We apologize for the late updates. Michelle hasn’t been feeling well lately, and on top of that she’s needed to stay late at work several days. As you know, when these kinds of things happen, real-life concerns need to come first. We’ll get caught-up with the comic making this weekend, and post two comics on Saturday.

We’d like to thank everyone out there for their continued patience and support. We really appreciate it. Thank-you.

We have been getting messages from readers saying they are having problems accessing the site. They have been experiencing long load times and blank pages. We are working with our help desk (not Harry Pixel, unfortunately), and they advise us this was due to some re-configuration of the server. They are working on re-setting the correct DNS information. As a result, these issues may continue for a short while. Since these problems are causing FTP issues, we cannot upload the comic until it’s rectified. We apologize for the downtime and the late update. Be assured if you get a “Not Found” page that this is a tech issue and you should be able to access the site shortly. We’re not going anywhere, so just hang with us.

UPDATE: The server issues are now fixed, so there shouldn’t be any more problems! Thank-you for your patience during this time.

- Well, we had to put the comic on hold for a few days. On Friday we discoverd somebody had gotten a hold of our bank card number. It was most likely some kind of trojan on one of our computers. So, to be safe, we ended up wiping out hard drives and re-installing everything from scratch. This took up most of the weekend, and gave us limited time to update the comic.

Things are better now. We managed to cancel the card, and get the computers up and running. But we still have to work with the bank to dispute and reverse the charges. What a nightmare. The next update will be two comics.

That makes it sound more fancy and official, doesn’t it? Truth is, my computer is old. It needs more RAM and oftentimes just clogs up. I have been trying to squeeze my pixel-work into my break times at work, which has allowed me to get some of the strip done. However, in the greatest sense of irony, with my plans to finish the next issue up on my lunch hour, my work computer totally crashed. Totally unbootable. Took a tech half the day to get it up and then I spent the rest of the day backing everything up. Oy. Problem is, because of the nature of the strip, I need access to all of my templates and art to work on the strip, so I can’t really just work at any computer. So, the 2 computers I use most (home and work) have just been uncooperative. My work computer should be fully repaired soon, but my home computer is still spotty, but we just don’t have the funds to upgrade/replace it now! Anyhow, I just wanted to let everyone know what was going on. I have the next strip 90% done (which always seems to be when my computer craps out) and the next one started. I should manage to get it all done tonight, so plans are to have a back-to-back updates on Saturday and Sunday.

Until then…LOVE YOU ALL and thanks for being great and understanding fans!

We just got word that the forum CAPTCHA was not working. Now, we have noticed that there have been no new registrations, which is a bit odd as we do get the occasional new member. Anyhow, we have changed the way the CAPTCHA works and it should not have these problems again. So, if you were looking to jump into the conversation in the forums, now’s the time! Be sure to check out our Laugh Olympic forums where you can earn points and win prizes for pointing out cultural references, inside jokes, and other goofiness in the strip!

As some of you know, our family’s Christmas was pretty rotten since we all ended up with a nasty case of the stomach flu. I was committed to a do-over on New Year’s weekend, and that is what we did. We watched the ball drop together with our customary dinner of hot dogs and cheese fries. New Year’s Day we made holiday cookies and fudge and did all the things we didn’t before the holiday. We also had a turkey dinner with all the trimmings. The rest of the weekend was spent just hanging out together. I spent a bit of time on the computer, but not nearly like I usually do. I worked a bit on Bitmap World, but didn’t get the comic done as I hoped. I’m not going to apologize, though, since I think our family really needed this. It was therapeutic for me, especially, since I felt terrible not being with them on Christmas.

That said, I’ve been working all morning on the strip that was due Fri/Sat. I am also working on the Tuesday strip. My hope is to have both up tomorrow or the next day. After that, I’m pushing hard to get back on schedule. Now that the holidays are past us, one of my resolutions is to get a more firm handle on the comic and a more steady flow of updates. I appreciate everyone’s patience. We’ll be celebrating our 3rd year in March. We have quite a few things planned for the celebration, including a new contest and other fun stuff. We’ll be posting more info over the next few weeks.

In the meantime, I know there are quite a few new readers! If you have a moment, come and join us in the forum. One of the things I would like to do this year (another resolution) is connect more with the fans. The forum is quiet now, but it has been chatty in the past. C’mon in and say “hi” and talk all things Bitmap World.

I feel so bad that we haven’t updated since last week. I have to tell you, this stomach flu that we got was brutal. Nearly a week later, I’m still a bit queasy and we still have a couple of kids who are not 100%. The good news is, for the mostpart, the nasty stuff is over and we’re getting back to normal. (Thanks for the emails we got from a few readers wishing us a speedy recovery.)

As for the strips, the hard part recently has been the scripts. Lots of story to tell and not enough panels, not to mention just keeping it light and witty. Oddly enough, in the last few months, as my art gets better, I find my major struggle now is to get the story down on paper. Though, I am sure much of that has to do with so much on our minds with the holidays and such. Hopefully as we head into the New Year and a more calm schedule, that will pass.

Again, I thank everyone for your patience and understanding. I needed to do some additional lettering and art clean-up on the strips and hope to have them up later today. So, please check back.

I got a wonderful gift for Christmas–the stomach flu. I had been generally feeling bad the last few days. The kids had a nasty bout of the stomach flu go through them starting Wednesday. I thought perhaps my general queasiness was what I would deal with and escape the nasty part. Not likely. Christmas morning it hit me and Jim. For better or worse, Jim got it earlier and a bit harder, but was somewhat better by mid-morning. I had pushed through with the last minute prep and cooking, but finally succumbed just as we were about to leave to go to family’s house to open presents. Needless to say, I didn’t think an hour ride in the car with a bucket would be any good. I ended staying at home alone while everyone went to my sister’s house. So, a pretty blah day. The good news is that my family really took care of the kids gift-wise, so while the adults were miserable, the kids had a wonderful day. Ultimately, that is what is the most important.

I am still sick today, and Jim is still not 100% either. So, no comic. I am on the upswing, so I’ll try to get it up tomorrow and be back on schedule by Tuesday. Until then, I hope everyone else had a great day–and wasn’t sick like me! 2010 is right around the corner and I am hopeful it will bring better days for everyone, and certainly for our family and Bitmap World!

First of all, we thank everyone for your patience with the last update. Jim and I have been working on a special project. Since we both have other commitments, it required us to work on it late in the evening, an hour here and an hour there. Then we ran into some serious snags converting it to a format that most people could view on their machines. Ugh.

BUT, we’re done, and we’re proud of it. When I first got this idea, I immediately knew I wanted to tie it in to Bitmap World, since BMW is my most precious pixel-project. So, you will see a large version of the K’s house. Thing is, I can totally see Verde going all out with holiday decorating, since he is a city staff member and all. Perhaps we will have to tie it into a storyline sometime…

Click here for the Holiday Bonus

Hope you all enjoy it. Two comics up tomorrow.