What follows is part of
the post that wouldn't post yesterday. I tried for nearly an hour to get this to upload, but kept getting a funky exception error about getting the code to web ready joy for all the little girls and boys out there. I completely scrapped yesterday's post, then rebuilt it nearly word for word. Such is the depth of my devotion to you my following...


It looked like a bad one yesterday. A rough start from the rough. Putting with a pitching wedge at the tee's so to speak. But most of that is self-indulgent, self induced introspective crap. We make our own beds (I used a few yards of fabric, 25 pounds of spring, a steel frame, foam and lots of thread) why not lie in them? Well I continually find that my friends are some of the most amazing, caring and compassionate people, they get me out of my doldrums and my metaphorical bed. I have really good friends, and should be of good cheer. To that end I went to the Chatterbox last night, and just about everybody there well wished me into better spirits, Travis and Liz had a bag of bail money to give back to the bonfire donors, Mike McDaniels brought a couple of his girlfriends to meet us (fortunately he didn't have the lung power to inflate them so they stayed in his trunk). Even without baked-goods Kay filled me up with with a warmth that only a true friend can (poppy seed cake can give a close approximation, but the hugs are always more spiritually filling). Mel and Rich gave me more than ample shoulder room to lean on, (Bill Withers offered same from his little window at the back of the bar) DeAnne told amusing and wonderful stories and brought me pretzels along with a mind numbing invitation, which I wrestled with before postponing if not declining straight out. Brooks spent his time with Jack, Joan, Tom Woody and his signif-other Jeanie as well as Heather and Dave. Maggie from Luna brought me a bonus live 5.1 MMJ DVD, and Ed Sipes provided an Ed perspective that is so hard to get just anywhere else. Mike Lamm in wolf's clothing did his braying laugh heard 'round the block, and Nicci came in and warmed the crowd with her very special brand of care and kindness.

Sunday Bowling: Once again I took no pictures (you thought prisoners?) Last night Mel 'N' Them bowled team #12, (The KnoyArnold Factor), we took all 8 points, Jenni had her first three games over 100 series for 328 (I expect the statisticians to verify this and get back to me), I missed a 500 by just 5 pins, Mel and Will pulled or knocked or cursed down enough pins that when the dust settled back into the oil patterns, we had won series by 81 pins.
Sunday Football and Racin': Kahne got into the wall and out of a chance to win the Championship, Tony Stewart took the victory. Adam Vinatieri booted three FG's to put the Colts on top at Mile HIgh, the last one with 2 seconds to go. Vinatieri is now 13-13 as a Colt on FG attempts, and he booted every Kick-off but one so deep that the Bronco's had to take the touchbacks. Gary Bracket was called for a lame Roughing the QB early, while last week Peyton was all but decapitated and there was no flag, I would like a little consistency here fellas.' Later a "Snake in the Grasp" call was overturned and the Colts actually won a fumble challenge. Then it was time to put on the bowlers glove and drive to the Alley with the radio playing the play by play commentary of B,b,b,b,bo,bob Lamie and Granpa' Ted.
The C,c,c, th, the boys, are, the, th, the C,Colts are Seven and 0, B,b,b,bob.
- 0 COLTS!
Chuck Pace © 2006
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Jo e-mailed me these photos from the body building/fitness competition where she was 1st in her class and took home a trophy that comes up to her hips, I figure they work so hard and build up so they can take home the trophy, I mean literally, so they can lift and take home the trophy.

I have to apologize to all the concerned parties that I let down; yesterday, or the day before, or on a regular basis. I should have gone to Rich and Maddie's party and bonfire last night. I should have stayed home and comforted my ailing wife, I have called and been more considerate, I should have taken the cell phone into the bedroom where I laid down and didn't move, I should have wiped the tears of worry from my wife's face instead of getting angry or upset that my plans were forfeit, I should have...

I didn't, instead I did melancholy.
Instead I did malaise.
Instead I did self-absorption.
Instead I did depression.

Instead of the evening (or early morning) ending with everybody saying what was the mater with Chuck, they were saying where was Chuck. A selfish and inconciderate choice, but at least one of the choices I've made that I can totally live with.

