This site will be down for a day or two starting within the next 24 hours while I transfer to a new and less expensive webhost (and upgrade the CMS at the same time). I moved to this shared host a couple of years ago at near double the price of my previous host, primarily because the new hosting was more reliable, particularly with the database services. That database service has gradually degraded over the last year or so, to the point where there is little difference from the host I was at previously for half the price. When I entered a ticket for this issue, the only solution they could offer was a dedicated MySQL db - which would more than double the cost for hosting (or quadruple what my previous host cost me).. since they could not offer any other option, they have lost my custom, and the custom of two others who have sites hosted there. Sorry Media Temple - you were good for a while, but I guess all good things must come to an end, and this is yours, as far as my custom goes.

Wow it is freezing here in NYC tonight - actually it's colder than freezing - much colder. The weather guys (weather.com) have put out a "Severe Weather Alert" because of the high winds combined with sub-freezing temperatures, and the result is about the lowest wind chill temperature I've seen since I've lived in NYC (over 8 years now). Here's the alert weather.com put out earlier this evening :

THE COMBINATION OF SUSTAINED WINDS OF 25 TO 35 MPH AND LOW TEMPERATURES FALLING INTO THE MIDDLE TEENS WILL HAVE WIND CHILLS RUNNING ZERO TO FIVE DEGREES BELOW ZERO THROUGH EARLY SUNDAY MORNING.

To convert that to °C, we're looking at windchill just shy of -21°C ..yup, 21 degrees below freezing ..and it comes complete with snow showers. Certainly don't see that kind of cold back in NZ - at least not in the North Island. Apparently it's nice and warm and hitting mid 20's °C back there (summer in the Southern Hemisphere). Oh, Happy New Year by the way!

**Update Sunday** : Weather.com updated their alert. It's even colder.

A WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM EST THIS EVENING. NORTHWEST WINDS 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH WILL CONTINUE TODAY. WHERE SNOW IS FALLING OR HAS FALLEN, REDUCTIONS IN VISIBILITY CAN BE EXPECTED DUE TO BLOWING SNOW. WIND CHILLS OF ZERO DEGREES TO TEN DEGREES BELOW ZERO CAN ALSO BE EXPECTED THROUGH THIS MORNING.

Ten degrees below zero ..and that's Fahrenheit. -10°F = -23.33°C. Nice.