I'm Sick

Monday, January 28, 2008

Written by Kodi Wolf at 5:32 AM

I think I have the flu. Fever, hurts all over, chest congestion, sore throat, sinus congestion, headache. I feel like shit.

So, since I can't think well enough to do anything actually creative, I've been slowly getting all my story notes from various notebooks and pieces of paper into the computer.

I wish I felt better because every time I come across a new note, I want to work on the story/scene it goes to, but I'm just not up to it.

At least the mundane work is getting done, so I'll have all my notes handy, instead of knowing I wrote something down some time, but not knowing where.

I Quit Mambo

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Written by Kodi Wolf at 8:25 PM

Yes, I've finally given up on Mambo. I was willing to hang in there and stick with it, I really was... Right up until I upgraded the version I was using so that it would work in Internet Explorer on Windows Vista and it deleted half the edits I'd made and changed enough files and code around that I would have had to go digging for weeks to redo all my edits. So, I said, "Fuck it," and decided to create all that they were offering from scratch.

So far, it seems to be working pretty well (and at the very least, way better than Mambo). I've learned enough CSS to do most of what my Mambo template was doing, as well as finding a free poll script, which was actually one of the main reasons I was interested in Mambo in the first place.

One of the other reasons was to have a blog, which I've now moved to Blogger.com (owned by Google). Their system lets me host it on my own domain, but they keep the code on their site. I just started this today and I've already wrapped the blog in my site's template, customized the blog to look pretty much the way I want it to, and I've even transferred the posts from Mambo. Now, that's how it should be. The only issue I've run into is that sometimes when I try to post, it seems to hang, and the hanging can last for quite a while before it gets back to being just a few seconds. The only thing I can think of is that there's a lot of traffic or something.

Well, I think I've done enough for today.

Oh, quick update to the last post: It wasn't the flu I had, it was bronchitis, and my doctor said it was very good that I came in and got checked out because it could have turned into pneumonia really easily.

Felix Lump Update

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Written by Kodi Wolf at 3:13 PM

Felix's lump has apparently disappeared. I keep trying to feel for it, but I can't find it. We'd originally scheduled surgery for her because it didn't seem to be getting any smaller after a couple months, but when we took her and Akasha into the vet for their yearly shots, the vet said she thought it was smaller, so we cancelled the surgery and decided to wait, and now the lump is gone. The vet said she thought it might have been an abscess that got walled in by the body's natural defenses or something and couldn't drain, so her poking at it might have let it be reabsorbed into Felix's body.

But anyway, I'm very relieved my cat doesn't have to have surgery.

Site (Re)Creation Update

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Written by Kodi Wolf at 5:15 AM

The site is coming along nicely. I think I'm finally out of the testing/template creation phase, so I've moved the site out of the test directory and into what I hope will be its permanent home in /WOLFsector/. Now, I can start creating pages that will have the correct links.

One of the new bells and whistles I've added is a Google Custom Search box. I've managed to style it so it looks good on the site and it seems to be working pretty well. It finds pages on my site, anyway.

Now, other than figuring out the subscription software I have yet to install, it's mostly just a matter of (re)transferring my pages to the new design. Hopefully, this will be the last time for a long time. At least I have all the files I converted for Mambo, so I should just be able to go back and "find and replace" the relevant code and reconvert it back to what it was before (Mambo preferred 'div' tags to 'p' tags, so that's the main thing I want to change).

I have run into a new problem, though, and I'm not sure what's causing it. I'm using a JavaScript script to offer the ability to change style sheets, in case what I've designed doesn't work for people. It was working fine, but after I moved the site, it defaulted to no style sheet, instead of loading the default. I've been over the code, the links, etc., but I haven't been able to figure it out. Once you click on one of the links to set the style sheet, it works fine, but I really don't like the idea of new visitors being presented with a non-styled site until they figure out they can choose a style.

Oh well. I'm tired. I'll work on it tomorrow (or rather later tonight; my schedule is currently 'fall asleep around noon, wake up around 8pm'). It'll continue to shift until I'm back on a day schedule, at which point, if the weather is good (not rainy), I'll be able to finish painting the upper kitchen cabinet doors and start back on the house renovations. Which also means the site will probably take a backseat again, unless my wife can convince me to take breaks like I'm supposed to. Then again, working at the computer isn't exactly a break. :)

Style Switcher Update

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Written by Kodi Wolf at 7:22 AM

Okay, so I didn't go to bed. I went searching for a fix and found a PHP-based style switcher on A List Apart. It took some fiddling to figure out how to make it work, but it seems to be doing great now. It also means I don't have to rely on JavaScript for this particular feature anymore, since some people have JavaScript turned off in their browsers for security reasons.

Well, I'm going to try to stop messing with the site and go lay down. I'm trashed.