CP
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The day ended like the day began. Cold, dark and miserable. The Mahogoff Brothers bowling franchise came to play. Unfortunately the "Once in a While" team came to bowl. We won game one by 35 pins, with Scott and Jeff exceeding their league certified and verified average, Me falling one pin behind mine and Rich missing his by 17 pins. This is when we should have forfeited the final two, and gotten home early. {in Paul Harvey voice please:}GAME TWO: Scott misses his average by 28, Jeff falls short of his by 25 and I miss the mark(s) by 18, only Rich meets or beats the median indicator of his bowling ability at the particular given moment in time and space, with 13 over, and the tables have turned. It would not have mattered if we had all beat our averages by 25, we were spanked like bad children before the NEA came into power in the late 70's and discipline was more than just a word on a spelling bee. We lost game two by 169 pins, and inspired a generation or two our senior to thoughts of sock hops and soda fountains again. Jan Kelly, with a 137 average, and a league high game of 170 bowled a 181. Ray Spratt, carrying a 163 and a top notch of 206, sang "Anything you can do I can do better" from Annie Get Your Gun, with Ethel Merman and Ray Middleton (1946) to Jan, and rolled a 240. Tom Gunter their third bowler caught his average and squeezed two more pins out of it, and only Tony Carpenter, their anchor, who's about my age (the baby of their crew) failed to find his center by 22. I told Tony it looks like there are three anchors and one chain on your boat tonight, he said, "I know, I know." Final game, another team loss, a combined 29 pin shortfall (to tie). {Paul Harvey returns:}AND NOW YOU KNOW...

...the rest of the story. GOOD DAY!

