On the Amtrak, traveling from Union Station in Washington D.C. to Penn Station in New York City. Boy, didn’t realize how expensive these tickets were; it costs pretty much the same as purchasing a same day plane ticket from SoCal to NorCal. The express train (2 hours, 57 minutes) would have cost $218, while the regional train (3 hours, 25 minutes) cost $153. Originally I had asked for the express train, but then I got sticker shock and balked at the cost. I did some quick calculations in my head and decided to settle for the regional. I figure being on the train an extra 28 minutes was definitely worth saving $65 for my firm. Good thing travel fare is expensed; otherwise, I would’ve just gone with the Bolt Bus (4 hours, 15 minutes) at a low, low price of ~$20.

So you may ask, “Well, Jon, if you’re willing to forgo 28 minutes for a $65 saving, why not lose another 50 minutes for additional savings of ~$133?” Great question. That seems to make sense, b/c the incremental savings to lost time ratio for the bus is 2.66:1, better than a 2.32:1 for the regional train, which is an additional 34 cents saved per minute. The problem with this logic is that a bus leaving in the afternoon may encounter heavy traffic on the road, potentially increasing travel time significantly, and thus eroding the value of savings per minute.

Furthermore, there is the consideration of my schedule. When I arrive back in New York, I need to do my laundry (which was part of the strategy in how I packed). Getting back at 7:50pm still gives me ample time to wash my clothes. I estimate it’ll take at least 1 hour and 30 minutes, putting completion time at around 9:30pm. Getting back at 8:40pm earliest (using the bus), but most likely 9:30pm or later, does not give me sufficient time as I really don’t want to be folding my laundry in the office at 11pm or midnight.

Oh yes, the washer and dryer are in the office.

Well, that took forever.

I had decided that I was tired of not being able to automatically update my WordPress build/themes/plugins on my former web hosting provider. Sure, I could still download a .zip file, extract the contents, and then bring it all in via FTP, but why do that if I could just click a single button for Automatic Update. Exactly.

And thus began my quest for another free web host. A long, tedious, and frustrating search, mainly due to the word “free.” With free web hosting, it always feel like there’s a catch or some aspect of service only reserved for paying members. I tried Zymic, but even just attempting to FTP the WordPress files was problematic since the connection to the server kept on dropping. (It took me about 3 days to finally install WordPress, only to find the plugin/theme searches not working.) I then tried RoyalWebHosting, which seemed promising at first, until I found out that outgoing connections were reserved for paying members, which eliminates the possibility of automatic updates, since you couldn’t request a file. (Figuring that out took me another 2 days).

After doing some research, I finally found Frihost. From the reviews, it seemed that this web host would fit the bill. However, it did have a catch – Frihost apparently is in the forum business (they make money off the ads displayed in the forums), and so in return for free web hosting services, you’re required to be an active member in the forums. (You need a minimum of 5 intelligible posts first in order to even request the web hosting service.) Initially, that seemed kind of lame, but quickly perusing the forums, it turns out that there were all kinds of topics to comment on, which wouldn’t be too hard since I have opinions on almost everything (and if I don’t, give me a few minutes to read up on the subject and I will).

So I posted in the forums, requested the web hosting service, and was approved. Proceeded to FTP the WordPress files without a hitch, installed the platform, downloaded some plugins (with the automatic functionality, yes!), imported the content from my website residing on the other web host, and then selected a theme. Themes don’t always exactly match up with what I have in mind (or perhaps I’m just bad at figuring out what themes to look at), so I spent another day tinkering with the PHP script. Not entirely satisfied, but the site is in decent shape, and so this post is here to inaugurate the transfer.

Yay for automatic install/updates! Yay for free web hosts that work!