Blacklist feature.  I told her that just wasn't an option.  At a hundred a day, that's a lot of typing.  I'm a quilter, not a typer.  Well, she replied, if I wasn't willing to help myself, there was nothing she could do.

That was it.  Time to move on, kick them to the curb, scream hasta la vista baby, and slam the internet door in their face!

So today, having researched the options in depth,  I signed up with a new domain hosting company, sent them off payment for a year (at half the price I was paying). All done;  problem solved.  NOT so FAST!  Had to contact the old company and have them "unlock" the domain name, patchmaker.ca  (Don't go there now - it doesn't work yet.)  Live Chat again.  Nichelle again.  She told me what to do.  I did it.  Didn't work.  I contacted Nichelle (again).  Oops, she said, hadn't she told me I'd have to cancel?  So I did.  Only way to cancel is to send them $60 to buy out the domain name.  Ok.  At this point, anything to dump these people.  They took the money, but the transfer still didn't work.  Nichelle again.  Oops, she said, didn't I mention that you have to send a letter requesting immediate cancellation?  So I did.  Still didn't work; the domain is still locked.  Nichelle again.  OK, she said.  I've unlocked it.  Guess what.  Not unlocked.  Live Chat again.  Got a different person (thank you, goddess of the internet!)  Nope, he said, it's not unlocked.  I'll unlock it now.  Guess away - didn't work.  Live Chat again.  Should be okay now. 

Meanwhile, a very, very patient person at the new company, let's call him Fred,  kept doing his best.  After numerous attempts he finally got the domain transferred, only now it has to be re-registered for it to work. 
And, my email isn't working.  According to Fred this should resolve itself when the domain is formally re-registered.  In 48 hours.

So, according to this process, the only way to change domain hosts involves losing your website for 48 hours, sending $60 for a domain I purchased 5 years ago, and not getting email for 2 days.  This is not a good thing for an online business.  Bet Bill Gates doesn't go through this!

Thankfully I have another email address, and had a moment of wisdom before all this happened in which I directed all my mail to the address that still works.  So now, I'm getting 2 copies of everything.  But that's better than none.  Doncha love computers?????  It's now 6 PM, I'm hungry, my eyes won't focus any more after all day online, not a stitch was sewn all day, and nothing's working except the email that shouldn't be working.

Going to pour a glass of wine now.

Happy Quilting!
Maggie

PS:  Have to post a quilt picture just to make me feel better.