Somewhere on Porter Morris Road, Chapmansboro Tennessee. ©2003

Jenni and I are on vacation the week of October 2nd, and we plan to be driving on the very road in the above photograph sometime on the 3rd. That road leads to or from her family home in Tennessee. Behind me and the camera in this photo is the Mason family farm.
It's about a six hour drive under normal conditions from Indianapolis to Chapmansboro, but we are most likely going to take a little longer to get there on Monday. We are going "fishing" for material for this weblog. Interesting photos and experiences that can't be hooked or reeled in from an Interstate drive. This trip should provide answers to a few questions. Primary among them, will a 1986 BMW 535i survive the trip? It's got 290,000 miles on the chassis and about 82,000 miles on a rebuilt 1992 engine. It runs fairly well but needs two tires up front and a tune up. One major problem is the gas tank leaks when more than 6 gallons are in it. I haven't been under there with a "Lighter" yet to see if I can find where the leak is coming from.
I plan to map out a course where there are gas stations at least every 100 to 125 miles to be certain I don't run out of the precious fossil elixir that motivates my Bavarian Motor Werks transport. While this ain't nowhere near the Aintree Fork in Georgia, I still don't relish being caught on foot in the back woods regions of Western Kentucky if'n I can help it. Squeel, Squeel!

I figure a leisurely drive with a dozen and a half stops for photos, victuals and petrochemical refinements could take 8 hours or better. Much longer if we end up walking down a one lane road with a gas can in hand.
I'll still have posts on Saturday and Sunday this week, then... If we return in one piece (well, one piece apiece to be more accurate), I hope to have more than one good story to share with my ever expanding readership. I won't be able to post anything to the site here until I return (on Thursday the 6th, I hope). So the suspense should be all but killing some of you by then!

Will, they make it, there? Will the car explode on the way? Will they ever get back to Indy? Can one car, two people, three suitcases, four cameras, and two-hundred and ten horses on four tires make a eight hundred mile round trip in four days? Will the Cubs win the Series? Will the Red Sox repeat? Will the Colts be 4 and 0 after they visit Tennessee? The answers to all of these burning (not the car I hope) questions are...

Chuck Pace ©2005

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Well, after being off for three days I happily rush back to the old mill stone today. I'm surrounded by good people and close friends there. I have a job that I enjoy doing and I'm good at. That's more than a lot of people can say, right? When I woke up this morning it was only 40º F outside. Three days ago it was mid 60's, and mid 70's by afternoon. Somebody told the weather to start acting like its Fall. I don't know who that was but if they'd just kept their fool mouth shut for another week or so. Well the Flu has not migrated, but expanded to my lungs. I have an irritated and raw throat to augment the nasal drip and occasional projectile phlegm purge sinus symptoms. Who wouldn't want to buy a digital camera outfit from me right now?

I also have to tell Randy the Photo-lab Gnome about the new Neil Young album Prairie Wind that came out on Tuesday. It's reminiscent of After the Gold Rush or the even mellower Hawks and Doves that finally came out on CD last year. All Great albums if you Like Neil (who doesn't like Neil?). Well that time rapidly approaches when I must egress from my domicile to seek remuneration for verbal persuasion. Sales. That is.

Chuck Pace© 2005

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Mr. Pelican working on a tan on the Gulf side of Florida ©2002

Well, we sped through the last three episodes of Season 4, SMALLVILLE after Jenni got home from work so I wouldn't be totally in the dark for tonight's season premier. That was a lot of info to cram into an already bursting brain. Now I can go back and watch the other 20 or so at a more civilized pace.

Today, like the three before it finds me at the snot factory on overtime. Working double shifts to bring my phlegm to every piece of tissue in the house seems to be the goal. I'm popping Tylenol Cold like lifesavers, still have a fever and a wicked headache. But at least I have the satisfaction of knowing that when I drag my froggy throat and sick butt into work tomorrow nobody with accuse me of faking it just so I could stay home and launch myself into the world wide web. You can't fake Old Man Phlegm River, it just keep on rolling and rolling along.

My next web authoring task is to put some artwork and links in the sidebar on each page. (The Individual Gallery Pages don't have a side bar, so I obviously don't mean them.) Plus I have to come up with even more content. Perhaps music reviews, or books or DVD's , goodness knows I have enough of those things stacked, laying and shelved all about the house, and especially here in the den of clutter!