Transferred Old 'What's New?' Archives

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Written by Kodi Wolf at 4:50 PM

Well, I just finished getting all the old What's New? updates transferred into the blog format. It was a little time consuming, but I actually think it was faster to do it that way than to try to hand code it myself. All I really had to do was copy/paste the text into the blog post window, modify the date to reflect the original date (as opposed to today's date), and then upload. And I still have the original files, should this blog system ever become defunct.

Transferred Story Index Pages

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Written by Kodi Wolf at 9:57 AM

I've mostly finished creating the new index pages for all the current stories, as well as their chapter menus (except for TVH, since its chapters are a bit in limbo between what's been posted and the revisions on my computer).

I've also created a new section I'm calling Progress Reports, which is done for now (except for TVH again; since I have so many revision dates for that series, I've only gotten through 2004). It gathers all the updates that have been posted on the old What's New? pages, as well as file save dates, e-mail send dates, etc., to show what I'm doing with each story at any particular time (posting a chapter, sending a chapter to BetaWolf, working on revisions, researching, etc.). That way, even if there hasn't been an update in a while, you'll be able to see whether I've been working on a story or not. I'm hoping it will curb the dreaded "When are you going to update?" question (but probably not).

This is also being done in between painting the office. I've gotten the baseboards and the closets primed, so I think next on the list is to finish painting the baseboards and the closets, so I can put up the new shelves and closet rods, and then move on to actually painting the room (well, priming first, then painting). It's been kind of annoying having all the office stuff scattered around the bedroom, living room, kitchen, and shed, so hopefully, I can get this stuff knocked out quickly (if only my body would cooperate).

Anyway, I'm really crashy and hungry, so I'm gonna go eat and then try to get some sleep.

I'm Letting People See The New Site

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Written by Kodi Wolf at 6:52 PM

This is posted from the current site (what will eventually become my fanfic only site) at /KWLF/:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is just to let you know what's going on with the new site. I've had several e-mails asking me about it and whether I'm ever going to update again, so I've decided to let you guys see what's going on at the new site.

The site is seriously under construction, though, so most of the links don't work, and none of the story content is available. But I have created a new blog (click the News link), which I've been trying to keep consistently updated (there are posts through 2007 and 2008 that you can read to catch up on what I've been doing the past two years). And I've also created a new section I'm calling Progress Reports (it's not actually one section; on each of the main story pages, there's a link to a list of progress reports for that particular story), which shows what I've worked on and when, which should hopefully keep you informed until I have a real update to announce.

If you see anything wrong (typos) or weird (images not lining up, text flowing where it probably shouldn't), please let me know (as well as your screen resolution (ex: 1440x900), operating system (ex: Windows Vista Home Premium, Service Pack 1), and browser type and version (ex: Windows Internet Explorer 7).

By the same token, please don't tell me if you run across a broken link (404 Not Found). It's not an error; it just means I haven't uploaded content for that file yet.

Also, be aware that the current stylesheet is set for screen resolutions of 1440 or less, meaning if your resolution is larger, the title image won't go all the way across your screen. That's not really an error. Just resize your window width to be smaller. And if your screen resolution is really itty bitty (640x480), you're going to have problems seeing all the links at the top and bottom, since I haven't created a stylesheet to address the problem yet. If you can't see "Home News Links Contact Help/FAQ Login/Logout" above the main text, then the links are being cut off. I'm sorry about that. I'll fix it when the site is closer to being finished (meaning I have all the relevant default stylesheet data to work from, instead of coming across something new I have to create and then add to the previous stylesheets I've created). You can also set your browser to ignore stylesheets, which should correct the problem; the site will just look ugly.

Just to reiterate, the new site is not open for business. It is a work in progress and I'm working on it as I have time and inclination. Bugging me about it on top of story updates will get you nowhere. I'm offering the link as a courtesy. Please be courteous in return.

Also, other than to announce the new site is open or a fanfic update, I will no longer be updating this site with news or information about my original stories (unless it seems appropriate for some reason I can't think of now), so all future posted updates will be on the new site's blog area, which I'm calling News for now. I'll still send story updates for both fanfic and original stories through the kodiwolf mailing list, but since that list is only for story updates, if you want more current information about site happenings, you should check the new site.

One last thing. The link at the top of the new site declaring subscriptions for $20/year is probably a little misleading at this point, but I'm not sure what to change it to, and I don't feel like taking the time to "fix" the site before letting you guys see it (I've already said it's a work in progress, and hopefully that will suffice). I've just recently decided to make the site more of a "membership" site than a "subscription" site, so that initial $20 will be closer to a lifetime membership fee than a yearly fee. I'll still reserve the right to charge update fees or renewal fees if necessary, but since this is still very new to me and all speculation at this point (it's going to be an ongoing learning process), I'm hoping $20 will take care of most or all the costs for now. There's also the possibility I might offer a donation button, so anyone who wants to help out can do so.

