The GHAWG Diaries, Part 28

What's happening behind the scenes to bring new GHAWG content? The GHAWG Diaries is my recap of what I've been doing.

Introduction

There's more to #GHAWG than just daily zapfic entries and the spreadsheet I use to track them. There's research. There's review. There's also thought and inspiration. Then there are the tools involved in doing any of those tasks.

Just to keep things from getting scrambled in my head, and also to document for myself what I've been considering, I began keeping a diary of my activities as they concern #GHAWG. With posts in the GHAWG, Uninterrupted series on hold at Interlude 3 while Act 7 remains in progress, I decided to share these diary entries with everyone on Hive blockchain.

On Mondays which don't feature a GHAWG, Uninterrupted post-- GHAWG-U-- I'll post diary entries from the previous 7 days or between GHAWG-U posts if the time between them is short. For Part 28, there are 7 days' worth of diary entries. The first entry starts on 2024-May-06.

Before anyone scratches their heads at a few terms, here are 3 I began using many posts ago:

Monday, 2024-May-06

📓 Besides posting TGD27, I did some reading about New Mexico along Old Route 66. There is actually a wealth of information I could mine for use with Rat Bike. Although it would not be the first time I delete entries from the zapfic queue to make room for new ones or to better ones, I'm seriously considering "deleting" many of the zapfic entries I made regarding the New Mexico portion of the story. This would be the first time I something this drastic; I hope it's the last time I do it for Rat Bike. "Deleting" is in quotes since they are committed to the Hive blockchain. However, as I rewrite these entries I will simply supersede the earlier data and content with the revised data, metadata, and content. The Lindsay Etxeberria-Sanjay Rampersad conflict subplot will remain. Also remaining is the transformation of Our Heroes into the smaller and more mobile Felix Legion.

Tuesday, 2024-May-07

📓 Despite spending more time looking at digital maps of New Mexico and reveiwing the New Mexico section of my go-to web site for Route 66, I had nothing. So I spent the rest of the time on the spreadsheet side of things to document the process I used to add variable text to an image or text box object. It's one thing to know how to do something; it's quite another to explain how it was done. Graphics need to match the explanation at all steps; that can take a while. I ended up with enough documentation to place the text box objects where I needed them. Next is to associate via formula the text box object to a cell containing data or a calculated result. Ultimately, the text box objects are placed on top of the image which serves as a background, and the text box objects need to extend beyond the image; the reason becomes apparent once the text object's line color and fill color are set to none. If I can get this documentation done soon, I can publish a post on it soon afterward.

Wednesday, 2024-May-08

📓 Today I went back to the digital maps of New Mexico and the Route 66 web site. Since Gallup, New Mexico, US is the first noteworthy place east of Arizona, I decided to start my zapfic re-do there. Serendipity smiled on me today as it showed me a place name I wasn't expecting to see again until Felix Legion reaches Saint Louis, Missouri: Defiance. This gave me another opportunity to link back to the uncanny Manny Rey phase of David Guardia's Epic Ride. It also gives David and Rhonda Bella Guardia a reason to tell the rest of Felix Legion how they had almost met at a time when they were still total strangers.

Thursday, 2024-May-09

📓 In the morning I heard the characters talking to each other, so I knew that was my cue to go back to the zapfic queue. For at least 8 zapfic entries, I was able to avoid a total re-do. This extends the zapfic queue to 2024-May-20. At Defiance, New Mexico, US, I get to involve Lionel Odunsi in the story David and Rhonda Bella Guardia retell. At Gallup, New Mexico, US I saw an opportunity to tie Lindsay Etxeberria's far-left activist past to the present; this time David and Frank Marchenko get involved. Already the New Mexico portion of the Old Route 66 storyline is 100% better than how I left it weeks ago when Felix Legion had crossed into Texas. My next opportunity to add gap fillers is at Continental Divide, the 2nd notable stop along Old Route 66.

Friday, 2024-May-10

📓 I should get the Weekly Summary post for tomorrow ready so that all I have to do is backlink to earlier zapfic entries and create the cover image. Now that I have certain backlinks ready, it's just a matter of dropping those where needed and then looking up backlinks for other references made in Rat Bike. Crazy or not, a good sign I have something is when I hear voices telling me the story.

📓 A short time back I was trying to get some SEO data for zapfic on Hive. Specifically, I wanted to see how the InLeo domain fared when searching for zapfic content. Sadly, it wasn't doing so well. However, it may be due to the nature of the Hive ecosystem as a whole. Yes, the Hive ecosystem itself is doing well as a whole when people look for zapfic. However, SEO is not concerned with ecosystems, but rather domains. At the domain level, Layer 1 dominates over Layer 2. Even Layer 1 can be doing better. I should write a post about this situation and open up discussion to the Hivers who are also SEO mavens. There may be some questions which need to be asked, only I'm not ready to ask them. I only know how I handle zapfic from an SEO perspective. I need to know how others handle SEO for their zapfic (or even if they incorporate SEO at all). Even if the problem isn't solved to everyone's satisfaction, perhaps rankings rise across the ecosystem for us all to benefit.as the saying goes, "a rising tide lifts all boats."

Saturday, 2024-May-11

📓 One thing I've learned during the 433 days I've been working on GHAWG and Rat Bike: If I don't have the Weekly Summary ready by noon on Saturday, it won't get published until Sunday after midnight. That's due more to personal reasons than to anything else, so I just need to manage my time better so that I can keep the Saturday schedule.

📓 Budville (3 notable towns away from Albuquerque) offered me an opportunity to get The Brothers Marchenko involved, but I wasn't feeling it from Laguna and Los Lunas; this means Albuquerque is next in my re-do of the New Mexico portion of the Old Route 66 storyline for Rat Bike. Albuquerque has lots to do there on its own, so I may be able to find more for the characters there; it's like New York City in that regard, and it's hard not to find something to do in NYC.

Sunday, 2024-May-12

📓 Today I continued my review of New Mexico to find more opportunities for zapfic entries to add to the queue. No entries of already-published contennt to Hive blockchain have been replaced or superseded by replacement entries, but my re-do is going better than I had expected. Between Albuquerque and Santa Fe I already have the "fashion upgrade" for Our Heroes to Felix Legion, so that won't change. However, I may find something within Albuquerque itself to write about.