So somehow I ended up being accused of being involved, or even masterminding some shady dealings on the Avenue Friday night. I am here to tell you all that I am innocent of at least some of the charges. Moreover, I think that if the actual cast of coconspirators were to be named it would be made clear that I was but a pawn in the whole affair and was unwittingly pulled in by peer pressure and assurances that there would be no further recriminations! The night started innocently enough as nights are want to do. After the end of a long "short work week" it was time to unwind a bit at the local watering hole. Which means that Rich and I were C off to the Chatterbox for a beautiful evenings relaxation on the patio. Mel joined us and the evening was off, as were the pressures of gainful employment (at least for me for two day furlough). The patio was already partially occupied by friends when we arrived: Team 12 Chatterbowler Kathleen McDonald (with her new ultra-alluring husky voice, Travis and Elizabeth DiNicola, Richard Hurst and his daughter Kate, Bill Brooks and David Andrichik among the notables, plus a couple of guys I don't really know but who are none the less critical to my defense.
Brooks got all righteous brother, and unchained his melody to exhibit both his balance and bipedal brilliance, he made a run to the presses that were even then just cooling off, to deliver the latest in Urban Times published palaver. The DiNicola's had dietary designs and deemed to depart as did the Hurst's, leaving empty chairs and idle hands and one quasi-evil mind. As Idle hands are indeed the devils playground, Mr. Satan worked his mischief through one of his favorite vessel's. Mel and I were inside at the end of the bar when Rich came in and said, it's time to move TD's car. I said, There aren't enough people to move it. Rich says, David's going to help, and there are a couple of other guys willing to lend a hand. So unwillingly I had to step up to due to the overwhelming peer pressure, I mean if Travis's best man at his wedding is in, who am I to say no?



You can see the forced enthusiasm on my face in the final shot which was taken by Melissa Shoffner.
Chuck Pace ©2009 
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One more hurdle
One More Mountain
One More obstacle
One More grey cloud
One More tough break
One More sorry
One More day..
Then what?

The Earth drinking it's share of sweet, wet gravity from a gravity feeder.
It happens to each and everyone of us at some point (or many points) , we all get fed up from time to time. Well I'm here to tell you that that is not always the case in nature. The photo above is of a gravity feeder. Gravity too has a hunger that must be fed, but it gets fed down. Without these gravity feeders placed strategically around the globe might we all just one day drift off into space? Watch your step you never know when it might be your last on good ol' Terra Firma.
To all you fans of Anti-Gravity out there a quick note, The Earth and I are pro-gravity and I'm sticking to it!
Chuck Pace ©2009 
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Tonight there is another beer tasting at the Chatterbox. There is a tasting of some sort the last Wednesday of nearly every month: beers, wines, scotch's, vodka, you name it if there is enough interest there is a tasting. Jenni and I are once again attending, as are a few of my cronies at work. It is our hang-out, we like the crowd the atmosphere (sometimes a little smokey) and especially the servers and owner, Great peeps one and all. See you there?
My greatest wish for this day is not for me or any of the Chatterboxers. I wish my darling daughter Meredith a fabulous 24th birthday. I wish I could give her a hug.

Happy Birthday Princess, save me at least one more dance.
Chuck Pace ©2009 
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So last night I posted a garden, lazy day exposé, well I formatted a few more photos than I actually used, and well I want to so here they are.
Like yesterday I awoke to the thunderous roar of a hard rain. I haven't been out to see if the "dry creek-bed" is totally flooded yet but my guess is yes. Well I paused in my photo-soliliquy to look out the window and much to my surprise in the hour since I awoke the water works have been shut down for a bit and the creek-bed is much like it was last night when I shot the ripple shot in the previous post. Other reasons to post more this morning are, a renewed effort to return to blogging on a regular basis and , and I like doing it when I'm doing it. Oh and since Jenni bought and put out song-bird blend bird seeds we have two pairs of Cardinals in the yard a lot of the time these days. Not to be punny but these birds are awfully flighty, and I will have to be a patient ornitho-stalker to get some better shots. I'll have to take some cheep shots to be sure. O.K. That one was just to be punny, that time. You expected it, you waited for it and you got it, I'm done for a bit, time to fly, see you nest time.
Chuck Pace ©2009 
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Up early, the rains were already pounding the house, the gutter and downspout on the stoop (it's hardly large enough to qualify as a porch) were clogged by maple tree seeds and other leaves and debris. Normally I would get the lightweight wooden ladder out and work on the problem, but yesterday after the multiple hours of gardening that Jenni and I did Jenni took the old wooden ladder and turned it into a fire engine red garden ornament. So I wrestled the birthday present, high-tech aluminum ladder out of its cubby in my over crowded garage and extended it on the stoop and sidewalk and unclogged the blockage during the heaviest part of the storm. Jenni commented to our friend Gabe in Puerto Rico on Facebook that I was out on a metal ladder in the storm. When I came back in I said to tell him that it didn't work out.


The "fresh" garden looking in from the outside.
Notice my old work ladder now a cucumber and bean ladder.
That task out to the way I made breakfast for my bride and myself, she made coffee and cut up a tasty cantaloupe and we had a fine moment or two together.

A few hours later, after busily doing nothing else of any importance I decided to download some songs from Amazon's MP3 online downloads. I also uploaded a few applications to the iPhone and played some Mike's Cards solitaire. The next major decision was snacks and what to watch on the TV. We tried to watch Quantum of Solace but this copy, like the one I bought a few weeks ago won't play on my new Blu-Ray player either. It looks like an upgrade issue and is a bummer. Everything else I have in Blu-Ray works just fine. It is an Insignia (BestBuy house brand) player and the online reviews are not to complimentary, still we ended up watching the Dark Knight and after that the season finale of Castle and an Office both from the DVR. Then Jenni told me that Reaper is not coming back next season and ruined the moment. Jenni did manage a couple of trips to exchange clothes and get some stuff from the grocery store. I also managed to get outside between the rainier moments and get a few photos off, but during the whole day of laziness and self-absorption neither Jenni or I were able to drive over to Kays to return the borrowed Mantis. I want to thank all the soldiers, sailors, men and women who put their lives on the line for this country for giving me the ability to be lazy and relaxed on a holiday day off to honor them. We still live in the greatest country in the world.
Top Left: A leaf holding a micro pool of the days wet.
Bottom Right: The "Dry" Creek bed fills with water during heavy rains. The bamboo, dragon plants and various stones are supposed to simulate a dry creek.
Chuck Pace ©2009 
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Remember 1994? Things were different then, maybe better for some, maybe not. It is in the past so the bad gets diminished in many aspects and the good get glorified, Nostalgia does that. I was waxing nostalgic during the extra hour Jenni let me lounge in bed. I was remembering, and after I got up I discovered it was 1994 I was remembering. Wax on, wax off (No I wasn't thinking about the Karate Kid, you are, I wasn't. Besides that was 1984). I remember a TV show. M.A.N.T.I.S.; (Carl Lumbly), Dr. Miles Hawkings wheelchair bound genius builds an exoskeleton suit to allow him to walk, and after a catastrophic event (oddly enough) an exoskeleton that becomes a crime fighting tool. His lovely assistant Dr. Amy Ellis was played by Gina Torres, her first role according to IMDB. Gina Torres who was Zoë Washburn in Firefly. Whedonesque. Raimiesgue: M.A.N.T.I.S. was the brain child of Sam Raimi of Evil Dead, The Spider-man franchise, Darkman and so many other films and series including this years much talked about horror flick "Drag Me To Hell!"
This post has nothing to do with that.
Today is the day of the mantis tiller, a race, a birthday celebration and much, much more. I'm heading to Kay's in a few minutes to borrow her mantis so that I can plant my peppers, tomatoes, squash, beets and cucumbers today before all the other festivities (including predicted rain). It just so happens that my mind links to the strangest of things when I am able to drift in a semi-recumbent position neither fully awake or asleep and I remembered this T.V. show. It started out being about that link, then Gina Torres. Now it's back to gardening, since I'm up and ready to go.
Chuck Pace ©2009 
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It seems like the longer you go without something the harder it is to get back to it. If you exercise daily for three months then something like a vacation stops you from the routine, it is too easy to just stop. The justifications are :I didn't yesterday and I'm o.k" or even worse you begin to establish new routines, like hitting the snooze button instead of the weights.
Well that is true of a lot of things, like posting pithy or insightful information about your otherwise boring life on the internet proper. Before the social networking craze invaded my life and household I was a blogger. Now I have friends who are evading the social network thing and still look for content here in the chuckosphere. I've let everyone down including myself, and I want to, nay, need to do better.
At work I am supposed to be responsible for three blogs a week too, but once again, along came a spider named vacation, and another one named customer (a multi-headed amorphous blob with questions and needs and desires). With one less regular coworker and the new no overtime policy it is a bit more difficult to carve out a 40 minute window to add images and information of any relevance to the every growing stream of internet interdependence, so the store blogs suffer. Most days I'm spread thinner than the tarter sauce at the miracle of loaves and fishes event.
Monday at work I started another store blog, and got called into action, got to work on the images on Tuesday, sat down on Wednesday and imported the images and wrote some before the inevitable needed-ness clawed into the sanctum and drug me back to retail endeavors, and then tried in vain on Friday to polish it from its rough hewn exterior into a jewel. Still it sits like a lump as I didn't even get three uninterrupted minutes to concentrate on it's inner beauty.
So here I am trying to get a routine reestablished and blogging at home. I hope my once loyal cadre of viewers hasn't dwindled to just one or two hopefuls. Word will get out if I get the words out I thing and soon I will have an army of tens even dozens beating the virtual door down to see if I have more to do with my brain than puns.

