The PolyBlog

I had a busy day at work today, and didn’t accomplish the three things of “change” by myself outside of that time.

Item 7.1 is still my website stuff. So, for a quick recap:

1. ThePolyBlog.ca i.e., this site, was unaffected by the big server crash.
2. PolyWogg.ca was restored early on from a backup I had, all seemed fine on the front-end with something odd in the back-end, but not big.
3. Astropontiac.ca was restored next, all good.
4. ManagementConsultingServices.ca took a bit longer with some other config issues, but it too is up and running.

So it would seem like it was all good, right? I’ve been actively trying NOT to go down any rabbitholes on this process but tonight I found a small glitch in the back-end of my PolyWogg site. When I tried to go to the main page of the admin panel, I got a 503 error. A bit odd, but umm, okay. I could get the full menu other ways and I could generally access every other page of the back-end, but I couldn’t seem to access the main page. Weird.

It started out innocently enough. If you have a 503 error, the recommendation is to change themes and see if that corrects the problem…it didn’t. Step 2 is to disable all plugins, a small PITA, and see if that fixes it. It did. Okay, easy peasy, it’s a conflict with one plugin, add them back in until it stops working OR put them all back in and disable them again until it starts working again. Except I put them all back in and it kept working. Until I went to access it again today, and I got the 503 error again. And this is despite the fact that I have done a full re-store from backup AND overwrote any particular buggy code with a fresh install of the software. Tonight I got some extra gremlins playing in the setup — sometimes I didn’t get a 503 error code, sometimes I just got a semi-blank screen. Yep, only “semi-blank” — sometimes the side menu was there and sometimes it wasn’t. I was convinced it was a load issue, but I played with the settings for memory, etc., and it was all good. But the pages wouldn’t load right in the admin section.

I decided to go hard-core for a bit tonight, and weeded all my plugins from about 47 down to about 24 active ones. It’s a really harsh cut, and while it improves my speed, it limits a bunch of other stuff on the back-end. And it STILL didn’t solve the problem. I’ve tried everything I can think of, or almost. Even typing this, I thought of one small setup issue I could test. I don’t see how it would make a difference, but worth a shot.

The funny part is after making huge changes to the site to test stuff, three clicks later and I could reinstall from the backup again. The front-end is great, no issues at all. Just a PITA for me on the back-end. I’ve asked in some fora for some suggestions, but I had nothing at the moment. Or so I thought.

I think I just solved it. I took the time while writing this to go check out those other settings, and something clicked in my brain as I did. Two levels down in a menu, hidden from normal view, is a setting I changed long ago. ***But I changed it on the MAIN server.*** Now I’m on the backup / lifeboat server. And sure enough, it’s set to the old settings. I’m not sure that will fix everything, but fingers crossed. If not, I’ve got more work in front of me. Sigh.

Item 7.2 was getting Jacob ready for school. He needs some school supplies, and I saw it as a triple opportunity. First and foremost, I want him to think of it as some sort of “fun” outing. I used to love getting supplies for school, and he got a new lunchbag, as well as some basic things, and a new water bottle. Plus his own agenda for keeping track of all his schedule and homework. He seemed a bit more buoyant afterwards. Secondly, I wanted him to take some “control” of the outing, to feel like there is something in his control despite the level of change swirling around him. He’s already a little stressed with all the change coming at him in two days, but being able to control this aspect, and to get ready for it, might help a little with his stress levels. And third, I also wanted him to have a positive “outing” with Mom. A lot of organizer conversations have been with me in recent months, but this is more of a fun one potentially, and I didn’t want it to seem like I was leading him to water (or a water bottle). I’m more directional on this stuff than Mom is, so I played chauffeur while they went shopping.

And out of nowhere, J had a great interaction with a stranger at Staples, as one of the clerks there has Cerebral Palsy and openly talked to him about it. He babbled like the proverbial brook telling me about her, and then he informed me that THIS Staples is now his favourite Staples.

As I noted at the top, I didn’t do much for this one, it was all Andrea and Jacob, I just facilitated it.

Item 7.3 was a simple health outing for the week. Andrea wasn’t able to attend her chiro appointment today, so rather than cancel, I went in her stead. My back is feeling WAY better.

Onward…

Okay, now we’re cooking with gas.

Item 5.1 is still following up on the websites being down. PolyWogg.ca is back up, AstroPontiac.ca is now back up, and ManagementConsultingServices.ca should be back up tomorrow. And I’m still not turning into a squirrel about it.

Item 5.2 takes me into the realm of my desired end state for writing. I bought a new laptop last month to get me going, and in a more mobile state, so I’ve moved all my current works-in-progress over to the laptop with auto backup to the cloud. The files are all organized, and so I have, generally speaking, five current WIPs:

• An HR Guide, with the update started for 2021 but not progressed anywhere near as far as I had hoped this year.
• An Astronomy Guide, although “work-in-progress” is probably understating the situation since this is going to take me several years to complete.
• A first novel about a law student solving a murder just as he’s about to graduate.
• A “second” novel about the same student several years hence from graduation, but this one is likely to go more on the backburner. I will write it, but I think it is more of “book 5 or 6”, not book 2 in the series. I started writing it and found that I was having to try and do way too much exposition in my setup as I felt that I needed to share their backstory. Sue Grafton’s novels are awesome at this in subsequent novels, keeping the backstory to a minimum for her main character, Kinsey. Attempting to write the intro for this book convinced me I needed to start earlier for my main character, and to do so now rather than as a prequel for later. I knew the backstory, but I couldn’t let it go. Hence restarting that backstory as my first novel.
• A collection of short stories, although I am not entirely sure what this will look like or what I’m going to do with it. The stories are all very different, so not sure they fit together as a collection. I could just publish them on my website as “free fiction” so to speak. We’ll see.

