Compukin'
Scare Tactic
Yesterday I logged in to view my website and do some maintenance and to my horrible surprise my site address had someone else's stuff on it proclaiming to be chuckpace.com, a domain name I own. That woke me up.
Chuck Pace ©2009 
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Best Time to Test Your Luck!
The last couple of times I drove the Blue Frankenstein (my term of endearment for my '86 BMW 535i) it was missing out pretty badly in slow idle, would try (often successfully) to die on take off from a stop. I talked to bowling buddy and BMW enthusiast Clayton Hamilton about this situation a few times at All*Star Bowl and the Chatterbox, he recommended fuel injector cleaner and a drive of 20 or 30 minutes minimum, well that's fine if you are driving in circles, but to drive 15 minutes away in a car acting wonky and then hoping to get back in another 15 minutes (or at all) takes a bit of a leap of faith.
Side
Well I was planning on doing some yardening after my bowling outing ended at mid day, but the weather told me not to bother. So after puttering around I decided to take the Blue on a trip since I had put a bottle of injector cleaner in the tank. It was 3:50 PM and it was raining. The Car had been on a battery Charger in "maintain mode" for a few days because the battery had died before the last attempt to drive, about a week ago. This time it started right up, I put the windows up and closed the sunroof to vent position then backed out of the garage, two block later as the care started to warm up it also started to miss a bit, but I wanted to give the treatment a chance to treat so I stayed with it. Six blocks from home it died as I was getting ready to turn after waiting for a light, some anxious cranking then back under way.

This being a shakedown, and fuel-system clean-up check I did the only logical thing, I got on the interstate heading away from town with the early rush-hour 8 to 4 crowd. The maximum speed with this bunch was around 50 miles per hour because of traffic and
frontal_blur
road work. I took I-70 east from Post to the Mt. Comfort Exit and back to 465 Northbound and the Shadeland exit ansd a quick loop at 71st St. then back to Shadeland, then 16th St. and home. Total travel time 52 minutes plus another 8 or 10 ofwarm up before leaving, and the prognosis is good. The idle smoothed out and the shi-shimmy's settled down too, I'm planning on driving it to work on Saturday.
You may have noticed that the Blue is kind of gray in places, that is primer on the hood and fenders and in some other spots as well. Some day I will either finish restoring it or sell it.

