Update
Yes, I haven’t been posting much lately. 
I have been busy at one level and lazy at a different level. I have been shut-in most of the time due to all the snow and no vehicle that I can drive in it. The Mustang peeks out the garage and just refuses to move. As such, I should be able to be posting more. But alas, I haven’t – thus, the claim to laziness. But let me tell you what I have been doing a bit.
First, I am still helping the research team at Flatland so have been involved in the Bible studies that appear on that site (http://www.flatlandchurch.com/teaching). For example, I wrote the prose part of this week’s studies. Jim, our illustrious leader of the team, wrote the questions. He is really good at that.
Second, I have been working on client sites. Troubleshooting both code and server configurations, new code, fixing old are all a part of it. I enjoy this but seem to work twice as much on it as I charge. I need to work on being better at my estimations, both cost and time.
Finally, I have been working on my own server. I am moving everything eventually I believe to RackSpace Cloud (RSC). I find that it gives me the freedom to make changes without worrying about knocking my server off-line for days at a time. Currently, my server is located in a place I have no physical access. If I mess something up to the point it won’t boot, I can’t fix it.
At RSC, if I mess something up, I can restore the entire server within minutes to the state it was in prior to messing it up… at least restore it to the stage it was at when the server was last backed up. I will need to work on making sure that I have proper procedures in place to back up data before major changes that could require a restoration so I don’t loose things. But, I believe this is a good thing to do.
I am also splitting my single server into two specialized server configurations, one for web hosting, one for e-mail. This allows me to allocate resources better for each purpose and even install only that which I need for each server so that they are ending up significantly different. But that is ok, it makes each one really good at what it is suppose to do. Also, because of the way RSC works, I can allocate server resources differently. More RAM for one or the other (and corresponding drive space and CPU power).
One of the things that I have wanted to do for a while was to learn how to setup and use PostgreSQL instead of MySQL. This I have been doing with the mail server. PostgreSQL gives me more security of mind and now that I am learning how it works, it isn’t as daunting as it first seemed. It certainly is different than MySQL but not really any more difficult… maybe even easier in some ways.
Also, the move to RackSpace may open up other opportunities. I need to increase the amount of income I am making to help out our recovery from the financial disaster we have found ourselves in. The move to RSC may allow me to offer additional services to clients, new and old.
And so, although I have been quiet, it doesn’t mean I am dead, just preoccupied.