Kitsimons

Journal Feed

I had anticipated having a relatively quiet four day Easter weekend. No such luck, unfortunately. First, my site went down at some point on Saturday. Perhaps foolishly, I put it down to 1&1 messing around with the server and left it thinking whatever it was would be a temporary problem.

Fatal error: out of dynamic memory in yy_create_buffer() in Unknown on line 0

Sunday was spent with the family, so it wasn't until I returned home in the evening that I realised the site was still down. Trying to view the site in Firefox revealed the error Fatal error: out of dynamic memory in yy_create_buffer() in Unknown on line 0. Getting somewhere now. The server is fine, but doesn't have enough memory available to execute one or more MySQL database requests. A quick diddle with my server settings had Apache restarted with the available memory increased from 128MB to 256MB. Problem, apparently, solved.

The worrying thing is that I don't know what would cause a spike in memory requirements. Perhaps the site was already teetering on the edge and it just needed a nudge to push it over. I have Mint installed, and the mint_pages table appeared to have the highest overhead. I suppose one more visit could have been the straw that broke the camel's back.

I wouldn't have thought anything I'm doing with my database could cause any problems, but only time, I guess, will tell.

Best Man Blues

Server problems, however, are merely an undesired distraction. The most pressing issue on my mind just now is working out what the hell I'm going say in my best man's speech at my brother's wedding. In Paris, no less.

I really don't have much of an idea where to start. A best man's speech should be funny, risqué, but not offensive. There will be elderly relatives in the audience, so tales of drunken debauchery and unsavoury exploits won't go down too well. On the other hand, a best man's speech shouldn't be tame to the point of being dull. It's a very fine line that must be trod and I'm at a loss as where to start. Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

On top of that there's the groom's stag do to organise. That should be slightly easier as it can run along the lines of adventure day followed by excessive drinking. But where to go and what to do are unknown quantities at this time.

Deadlines and Mechanical Problems

The atmosphere at work over the past month or so has been strained, to say the least. It culminates next week with the simultaneous launch of no less than three totally new websites for our largest client.

As always, work is being done to incredibly tight deadlines. In this instance the problem has been compounded by substantial author amends right to the death, that eat into only time remaining on the project - our paltry testing period. There are numerous reasons as to why the project has gone the way it has, all of which are the fault of no one party in particular, but the end result has been an incredibly stressful few weeks for myself and my colleagues.

Thankfully, the end is in sight and all being well the sites will launch without a hitch next week. On the other hand, next week could wind up being infinitely more stressful than anything else up to this point.

Aside from work, I've been stressing over my beloved Alfa 147 which had its MOT test and rather expensive 60,000 mile service a couple of weeks ago, in spite of having less than 30,000 miles on the clock.

The Alfa passed the MOT, but the garage pointed out that the front suspension struts were out of alignment and would need correcting in the next 12 months otherwise the car would probably fail its MOT next time around. I don't know what exactly would be involved in getting it fixed, but anything to do with the suspension is usually hideously expensive. Bugger.

A Silver Lining

Thankfully, my life is not all doom and gloom - contrary to what was written above may suggest, I'm not a manic depressive on the verge of suicide.

For the first time I shall be attending the @media conference in London. An incredibly geeky thing to be looking forward to, but I don't give a crap. It should be great.

Perhaps best of all, the clocks go forwards 1 hour next weekend. British Summer Time begins, which means the end of winter. Yay! More light in the evenings is always a good thing.