Esotropiart

Let me tell you the short story of why I haven't been posting blog entries in seemingly centuries (in blog world one week = about one century).

FIRST: Due to several "distractions" I have put my own interests and web site far down my list of priorities. For a couple weeks I was helping a company (where Dave works) transfer their web site and associated domains to a new provider. In addition, I have been spending a large amount of time continuing my work on the Camp Jonah web site. I have also been attempting to help them get a handle on their spam intake (not the semi-edible type, but the death annoying type). Last but not least, my mother-in-law is visiting us from Brazil. So you could say I've been rather busy.

SECOND: This is actually the biggest reason I haven't posted. A couple weeks ago I was working on what I felt was the most meaningful and important blog entry I've ever written. While using my hand-coded admin screens, a session variable timed out, and I lost basically the entire entry. I almost went into a state of shock and awe - I was SO ANNOYED. The web can be so irritating at times. The technologies that drive it are so limited. I've heard many a person losing emails or other web documents for this same reason - using the biggest name sites you can think of. Several people I know use notepad or Word to write, then they cut and paste the final text into a web form, just to guarantee no loss. I also do this from time to time, but I forgot to do so with my "important" blog entry which is now lost in oblivion. It really, really sucks! From that moment on I decided I would not attempt to write a single word until I came up with a solution for this ridiculous problem, no matter how many good ideas for posts I passed by [boo hoo]... (cutting to clipboard so I don't lose this).

I haven't fully solved the session timeout issue, but I have restored my admin screens to the point of functionality. I literally scrutinized every line of code in my admin screens, making sure there was no renegade "kill y'all sessions" activity going on. I started the cleansing process of creating far more logical and simple code, commenting as I went (something I don't always take time to do when working with my own stuff)... (cutting to clipboard).

So now my write blog and modify blog screens are complete - as far as being as functional as before the self-declared catastrophe (surely I can fit one more "as" somewhere in this sentence). All I have to do now is complete the virtually-impossible-to-lose-a-single-character-of-typed-content-at-any-given-moment functionality. The way I recoded everything is already conducive to less chance of loss, but I have one more step planned which will seal the deal. Then I'll take a triumph walk around the block... quickly returning due to extreme chill and memories of the impossibility of blocking 100% of incoming spam.

In short, I'm back! As I get closer to full implementation, I'll show y'all how my new screens work. It'll be pretty cool when I'm finished.