Anyway, if you're interested in taking a look, the URL is:

https://www.kodiwolf.com/WOLFsector/

Well, that's all. Take care.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, back to painting. At least the closets are done, so all I have left is the room itself.

Created Disclaimer and Links Pages

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Written by Kodi Wolf at 8:04 AM

I've created the Site Disclaimer page, based on the Enter page, and have gotten a start on the Links page, but there are a lot more writing resources I want to add. I think I'm happy with all the links being on one page, rather than splitting them up into category pages the way Mambo wanted to do it. I like just using in-page links to get to a section on the page, rather than loading a new one. I think I'm going to do the same thing for my Help/FAQ page. I'll see what it looks like, anyway. I should probably create a "Back to Top" link, though.

Well, on the renovation front, I've finished cutting in with the primer and put on two coats in the office, but I think it's going to need a third coat before I put on the topcoat of paint, since it's such a light color (it'll need two coats, actually). Of course, I've run out of primer, so I couldn't do the third coat last night (Corene's going to get me more on the way home from work tonight), but my back was killing me anyway, so I took a break and worked on the site (well, that and watched the new Indiana Jones movie; I wasn't expecting much, but I really liked it).

Now, I think I'm going to have something to eat, maybe watch some B5 or Voyager, and then try to go to sleep, so I can start this all over again tonight.

Should There Be Forums And Chat?

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Written by Kodi Wolf at 6:28 AM

I'm trying to decide if I want to set up a forum and chat room. I have a phpBB installation on my server, which I've half-heartedly set up for people to post reviews, offer informal beta-reading comments, and discuss each of my stories, but I already know that I won't have time to monitor it, much less respond to people if they ask me to, since I'd honestly rather be writing.

The chat room, on the other hand, is something I think I could make time for on a regular basis (maybe once a month or every few months?), but the php script I have installed can be a little buggy (it's free), so I'm not even sure if I could offer a chat.

If I don't offer forums or a chat room, then I can probably get rid of the Member Conduct and Content Submitted sections of the TOS, which would make me a little happier legally, since I wouldn't have to worry about what people might post (ads, copyright infringement, flame wars, etc.)... Now I just remembered I have comments turned on for this blog, so I probably still need to keep those sections in the TOS (or else turn comments off).

The real problem is that I really like hearing from people, but then I get all anxious about responding. I'm really shy most of the time and have social phobia (along with every other anxiety disorder there is), so even though I do really well with writing something like this (which is to everyone who comes across it), writing one-on-one just scares the shit out of me.

Well, I guess I'm not going to decide this right this second. I just need to think about it some more.

Office Renovation Update

Monday, October 27, 2008

Written by Kodi Wolf at 1:19 AM

Well, the office is basically done. Everything's been painted, the furniture is back in the room, my desktop PC is finally hooked up to the Internet again, my books are on the shelves, and I've even got my printer hooked up again. There are still a few things left to bring back into the room, but it's mostly stuff that's stored in the closets, so the room itself is pretty much done, except for the art I want to hang on the walls, that kind of thing.

Now, I just need to clean up the rest of the house, which is still kind of a wreck, after having my tools and everything everywhere.

Happy Halloween

Friday, October 31, 2008

Written by Kodi Wolf at 7:07 AM

I can't seem to get my butt in gear to clean the house. I've done a little here and there, but not much. I think I'm still recovering from this most recent round of renovations. I just don't want to do any more manual labor, or organize anything, or even just think too hard.

So, I'm sort of taking a vacation. I'm watching movies, playing free games from HP Games, and I even worked on The Vampire Hunter a little.

Of course, this weekend, Corene and I have said we're going to clean up the house, but I'm not sure it's going to happen. I mostly just want to curl up with her, watch some "DVD TV," and just relax. The problem always ends up being that it's difficult for either of us to relax when the house is a wreck. That probably explains why we've both been kind of tense lately. Ever since the office threw up on the rest of the house so that I could paint the room, we've been tripping over boxes, trying to navigate around displaced furniture, and unable to put things where they're supposed to be.

So, maybe we will end up cleaning this weekend. It'll probably make us feel better, even if we don't necessarily enjoy the process. At least we have lots of candy to help us keep our spirits up. Gotta love Halloween. :)

Comments:

Juno said...

November 1, 2008 12:03 AM

Good luck with the cleaning, Kodi. And Happy Halloween!!

Cleaning/Site Update

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Written by Kodi Wolf at 3:06 PM

Well, we got a little bit of the cleaning done last weekend. My new filing cabinets are filled with the old filing cabinets' contents, so we were able to Goodwill the old ones (they were pretty banged up and wouldn't fit under the table, but the new ones do; they're black, too, my favorite :) (the old ones were white)). I also managed to unpack half a dozen boxes and actually got about half of it into the office closets (the rest is scattered on the floor in the living room, so even though we got rid of a bunch of boxes, it probably looks worse than it did before).

