kentcowgill.org/blog

Ok, I'm not one for figuring out nasty SQL. I was about to ask my friend Devin to lend a hand, since he's really good with SQL. However, I was able to figure out what I was looking for, and that was:

   select a.blog_id,
     a.blog_parent_id,
     a.blog_title,
     a.blog_date,
     a.blog_authorname,
     a.blog_authoremail,
     a.blog_entry,
     count(b.blog_id) as child_count
   from blog a left join blog b
   on a.blog_id = b.blog_parent_id
   where a.blog_parent_id is null
   group by a.blog_id
   order by a.blog_id desc

And the result of that query counts the sub-comments for each main comment in the very blog you're looking at now ;)

These are some of the items on the current to do list. If you'd like to suggest some features, just click on the "Comment on ..." link at the bottom of this post.

1. Fix formatting, maybe parse text in a wiki fashion. Don't make the users type in HTML for things like bold, italics, etc.
2. Change the database schema to support child posts (for comments on posts).
3. Implement comments :-)
4. Add the no-cache header.
5. Maybe do some quality checks on the input, to make sure no crap gets put in.

The first time around, I was using a flat(ish) SQLite file, which worked just fine from my development platform, i.e. running the server as myself, connecting to it on port 3000.

All well and good, but once I moved the application over to running under mod_perl, I kept getting errors like "Can't open readonly file" "Can't open any file" etc. I was sure it was permissions, so I chown'd the database file to nobody, and iteratively worked up to chmod'ing it to 777 - even moved it to a more publicly accessible location.

I still don't know what it was. Instead, I moved my database schema over to a mysql database, regenerated my Model modules with the helper script, changed the Model module's references (before I refered to the Model module as blog::Model::CDBI::Blog, but I had to change that to blog::Model::CDBI::mysql::Blog in two places in my Controller - but other than that, *every*thing else worked flawlessly, including the ability to add new posts :-)

this is a test to see if the 'ole MVC framework really delivers on the promise - i just pulled the model rug out from under it without changing any other code... does it work? can i add entries to my new shiny database?

Ok, once again I'm burning the midnight oil trying to digitize the whole of my experiences on the ride. Or at least the 11:30pm oil. Whichever.

So I've put up the beginnings of my journal, but please keep in mind that I'm typing this stuff out as fast as I can!

I've also starting putting captions on my pictures because I suppose I just felt like doing a lot of typing ;)

Enjoy for now, and I'll post more when I can :)

Ok, maybe you've noticed, maybe you haven't. (I won't chastise you for not checking my site every day since I've been back ;) I've updated a few things, and (perhaps what you've REALLY been waiting for) I've started adding some pictures. So far, I've got about 27 up, around 50 to go. Phew. And because it's late, I'm tired, so I didn't have the time to add descriptions.

Never fear, as soon as I type out my journal (which will be cake compared to futzing with all these pictures) - I'll add the descriptions to the pictures so you can tell exactly what the fuzzy things are you're supposed to be looking at ;)

Enjoy for now, and I'll continue to toil away :)

One word: incredible.

I'm currently working on transcribing/converting my journal and my pictures into electronic format, and as soon as I do, I'll have a new section of the site to give you the play-by-play.

Sadly, the exhilaration and exuberance of last week's ride has been offset by the horrible tragedy in New York on Tuesday, 9/11/01. My thoughts go out for the victims, the survivors, and the friends and family touched by this heinous act.

I've been taking it easy the last few weeks so I don't burn myself out before the ride. The last time I put in some major miles, I went out with my friend Keith again and rode as far north as we could. We got up to the Naval Academy in Great Lakes, about 15 or so miles south of the Wisconsin state border. There was a pretty seedy-looking town there... broken beer bottles all over the sidewalk just outside of the entrance, hole-in-the-wall bars and tattoo parlors. Needless to say, we didn't stay long - we just turned around and headed back :) We decided to swing west on our way back and rode through - you guessed it - the Botanical Gardens for a familiar ride back home. 68 miles.

The next week, I attempted to ride to Wisconsin (I swear I'm still going to do it!) - but got rained on, rather heavily, for a good ten miles. I was soaked and didn't think ahead to bring any of my rain gear with me, so I just hung out at a Starbucks and waited for Lisa to come get me :)

As far as my training is going, it's ok, but not quite where I'd like for it to be this close to the ride. I rode 51 miles last saturday with a friend I met through my chiropracter - he saw my fundraising poster in the office and asked if I wanted to go for a ride... and of course I did. We went up to the Chicago Botanical Gardens, which I've done a few times before, but at least this time I had some company. It was good to go with another vaccine rider because he really kept me on my toes - not too many rest stops :) The coolest part about that ride was that we left from our neighborhood - I didn't put my bike on my car to get it to the start of the "trail".

The day after that, I met up with my friend Lisanne and her daughter Evelyn and did pretty much the same path, only fewer miles - we drove our bikes to the trailhead instead of riding through the city like I did the day before. Total of about 34 miles that day. We even saw a family of deer on the way back! Starting out that day was ... interesting ... We parked in a parking lot I'd never been in before and decided to do some off-roading to find the trail. No such luck. After going through wood chips, dirt, mud, and over a few fallen trees, we finally landed about 15 yards from where we went into the woods. Oops :) We rode down the road a bit and found a real entrance to the trail :)

And of course, I've finally made all my travel reservations. I'm leaving for Montreal on the 4th of September, and flying back to Chicago on the 9th. Hopefully I'll be able to ease my sore rear into the airline seat! I've got my hotel room booked at a hotel near the airport, and I've made reservations for shipping my bike separately to Montreal. Now I just need to make sure I have enough gear! Clothing, tent supplies, a waterproof gearbag - you name it, I need it! :)

I've got a bit to update you on, but I promise I'll do my best to not bore you!

After testing out the road bike on the trainer, I decided to see how well I'd fare on some trails. So I packed up my bike and drove out to my friend (and sponsor!) Lisanne's place to ride with her and her 8 year old daughter. Should be easy, right? Boy was I wrong! Her daughter was quite the biker and put me through my paces! We drove up to where Warren and I and his father stopped for lunch a month or so ago (up in Highland Park, maybe), got on our bikes - destination, Chicago! We didn't quite make it because we both had things to do that night, but it was pretty fun! And a nice 20 miles, too. Lisanne and I have decided to try and ride every Sunday.

I rode to work the following Monday - nothing too terribly exciting there. Again, about 20 miles. I've decided I'm going to buy another bike lock (that'll be three total) so I can ride my road bike to work and get in some extra miles on the way home. It'll be really nice to have my rear-end stay in the same seat I'm going to be riding in September :)

The rest of the week was hectic, so I didn't make it out on either bike :(

Saturday, I hosted a fundraising houseparty which was GREAT! There were 16 people, and they all pitched in $2,505! I'm simply amazed at the generosity of the great group of people that I was honored to have in my home.

Sunday, much to my dismay, I woke up with a horrible headache (too much celebrating!) - but forced myself to drive out to Elgin where Lisanne and I rode another 20 miles, this time on the Illinois Prairie Path. We really need to start a little sooner so we can get in some more miles!