Chuck Pace ©2009
 
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Connections
facebook tag
I almost always run into somebody I know when I'm out. This has even happened as far away from my stomping grounds as New Port Richey Florida. Several years ago Jenni and I visited my parents in New Port Richey (they have since moved farther much farther north to live on the Suwanee River) on vacation. We decided to go to Media Play and Books A-Million while we where there since the Media Play on East Washington Street had just closed. While we were there a Roberts Customer from Indianapolis about 1000 miles away casually walked up to me with two different books on cameras and asked my opinion on which one was more useful. No hey, no what are you doing here no preamble, just a matter of fact, "Which one of these do you think will give me the most information on using my camera?" Jenni was just standing there with her mouth hanging open. She calls me a social butterfly.
It happens so often that now it is more remarkable when (given a large enough crowd of course) I don't see someone who I recognize or know. Now it looks like my world just keeps getting smaller. Then there's facebook, in my opinion a much more mature and better way to network than MySpace. I am amazed by some of the mutual friends and connections that I never knew were just under the surface.
Like Kay I find Facebook to be a bit addictive, at least at first. I'm sure the glimmer will fade with a little more exposure, then it will just be a great place to find our and keep up as is the intention.
The down side of Facebook is the amount of time that it takes away from the regular stuff.
Chuck Pace ©2009 
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What a Day That Was
Yesterday was definitely one of those days to forget. One where everything went wrong or was cursed.
I got up nearly an hour earlier than usual to do my Chatterbox/Dickinson post. When I went to upload it to the WWW I must have made a keystroke error, because instead of embellishing the internet blogasphere with my wit, I created a duplicate copy of my three years of posts to my software platform.
When there was no time left to figure out the issue I left for work. I had forgotten that Jenni was scheduled for a dentist appointment and was not joining me so I drove in alone.
The interstate had more than it's usual share of blind 9 year old drivers and my frustration levels did not subsist. I got to my Starbucks and was told that not only was there not any Decaf made, there wouldn't be in the foreseeable future. A different Starbucks had lost water pressure and they were using the brewers of mine to fill several group pack boxes to transport there. I was offered and accepted a "mild" American decaf in place of my usual. I got to work without a second to spare and no time to unwind.
The day proceeded like it was less than two weeks from a major gift giving holiday. I was to be the second lunch which I would have to take alone due to the lack of wife three blocks to the east. I didn't realize that Mr. Novak was not in when I took my first call: a sensor cleaning request: I said I took lunch at 12:30 ish (which I would if I were the third lunch launchee) instead of 11:45 for the 2 spot, and ended up waiting an additional 1/2 hour for my customer to drop in for the service. So I got to lunch (alone) later than I should have.
After solo satiety I helped many customers, including some that just don't get it. I remained calm knowing that I would be the same way outside my sphere of expertise or knowledge, but that still doesn't help the psyche on a day from hell. Thursday is the dreaded long day and we were there until 6:30, then a lonely drive home in the dark without my passenger to grouse with about the day.
Before I got home I had to stop and fill up the tank on the convertible, to my overwhelming delight gas prices had gone up 35¢/gallon since my morning drive in.
Next I had to pick up a bottle of barley for the Friday night IBCFM (International Beer Club For Men) meeting, and was rang up by a grumbly old curmudgeon who tried at least 20 times to get my Mastercard to process as a Visa. He said the card was warped, cracked, and didn't work. I said other wise. Finally I guessed why he was failing at register 101, and said it's a Mastercard. He pushed a button on the register and it worked on the next try. Being resigned to the day I was having I had not been short, impatient or unfriendly. In a disgusted tone he said, "Well I'm not too SMART, 's why I work here! "
Home, no food and the computer to contend with. I deleted the duplicate history, reformatted my photo, and uploaded the We Were Listening post. Then while the joy of the day was still in me, I started to make this post. I thought it would be neat to try to flip the signature and comment thing over, just like my day had been. I named the file "title upside down" which the computer saw as html code when I dragged it in and messed up several lines of text, before crashing the whole program. luckily I had saved after the previous post.
That all took me to about 8:30, when I decided to soak in an epson salts bath. Well earlier Jenni had been doing laundry and I didn't get as much hot aqua as I wanted, plus I ended up dicking with the computer some more for about 20 minutes after drawing the water for my soak therapy. When I climbed in the water was barely tepid. So I drained about half of the luke warm and re-topped with 2 parts hot and 4 parts again luke warm. The water heater water was not back to a full usable temperature. Net gain? Short ,non theraputive epson salts wasting soak. I consumed a half a carton of Whoppers for dinner and trundled off to bed with the Brisingr book and a box of Kleenex's in hand. Par for the course, in the last 24 hours I had developed a massive head-cold or the flu.
what a day
I hope that that day was the completion of the rest of the years bad days.

footnote: Funny, that post didn't upload last night so I resubmit it today: 12/12/2008 1:01PM, then I go to bed with the flu and the throb from a shot. I will not be attending the IBCFM meeting either. Drat.
Technology Updates
I sit here before a blank canvas which is neither blank nor canvas. It is instead, a computer screen with text and windows open, but on the pane I am to write it is pure white (as pure as the phosphors and LED's can get it that is) except for these words that now grace its simulated writing surface.
I have a bit of a headache, I need to grab a sweater, I have to think of content. I have a bad headache. I have been in the med's cabinet, I pushed Dr. Caligari out of the way and went straight to the Extra Strength Rapid Release Gels.
Well here we go... last week I had Jenni pick-up a 500GB external Hard drive to augment the main frame and mobile command centers of chuckpace.com. I added it to the IT central hub on Thursday since I was off from the work that pays the bills. Since then it's been: Back up. Go forward. Rename. Copy. Delete. Hey I know this... this is Daft Punk's, "Technologic" from 2005's Human After All.
daftpunf_tech

(Lock it, fill it, call it, find it,
View it, code it, jam, unlock it,)

