Schlock Mercenary is down this morning and I feel like it is my fault. When we had to renew Tayler.com at the beginning of this month, it occured to me that we might want to check on the Schlockmercenary.com domain as well. But then I forgot about it. Somehow I assumed that either Howard or our server guy would take care of it.
No one took care of it. And because we registered the domain 7 years ago, all of our contact information had changed and so the registrar was unable to contact us. I do remember getting some paper mail talking about renewing domains, but I know that these companies try to snipe each other all the time. I figured it was all junk mail.
First thing this morning I jumped on the phone and got it all sorted out. The domain was renewed without difficulty, but it will take a couple of hours before the registrar’s system removes the hold. Of course I can’t relax until the site is actually up. Because until then I can’t feel sure that I’ve actually fixed the problem. I’m trying to think about other things, but it gets hard when the phone rings and it is a wonderful concerned Schlock fan asking if we need the loan of a credit card or help getting the domain renewed. They call because they know that Howard is out of town and may be out of touch. I’m incredibly touched that people care enough to call. I’m embarrassed that we were so publicly silly.
I’m glad you were able to straighten it all out. And don’t be embarrassed, it’s a quite understandable situation.
And thank you for you comment in my LJ. I don’t remember if I said that in my reply. I am extremely excited at the moment.
A few years back, the domain registration for hotmail.com expired without whoever was responsible for it at Microsoft renewing it. It actually took some guy from Slashdot paying up after a day or two to get the site back online – it was a complete institutional failure on the MS side.
So don’t worry; it gets much worse. At least you fixed the problem quickly… I can see the site now. 🙂
Yep, you can relax, it’s all back up! I didn’t even realize there was a problem. Less than two hours after your post and all is well. Thanks for all you do for us fans! 🙂
The guy who paid it got reimbursed by Microsoft, reportedly with a check personally signed by Bill Gates. He framed the check instead of cashing it. 🙂
For what it’s worth, people in #Schlock_Mercenary went “Oh, huh. Schlock’s URL isn’t working…” …and put the direct IP address into the topic.
Fret not – while embarassing, most people were not hugely fussed. 🙂
Glad it was straightened out so easily! Don’t fret; consider how long you’ve been doing all this without any slip-ups! This is a minor thing.
That’s why you should assign someone you work with for hosting (who you can trust to talk to you) as your Technical Contact on the domains. Pretty much everyone who hosts domains on my ISP’s servers have me listed as their technical contact since any e-mails I get about the domain they’ll be sure to hear about.
Cheerio!