Today there is a Store function at Jillian's, followed by a bonfire at Rich's, the annual Rich and Maddie burn shit up because we are older extravaganza. I will be working at the Store until the scheduled "fun" and I have every intention of going to Rich's too, unless the evil twin locked in Jenni's head starts making more trouble, then of course, I'll be there at the house with them both (I think there's only two in there right now).
Chuck Pace © 2006
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Travis, Cheryl, Liz, Peg and Will, so only the audiences are young I guess. Chuck Pace © 2006
After unfulfiling extra innings at the camera coral I headed to Luna Music, where Maggie was supposed to have sat back a CD for me. Wayne couldn't find it so I didn't get it.
Jenni called me as I was in the Luna pick asylum, and I went to the window to talk to her, there was the Cabriolet of one Travis DiNicola right in front of me so I went into the Box to see what was up with TD. The Box was rockin' as I walked in. There was the Young Audiences crowd there to congratulate and well wish Travis off to his new job. I recognized a few faces, but not the majority of the crew, yet I was still able to converse and be sociable among them. There was Wil Gould, the man of a thousand voices, Cheryl Strain, Bill Brooks, Jack and Joan David Andrichik keeping bar and many others. I met Peg and Sara; Liz arrived and I got to talk to her, and get more friendly with some of the YAINDY's. There was Beth with a funny story about the refurbished phone she got from Nextel that has a Direct Connect to somebody she doesn't know, and who now hates her for numerous accidental direct connections.
One Beanblossom among the DiNicola harvest. Chuck Pace © 2006
Alysha was by now tending the very same bar that David was when I arrived, and she was there with her friend Megan Mills, listening intently to some tale so I went out and talked to Kris Bowman on the awning side of the patio for a bit, then made my way home in time to watch all but the first 4 minutes of Smallville.
This morning Jenni woke up to another bounce-back on her 8 day old Migraine, she's going to talk to a neurologist today if she can. She and I are frustrated by the length and severity of her recent barrage of brain pain. Tonight is yet another bowling extravaganza, and we will see if the lanes are as frustrating as last Sunday, if so expect Rich to be very frustrated as well. My work here is done. Today Travis' work is removing 10 years of accumulated ambience from is office at Young Audiences. Good luck to Travis whom David said is between Jobs, if you see him on the street with a styrofoam cup drop in a couple of shillings, brother. I got to look down on Brooks (like we don't already do that) with my camera held over my head. It just felt right.
Chuck Pace © 2006
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Jenni's still not well, she's called for the FMLA paperwork, just in case she's going to be out even longer. Even her computer is under the weather, we had to take it in for a flush and fill to the MAC Experience guys on Franklin Rd. I was fine until she did the latest updates, the ones that also involve the devil's computer system (yes the dual platform MAC's that run Bill Gates' evil world domination Matrix). Seriously, there were no problems with her G-4 iMAC 17' until the new dual platform stuff came out. The "software updater" came on a few weeks ago, and she "updated things that were pertinent to her system, some had in parentheses duo, but were also supposed to be relevant to her OS, so she downloaded them. The next day after the computer put itself to sleep overnight, none of her bluetooth stuff (keyboard and mouse, dongle) worked or were recognized. She got out the old USB control interfaces and then started surfing message boards, finding these to by problems with other MAC people who had older machines and the Windows compatible upgrade sh** updates loaded. Next? The CD/DVD combo drive would not burn a CD anymore. She found more corroborating info and one person's fix, which involved changing the systems primary language to another country's, then restarting and then dragging english back to the top spot again, that fixed CD, but there is still no answer for other problems, thus the rip to MAC experience. Mine needs to go in too, for a physical and computational clean-up , but I'll have to wait until her's is back and happy again. With that errand over I now head to the store to get some overtime and help the crew, who are short handed this week, with vacations and relocations of the co-workers to the North store so that they too, can have staff vacations. So short but sweet today.
Cyber-Jed out.
Chuck Pace © 2006
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The Rich and Maddie show has been renewed for another year. Looks like the co-birthday celebrants had a pretty knarly time last night, but I bet this morning is a whole different sensation. Wilson and I drove in after work, Scott and Annie were at the back table with Maddie and Rich, and they were already feeling no pain. All sorts of stories were in the air, and everybody was having a great time. Mel arrived with two ice-cream cakes which facilitated a minor Chatterbox miracle. The cake that Kay made for the occasion (say that three times fast), was completely un-consumed. Because ice cream has a very short shelf live it was imperative that we eat that first, as we were all thwarting the thawing with bowls and forks, DeAnne said she would start compiling a list of birthdays for Mel's ice creamy goodness, goodness. Let's see there has to be at least one person each week, hmmm say on Monday, Reese's cakes on even Mondays, Oreo cakes on odd. I will count on DeAnne to compile that list, and SOON!
Mike McDaniel made a guest appearance, but Travis was a no-show. Pam was there when I arrived, but poor Eddie, suffering from a bronchial infection would not have lasted a wheeze in the oft times smoky digs of the 'Box,' therefore we were sparred his coughing fits it was either Edless or hoarseman. We went Edless. John David was called, and told me that he was on his way, apparently he called Heather or she called him and he was suddenly not on his was, so I don't know the story there. DeAnne was playing with her Sony camera that is just like the one I sank playing commode Commodore. So I gave her some tips, showed some menu tricks and zoom treats and she shared the wisdom with Mike Lamm and David Andrichik. Time passed, beverages disappeared at an alarming rate. Nick was there manning the barley hops delivery, and DeAnne was off, Nicci came in but did not get a single rub on her back. I was by then all rubbed out, and DeAnne was the reason. Her back was full of leek shaped tension knots, unlike Nicci's which is usually more like washboard hard. Guy Tucker Maddie's hubby arrived and had a couple before the Tucker twosome took themselves back to Beech Grove, Kay was there by then and in good spirits. Rich and I had decided that was enough. We tabbed out (which is to say I tabbed out, Rich had a zero sum balance thanks to the many well wishers willing wheat sodas on him from the seemingly bottomless well). With coat on and hat in hand, it was decided that I would take Rich home in his car, then take his car home for a few days loaner program called the 'gotnoride' initiative That is when Travis arrived, and said he had a good story, I said, "Is it the one about buying a Mets Jacket too small to button up?" It wasn't and he went Mets blue proving that he could button it up, he didn't keep it buttoned up long enough to prove he could inhale, but that's another story. It seems someone frauded his e-bay by cloning his account information, so he was working with the "it" police in cyber city precinct, crushing crime. Travis was e-bait. O.K., that last bit was too much fun to conceive and commit to web, but I have to end, I have to go to work. At least today I have a ride so I don't have to thumb. Unlike a well known Tom Robbins character, that DeAnne tried to emulate in the waning hours of the birthday celebration event. Why so blue cowgirl?
Thanks to Mel, Kay , Pam and all the others that helped make Rich and Maddie's Birthday an unforgettable event (now can somebody tell me what happened?)
Chuck Pace © 2006
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Jenni is in the throes of one of the worst Migraines she has had in 10 years, while her occurrences of Migraines have fallen off to almost none in the past several years mine have maintained a steady ten to twenty a year. She went to the Doctor yesterday, and scored a home run on the free meds. Midrin to take on the first signs of an impending M, Imatrex for relief during (so far not working for her), and Ultram (not the latest in bullet train technologies as I first thought) a super-sized one a day brain, ...er pain killer. She is pretty miserable, which means we are pretty miserable, and is about to miss her third day of work because of her whumper. Being a sufferer as well I can appreciate the amount of pain she is in. She has the classic symptoms, sensitivity to light, sound, movement and to make matters worse, she has a pretty frequent cough which makes her moan and wince at the same time, and of course wincing makes her constrict facial muscles and that makes her wince, too.

Things in the trees at the castle of the vitch! Chuck Pace © 2006 "I'm nat a vitch, I'm your vife!!!
Jenni has filled our yard and trees with all sorts of hanging things, and chimes which, as the leaves have abandoned the the trees, take on a less ornate and more sinister look. Just in time for halloween too. I will have to take a lot of this ornamentation down soon, and clear the yard of a bunch of winter susceptible items too, ahh the joys of living in the snow zones. Ahh Bach.
Tonight: Tonight after I get off work I make my way to the Chatterbox. Why you say. Why? If there must be a reason, then there is none better than a celebration. David has said that Tuesdays are his slowest days of the week revenue wise, and Rich being such a patron of the 'Box' chose to have his birthday on a Tuesday this year in order to help David out, "What a Guy." Not just Rich either, Maddie Tucker friend of the box, and former Robertsian is also birthing anniversing on the same day, is there no end to the depth of compassion these two have? Sure David or Deanne or Vanessa or whoever is serving at the Box will have to supply the first birthday beers, but I can safely say that that will be made up in due course and it should be a good Tuesday for David. I may be begging a ride home upon eve's completion, as I still have no true motivation, (at least not the kind that connects powerplant to drivetrain).

