Regarding the missed updates last Friday 8/27 and Monday 8/30:

I'm a big fan of redundancy (redunderhead?  :D ) , which proved once again useful when the computer that was working perfectly last night blue-screened repeatedly on me upon attempting to boot today. Full-disk-image backup a week or so old, and data backup, including the entire parody folder backed up (to USB flash drive) repeatedly while working on those nine (9) parodies that are ready to post. (Two for Wednesday - plug.) Otherwise, I'd have committed hara-kiri, to have lost that many hours of work, and probably not be able to reproduce them exactly from memory.

Writing this on a backup (redundant) *computer*, while I try to figure out what the other one's problem is.

Bottom line: "Stuff happens" - to devices and to *all of us*, so it's nice to have fallbacks.

Relevance and suggestion: Give update authority to long-time, trusted editors, like Red Ant and Nally, so that if the submissions aren't updated by, say, 9 or 10am Mass. time, one of them can do it.

I DK the internal mechanics, of course, but it seems there's just access to a submission queue, scan briefly to make sure that none are from banned writers, hate-speech, or otherwise out-of-guideline, and press some button or run some script or something.

Takes a lot of pressure off of ChuckyG if he's involved in something else -- *never* make oneself indispensable!  8) -- and keeps us whiners happy. It's a win-win (or mac-mac, lol.)

Thoughts?

I can certainly add extra editors to the parody submission queue... but I know Red Ant isn't around as much, and i don't really anticipate it slipping two days ever again no matter what the situation.  I was able to get an update down during the ice storm that hit central mass two years ago when nearly no one had power yet.  So it really is rare that it happens.

OK. It was just an idea, so that you wouldn't be chained to the site five days a week, 52 weeks a year. Not only does "stuff happen", but maybe some day, you'll want to take a trip to Bora Bora or something...

(Trying to avoid the gloomier sw expression, "bus factor" -- "one' is not a good BF.)

In the course of this life, I've been in a hospital once or twice, in no condition to do anything with a computer or anything else. Hate to think that I had no one to cover my essential duties. Wishing that never happens to you, or to anyone else, of course, but between "worst-case scenario" preparation and "take a vacation now and then", it seemed like a good idea.

I DK that Red Ant wasn't around so much - certainly hasn't been on the parody page much -- but whichever editors are available and reliable; I just threw out one name that I know and one name that shows with thousands of posts (lots of stars) here. Just food for thought...