So, if you’ve been clicking every once in a while just to see a Maintenance page, you deserve an explanation.
During the pandemic, my website suffered a severe fatal crash, and my webhoster (who had previously been happy to help me with anything wrong with my website) decided to bail on me and tell me to hire a WordPress developer.
I soon discovered that at least part of the crash was related to a bad backup from 2017, when I started to have consistent problems with the website.
I decided that I really couldn’t trust other webhosters, because, while they harbor no ill will, just don’t have the resources to troubleshoot and fix those kinds of issues.
So I taught myself how to administer and harden a server, and am managing the whole thing myself.
That’s when I discovered I would have to re-enter all of my products by hand.
And I started thinking that I should go back to the drawing board and learn from the mistakes and create a web experience that is vastly improved from what I previously had.
I got overwhelmed with this, and entered a long period of major depressive disorder: one that damaged me, my partner, my students, and those who were looking to me as one of the providers of good music for their students. On the outside, I would seem okay, if melancholy, but inside I felt like each moment was just one step away from falling down so far that I wouldn’t be able to get back up.
My partner ended up giving me an ultimatum to get more treatment than I was already getting, because they couldn’t help me anymore. I felt like I was going to push forward only to have everything come crashing down on me. I resisted getting more help for quite a while.
All this time, I kept telling myself I would get more products back in the store, and get the store back online. But I never did.
Until recently, when my psychiatrist started me on a new medication (that my insurance doesn’t cover and is $1300/month), but this medication, along with the individual and couples therapy sessions I’ve invested in, has seemed to make a difference that *I* can notice, let alone others.
What does this mean for you?
Well, the website is back up, but as you can see, many products have not yet been put back in the catalog. That will happen over time, as well as new pieces.
I thought I had kept all the previous ordering information and would be able to recover everyone’s account, but the database was too corrupted for me to do so. You *may* have stuff saved, but you might not. If you still have email receipts from previous purchases, I’ll honor them and restore your library as soon as I can.
I’m not selling hardcopies to the public at the moment; only to dealers.
There may (nah, there WILL) be kinks and quirks and errors that still have to be ironed out, but what you see is the result of a long time of trying to figure out what would make the best experience.
I’m starting a blog of sorts that gives me a chance to talk about my recovery from and my learning to control Major Depressive Disorder. And discuss new things about Alijam Music.
I’ll write a post soon about some internal changes and what to expect from me as far as compositions, arrangements, and other products go.