I assume the big spike in calendar sales last night had something to do with the
financial annoyance into which I have been unexpectedly plunged, and I do appreciate the help.
Thanks also for the advice and tips you’ve sent. We’re looking it all over, trying to figure out the best path out of this thicket.
To briefly recap: due to the increasing popularity of this site, we just got hit with an over-bandwidth penalty of $3,800. This is a graphic-intensive site, and there are more visitors every month, and apparently we finally slid past the limit last month. In a big way.
The people at Earthlink have generously offered to work with us on this, and I am optimistic that we will be able to come to some sort of mutallly agreeable solution. But whatever we work out, the fact is that this site has outgrown Earthlink’s 50 gig limit. We need a host who can provide at least twice that for some relatively reasonable price; if anyone can offer any advice or help, please contact Harold Moss as soon as possible. (Keep in mind that we need something reliable — the page has never gone offline with Earthlink, and I’d like to keep it that way.)
What all of this means is that I’m going to have to eat a little crow here. Despite recent comments on the subject of tip jars, I’m afraid I’m going to have to start rattling one myself, at least for awhile. The cost of maintaining this site is about to double, at a minimum, to at least $2,400 a year, and this Earthlink penalty is going to cost me some as-yet-undetermined amount above that — all because more and more people value what I have to offer. It’s like Bizarro-universe capitalism. Success at this rate will bankrupt me.
So, if you’re one of the people whose enjoyment of my work is literally costing me money — well, I’m not going to make a hard sell, but if you want to donate a buck or two, it probably wouldn’t hurt. (Any donation of ten bucks or over gets a calendar, until my supply runs out, and, well, my sincere thanks after that.)
UPDATE: Thanks to the extraordinary response of TMW readers, as well as Earthlink’s ultimately reasonable compromise, the immediate crisis is now over. I think I have enough calendars to send to everyone who donated, but it’s going to be close.
(Note: right now, several of the more graphics-intense pages, including some of the archives, animation, and the Grab Bag, are disabled. I also had to take down my pictures of Saturday’s rally for the time being. I apologize for all of this, and hope to have it all back as soon as we get all of this straightened out.)