Buy it, use it, break it, fix it,
Trash it, change it, mail, upgrade it,
Charge it, point it, zoom it, press it,
Snap it, work it, quick erase it,
Write it, get it, paste it, save it,
Load it, check it, quick rewrite it,
Surf it, scroll it, pause it, click it,
Cross it, crack it, switch, update it,
Name it, read it, tune it, print it,
Scan it, send it, fax, rename it,
Touch it, bring it, pay it, watch it,
Turn it, leave it, start, format it,
Buy it, use it, break it, fix it,
Trash it, change it, mail, upgrade it,
Charge it, point it, zoom it, press it,
Snap it, work it, quick erase it,
Write it, get it, paste it, save it,
Load it, check it, quick rewrite it,
Plug it, play it, burn it, rip it,
Drag it, drop it, zip, unzip it,
Surf it, scroll it, pause it, click it,
Cross it, crack it, switch, update it,
Name it, read it, tune it, print it,
Scan it, send it, fax, rename it,
Touch it, bring it, pay it, watch it,
Turn it, leave it, start, format it,
Buy it, use it, break it, fix it,
Trash it, change it, mail, upgrade it,
Charge it, point it, zoom it, press it,
Snap it, work it, quick erase it,
Write it, get it, paste it, save it,
Load it, check it, quick rewrite it,
Plug it, play it, burn it, rip it,
Drag it, drop it, zip, unzip it,
Surf it, scroll it, pause it, click it,
Cross it, crack it, switch, update it,
Name it, read it, tune it, print it,
Scan it, send it, fax, rename it,
Buy it, use it, break it, fix it,
Trash it, change it, mail, upgrade it,
Charge it, point it, zoom it, press it,
Snap it, work it, quick erase it,
Write it, get it, paste it, save it,
Load it, check it, quick rewrite it,
Plug it, play it, burn it, rip it,
Drag it, drop it, zip, unzip it,
Lock it, fill it, call it, find it,
View it, code it, jam, unlock it,
Surf it, scroll it, pause it, click it,
Cross it, crack it, switch, update it,
Name it, read it, tune it, print it,
Scan it, send it, fax, rename it,
Touch it, bring it, pay it, watch it,
Turn it, leave it, start, format it,

Technologic
Technologic
Technologic
Technologic
Technologic
Technologic
Technologic
Technologic


I only used the last "verse" since it has all the components of the first two (which both start with Buy. it... thus the parentheses above ) plus the bridge. It is a toe tapper of a song, a fun little ditty that is also in a new Lincoln commercial too, weird.
Time for Football, almost.
Chuck Pace ©2008 
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Go Colts
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Time to add another helmet
Troubles
A frustrating morning begins badly. And Now the Trash man commeth. I sit down to a sluggish computer, I attempt to post my little post and nothing comes up in the body of the beast. The text entry pane (pain). Several frustration tries and I get the thing to show something, but it was not editable. A restart and now it works but there is no time to make with the posty post.

