ProBiz Partners Blog

You always hear the horror stories of the experiences that other people have with domain names or host providers or email providers. But when it hits home you realize just how nice it was when people relied on telephones and in-face meetings instead of the internet.

I’ve recently been telling everyone about the sudden turnaround in customer service that I’ve been experiencing. All during the holidays I was greeted with helpful, knowledgeable sales people everywhere — even in the big box stores. I was sure it was a Customer Service Revolution!

Right up until last week when I ran smack dab into Mr. GoDaddy. I actually have a much more colorful name for the supervisor at my ex-hosting company, but probably best not to print it here.

“Oh, we took down your site?” “Too bad. Your problem. Fix it.”

Me? Fix a script that’s runninig on YOUR server, and running a script that I can’t see? Fix something that I have no control over?

“Yep.” “Your site. Your problem.”

Fine. Then I’ll tell everybody I know that GoDaddy’s customer service [expletive deleted].

“OK. Anything else I can help you with today?”

ARRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

I knew I should have changed host providers back in December when it was renewal time. That’s what I get for procrastinating.

I can’t believe it’s already time to say goodbye to Denía. But more than that, I can´t believe that it´s been raining for 3 weeks solid and the sun finally came out YESTERDAY! That gives me a whopping 2 days of sunshine before I board the plane. OK, I said I wasn´t going to whine. Enough already.

After searching forums and considering past issues with my host provider, I´m pretty sure that the reason I can´t link my Flickr photo album to my blog is because my host provider, GoDaddy, prevents the connection. I´m not sure, but it´s the only thing that makes sense. It seems that other GoDaddy users have had trouble as well. GoDaddy´s tech support is fairly notorious for being bad. No need for yet another rant. Their worst area of expertise appears to be databases and anything related. So when I get home my first non-client related task will be to change host providers. Fast. Then I can go on with my posts and make the photos available that go with them. Although I won’t be writing from Spain for another few months, I have a whole list of topics that I haven’t even touched on.

Although I miss my family while I’m here, there is nothing quite like charging your batteries when you are living outside of culture. My husband always says that he looks forward to seeing my “Spanish glow” when I return. This time I won’t be quite so glow-y because it’s been so rain-y, but I still feel refreshed and recharged. The challenges have been far fewer than I had imagined. I just have to be more disciplined and stick to my schedule. That’s the hardest part when there are so many tempting things to do. Despite the rain.

One main topic that I have barely touched on is the food. I’m a major foodie, so my time here always revolves around food. Fortunately all of my Spanish friends are also foodies, so we can do some pretty serious damage together. I’ve had the incredible fortune of being a guest in several Spanish kitchens, so I’ll share some recipes, sources for ingredients, and some special secrets that make all the difference in the world.

It’s time to pack up. (muttering Spanish curse words) But first, a mad dash to the grocery store to stock up on my favorite treats — cans of mejillones (mussels), olives, and a couple of bottles of olive oil. And, of course, ingredients for paella. Lunch at my house on Sunday????

Denía in the rain:

My private castle (I wish!):

A little bit of sunshine, finally:

The tiny fishing port in Denía:

I haven’t got a clue what I’m doing. I just want to be up front about this. I’ve spent the past 7 years dabbling in this, that, and the other thing, trying desperately to find a way to finance my passions – travel, good food, and good wine.  I have to confess, though, that my travel has been somewhat restricted since I fell in love with Spain.

Anyway, I don’t have time to explain right now. My flight leaves in about 7 hours and I’m not even packed yet.  So I’ll just tell you where we’re headed.  After banging my head against a wall in desperation that I was never going to be an artist or a writer (both careers obviously very portable) I finally discovered the world of Virtual Assistance.  More about that later.  The bottom line is that my business is up and running (quite successfully – I might as well brag just a teensy bit) and today I’m takin’ it on the road for the first time.  

I will arrive in Madrid on Monday evening where I’ll be picked up at the airport by some incredible friends, I’ll spend the night eating great food and sipping a little of the fabulous Spanish red wine, I’ll stay up too late, get up too early, and go back to the airport for my flight to Alicante.  If you’re not a geographer, that’s on the Mediterranean coast of Spain.  There I will spend a few days getting my sea legs, making sure all my equipment is functioning (another subject we’ll talk more about later) and then we’ll see just how well I can pull off working for American clients while I’m on another continent.  And if my clients happen to read this, just let me say THANK YOU for having the confidence that allows me to do this.  You are taking a bit of a risk with me, and I am well aware of that fact.  I won’t let you down.  The Internet connection might, but I won’t….  (breathe, I’m just kidding)

For the next four weeks I’ll share my adventures in living and working outside of culture.  Sorry, but I’ll have to explain that one later too. 

And, by the way, please please do leave comments. I’ll be very interested to hear your suggestions and your opinions. Oh, and by the way, one of the things that I don’t have a clue about is blogging. This is my first attempt, so bear with me while I sort out how to use WordPress and learn how to customize things and use RSS feeds and maybe we’ll even experiment with some audio and video. I thought you might enjoy going through this adventure with me.  Constructive advice is always welcome.

Until we meet again – “Persigue siempre tus sueños!”  ALWAYS FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS!