debug: logs in steps in precahing

cache/precache.py

@@ -97,6 +97,10 @@ async def precache_data():
                 await redis.execute("HSET", key, *value)
             logger.info(f"redis hash '{key}' was restored")
 
+        # Set a start time to track total execution time
+        import time
+        start_time = time.time()
+
         with local_session() as session:
             # topics
             q = select(Topic).where(Topic.community == 1)
@@ -153,8 +157,19 @@ async def precache_data():
                 import traceback
                 logger.error(f"Error processing authors: {author_exc}")
                 logger.error(traceback.format_exc())
+                
+        # Calculate total execution time and log it
+        import time
+        end_time = time.time()
+        execution_time = end_time - start_time
+        logger.info(f"Total precache execution time: {execution_time:.2f} seconds")
+        
+        # Double-check that we're actually returning and not getting stuck somewhere
+        logger.info("Precache operation complete - returning to caller")
+        return True
     except Exception as exc:
         import traceback
 
         traceback.print_exc()
         logger.error(f"Error in precache_data: {exc}")
+        return False