I've also been working on the site, creating story pages for some of my unposted stuff that I work on the most. Of course, I've been getting easily sidetracked because I keep opening files and reading them and then start working on them instead of just grabbing the information I need and inserting it into the story pages.

I've also decided to create a main progress reports page that collects all the info from the individual progress reports pages for each story. That way, it's all in one place and you can see what I've most recently worked on without having to check each story page. I'm still going to keep the individual progress reports for each story, since that's useful for staying up-to-date on a particular story without having to search through the whole main list, but I like seeing all the dates I worked on my stories in one place. It makes me feel good. And I think in some ways it's like I have proof now for when I get an e-mail asking me if I'm still writing.

Akasha Has Kidney Disease

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Written by Kodi Wolf at 3:37 PM

A few years ago, one of my cats, Akasha, had a major bout of constipation. We took her to the vet and they X-rayed her to see if she had any possible blockages. She didn't, but they did find that one of her kidneys was deformed and probably not working, but her lab results had come back looking great (the vet had said she wished her results looked that good), so everything seemed to be fine. They did warn us that deformed kidney would probably be a problem someday, but it wasn't yet.

Well, over Thanksgiving weekend, Kash (it's pronounced "kahsh", like the Vorlon from Babylon 5, not "cash", for anyone who was wondering; since she's lost so much weight in the past few months, we've been calling her "Kashi-go-lean" from the cereal commercials) became severely constipated again. We took her back to the vet to get her checked out again and they prescribed lactulose twice a day. It didn't seem to be helping enough, though, so we took her back and they added cisapride. The vet also suggested we have more lab work done to try to figure out if there was anything else going on to cause the recurring constipation.

And that's when they told us she has kidney disease.

We're giving her subcutaneous fluids (the "camel hump") at home (today was the first day; boy, was that fun; I came close to passing out and Corene said she felt like throwing up, but we managed). Then on Friday, we're going to take her back in for more lab work to see if the fluids have kickstarted her system into working again. If they haven't, we might be looking at barely a month or so with her. If they have, then we might get another year or two. It could also be anything in between.

All I know is, I'm getting really tired of torturing my cat. When she doesn't have an appetite, we end up having to hold her down (or "scruff" her, as one of the vet techs put it, which I thought was pretty funny) in order to give her the drugs, since hiding it in food doesn't work if she won't eat. And stabbing her with this huge needle to give her the fluids is rather scary; I keep worrying about puncturing a lung or hitting some other important organ (or poking myself after the needle has passed through her skin, since her skin is so thin now).

But we'll do what we have to. Corene has even gotten her hours changed so she can go in to work an hour later in the mornings to accomodate the time we have to spend giving Kash her meds when she isn't being cooperative (we keep telling her if she'd just eat the stuff, it wouldn't be so traumatic, but she doesn't seem to want to listen).

Well, I hope everyone has a happy Solstice, merry Christmas, joyous Kwanzaa, or happy Hanukkah for those who celebrate, and for those who don't, just have a good month.

Akasha Kidney Disease Update

Friday, December 19, 2008

Written by Kodi Wolf at 5:26 PM

The new test results came back and Kash's bloodwork hasn't really changed (the area they were measuring went from 78 to 80, which is better, but not really a significant change). But as the vet said, she treats the cat, not the paper, so as long as Kash is feeling better with the fluids and the meds (which she is), then that's what we'll keep doing and just play it by ear.

We're also going to switch her food from Science Diet formula C/D, which we were giving to both Akasha and Felix to try to keep the crystals in their urine under control so they wouldn't keep getting cystitis (urinary tract infections), to the K/D formula, which is for kidney problems. She'll probably still get a little of the C/D (she'll still need it) when we give Felix canned food, but they'll both be on the K/D dry food from here on out.

I don't know how long Akasha has, but as long as she's feeling good, we'll do what we can for her.

Some pictures...

This was Akasha at around 3 or 4 months old. She eventually grew into her ears. :)

Here she is at around 8 months old.

And here she is at about 10 months old nursing her 3 babies (Felix is the calico in the middle).
(Full-size image)

And here's the family back when they still loved each other.
(Full-size image)

When I moved out of my sister's place, I took Felix with me, but left Kash behind. Then a few months later, I reintroduced Akasha to Felix and they decided they hated each other and the battle has been raging ever since. By the way, the orange and white cat is Guim ("gwim"), Akasha's brother and Felix's father. We had planned to get one of them fixed before Kash could get pregnant, but then Kash went into heat without us realizing it. But it turned out to be a happy mistake, since I got Felix out of it. I did, however, learn my lesson and made sure Felix was spayed as soon as medically possible.