Chuck Pace ©2005

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Working Sponging Ships in Tarpon Springs Florida

Every time I'm in Florida whether to visit my parents or my Daughter and her husband I have to go to Tarpon Springs and the Sponge Docks, albeit a tourist trap, not dissimilar to the trendy shop areas like Broadripple in Indianapolis, but a required destination none the less. One reason, the primary reason is Hellas Greek restaurant. Man the food is good there, the service is exceptional and the entire atmosphere is always fun. Throw in some flaming Saganaki, and a couple of greek beers before the main cousre, for me usually Pastitsio or Mousaka and I'm transported to the days of Achilles and Agamemnon. OPA! My mouth is watering, time for a slim-fast shake (nope-ah).

Well, I broke my fever last night. I know this because I awoke in my own sponge-dock. That and the really weird dreams I always have when sick and recovering. I won't go into detail about one dream other than to say there's a thin line between Dr. Doolittle and Dr. Moreau. If I ever were to encounter a homo-sapiens-canine hybrid, I don't think... (this is weirder than the Red Kitty Dream, Travis). I'll just content myself with talking to my real dog, Charlie. I might scratch his back a little longer than usual next time and I know he enjoys the conversation, one sided though it may be. He does speak on command, and other nifty tricks, like most of his kind he is only happy to perform just to please and get personal attention. Here's a treat, Good Boy.

Chuck Pace©2005

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Not a Scene From LOST, but the Crystal River in Florida.

Well, I've found some more tricks to this stuff. Since I got the site to show up I now have the opportunity to start playing and refining. I know it's gotta be pretty boring hearing me ramble on about web publishing. I promise to get back to the more biting issues, and pithy commentary real soon. But indulge me for just a little longer. This has been a work not in progress from Monday night until about 7:00 PM last night (yeah, 5 hours ago). I did take time out to watch LOST, which continues to be captivating and intriguing. Unfortunately Jenni and I haven't finished the season 1 box yet (5 episodes to go). So some things come together funny or tend to confuse. Tomorrow er, tonight I face an even bigger quandry, SMALLVILLE. I was in a Wednesday Bowling league at Sportbowl last year, or at the Chatterbox for our ritual Wednesday Night Men's Club meetings, and only saw about three episodes last year. I just got the box set a week ago, and haven't had the chance to watch any, partly because of LOST.

Chuck Pace©2005

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The Yokes on Him! Photograph by David Edelstein©2004

Just when I think I can sit down and give up, this! Yep. The damn thing worked, 6th time may be the charm after all. I uploaded everything about two hours ago, and it didn't work, so I synced up my Transmit FTP program and deleted everything, and re-installed it. Expecting nothing but the same as the last 3 days of total frustration, imagine my surprise when it worked. My web site has drawn its 1st breath. It IS Alive! Call me Victor Frankenstein, lord what have loosed on the world!

The photo above is from Jillian's last year. The guy behind me is the Hibachi Grill guy, he was supposed balance an egg on the spatula, toss it straight up, catch and crack it on the side of the spatula, he failed twice. Then he handed it to me. Success! First time (ever), I retired with a perfect record. The fans went wild. Their surprise at my motor skills is equal to my surprise at the page finally showing up. Now I have to start modifying and beautifying. It just never ends. We'll see if this update, well... er, updates!

Chuck Pace ©2005

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By continually lowering my expectations I hope to someday achieve true nirvana. When absolutely nothing else can bring you any further down, you have indeed reached a state of grace. Everything around you brings joy, solace and comfort. For you know as the lowliest of the low that they are truly superior to you in all ways physical and metaphysical. That being said, it should be apparent to humble reader, myself, since this diatribe is limited to view-ability only in my immediate cyber-space, said computer within arm's reach. Were it to actually have worked there would have a whoop of Joy so freaking Loud that the cats and dog would now be deaf!

Chuck Pace©2005

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Grapevine tendrils firmly grasping a leaf stem. Chuck Pace ©2004

That's a line from the Moody Blues song "Nights in White Satin" which is full of despair and sadness. Sometimes I can relate. Like right now. For the last few days I have been struggling with this web site. It's been maddening at times. I got a portion of the site to show on the web yesterday, but not the main site and no links except the contact me one. I've been home for two days with an ever draining head full of snot and the flu, and been sleeping more or less most of the time, what time not in repose has been in frustration for my lack of computer savvy. I have been posting my requests and regrets to the web host and the page design people, to which I get simple (not altogether useful) replies. I am starting to think that I may have jumped too soon into the world wide web. I completely tore down the site and all it's missteps that I uploaded yesterday about four hours ago and have been reading forums, and rereading tutorials most of the day.

Now it's about time to try again to put up. Or Shut up. Third or fourth or fifth times charm, I say. Well that remains to be seen.

Peace Out, Napoleon.

Chuck Pace ©2005

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