Second Time Around

Heya. Sorry about the abrupt departure from my other blog. I am having some security issues and have abandoned it until it quits appearing when you Google my name (most of the links don't work anymore but one still does). If any of you savvy internet gurus have some advice on how Google got my name to index with my blog I'd love to know.

These past few days have been a little tense. On Tuesday I was googling (I guess you don't have to capitalize it when using it as a verb, huh?) my name, as I suggest folks do once in awhile. I immediately saw my full address displayed and when I clicked on the link I saw a rejection letter I had received from Metro (for those out of state that is a regional government agency in Ptown) from a job application I submitted back in 2004 for a stupid recycling puppeteer job. I shouldn't have to point out what a shock that was. The link contained all of the rejection letters sent out for that position along with the full address for each person. I have spent a lot of energy trying to keep my home address secret due to that dreaded radical past where I made more than my share of enemies. The timing couldn't have been worse either because of the ALF/ELF trial nearing where I have been mentioned in the discovery and because I am the local support person of one of the defendants. Needless to say there are many a fur farmer and or a Schumacher who would have great fun knowing where I live.

I immediately called the Human Resource department of Metro and let them know of their error. The secretary seemed horrified but I didn't get the impression she got just how not okay this scenario was. When I hadn't heard back from anyone in a few hours I called the woman who is the coordinator of the position that I had applied for (and who had drafted the rejection letter). She got how not okay it was and promised she would look into it immediately. I was on the fence about whether or not to get the media involved in order to get results but didn't necessarily want to draw attention to the fact that my address was on the net.

It was at this same time I noticed that my blog was accessible with the Google search of my name (when I had worked really hard to keep my name unattached to it). I don't mind random people reading my blog but I do mind just anyone from my life being able to look me up on the internet and know what's going on in my life at the moment. Most of all I didn't want my co-workers to see it (and at this point I had already freaked out about what Metro had done so I had most of my department googling their names) because my last blog post had been about my upcoming promotion at work (and the person who I will be eventually replacing--if I don't get fired for blabbing about it on the internet first--doesn't know it yet). Needless to say I was a bit stressed.

Wednesday I heard back from Metro that their IT department had made a mistake (misfiled the document with the wrong security settings), had corrected it on their part but that it still appeared because Google had it archived. I didn't hear whether or not someone got fired over misfiling the confidential documents of a public agency but frankly I think they should have been. I was told Metro was going to contact Google to see about getting it removed and by early this morning it had been.

So now if I can just get that damn link to my first blog to go away all will be well again. In the meantime you might just want to Google your name and see what's posted about you.