Fuudddggeee!
Chuck Pace © 2008
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Wash, Watch, Waste
Between hand washing the car on Saturday, watching a bunch of the DVR recorded shows from the previous week, the Nascar Race on Sunday and The Colts/Bucs and Bears/Packers contests I wasted too much time to do a reasonable post this last weekend. I did manage to bring the Mention Meter up to the "Chase" phase for public consumption, which is no mean feat I might add, and will be showing the finals in a few days. I think this last quarter may be the last Mention Meter. I have gotten sloppy and infrequent with my posting, and other factors have kept me off the circuit and out of the stream most main, from which the biggest 'ho fish' are to be reeled in, and tossed back. My limited exposure to my constituency in turn limits their exposure on the meter.
Chuck
That's Bombastic
The car repair saga ends well (so far). The rotor and the brakes were fine, the problem was a missing bolt in the caliper, and since BFM was the last (and only people) to have the tires off except for Tire Barn a month and a half ago, it looks like they left out a bolt or dislodged a keeper or something. I had thought that the problem was in the brake elements but never suspected the caliper (consensus said, warped rotor or broken pads) and after a recommendation from Bob Summers and a referral of sorts from Travis I chose Downtown Car Center on Virginia Ave., one because it is 5 blocks from my work (and two from Jenni's) and two I had no idea that this repair would be so linked to the previous repair. Bob Hiatt from DCC called and said that the caliper had pivoted up and was grabbing the inside of the wheel and causing the problem, also the tire was damaged (from over a block dragging) and he recommended I replace it. The tire has a warranty and is being replaced free of charge on
tuesday morning by Tire Barn, and BFM is reimbursing me the DCC charges. So I have one less problem, right?
Wrong. After the autostravaganza yesterday, we got home to no Digital cable, internet or Vonage phone service, Now some 18 hours later we still have no Digital cable, internet or Vonage phone. The next door neighbors said their cable was cutting in and out all night too. So without the ability to 'net, I took the laptop to work and typed this post to this point at the Red Eye Cafe with the company of the Missus.
table cats
Hey! Where you been? We've been posing here all night? Chuck Pace ©2007
After work it was drive time, but I chose to limit my exposure to the interstate, and took a circuitous, meandering route along with the laptop and GPS device and mapped more of my world. I drove by Flux and there in the window (probably caulking) was the lovely DeAnne, I headed up Hosbrook to add more of girl-town to the mapping features, with Connie the Z's abode, Ericka's and Nicci as well. On a roll (albeit, thumping a bit with the bruised Proxes tire) I decided to add the bowling alley, Guy and Maddie's and Kay's addresses to the database, then finally back at home I was welcomed by the cats, the dog and the love of my life, as well as the internet. So again, I have one less problem, right? Right. Tonight Football. Tonight Nascar. Tomorrow Jenni and I will be joining some of my Roberts compatriots at the Mt. Comfort Airport for the Air-show. I am psyched, pumped and jazzed. Tomorrow for sure things will be looking up. 8:15 PM Race Time.

Chuck Pace © 2007
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Timely, out of date pratices
Can someone explain publishing to me? Here is an industry on the cusp of technologies edge. Decades ago, when there was not so much digital in the world that we couldn't just put a finger on it the publishing of periodicals was a difficult endeavor. Imagine that you have to start pulling together your December issue in August because it has to be painstakingly printed and ready to distribute through a slower infrastructure. Type has to be set, plates made for the images. Four color separations extracted from color transparencies so that multiple plates can be made for those. Aligning. Registration. Distribution. Merchandising. Those were far more time consuming "back in the day." Now we are in a global, immediate, satellite instantaneous, digital media, computerized typesetting and printing, multiple output regional printing concern age. What happens today in Urmeyville Indiana can be on the shelves in Adelaide Australia by Thursday evening. Quicker if its downloaded instead of spot printed. So if this is the case, why can't we buy a July magazine in July? Why, on July 5th as I was enjoying a well deserved day off reading a Road and Track at Discount Tire in Greenwood Indiana (while surprising my missus with new wheels and tires on the truck), could I not find that same issue at three different outlets for my own consumption or to share with the same missus? The August issue is out, they are out of the July issue, and I can not buy the current month's issue on the 5th day of the current month. This could easily turn into a rant on time again as you can see. But really, why observe publishing morays designed for the 1920's in this want it now get it now age? Sure I can go to carandriver.com and download the articles and receive bonus material as well if I were so inclined. But I decline. I might want to recline with my car mag, not sit at a Liquid Crystal Display, absorbing it. Is that so wrong in an age where I can hear about Paris' next pimple outburst automatically on my cell if I so desire?

