Taking a different view

The next thing that occurred to me for troubleshooting was to go sit at another computer and see just what it looked like from there.  In a matter of minutes I've seen the works in progress shows appear absolutely correct with photos displayed as expected, blurs of photos that don't display completely and fade immediately, and also plain white where the photos should be.  And this was with all no intervention at all from me other than viewing, clicking somewhere else and then returning to look again.

This feels far too much like having my brother and sister simultaneously trying to teach me to drive a stick-shift.  And by that I mean all of us in the car at the same time.  They're both younger, but have a tendency to gang up on me, always have.  That's a particularly vivid memory of unresolved confusion.  They both tell me what to do, they correct me and the result is sometimes the car moves forward and sometimes it dies.  The whole process is mysterious; I can't tell what was different at all between the times it worked and the times it failed.  At least here I have a more powerful reassurance that it's not me.  Since no changes were attempted and the result varied based on nothing more than a few more seconds time passing, I'm in an area outside of the sphere of cause and effect.  Feels a bit too familiar, in a very infuriating sort of way.  Random can be very uncomfortable.  Randomness is not usually my friend.

Photos still blank

Or are they?
At times there really is nothing to say besides the obvious.  Hopefully that statement soon won't make sense because this blip will have been resolved.  The whole episode will be no more than a vaguely recalled speed bump in a bigger adventure.

I've done everything I can think of and the works in progress show is still a blank white space where the photos go.  I guess it's just going to be malfunctioning until I can figure it out or just give up and delete it.  In the meantime I'll keep rearranging and poking around at it and trying to get answers and results.

Hmmmmm.  Just as I clicked preview the window displayed with both the new and old (code should match, though) WIP slideshows along with both FO shows that are currently there.  However, as I saw at times last night the timing of the WIP versions is off.  If it isn't completely blank, it's doing what I just saw: flashing a blur, just a brief fuzzy gray rectangle that never materializes into an image and fades out as soon as it appears.  So maybe the issue is timing???

Added above paragraph and clicked preview and now I see 2 working shows each of FOs and WIPs.  I know it isn't me, lol.  I guess I'm just going to have to live with this for a while...  Fortunately, since I'm pretty much the only one here, the oddness of it will likely go unnoticed.

Just for fun, I'm seriously considering how to go about changing the size of those items anyway.  Surely it's not the time to do anything extra when just the basics aren't 100%, but why would I leave well enough alone?  I've been sucked into the underlying gobbledegook of the working parts.  That's a clear invitation for tinkering!  I've always been the kind of person who knows just enough to be really dangerous that way.  I can embrace this aspect, especially when I'm being provoked by items changing and functioning by their own whims.  That's how I've managed to get a lot of skill and understanding in a range of areas.  I'm not the least bit afraid of replacing sinks, faucets, light fixtures, and even had the old washing machine and dryer set in pieces and then working again several times.  I am fearless this way.  I will prevail.

Sidebar Slideshow Hell

I sure wish I could understand what's going one with my Works in progress slideshow.  Earlier this evening I popped in to write a little and change some things around.  Spent some time finding and uploading some photos that go with a Halloween themed post that I started several days ago and still hadn't finished with the relevant images.  Made a few small changes in the design of the blog that seemed inconsequential, like adding a google search in the sidebar.  Suddenly I noticed that while my finished objects are displaying the works in progress right next door is completely blank!  The arrows and buttons are on the bottom, but there's nothing being shown.

Went back to Ravelry, searched the forums a bit.  Opened up the saved file of the code that was running these.  That was saved after copying and pasting via a link from Ravelry and then following the instructions to get my key and change everything the right places to my user info.  Scrutinized what I copied and pasted from the non-working gadget right next to the original text.  What a chore!

At different times and in different places of playing around with this I found sometimes "amp;" would appear after an ampersand (that's what this symbol: & is called; And I promise not to explain why/how it came to be called that - at this time, anyway).  So I started trying to edit those out those four characters, a through semi-colon.  Tried copying the code from the blog gadget for the finished objects, the working one, and changing the text to read "in-progress" instead of finished at the appropriate points.  It just seems every time I look at it something different has happened.   And none of my fixes are producing results that last.

Finally it seemed I had gotten both of the sidebar slideshows - sideshows! - working and then I opened a different tab or window and then went back to the blog and the WIPs was blank again.

Truly I don't need any additional aggravation or anything that would tend to make me feel like I'm losing my mind.  I have lost far more than anyone should have to lose in the first place.  Have been fighting fiercely to keep what's left of my brain ever since.

I suppose my best hope now is that tomorrow things will be normal... Or rather later this morning things will be normal.  I've been fussing with this so very long that it is after 3 AM for me.  I am so beat!