8 Ways to Sunday

The site is back in action after two days of down time. According to TextDrive support, someone was hammering my site with bogus traffic. The hits came from six different IP addresses and had no user-agent string (the part of an HTTP header that says what computer program is visiting the site).

I’m not sure who I might’ve pissed off enough to warrant a mini-DDOS attack. So far I’ve only been able to think of one possible culprit — a comment troll who may’ve been annoyed by my response to his claim that I’m a pathetic beggar for raising money for my mother’s health care.

Whoever the culprit, the site is back up for now. I expect to post further updates tomorrow.

This is where my mother and I are staying while she visits doctors in Tucson:

The front entrance as seen from the courtyard at dusk. Click for slightly larger version.

Beats the hell out of Motel 6, that’s for sure.

Hotel Schmotel Tucson Hospitality Inn is a non-profit hospitality house especially for seriously ill people receiving treatment in Tucson and their caregivers. It’s kind of like a B&B in the way it’s set up, and only costs $35 per night. (Update: The hospitality house where we stayed has changed its name from Hotel Schmotel to Tucson Hospitality Inn as of late 2005.)

I’d hoped to take more pictures by now, but for now all I’ve got is the exterior shot above and this photo of the kitchen:   (more…)

I’ve never seen a city as look as brown from the air as Tucson does. I hope the doctor was right about the dry climate helping my mother’s lungs heal, because we’ve definitely arrived in the desert.

We touched down about 7 PM last night, with Jen and her husband Andrew waiting for us on the other side of the security checkpoint. After hugs and handshakes, baggage claim and car pickup, we went out for Chinese at a local restaurant. We talked on politics, religion, food, corporate ethics, Jen and Andrew’s impending parenthood, and other sundry topics. Good face-to-face conversation has been sorely lacking in my life lately, and it was a wonderful change of pace.

Angela’s lungs were in pretty bad shape by the end of dinner, so I left her at the hotel while I did some late-night shopping for basic necessities we hadn’t packed.

Most of today was spent sleeping off the trip and stocking up on various supplies for our stay. I’ll write more soon about the hotel and my impressions of Tucson. While we’re here, the times stamped on my posts will be Arizona local time (Mountain, no daylight savings).

Angela’s first doctor’s appointment is Monday morning. I’m cautiously optimistic that it will be a fruitful one.

Thanks to the several generous donors who have given so far, the fundraiser for my mom’s health care has gathered almost $860 to date. Unfortunately, this is just a drop in the bucket toward the ultimate goal of $15,000.

To try and publicize my cause, I’m starting a fundraising linkathon. It’s like a telethon for “Jerry’s Kids” or a phonathon for your alma mater, but instead of phones and TVs we’ll be using weblogs and journals. The goal: turn this fundraising campaign into a meme that’s posted on as many blogs as possible.

Here’s how you can join the linkathon:

1. Write a post for your blog or journal that tells the general purpose of the fundraiser and the linkathon. If you don’t already know what this is about, you can read the story here.
2. In your post, include a link to at least one for the following two web pages:
   • http://www.adammessinger.com/donate/ (the short version)
   • http://www.adammessinger.com/2005/08/02/call-for-donations (the whole story)
3. Encourage your readers to get involved and join the linkathon themselves, and include these same instructions in your own post.

That’s all there is to it. Let’s get this meme a rollin’!

Just after 11 PM Central Time last night, we surpassed the $600 Level 1 goal I’d set for my efforts to raise money for my mom’s health care. Further donations have since put us at $697.06 raised so far!

Thank you to all my friends and my fellow TextDrive members who’ve pitched in to help my family. I’m totally floored and very touched by the level of support that’s come in so far. Let’s keep the ball rolling and push on toward Level 2!