Patrick Says

I did the MySQL upgrade last night and amazingly, nothing went wrong. I was floored. So, in the interest of helping others who might have to do this because of the WordPress decision, I’ll post the steps I took. Bear in mind that this applies only to people hosting with GoDaddy using MySQL. I can’t speak for any other host. I only know what I did. With that in mind, here you go:

1. Launch your hosting panel and navigate to the list of your MySQL databases.
2. Click the pencil next to the database that you would like to upgrade.
3. Look for the ‘Backup’ icon.
4. The ‘Backup Database’ dialog will pop-up showing pertinent details. Click ‘OK’ to start the backup. If your database is large, this may take a bit of time. But you can work the next task while you wait.
5. Go back to the list of databases and create a new blank database with a MySQL version of 5. Be sure to note the database name and password you assign. Also, get the location of the new database which you may have to do after it is setup. With GoDaddy, this location will have secureserver.net in it.
6. Refresh the database list until all tasks are complete.
7. Click the pencil next to the database that you just created.
8. Look for the ‘Restore’ icon.
9. The ‘Restore from Backup’ dialog will pop-up showing pertinent details. Select the backup that you created up there in step 3. Click ‘OK’ to start the restore. If your database is large, this may take a bit of time. If you have a small database, the restore will be faster than a thief trying to steal your rfid wallet.
10. Refresh the database list until all tasks are complete.
11. Now, go to your local copy of your wp-config.php file and update the location, database name and database password. Upload that to the host overwriting the old version.
12. Go test the blog. It should be good-to-go.

If something goes wrong, sorry. Check the WordPress support forums or the fine folks over at WordPress Tavern. Also, you can email me. I’ll try to help. Check my About Me page for my contact info.

Peeps, I’m going to be doing an upgrade tonight of the Patrick Says database to MySQL version 5. We’re currently running an older version and next year, WordPress won’t support it anymore.

Hence, an upgrade.

I expect it will go pretty smoothly, but if you comment after I’ve made the backup, your comments won’t get carried over. And we don’t want that. So after 10pm tonight (Saint Louis time), please avoid the site for a couple hours. Go check out Facebook or surf the web for the best wrinkle cream or maybe hit Amazon and boost the economy.

I’ll post something on the other side when we’re done.

I love music. I love listening to it and learning about it and trying new music and listening to classic tracks. I just love music. But sometimes, you just have to call these people on their creations.

Listen, Train, you guys have had some commercial success. It’s a good thing. Good for you. But seriously, this latest single, Hey, Soul Sister has some of the cheesiest lyrics I’ve ever seen. I mean, wow, you guys aren’t even trying. Let’s dissect it, shall we?

Your lipstick stains, on the front lobe of my left side brains,

Okay, that’s just bad grammar.
Brains plural? For to how many brains haz you gotten in ur noggin?

Hey soul sister, ain’t that Mr. Mister on the radio,

OMG, did you just reference MISTER MISTER in a song in 2010? Are you hitting on someone’s GRANDMOTHER? For crying out loud, nobody actually remembers Mister Mister. What radio station is she listening to?

I’m so obsessed, my heart is bound to beat right out my untrimmed chest,

Thanks for that visual.
I just threw up my lunch.
Untrimmed? You had to go THERE.

The way you can cut a rug, watching you’s the only drug I need,
So gangster, I’m so thug, you’re the only one I’m dreaming of,

What EXACTLY makes you a gangster or a thug? It’s not this song. This song is about as tough as a twelve-year-old in knickers and a dickey wearing a beret getting acne treatments from his mother while she is dressed as a giant pink teddy bear while an Air Supply record is playing in the background.

Seriously, next time, guys, try not phoning it in.

It’s July, I know. But is that too early to start thinking about holiday photo cards? We’ve done them in past years and they do make sending out the cards easier.

We’ve done ours a couple different ways. In 2007 (pictured above), we had a family friend take a picture of all four of us in front of the tree. In 2008 (pictured below), we went a little different route and got a cool picture of the boys in front of the tree goofing off. It was a very candid shot.

Last year, for reasons you’re probably aware of, we did not do a holiday card. This year, I think we’ll jump on it early so we have the biggest selection of shots to work with. Bigger pool means better choices.

What do you do for your holiday cards?
Or do you send any?
Leave it in the comments.

Never let it be said that here at Patrick Says, we don’t give the new homeowner helpful tips. Oh, we got a doozy of a tip for you today. (Man, I wish somebody had told me how horrible it is own a house versus renting.)

This weekend, our dryer would not dry anything. It would spin, but after the load was done, the clothes were still wet. So, I hit Facebook to see if my peeps had any ideas.

Let me preface this by saying mechanical stuff is not my thing. I can’t tell apart spirometers from tachometers. If it has a motherboard, I’m comfortable. Otherwise, completely lost.

I unhooked the tubing at the back and not only was it wet, but there was water pooling in there with large amounts of sludge. I got a bucket and emptied it out. But that wasn’t the end of it. In two other places along the ceiling where the tubing runs had collected pounds of lint and water like giant slugs clogging the lines. I’m surprised they were still hanging up there as heavy as they were.

I emptied the entire tube, reconnected it and everything is mostly back on track. Also, I’m way calmer now writing about this than I was when it was all going down. For the record. So, your homeowner tip is to clean that stupid tube before it causes you some serious headaches.