Have a nice Valentine's Day/Friday the 13th combo weekend.

I'd never noticed the collision of the 2 dreaded days before 2009:

Because it's a risky place out there. For example, I was out driving, hundreds of miles from home on Friday the 13th, and I blithely made a right turn and drove a half a block before I saw the oncoming traffic in my lane. I quickly made another right turn at the corner, and immediately saw the police car lights in my rear view mirror. The cop — with his beautiful blue eyes — was very handsome — very heart-of-the-heartland handsome. I effused "I'm so sorry." He asked us where we were going. I didn't wisecrack, "the wrong way, apparently."

We said where we were going, and afterward, I wondered what the hell difference did it make where we were going? Nosy cop. Nosy handsome cop. Nosy adorable cop with brilliant blue eyes. I'm theorizing that he asked because the thing is to ask anything to get the driver talking so that words might be slurred, incoherence demonstrated, or alcohol smelled. It's not a speeding ticket he'd like to give me, it's a DUI. And maybe the whole point of making that street 1-way is to net drunk drivers. Why was the cop right there? I bet every 10 minutes, somebody goes the wrong way at that turn, each one a potential DUI, and that was a net that I slithered through. But maybe Mr. Handsome Blue-Eyed Cop let me off because he liked the place we said we were going. And I got lucky that way on Friday the 13th.

No, that was not my first post about falling in love with Meade. This was. No, actually, this. Or was it "Record nails broken in car crash." No, it was "Althouse on the road":



In the comments, AJ Lynch said: "Althouse is...looking for love in all the wrong places. Heh. Be safe!" Yes, be very careful! You never know where your next wrong turn is or who might come tromping through the brush:

The coronal mass ejection is coming.

"Solar Flares Disrupt Communications on Earth, Could Send Shockwave on Friday the 13th."

Will you attend a "Titanic Dinner" this Saturday, in remembrance of the last dinner on the Titanic 100 years ago?

There's one here in Madison, at Steenbock's on Orchard, which is an excellent place. 11 courses, $100 with "wine pairings." "Attire inspired by time period is welcome." Hmmm.

What's the least inviting part of this?
	Too expensive.
	11 courses? Of what? Sounds like too much and too weird.
	We're supposed to go in costume, but we don't have to -- that makes it too hard to get right.
	I don't want to eat based on mass death.
pollcode.com free polls

Oh, don't be such a wet blanket killjoy iceberg, it will be fun!

RELOCATED FROM ALTHOUSE2: Blogger Buzz explains...

... to some extent:

Here’s what happened: during scheduled maintenance work Wednesday night, we experienced some data corruption that impacted Blogger’s behavior. Since then, bloggers and readers may have experienced a variety of anomalies including intermittent outages, disappearing posts, and arriving at unintended blogs or error pages. A small subset of Blogger users (we estimate 0.16%) may have encountered additional problems specific to their accounts.

I guess I'm in the small subset. I'm sure my blog is unusually large. There are well over 20,000 posts.

COMMENTS (Relocated):

Almost Ali said...
I suspect the so-called "scheduled maintenance" was performed by Facebook. Maybe nobody's noticed, but there's a war going on.

MAY 13, 2011 2:19:00 PM CDT
chickelit said...
Blogger ate a post of mine I put up on Wednesday. I couldn't log on until an hour ago. The missing post is in my draft stage folder, but it really is an earlier draft, and not at all what I posted and lost.

MAY 13, 2011 2:21:00 PM CDT
chickelit said...
Maybe nobody's noticed, but there's a war going on.

Oh, is this like a "Stones vs. Beatles" thing?

MAY 13, 2011 2:22:00 PM CDT
reader_iam said...
chickelit: Oh noes!

MAY 13, 2011 2:27:00 PM CDT
Almost Ali said...
FWIW: I have a tiny, unrelated blog off in the Blogspot wilderness - and access was just returned. But the comments posted since Wednesday are still missing.

