fluffythewondercat
|
posted on October 22, 2007 12:12:34 PM new
Reminded by Adele's current situation, this seems a good time to bring up what you can be doing to anticipate and ameliorate emergencies.
No one wants to think about it, but we will all have deaths in our families. Naturally you will want to drop everything to be with your loved ones. No one would expect anything else. If you need to end all your auctions suddenly, vrane.com has an Auction Bombing tool (free, I think) that will do just that. Go find it now and bookmark it for when you'll need it.
It's also a good idea to start inserting the blank image file I talked about in the other thread. It's just a small invisible image that you can replace with an emergency message quickly.
It is possible that the mail program you use will allow you to do a bulk reply to messages. You might have a bunch of PayPal payments you haven't dealt with yet. Here's what I do with Eudora: Out of saved mail, I select all messages to me received on a certain date, then hit Reply. Eudora brings up a Reply window for each of those messages. Write some boilerplate ("We're called out of town on an emergency and anticipate being gone five days." ), cut and paste into the message pane and you're good to go. This is really quick.
For natural disasters and acts of the Hairy Thunderer, if you don't have a UPS for your computer and another for your network router/hub/etc, you should get them. A UPS will allow you to shut things down properly and (hopefully) keep your equipment from being fried by a power surge.
Periodically back up your essential files. By "essential" I don't mean software; that can always be reinstalled. I mean data that you couldn't replace if you lost it. For most people this isn't a huge amount. You can probably get it all on a USB flash drive with room to spare. A good strategy is to use two USB flash drives. Keep one offsite in your safe depost box, use the other to do daily or weekly backups, then swap them from time to time.
fLufF
--
Free sterling silver gemstone earrings at clearanceclarence.com
[ edited by fluffythewondercat on Oct 22, 2007 12:12 PM ]
|
roadsmith
|
posted on October 22, 2007 12:42:30 PM new
Great advice, Fluffy.
_____________________
|
pixiamom
|
posted on October 22, 2007 01:07:40 PM new
I used ibackup.com for a while - $9.95/month for 5G. Very easy to use and you can access the files from anywhere.
|
TheFamilyBiz
|
posted on October 22, 2007 09:04:53 PM new
For those who think about preparing now - but don't have the discipline to maintain those files - like us - you can use Carbonite.
They offer an unlimited backup - and it's all done automatically behind the scenes when your Internet connection is idle.
(Okay shameless plug coming since I couldn't help myself - sorry...)
If you use this link, you'll get a 15-day trial, plus 13-months for the price of 12 (about $49-50 per year or so) - or more of a discount if you sign-up for a longer plan initially. I get 3 months added on to the end of my annual agreement if you use this link: http://preview.tinyurl.com/2wqq8j
Wayne
Never explain -- Your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway.
~ Elbert Hubbard
|
CBlev65252
|
posted on October 23, 2007 05:49:10 AM new
I have a Seagate portable HD. It's small enough to fit in your pocket and holds 6 GIG. I back-up 2x a week. It's been invaluable.
Fluffy - love the idea of a blank image. However, I have almost 400 items up. I do have some images built in to my templates. I'll have to determine which one I can live without. Otherwise, it'll take a long time to revise each auction/store item.
Cheryl
|
vintageads4u
|
posted on October 23, 2007 03:33:46 PM new
And after today's mess, I installed a copy of SMPro on a computer we don't use all the time and am downloading my 15,000 or so images from here to there. Estimated time is 8 hours to completion.
Beth
VintageAds4U
|
neglus
|
posted on October 23, 2007 04:11:03 PM new
I'll let you be the Guinea Pig, Beth. Let me know how it works! Do you use SMPro usually or SMME?
-------------------------------------
http://stores.ebay.com/Moody-Mommys-Marvelous-Postcards?refid=store
|
pixiamom
|
posted on October 23, 2007 04:32:25 PM new
I tried that a year or so back. Synchronization crashed around 2,000 I think.
|
neglus
|
posted on October 30, 2007 09:59:08 AM new
This isn't an emergency, but I have an image url in all of my listings and I swap it out as needed. I normally use it to announce my volume discount and I change it frequently for various holidays and to make listings a little more interesting. I used it last year when my nephew was killed in an automobile accident and also use it when I am away.
