Oven Roasted
A few notes about what I’ve been doing this month. I’ve finished a couple of medium-sized projects and been quite busy overall.
In other news, Britain and the rest of Europe have been in the middle of a heatwave, Boris Johnson became Prime Minister and the saga of Brexit continues.
Web development
My two Perch projects from last month have been completed. The “problem” site was upgraded in a second step to Perch 3 via staging server and this solved the login problems. The other Perch site copy project was also finished earlier in July.
My WordPress re-theme project was also completed. The new site is much, much better than previous. I’m pleased and so is the client. I’d quite like him to pay the rest of my invoice however.
I have another Perch upgrade project waiting. But the client has to establish control of their hosting first. The previous developer has left the industry and moved the hosting. He/she informed the client but they don’t seem to have control of the hosting account.
I had a really good meeting with another designer and her developer with a view to me building (Perch) sites for them. The current developer is changing the focus of his business so I’d be taking over his work. This potential collaboration looks positive for later in the year.
I understand .htaccess for the most part ;-) but I wouldn’t say that I get everything correct first time (ahem). Two useful tools I’ve found recently:
- Batch ReWrite Rule Generator: This site/tool dates from 2011 but it’s maintained by the developer and was updated this year. Very useful for generating .htaccess URL rewrite rules.
- htaccess Tester: Test your .htaccess rules. Enough said.
Reading
I have a 2013 Nexus 7 tablet that I have re-purposed as a Kindle reader. The tablet has been lying dormant since I downgraded an Android OS update that caused lots of problems. The tablet now runs an old Android OS version and will not/cannot be upgraded. I’ve uninstalled all apps apart from Kindle Reader and I hope that this will rekindle (ahem) my fiction reading.
I’ve started reading Remember Me by local Horsham author Daisy White. It’s “an absolutely gripping psychological thriller with a brilliant twist”. I’m about a third of the way through it.
Running
I ran the Caterham Rotary Half Marathon last weekend. It was a tough race (especially the last three miles) and I completed it in 1:57:05. That’s a bit disappointing because I ran the Gatwick Half in May in a time of 1:51. However, Caterham was a hilly course and a hot day. I felt absolutely oven roasted at the finish.
It wasn’t my best race but it’s another at the HM distance to chalk up to experience.
I’m philosophical looking back on it now. It wasn’t my best race but it’s another at the HM distance to chalk up to experience.