MAY 13, 2011 2:32:00 PM CDT
Almost Ali said...
Oh, is this like a "Stones vs. Beatles" thing?

I think it's more like Mafia Wars.

MAY 13, 2011 2:34:00 PM CDT
Pogo said...
I think if you sacrifice a small goat or bury a potato in the back yard, things will return to normal.

MAY 13, 2011 2:44:00 PM CDT
rhhardin said...
That you've violated the terms of service is always high on their list of probabilities.

My experience is that it's always their fault.

The difference in perception is because they're Democrats.

MAY 13, 2011 2:48:00 PM CDT
rhhardin said...
I think if you sacrifice a small goat or bury a potato in the back yard, things will return to normal.

You actually have to contact them; the blog is really gone.

It's not mysterious software action but deliberate removing of any blogs that have pointers making recovery too messy.

They accept collateral damage even if you don't.

MAY 13, 2011 2:50:00 PM CDT
Lem said...
They better be back before midnight tonight.. otherwise.. the unthinkable will have happened.

MAY 13, 2011 2:51:00 PM CDT
Lem said...
Should Althouse sue?

I have been injured ;)

MAY 13, 2011 2:53:00 PM CDT
Palladian said...
rhhardin is correct, your blog got deliberately removed. Every other blogspot blog that I've visited is operational again. Contact them.

MAY 13, 2011 2:56:00 PM CDT
Ralph L said...
"Create a blog. It's free."

And worth what you paid for it.

Apparently, the NYT has lost its pull.

MAY 13, 2011 3:18:00 PM CDT
Almost Ali said...
Not to mention that it's also Friday the 13th.

MAY 13, 2011 3:50:00 PM CDT
Palladian said...
Who the hell is that little pissant in the Blogger "help" center thread? Does he or she realize how much Althouse could fuck up their already tarnished reputation?

I've been saying it for years, but hopefully this episode has driven it home- take your valuable blog off Blogger and host it somewhere safe, somewhere that doesn't shit all over one of their most prominent users.

MAY 13, 2011 4:08:00 PM CDT
Sixty Grit said...
Blogger is AWESOME!

MAY 13, 2011 4:11:00 PM CDT
Palladian said...
Althouse, I don't think the aforementioned pissant ("nitecruzr") is an actual Google/Blogger employee. I would try to appeal to someone who can identify themselves as being an employee. I think that person is just some loser who has appointed themselves help forum moderator.

MAY 13, 2011 4:17:00 PM CDT
Tibore said...
Palladian is correct. That's not an actual Google/Blogger staff member, that's just a volunteer web helper who's just there to comb through the easy stuff to pass along to the "higher ups". In short, he's a screener who can answer some basic questions. I don't know how to move on up the chain, and I see that he's saying he's escalated the problem, but he's definitely nothing more than another Blogger user who's simply agreed to help with basic questions posted in forums.

MAY 13, 2011 4:34:00 PM CDT
Ann Althouse said...
I am doing what I can, but that help forum is the closest I can get to any kind of contact.

I'm really disgusted by the way they are treating me. I think I may be the highest traffic blog on Blogger or if no the top, then close to the top.

Simultaneously, I'm getting pushed around by Leiter, who seems to delight in causing trouble for Wisconsin.

MAY 13, 2011 4:35:00 PM CDT
Jason (the commenter) said...
Palladian: Who the hell is that little pissant in the Blogger "help" center thread?

That is a nerd, and you NEVER try "Don't you know who I am?" on a nerd.

Poor Althouse, I knew she was going to have trouble when I saw how she was talking!

MAY 13, 2011 4:35:00 PM CDT
Beldar said...
Among the things I've enjoyed in my relationship with TypePad since 2003 has been their genuinely exceptional customer service. It has consistently been the best customer service of any business I use. 3.7M page views later, I'm still very pleased with them, and recommend that you consider them if you're considering leaving Blogger.