I am leaving Friday for a 2+ week hiatus but plan on keeping my store open. I am inserting this in all of my listings:
I also am using this temporarily for my store logo:
I will also change my Storefront Header and all of my post-sale notifications and think I will also offer free shipping for items purchased in my absence. I have done this before with no problems - but this was BEFORE the DSR (dreaded star ratings) - not sure what will happen with those.
-------------------------------------
http://stores.ebay.com/Moody-Mommys-Marvelous-Postcards?refid=store
|
TheFamilyBiz
|
posted on October 30, 2007 01:34:51 PM new
Neglus,
Is there any thought on how a predator might view the message - such as "They're not home. Let's see if they have anything we like..."?
I struggle with messaging when we're down for even a week - and I'd think this might be even more of a concern if we'd be away for longer.
What do you think?
Wayne
Never explain -- Your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway.
~ Elbert Hubbard
|
neglus
|
posted on October 30, 2007 02:57:47 PM new
That's why I didn't use the "V" word in my post because of search engines and it is contained in an image (not searchable) in the listings....this time hubby will be home so I'm not as worried as if house were empty.
-------------------------------------
http://stores.ebay.com/Moody-Mommys-Marvelous-Postcards?refid=store
|
fluffythewondercat
|
posted on October 30, 2007 02:59:41 PM new
How would people know where you live?
Oh no. You're not saying you use your home as a business address, are you?
P.O. Box, baby. And it's not even in the same town I live in.
fLufF
--
New company portrait at clearanceclarence.com
|
vintageads4u
|
posted on October 30, 2007 03:21:24 PM new
I got all of the images downloaded and it took three tries.
What did crash was turbo-lister, numerous times. But I have most of the listings saved in SMPro anyway.
I use SmPro and Sales Manager Merchandiser.
Beth
VintageAds4U
|
fluffythewondercat
|
posted on October 30, 2007 08:38:47 PM new
As some will have heard by now, just after 8 pm PDT we had an earthquake of 5.6 magnitude here in the Bay Area, probably from the Calaveras Fault.
5.6 is the entertaining get-your-attention kind of earthquake, so no biggie, but I just wanted to point out that in 1989, we had several 5.x quakes that turned out to be precursors to the disastrous Loma Prieta quake.
Bay Area folks take note.
fLufF
--
New company portrait at clearanceclarence.com
|
kozersky
|
posted on October 30, 2007 10:51:38 PM new
I lived in the Adirondack Mountains of NYS for almost fifty years before I was exiled to California. In NYS, the only objects that shook were the colorful leaves in the Autumn breeze. Imagine my surprise when I moved to California.
Around 1996, while attending law school, I experienced my first earthquake. It was an x.x in magnitude, and I really thought the building was going to fall down. I quickly recalled reading that one should stand in a doorway for protection. Which I did, and then the door swung shut on my fingers. 
Bill K-
William J Kozersky Stamp Co.
|
vintageads4u
|
posted on October 31, 2007 08:25:28 AM new
I lived on Oahu in the 70's and we had a couple of shakes. Nothing shakes in Texas, except during a hurricane.
Anyway, about that time it was predicted that Hawaii was going to be hit by a giant tsunami. We all went to work for weeks with life preservers on. The tourists got a kick out of.
Beth
VintageAds4U
|
roadsmith
|
posted on October 31, 2007 01:01:45 PM new
Bill K - Some recent updated earthquake-preparedness studies have said we should get down on the floor next to something higher than us, like a sofa or a bed, that won't fall and crush us. This should shelter us from things falling because those objects would probably hit the bed or sofa first. And that we should NOT get UNDER a table or desk for fear of being crushed. Hard to explain!)
This study said doorways aren't as protective, because of their thin width, as beds or sofas.
In every room in our house, I've identified which object I'd get down next to if the building starts shaking.
_____________________
|
tomwiii
|
posted on October 31, 2007 01:26:39 PM new
I remember in Portland MAINE, either '78 or 79, was working up a patient when a FREIGHT TRAIN went by the office -- took around 7 seconds for it to pass...
Turned to the patient & said: "Didn't know freight trains still go thru anymore." He said: "Ayuh...just NOT here."
Never knew NE gets earthquakes, but they DO...
"What me worry?" "childrens do learn"
|
