Be warned...this is a Rant

Back in June I found that my store website had been hacked. Didn't put anything in to steal credit card info or monitor emails. Just a bunch of annoying pop-ups and links to sex sites. Well to be on the safe side, I decided to start fresh. I Started with a new up to date OS (operating system) for the site. CRE Loaded, a great premium OS. Great shopping cart and easy one page check-out. Updated my template to the new OS. And finally after multiple and multiple testings, trying this and that. Tweaking everything I could find to tweak. Then... tweaking stuff I didn't need to tweak and testing some more. Tweaking and testing, testing and tweaking. You get the point. I loaded it with products. Pat was a happy man. It went LIVE this past week. Two and a half months of work. I was tickled.
Sunday I am at home sick, trying to enjoy some soup I couldn't taste and I get a message from a fellow twitter er that my index page (front page on site) was hijacked. Some yahoo that is unhappy with our government and President posted a picture of the Iranian president on my front page with a caption. WTF is that! What the hell is going on! I get hacked, then hijack my page. I must be on a list to mess with or something. The site is clean again, thanks to backups. New security measures are in place. This makes me want to exercise some of the skills I learned 20 years ago when I was in the military. With extreme discretion. But I digress. Looking on the web, I see lots of people and businesses are having there sites hit. All I can hope for is to be left alone. hhhmmmm I feel better now.

So much going on

This is just outside my store window. What a beautiful Hibiscus.

Been working on the website. Installed a brand new website format, got most of it working. They come out with an update. That's installed now. Had to get a new template because of system changes. That's looking better, but there are still some layout issues. All and all its working out. I have had the "Webmaster" hat on way more than the "Soapmaker" hat. Need to get back to that. One very big issue with the soaps is the humidity. In my old store it was easy to control. This new location....dealing with 62%, not good for the soap curing process. Many soaps are not firming up. Will be building a drying room soon. That was in original plans, but it was axed.

The summer soaps are back in stock - Magnolia, Mom's Gardenias, Carolina Peach are ready. Honeysuckle is taking its time. Its a wee bit soft yet. Lavender, Coffee, Mocha, lemongrass, Oatmeal and everything else I am about and out of is slow drying.

The Pomegranate will be ripe soon. This one is decadent.

Snow days

Snow in the south. Not a common thing. Schools close, stores run out of milk and it gets yucky. Anywhere up north, just another snow day. But its special... The dog freaks because he has not walked in snow, people just drive crazy and kids and grownups get to throw snowballs. The Market closed so it was a day working at home.
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We are in

We are in our new shop. Getting things put away. Finding new homes for this and that. No internet, no Wi-Fi, no hard line phone. None yet. All going through my wireless. It will be coming soon. Hard to do everything over a Blackberry. Slow web connect. The roof leaks, the rollup doors dont keep out the rain and the parking lot is like mushy wet cement. Plus red clay. The red clay is nice. Thats a special treat. You can not scrape that stuff off your shoes. We be jammin'. Things are being handled and delt with. Management is doing a good job. All is great at the Soapworks. Just wee bumps in the road. But if I dont get some internet soon....I'm going to fit.

Getting things done

Always a million and one things to get done. I recently bought a new cell. My old one was 3 years old, very good basic phone. I thought it would be cool to take pictures....what a bag of snakes that opened up. All said and done, cost, special offers and all, I got a Blackberry Curve. Wow! Wow! Wow! This thing does it all. Calendar, emails, music, GPS maps, pictures, full Internet, IM, the list goes on. The best is time management. I got an application from RexWireless called "ToDoMatrix". You put all the things you need to get done in folders, it notifies you when you want. If you loose your phone its all backed-up online. No worries. No more - I forgot to call...., I forgot to get the milk, Why do I need to be at the store early? If you need to manage life better, it is something to look at. I have tried different things, but this seems to work for me. It will help save a couple of trees because of all the paper notes I have been using.

I guess it is a southern expression for "wallowing". To roll around oneself in a lazy way. Kids wallowing in the yard, pigs wallow in mud, dogs waller in grass ( on there back - feet in the air wiggling around). things like that. My mother would tell me to quit wallering in bed and get up.
Another use would be "quit wallering in self pity" I learned proper speech and grammar from my Mother and Sister growing up. Spelling is another matter. But some of the southern expressions just don't have the same "feel" if spoken correctly or incorrectly. I find myself using more of them as I get older.
So far this morning I have labeled jars, packaged mud, packaged soap, cleaned up and had some juice. Off to Myrtle Beach today to sell some soap & herbs. Bike Week is on, so traffic should be fun. later.

fixing my bathroom

You figure out what you are going to do... then it all goes to sh&#t!
I spent all day yesterday fixing my bathroom. The medicine cabinet broke, so took out the old one and replaced it with one that went right in. No extra work, put it in the hole and screwed it in. Amazing! Next was installing some extra plug-ins. Ok I am not an electrician, but can do some simple fixes. After making 3 extra holes I didn't need in the wall. The plugs were in. Next comes running the wire to the box. That's still to be done. but the plugs look good. Nice and neat, but still not working yet. It took me 10 hours for all that and 5 trips to Lowe's. After, I helped the kids plant some vegetables they stated in the yard. Hermes had to waller all over them. He does that. Wallers on stinky stuff, wallers in the dirt, wallers just to waller. I hope they live. Found a rogue Tomato plant growing in the herb patch, a nice size.
Made some body butter and coffee soap today in the shop.
Never have enough time do-ya,
to get it all done.
Start early again tomorrow.