MAY 13, 2011 4:41:00 PM CDT
Palladian said...
Nerd or not, it's not the way a company should appear to treat a very popular user. That moderator started off with an attitude before Althouse said anything resembling "don't you know who I am?" If that person isn't a spokesperson or employee if Blogger/Google, it would really be Google/Blogger's best interest to make that clear and quietly resolve this little problem. If building their social products is a priority (see Google/Facebook war) this is NOT good optics.

MAY 13, 2011 4:46:00 PM CDT
rhhardin said...
He's not much of a nerd if he doesn't know that blogs get deleted to simplify cleanup.

He's certain at the top of his voice that it ran afoul of the spambot detector.

MAY 13, 2011 4:48:00 PM CDT
Jason (the commenter) said...
I do enjoy how everyone is flagging his comments as "not helpful".

LOL

MAY 13, 2011 4:59:00 PM CDT
Original Mike said...
Time for you to finally dump Blogger, Althouse.

MAY 13, 2011 5:02:00 PM CDT
Beth said...
Go to wordpress; buy your own server space. You shouldn't give your content to a company and trust them with it - so don't rely on FACEBOOK either!

MAY 13, 2011 5:07:00 PM CDT
gail said...
whew...I feel the world is its back-to-normal-screwed-up self now that Althouse is back.

I became a fan during the WI protests, and didn't realize until I couldn't access the blog how much it has become a part of my day.

Glad you're back Professor, Meade and the familiar commentors.

MAY 13, 2011 5:08:00 PM CDT
Palladian said...
What Beth said.

MAY 13, 2011 5:20:00 PM CDT
Indigo Red said...
I, too, had a problem with Blogger recently and I was treated just as shabbily as you, Ann. The customer service folks are volunteer amateurs who do the help desk thing in their spare time and apparently are sensitive about their expert status as perceived Jedi masters. My Jedi geek was actually calling me names when I informed him I didn't find his help helpful (switch to Google Chrome, avoid Internet Explorer at all costs) and had found my own solution which others with the same problem found helpful (even a guy using Chrome.)

MAY 13, 2011 5:40:00 PM CDT
Beldar said...
Prof. Althouse, if you're not already paranoid and compulsive about automatically and independently backing up your posts, you should become so.

MAY 13, 2011 5:41:00 PM CDT
edutcher said...
Blogger has been acting very strangely for the better part of a month.

I have to admit I was wondering if it was just me or that the union slugs had hacked her.

Either that or, with Finals at last over, she was running through the house, tearing off her clothes, singing, "No more pencils, no more books, no more conlaw students' dirty looks", and had forgotten to log in or something.

MAY 13, 2011 5:45:00 PM CDT
shiloh said...
I guess I'm in the small subset.

AA, as I always suspected, you're special! :-P

MAY 13, 2011 5:46:00 PM CDT
SWWBO said...
Ann's blog is one of the few I follow regularly that is still on blogger.
I kept waiting for her to move to a better platform with reliable service and people you can actually talk to if you have a problem.

Ann, I hope they get your blog back soon, and as soon as they do, back the whole thing up and move it to a hosting service that can and will support you - it's not much money. My husband and I have used Hosting Matters for over 7 years, and they have been great and reasonably priced. I know there are other companies who will also host your blog for very little money -and you won't have to be concerned whether you are being politically correct enough for them.

MAY 13, 2011 5:55:00 PM CDT
Leland said...
Well, I'm not too impressed with Google of as a place for storing critical data.

MAY 13, 2011 6:07:00 PM CDT
Jason (the commenter) said...
Come on, you can do better than that. How about 100 at least? Surely you have more than 100 loyal readers.

OMG! The "helper" over there is taunting someone asking for help!

You know what I did? I reported him for offensive content, afterwhich he deleted his comments!

Thankfully, I took a screenshot.

