Goddess, I Am.

This week, I am sans Octavian. My poor baby has been suffering from a bloated battery for a while (I didn’t know, honest), and I needed to take him in to the service center because the trackpad was becoming more and more unresponsive by the day.

Normally, I’d be all panicky by now, thinking of all the work I’m supposed to be doing. But thankfully I now have a rather substantial external hard drive. Initially, I just backed up my files so I can access them on The Husband’s computer. But then I had a brainwave – what if I cloned my Mac’s hard drive and used it to boot The Husband’s MBP?

I honestly wasn’t sure if it would work because his MBP is so much newer than mine, but it did and IT’S GREAT. It’s like Octavian never left at all; my entire setup is JUST THERE. Everything is exactly where it should be – my Windows virtual machine, the best free website builder, my spreadsheets, my tools, and even my iTunes library. The best part is I didn’t have to tinker with any of The Husband’s stuff at all; I love it!

I know this is probably nothing new to those of you who are far techier than I am. But to me, this here’s a real treat. Oh, I love technology!

- Posted using BlogPress on The Sword of the Morning, my iPad 2.

As of this writing, I’ve been tossing and turning for hours, trying to get some sleep. It’s turning out to be next to impossible, thanks to my newfound source of stress.

I should stop obsessing, I know. It’s not like I can singlehandedly push our rankings back to page one in one night. I can’t help it, though. If I lose this job, I’m pretty much royally fucked. Not that my boss has given any indication that he wants to fire me or anything because he hasn’t. (And he won’t because he’s totally awesome that way.) Still, I can’t help but get scared, though, and more than a little paranoid because in this industry, there just aren’t any guarantees.

Okay, I’m going to stop torturing myself now because I really need to sleep. I wish there was some sort of electric mattress pad that could zap negative thoughts such as this into oblivion. I suspect that would help a lot of people save on therapy bills. (And me, my tears.)

- Posted using BlogPress on The Sword of the Morning, my iPad 2.

I’m pretty sure that when the Mayans predicted a global catastrophe in 2012, they were talking about the Google Penguin update. (If you don’t work in SEO, you’re probably going ”say what?” right about now. Feel free to skip this post.)

Google rolls out an algorithm update on a fairly regular basis, so this really is nothing new to me. This is, however, the first time I’ve actually seen a huge decline on my rankings. How huge? Well, let’s just say that one of my clients’ major keywords have gone from the upper half of page one to page eight. Page EIGHT! That hurts. A lot.

And you know what hurts more? I’m a very good girl who only ever uses white hat all the way. Yet now I am seeing some obviously spammy sites with higher rankings. I feel cheated.

So I am now on very uncertain territory. I’m still not entirely sure how to fix this, short of holding a gun to Matt Cutts‘ head. But I better figure things out soon, or else we’re going to have some very unhappy clients. I hate letting my boss down because he really is rather awesome. Not to mention I don’t want to lose my job, like, EVER.

This is going to give me more sleepless nights than the side effects of phenteripped that I used to suffer when I took diet pills. Way to have my back, Google. Because this sort of stress is exactly what I’ve been needing. Why don’t you call in the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse while you’re at it so we can call it a day?

- Posted using BlogPress on The Sword of the Morning, my iPad 2.

Yes, I know I promised to write more about the Borneo trip, but a few things came up. So it looks like that post is going to have to wait another day or two. Forgive?

Right now:

• My Internet is all sorts of wonky. Since Friday, we’ve been getting okay Internet during the day, a considerably slow connection in the evening, and almost completely naught past midnight. The Husband and I have now officially given up on SKY Broadband and their horrible service. We’re going to sign up with PLDT MyDSL first thing in the morning.
• I’m stressing out over visas. It’s hard enough to get ‘em with a Philippine passport, yes, but it’s even scarier when you work online and have no paperwork to speak of. It’s looking like I’m just going to have to wing it and hope for the best – not a good thought for this (somewhat) control freak.
• I’m finally in the process of creating my portfolio site, one that isn’t a sub-domain of this blog. It’s fun because I really do love web design, but it’s also giving me a headache. Right now, my head is filled with thoughts of document imaging, and it’s keeping me awake.
• Early this week, I decided to go for something very, very exciting. I’m about to go on the third and final step of the process, and I’m a quivering bundle of nerves. This step, by the way, was meant to be over by Friday night, but SKY Broadband fucked it up big time (see first bullet). Thankfully, I’ve been given another chance.
• The Sleepasil capsule I took is kicking in. It’s about time, too. So I’ma get some sleep now.

Goodnight, all!

- Posted using BlogPress on Agrippa, the iPad

. . . I’m spending all of my free time with Mum, who’s home from Canada for 3 measly weeks.

. . . The Husband and I are sleeping on the couch to make way for our guest. Thank heavens for electric, reclining ones – even if they are made of (clichéd) leather.

. . . work is kicking my backside.

. . . there’s way too much exhausting family drama.

. . . I haven’t been shopping for shoes or clothes or Povada Fine Jewelry. I’m hoping to meet most of my personal goals this year or the next, and I’m going to need the funds to do so. Wish me luck.

. . . I’ve been planning my Kota Kinabalu-Sandakan trip with The Husband next month like a woman possessed. The Kinabatangan (Sandakan) leg is particularly tricky because it looks like we may have to give up quite a few basic creature comforts to make the most out of the whole Borneo jungle experience (while paying top dollar, mind you). I am very ambivalent about the whole thing. I would never pass up the chance to observe primates and pygmy elephants and crocodiles out in the wild. But I can’t live without a good, clean toilet either. Go figure.

. . . I find myself hovering. Hovering between happiness and sadness, exhaustion and exuberance, hellos and goodbyes.

I’m hoping to get my blogging mojo back any day now. Sometimes it feels like I’ve inadvertently locked up my desire to write in one of those steel garages, and I’ve somehow lost the key. I hope you’ll stick around ’till I get it back.