Chuck Pace © 2007
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its final
The first quarter mention meter is now calculated and is final. I will leave it up until this weekend, then I will have to throw-up the second qtr, already in progress.
Chuck Pace © 2007
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It Occurs
I was thinking last week, after the failures of Comcast and their ways that perhaps I should only post when I have something important, or witty or at the least interesting to say. But then who is to be the judge? Would I ever need (I don't need now) crack wise again on the web of world wideness? Would the absence be bearable or barely noticed. Being without internet access for roughly 7 days at the palatial World Headquarters left a far smaller hole in the whole of my existence than one (and all) might think. I didn't get more interesting or less so (well maybe less so to my faithful readers), taller or better looking, richer or better as a bowler. I didn't matter any more than before, which wasn't much to begin with, or any less. Schools still failed to teach humanity, civility and morality. Psychos and politicians still killed, kidnapped, coerced and corrupted society at all levels. Religious ideology and zealotry still called for the exterminations or assimilation of differing viewpoints. Love went on triumphing and failing, hearts were mended and broken. Nature took her course and paltry man was blamed for weather wether appropriate or not.
All in all a known inhabited planet rotated around a G class star in a spiral arm of a galaxy, in another spiral arm of a universe in a vast cosmos, and I should be getting a 6 day credit from the cable company for the lack of access to web mail and the ability to see the tide reports in Sri Lanka if I so desire.
So nothing has changed. I have failed no-one, championed no causes or caused no champions.
Square One.
Chuck Pace © 2007
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Attempt Auto-Aborted
I started my brilliant Saturday Post, about bowling frustrations, about sports, about my Friday about 40 minutes ago. Rarely had the words flowed from my penny pencil with such feverish fluidity (-Jean Shepherd). I spoke of the upcoming game in Miami (I can still say Miami, can't I?), A Game that starts in 35 hours and 22 minutes from the re-try of this post to be exact. But due to the length of time involved in the first "Auto-Abourte" effort thank to the miracle of modern programming, I no longer have time to enumerate all those salient points again, and flow the brilliant prose about the dull and murky miasma of my own reality, and my failures at the kegling arena on the eve most prior. Time abandons me, and affords me not the chance too re-group that so whispy collection of thoughts and remembrances again for another attempt to illuminate from the keyboard and monitor.
No longer do I have the luxury of ample chronometric flow to reposit my previous fleeting embers of imagination, I must finish now even as I am just starting for time the avenger has again gotten back at me. I go and attempt to up-load these nuggets of pyrite, instead ot the golden moments previously lost.
But you can bet your ass I'm going to copy this to my word documents before I try another save and post.
Go Colts! Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!!!
Chuck Pace © 2007
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Two For One Frustration Illusion
It is clear to me that I have no control over how the computer is going to treat me. I need to report a failure in the latest version of my web authoring software, as it crashes a lot when it it supposed to be up-loading to my server. This has happened to me three times in as many attempts, the last two mornings I have been able to save my thoughts before attempting an upload, (which has unexpectedly quit) but the most recent offering, done a mere hour before this one crashed while saving, similar occurrences I've had the distinct pleasure of reporting to Apple about twice this month also. Apple did not create the software that is giving me these moments of joyous glee, but the do work with software developers and report the problems that Mac users have with their software, so I send a report occasionally.
When I got home Jenni was heating left-overs, Meredith was wanting to watch a DVD and I was eager to crash the program again. I started the up-load process on the saved attempts which takes a good bit of time (usually 40 minutes to an hour) and usually crashes when it is already too late to re-attempt a re-load before I go in to work. The eating portion of the evening came and went with the portions, and the upload process was in process of uploading. Meredith then decided it was a good time to accept that which had been offered. Rich had offered her the use of one of his two vehicles, since like me on the night that my jacket was stolen, he can't possibly drive two cars at once. So Meredith and I made an excursion (there was not really an Excursion-- a Ford product about the size of Rhode Island on wheels --involved), to the Culy plantation and she borrowed the Grad Prix. Upon arriving home it was show-time, so I didn't even check the main-frame in the World HQ for the expected "unexpectedly quit dialog box" until after the movie. Since I was expecting the dialog box, it was not there. the site was global and I decide to start the next one for a shortcut for tomorrow.
Illusionist
I finished it and tried to save it, that's when the unexpected happened (again as expected) and it crashed while saving, effectively rendering an hour and a half of my time moot. This time I am copying the whole thing into the buffer (which can then be loaded into word and imported back into Rapid-Weaver upon re-launch) just in case it crashes again, and saving periodically. It has already saved my bacon once since the re-write began. So what was the movie you might ask (I know you would if you could, so in humoring you I am allowing you to humor me, so here goes). The Movie we watched, since you asked was "The Illusionist" a beautifully filmed cinematic achievement, which I only found out after watching was indeed nominated for an Oscar the very day I saw it. I will be adding this to my recommendations pages as soon as I can (barring and/or expecting crashes). Wow, am I brilliant and psychic or what! So here is the second, completely different bitch, er, I mean post about the posting process, and now I can go to bed.

Chuck Pace © 2007
Chuck Pace © 2007
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Yes I did that twice on purpose, unlike the posting twice to get one up once.