MAY 13, 2011 6:52:00 PM CDT
Jason (the commenter) said...
I know these guys have a lot of responsibility and little oversight, but I'm pretty sure it's not good when they become famous.

MAY 13, 2011 7:05:00 PM CDT
Rose said...
It's weird because nitcruzr is usually very helpful.

This is obviously related to whatever glitch they have been dealing with - and he should have approached it from that angle - a "let's see what we have to do to fix this" not "don't question my authority" kind of thing....

i don't think it is malicious - and I don't think they are trying to shut you down - but it may be that a number of flags by people who WERE got caught into the glitch - it will be interesting to see what happens.

if they can treat you like this - none of the rest of us will fare very well, I fear....

But I am betting it is just frustrations and weariness that has led to that exchange....

MAY 13, 2011 8:26:00 PM CDT
Rose said...
Mine were all down yesterday - and half of today, too.

BUT - I remind myself how grateful I am for this wonderful, and ever-improving, FREE platform. I know that they suffered much anxiety and frustration trying to solve this, and all I really want to say to them is THANK YOU - for the space, for the improvements (when I first started you'd lose every third post as you hit publish - AND you had to learn html) and for the hard work solving these issues and setting up the upgrades.

I wish there was some way to actually get to talk to a PERSON sometimes, but I realize the sheer numbers make that impossible.

And I am REALLY sorry to see the tone of that 'support' thread... guilty until proven innocent.

Back up blogs are good - if for no other reason than it ca be yanked at any time - Blogger or Wordpress - should we have offshore backups?

MAY 13, 2011 8:29:00 PM CDT

Lucky 13.

Has Friday the 13th been good to you this year?

Did you have a nice Valentine's Day/Friday the 13th combo weekend?

I never noticed the collision of the 2 dreaded days before. But I suppose it happens ever 7 years. Did I do the math wrong? I'm sticking with my theory. So, every 7 years we get the Valentine's Day/Friday the 13th combo weekend. Note every time this happens and only when this happens, Valentine's Day falls on Saturday. That Saturdayosity magnifies the romantic dimension of Valentine's Day, so it might be a good idea, when this 7th year rolls around, to lock all your doors, dish out a big bowl of Haagen Dazs...



...put "Wuthering Heights" in the DVD player...



... and curl up on the sofa in your Snuggie.



Because it's a risky place out there. For example, I was out driving, hundreds of miles from home on Friday the 13th, and I blithely made a right turn and drove a half a block before I saw the oncoming traffic in my lane. I quickly made another right turn at the corner, and immediately saw the police car lights in my rear view mirror. The cop — with his beautiful blue eyes — was very handsome — very heart-of-the-heartland handsome. I effused "I'm so sorry." He asked us where we were going. I didn't wisecrack, "the wrong way, apparently."

We said where we were going, and afterward, I wondered what the hell difference did it make where we were going? Nosy cop. Nosy handsome cop. Nosy adorable cop with brilliant blue eyes. I'm theorizing that he asked because the thing is to ask anything to get the driver talking so that words might be slurred, incoherence demonstrated, or alcohol smelled. It's not a speeding ticket he'd like to give me, it's a DUI. And maybe the whole point of making that street 1-way is to net drunk drivers. Why was the cop right there? I bet every 10 minutes, somebody goes the wrong way at that turn, each one a potential DUI, and that was a net that I slithered through. But maybe Mr. Handsome Blue-Eyed Cop let me off because he liked the place we said we were going. And I got lucky that way on Friday the 13th.

So, welcome to Monday. Welcome to the working week....



I told you people to be careful. I said: "If you're going to take any risks, I hope it's worth it for you." Did you take that risk? Did you make that wrong turn? And if you made the wrong turn did you get off easy and end up in the right place?

It's Friday the 13th.

For the love of God, people, be careful. If you're going to take any risks, I hope it's worth it for you.

Eight posts before 8:30. Yikes, what's got into me? It's bad when Friday the 13th falls on Friday.