I received this several days ago. The intermittent outages this morning are probably related to this maintenance. As far as I know Putin has nothing to do with it.

Hi [name redacted],

Bluehost is dedicated to ensuring your account is secure and reliable, and your online success is our number-one priority.
With that in mind, we will be performing server maintenance on Wednesday, February 23, 2022, between 10PM and 6AM Eastern Time (ET).
During this maintenance window, there will be approximately 15 minutes of downtime while work is performed.
We assure you that every effort is being made to minimize any impact to your site and ensure that your environment is restored to normal operation as soon as possible.
Thanks,
Your Bluehost Team

Just a few words today. I had a different topic in mind--got some things to say about whether or not the independent left should work with the "populist right"--but there's a bit of unfinished business from last week.

Just a short note to let everybody know I'm still here and following matters as best as I can.

I've been dealing with a few system hardware issues (laptop DC power jack issues) but I am still hereabouts.

A few spats about COVID-19 aren't enough to keep me away from here! c99's stuck with me unless and until Monsieur le Conqueroo throws me out!!

I've been tethered to this site for almost seven years. Every day, day in, day out. Seven days a week, 365 days a year. All holidays and special events.

Every. Day. For. Almost. Seven. Years.

I'm going to log off and take a break from this place. Don't know when I'll be back.

Hey c99ers. Please consider taking the brand spanking new c99 Hate Poll. Here's a chance to get your hate on.

Let's rock this hatred!

Henceforth, for the sake of fairness, any essay or open thread that mentions covid 19, whether directly or tangentially, will not be promoted to the front page. Editors, if you promote a covid essay yourself it will be removed from the front page and relegated to the CC page. All open thread writers, any mention of covid 19 will relegate the OT to the CC page. If a covid sub-thread is started in the comments of either an essay or an OT, it will be demoted to the CC page. No exceptions.

This is non-negotiable, so don't even ask.

I'm tired of the bickering. The front page is our landing page, I want it to appear to be neutral on this issue. At least if it's on the CC page visitors will have to hunt to find it.

I've been watching for an obituary and could not find one but I did find this. I'm almost positive this is CS in AZ (Lauren). She was a lovely and brave lady. Her last post here was on July 22.

https://remembr.com/en/lauren.swerdlove

RIP old friend, and if by some fortunate chance you are still with us I sincerely apologize for posting this.

The Thursday and Friday Open Threads are now open if anyone wishes to take them, either individually or together.

Many thanks to phillybluesfan for his yeoman's work on taking on both of those days for all those months. Thanks man.

If you're interested please let us know in the comments or contact myself.

Thank you.