King Crawdaddy in Stuart Florida
Picture if the Day. Well not so much unless I follow through, Todays picture.
Chuck Pace ©2009 
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The IBCFM team at home in the Upland Brewery.
This last weekend the IBCFM boys went to the Upland Brewing Company in Bloomington after meeting at a prearranged staging area. I was pleased to drive the Vert down to the staging area with nothing but air and sky caressing my prepared pate.
At the Brewery, our seventet tried and mutually agreed that Upland's seasonal brew, the Maibock was pretty tasty. Rich also sampled and was pleased with the Ard Ri seasonal offering. We passed on their cuisine, because we had dinner plans back at the staging area, but did take a tour of the brewery itself under the guidance of their guide Kevin.
We started in the grain room, saw the various individual steps of the process of making grain into something more special, and learned about their "green" water treatments for both heating and cooling the beer batches throughout their genesis. 70% of the energy comes from solar water heating panels on the roof of the facility. That is an impressive number so we were all duly and appropriately impressed. After the tour, the caravan returned to the staging area at an undisclosed super secret location. Meals were prepared, canines cavorted, games and conversations were addressed, and a general feeling of well being overcame the entire group. At 8PM I again saddled the white horse and drove the steed back to the World Headquarters, the air licking my had was redirected by a new Upland Brewery ball cap. Outside chilled air was no match for heat exchanged and radiated air from the V-6 heart of my steed.

Chuck Pace ©2009 
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Was is all a grand fantasy, did it really happen?
Or was this some crazy pipe dream?

As Robert Burns 224 year old poem "To A Mouse on Turning Her Up in Her Nest, With a A Plough" suggests, the best laid schemes of Mice and Men often go awry. While my disappointment and tragedy are not as terrible as those of John Steinbeck's Lennie Small and George Milton's, I am none the less a bit disconsolate about the dashing of our vacation plans on the rocks of industry.
Jenni and I were to be driving down to Florida in the convertible next week to visit with my parents and spend the greater part of Mother's Day with my beloved mother, and then add three or four days of vacation visitation with our daughter Meredith further down on the Atlantic side. The dates were requested and approved at both places of employment, the plans began to take form in our minds. In Florida, time was requested by the daughter at her end. Weeks go by and a problem comes knocking on vacation's door. Anthem is making changes and Jenni is involved. There will be a ten day training session and it falls inconveniently enough on the week I can not change, and Jenni cannot leave. The only thing I can do is go it alone.
I plan on coming home from work next Saturday and going to be, if I can sleep until 12 or so I will get as much or more sleep than I normally do. This would put me south of Nashville at sunrise, and at my parent's house around 2:00PM on Mother's Day. I plan on spending the most of next day in Old Town on the Suwanee River as well, and then the 5 hour drive to Port St. Lucie for three days and nights and part of a fourth then back to Old Town for a night and the 13 hour drive back home. I will be alone with my iPod, my camera gear, my GPS with Arnold S. giving directions, and my thoughts. Yep my dangerous mind will be unfettered, I'm going to buy a mini-digital recorder to comment into as I travel the lonely roads of Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and Florida. Maybe I'll come back through Georgia, but it is a long, boring drive through that tall state.
Chuck Pace ©2009 
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