So, it's 4:50pm Friday afternoon. I'm about to click "Publish" on a post about the random image rotator dealie. Boom. WordPress throws up a big old "Error establishing a database connection" error screen. Crap.
I login to my Godaddy account page, hit the database manager, and PHPMyAdmin can connect. The database is there, and running. WTF. I notice my ShortStat table has ballooned to over 100MB of data. That's insane, so I truncate it. I'll remove the plugin. I check again - maybe I was over my DB quota or something - and it's still no joy from WP. I try Referrer Karma - it uses the same MySQL database, and throws a scarier - but more helpful - error message. "Warning: mysql_connect(): User 'dnorman' has exceeded the 'max_connections' resource (current value: 50)"
Ahah! Something wrong with the database server. But... I haven't added any new apps or anything, and am in a relatively low traffic load (compared to, say the week of WWDC), so my blog shouldn't be crippling the database server.
I decide to go to the GoDaddy support page - they'll have a "Status" section that indicates that Apache is up, MySQL is up, etc... Right? No. OK, So I fill in the email form, even though it says they won't be able to respond to email for an estimated 10 hours. About 1 minute after clicking "Send", I break into a cold sweat.
My blog is dead in the water. So, I call their phone support line. In the back of my head, I'm thinking "So, this is how they keep their rates so low - I'll get gouged on long distance support, since they don't offer a toll-free line." At least it isn't a 1-900 number or anything. I get connected, pass through voicemail menu hell (why does it ask me to type in my account number if the person who eventually picks up will just be asking me to repeat it anyway?). I eventually get through, and the support tech is nice enough. He doesn't know what's wrong, but would I mind if he put me on hold while he goes to talk to someone with a clue? Sure. The hold music doesn't suck.
13 minutes on the phone, long distance, to GoDaddy tech support. Only to hear "oh, yeah. that's a known issue. They've got their wrenches and hammers out, and are working on it. It should only be a couple of hours. Uh, yeah, your data is probably safe. Can I send you an email survey so you can let us know you were satisfied with this call?"
3 hours later, and it looks like things are back up and running. How about sending me a survey about that?