.jpg)
HOWEVER, (and forgive me, I feel I have to tell the whole story because it's so ridiculous) I have had my company website with them as well since before I even worked there and when it comes to problems, they just aren't allowed. In August or September (or so) 2009 I renewed my SSL certificate for that site {enter company name here}.COM and when we started working with a new marketing firm, they took over the .COM domain and I registered the identical .NET domain so we could still have "OUR" site so-to-speak so we could still provide extra features for our current clients. So, on 10/29/09 I revoked the SSL cert. for the .COM domain since it was on a different server and purchased a new cert. for the .NET domain. The next day the cert. was working fine, I was able to access the secure site, and my credit card was charged.
Aplus.net then did a really CRAZY thing. They "upgraded" their servers...and the problems began. Suddenly my .NET SSL certificate went A.W.O.L. and every time you accessed the site it gave you a certificate error. On top of that, all of my PHP files stopped working (!?). Instead of seeing a website, it asked if you wanted to download the file like it was foreign or something. So I created a support ticket and they fixed the PHP file issue. I responded and said the file issue was fixed, but the SSL issue wasn't. They responded and said the issue needed more info before they could investigate it, and then they closed the ticket...(!?) I reopened the ticket telling them once again that the issue wasn't resolved, and someone asked me to tell them what steps I went through to get the error (...uh...view the site!). A month after the initial support ticket was opened, I had no response and no fix. I responded and told them if they couldn't fix it within the week that I would contact billing for a refund because the cert only actually worked for about a week. The NEXT DAY they close the ticket and tell me to contact billing for a refund...like they weren't even going to try to fix it, and didn't give me a reason it couldn't be fixed.
That day I emailed their billing at the address support gave me. A week later I had received no response so I emailed them again and asked for a status and if they needed more info. Still no response. So, I did a live chat with support and again, without a reason, the guy told me to contact the customer service department for a refund. I said "The cert can't be fixed?" and he said the cert couldn't be found...Somewhere between the old servers and the new, it disappeared and it took like six weeks to get someone to tell me that. So, I called customer service and went through everything I did, the ticket I opened, the guy I chatted with, and hopefully I'll get my refund next week, but I've lost all hope in their support team after this. It was really a simple thing, but it cost me MONEY and our .NET site has been down for all this time, so it's something I have to complain about. Sorry. I've also been trying to work on my Joomla! module but I need to access my database to set up a query and now I can't access phpMyAdmin. It worked before they upgraded servers also, so I had to submit yet ANOTHER support ticket to get phpMyAdmin working again. It's just one problem after another...
Anyhow, lots of people like the holidays. Some LOVE the holidays, just can't get enough. I, on the other hand, would be hugely relieved if I never had to celebrate another holiday ever. I usually ask for various books, cds, dvds, and because that doesn't make for much of a list according to my mother, I sometimes get creative with gift cards and maybe a cord for my latest gadget or something. She then gets "creative" after that. Unfortunately, they've come out with those "credit card" gift cards and because they're "credit cards" as far as amazon.com and other websites are considered, you can't use them unless your purchase is less than the amount of the card. Dell.com is the only site I've ever seen that takes two credit cards for one purchase...and I'm not comfortable using them for regular in-store purchases. You have to be me to get why. So, last year I mistakenly put on my "wish list" not to get me any mastercard-type gift cards...so my mother got me a visa gift card. Well, I explained afterward and she traded the card for cash, no biggie. This year, I did the same thing but I put "Remember, please no 'credit card' type gift cards. It makes me uncomfortable to use them." I assumed that was clear enough because we've discussed it and I didn't think there was a problem. Well, we were opening presents on Christmas morning and I pull out a Visa gift card...then another...and when my grandparents came over I got ANOTHER. Of course I was polite and said thanks and visioned cash in my mind when I was saying it so I'd look sincere, but I was irritated. I mean if someone told you specifically not to get them something and had a discussion with you about it, wouldn't you listen and...oh I don't know...NOT get it for them? It seems pretty straight forward. I may sound ungrateful, but really I'm just angry that my mother refuses to listen to a word I say ever.
My auto insurance renews in January, so because I didn't want to have the "visa gift card" discussion again with my mother, I put the three gift cards in an envelope with a check totaling the amount of my car insurance and put it by my mother's coffee so she'd see it in the morning and I wouldn't have to discuss it with her until I got to work. To my surprise, she didn't bring it up except to say thanks for paying them for my auto insurance. Now I can't decide if she understood why I did that, if she's angry, confused, WHAT. I would have liked to hear "sorry I goofed up again," but I think it's progress that she didn't get angry. Anything beyond that is probably asking too much. I also had to do that right away because my birthday is Wednesday and I didn't want a repeat with the gift cards. If she does get me more gift cards, because I really didn't give her a birthday list, I'll have to say something. I'll say it nicely, but it has to be said. It has to stop because it's like throwing money in the trash if I keep them (I'll never use them) and I can't even put the money in savings.
I'm taking an online course through Lake Tahoe Community College starting Monday. It's Digital Imaging 1 using Photoshop CS4. I haven't finished an actual academic class since 2002 so I'm wary. My father also decided to sign up with me and a friend got me to try it because he's also taking it. If it was just me taking it I wouldn't feel so apprehensive because if I quit before the end of the class, only I would know. I'm also not into discussing...much of anything with people and especially with my father taking it, I know he'll want to talk about the material. It was nice to get "academic pricing" on the software and basically any other software I want while I'm enrolled. I purchased like a writing tablet "VisTablet," which is pretty cool but will take some getting used to, as well as Corel Painter 11. They're also on the quarter system which I'm not used to either so I think I'll end up enjoying it but at the same time I'm not looking forward to it.