Anyway, they’re all collected and organized at least.

Item 5.3 is more about actually being organized for writing, as I want to be able to switch back and forth between outlining as I go and a bit more seat-of-the-pants writing. I make lists out the wazoo in my work and personal life, lots of efforts over the years to perfect the ideal todo list format for me in different situations, and I’m very comfortable with that. In addition, for work, I generally work from an outline for most of our productions. And, more or less, I have an outline that I’m working with for my HR Guide. But here’s the strange part.

When I go to write fiction, I have very little attraction to the plotter method of writing to an outline. I am much more attracted and in line with the “pantser” model. I know, it surprises me too. But the first four chapters of my novel and even the first two of the other WIP all flow way better in “pantser mode” than they do in outline mode. I feel, umm, more creative? More liberated? Not sure the right word. But I do know a different word that is the determining factor. Pantser mode is way more fun. I have no idea what my characters are going to say before they say it. I have some general ideas of where I’m going, but the actual interactions? Nada. And as many writers have noted in their experiences, if you go to write something, and one of your characters refuses to do what you thought he / she was going to do? That’s the zone you’re aiming to get to and stay in.

I’m not writing the great Canadian novel by any stretch, but I’m having fun. Maybe when I’m done it will be worth publishing, maybe it won’t. But I’m already learning as I go, so I’ll stay with it. But what does this have to do with my item?

I want a tool that lets me do basic outlining in bulletin board / index card / pushpin mode. I can do most things in multiple tools, and I already wrote about it today (Playing with Scrivener). But I want a single tool, and thought I would give Scrivener a try. I also want to give it a FULL try so I set it up on my laptop and did the full tutorial for it. I’m far from an expert, but I know enough to get my various WIPs going with a decent setup.

Onward…

My journey of 30d of change started September 1, a Wednesday, and I’m blogging about the three things per day for 30 days that I’m doing for the month. My intent is to blog the day afterwards, so here is the short update for Thursday September 2nd.

Item 2.1 was a bit larger — we went to Jacob’s new school for a tour. This is a good example of the type of thing I want to do more of in my life.

We didn’t really need to do the tour, Jacob is 12yo, all good. But he does have anxiety issues, and it’s a good idea for him to see things in advance, know what to expect, even if he doesn’t absolutely need it. A simple safety valve that ensures a good start to his new school, particularly after 18m of virtual school from home. It’s going to be a big deal for him to be around other people all day again, AND to have to wear a mask, AND to be at a new school, AND in a portable, AND taking city buses to / from the school. It’s a lot of change for a single day.

When we talked to him about it, I offered him a ride for the first day, and he was like, “Nah, I’ve got it.” Mom and he had already done a dry run. Great. Except he doesn’t have his Presto card yet for the bus. And it isn’t clear where he’s going when he gets to the school. So we did a quick one-on-one visit to ensure he’s all good, met a learning support teacher, saw the likely portable he’ll be in. Just a little quick “look ahead”, and we found out too that even on the morning of the first day, parents are generally not welcome because they don’t want us taking up important social distancing space.

The reason I say that I want to do more of this type of thing is not related to Jacob. What I mean is that I want to do more of these simple top-ups, activities that aren’t necessarily required, but which can make everyone’s life a little easier, and ensures we have success for J on his big first day. J’s decided he would like a ride on Day 1, since he doesn’t yet have the bus pass from the school.

Would he be fine without a ride? Sure. Without having had the tour? Sure. But now we all know what he’s doing, where he’s going, and we’ve already dealt with a couple of minor stress points for him so he won’t have to figure it out while he’s dealing with all the other stuff going by him on Day 1. I’ll call that a win.

Item 2.2 was follow-up to yesterday’s item on my website. The host is doing the recovery and repair, I only had to upload some files, and redirect some links. The good news is they seem to have found a backup of a backup of a backup that is reasonably intact, so they may just restore the original server. In the interim, they’re trying to get my new lifeboat account going. I’ve done all my stuff, just waiting for them to fix the last bit. A little annoying, but not stressful. I haven’t lost anything.

Item 2.3 is related to the first one about Jacob, at least sort of, I guess. As I mentioned, he has had some anxiety about a couple of issues, and because of some likely upcoming surgery, we set him up with a social worker through CHEO that talks to him about some of the issues as well as coping mechanisms, calming techniques, etc. Stuff he can talk to us about, but a different voice helps. Oddly enough, while it was primarily for him, Andrea and I usually talk to her for 20-30m too, tell her what’s going on, what we’re doing, things we’ve seen, etc. I love the fact that Jacob is able to do this, in part because it reinforces to him that talking about emotions and mental health issues is normal. It’s not hidden, or secret, or scary. It also reinforces his own sense of empathy. He’s better at explaining his thoughts to us, and to others. He talked to the support teacher at the school, rather than shutting down, he asked questions of her, etc. He’s still shy, and he’ll always be an introvert, but he knows how to self-advocate better than he used to do. And so, again, it’s not 100% required but it makes his life better. I like those kind of top-ups.

Onward…