News of the weird…or possibly normal. .
I hit two “almost a problem” problems with the longest running install of this system:
- I need to update it which means changing names on three of the layers. I expect much screaming when this happens. I already did a dry run on the upgrade and the biggest thing I want to happen is it’s now in line with the tools I’ve written. The goal is to keep the core parts the same for all the installs. Every county has special sauce they add on at the end though. I can deal with that.
- I don’t do an import BUT I do use the data to check road names in OpenStreetMap and correct when it’s appropriate. It doesn’t take a terrible amount of time to do but suddenly one county is having OSM turn up everywhere as a base map on their applications. So having OSM updated is useful for the county now. I need to come up with a better “once a year” data check for new roads and other things.
Things:
- Took a poll of 4 or 5 counties and finally have a better idea on how people are assigning addresses. The more I learn about that the more fascinating it gets. I’m going to add probably two new layers. One for Driveways and a point to get X and Y for driveway access. Which the address will have nothing to do with that – it’s more of a “if I add it they may use it” type of thing.
- One county needed FEMA data. So I think I’m going to add that with a view of structures in the Flood zone view. They could do a select by location in QGIS but why not drop one step and make life easier.
- I’m converting the GA 911 database over to QGIS/PostGIS. That’s moving along at a when-I-have-the-time pace.
Weird things:
- I’m trying to come up with a name for this that isn’t “the TN NG911 Data Addressing server thing”. One person suggested “AddressPro USA 2025 Infinity Edition”. Anyway – that’s going to happen at some point. Probably.
Not so weird things:
- I tested out a cloud install of this. So far so good. I think moving forward that’s going to be the way because I can provide backups, set things up the way they need to be setup, and not argue about age/condition of the nearest computer in the office.
- I’m going to write a class on how to use this system. I’m not sure how I’m going to publish the class but I’ll probably toss it into the github repository with everything else. It will cover the basics of QGIS, your Data, a little bit of PostGIS, and other tools you have at your disposal.
- Speaking of tools – We used QGIS to build a search grid for a missing person. It’s not that big of a deal to do “IF” you know how to do it. Which made me think more about the documentation part of this.
Health Things:
- It’s weird feeling good.
- I’ve probably been more productive in the last 2 months that I was all of last year. I have energy again. I don’t wear out as easily. Of course I’m on a lot of meds and my blood is the consistency of soup which it has to be with a mechanical heart valve. I probably shouldn’t feel this good. I do. It’s weird.
I leave you with a Cat pic.