One to go, one for show, or Going nowhere fast! Chuck Pace ©2006
Well the time nears for Jenni to take me to work, then drive home to sleep secure in the knowledge that if she needs to go somewhere, she still can. She needs to go back to bed, and stay there, but insists on having (movable) wheels without while trying to quell the grinding wheels within.
Here's my latest title for a country song. "I got my name on the title, she's got her foot on the pedal" It's going to be a big hit, it starts with a melancholy pedal steel riff, then drives on up to a heart-break ballad, before leaving you at the curb to walk back to the dubba-wide.
Chuck Pace © 2006
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So when Jenni and I left the house at 6:15 to head off to our league bowling night the Colts were already in the lead in the second half. We listened on the radio on the way in, we watched without sound on a alley scoring monitor turned TV just two lanes over, and we ducked into the bar a few times to see and hear on real TV's. These guys looked a lot like the Colts of the past couple of years. They looked pretty good. Sure special teams allowed a Randel-El runback for a score, but he is lightning fast and had done it 6 or 7 times already in the NFL, so maybe he's just that good (no maybe about it really). 6-0 again.

Bowling: The lanes were ridiculous last night, no one on our team could do much with them, Jenni established her league average and handicap under those conditions, with the added bonus of not having done much bowling in last six months, she did break 100 twice (both 103's) and establish her handicap and average for future bowling. Still, we were able to win the last game, and take series due to that score differential.

- 0 COLTS!
Chuck Pace © 2006
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The best thing about Saturday for me was driving to and from work. I love to drive, I work to live. Work itself was not very inspirational. When I got home I was full of the aches and pains of too much life and not enough rest, I puttered on the computer for a few minutes, then decided to lay down for a bit after Jenni left for two hours of shopping release (her first 1/2 day without a vehicle in a long while), I never got back up, well not until 5:00 Sunday morning that is.
Today:
Football; Washington Redskins vs. The Colts. I'm hoping that Indy has figured our how to stop the run during the bye week. If not, look for Clinton Portis to have a minimum of 150 yards and a shot at 250. Jenni and I will be in route to the Bowling alley for the end of this contest.
RACIN'; MARTINSVILLE, Where Kasey Kahne lost his engine in April , finishing 35th, also where Kahne finished 2nd and Mark Martin 3rd in last years fall event. Jeff Gordon swept both races in' 05 and '03, but this is and even numbered year so....
Bowling; Tonight is Jenni's first night in the Sunday league, team Mel 'N' Them, Jenni and I are both there, I'm subbing for Will Andrichik, and Jenni is for David. So it's Andrichik's out tonight, Pace's in!
Other; Robert's newest employee Jo Mongan took home the trophy for best amateur female body builder in Louisville, KY last night. Congrats! Jo, now eat something for god's sake! Maybe we won't have to call Phil up front next time there is a security issue at the store.

Raheem Brock, Shirley Malone & Jason David at Anthem.
Photo: Kelli ('ho' up) Lafara © 2006
Past business: Chatterbox, (where else?): Last Wednesday: Jenni is at one table when I arrive, with the help of Rich who drove me there in his Jeep. Jack Green is at another, and Rich sits there with him, Kay once again arrives with baked treats; now I don't know what sorority she cooks for at Butler, but her food is so good I would guess maybe Phi Theta Pachyderm. Kay takes another table, so we have taken three of the six tables on the patio proper, and there is a stranger (for the moment) sitting at the 4th, waiting for a couple of friends. Mel almost arrives, hovering just outside the legal premises to inhale the emissions resulting the burning of a paper tube filled with dried and treated plant leaves, and drawn into the bronchus through a porous cotton filament encased in a micro mesh plastic tube under a different colored paper held at or in the mouth during incineration. The locals call this smoking a cigar-ette (or miniature cigar) and apparently it is a custom to pay homage the indigenous peoples that have been supplanted by peoples from all the other continents. After the completion of the cigar-ette, Mel comes onto the patio and sits with Kay. Next one of the friends of the stranger at table 4 arrives, and after they have been talking awhile we draw them into conversation also, the later arrival is Natalie from Greenville, SC and her friend is Jen. Travis arrives and also honors the natives by incinerating a cigar-ette, Then we all get locked into a bender of a knee slapping pun cycle, until Mel puts a cap on it. Inside Jody and Maryanne are waiting for Kay, to give Vanessa, our bar maid a house warming gift they went in together to purchase. Rich leaves, Travis leaves and Jenni and I are getting ready to depart when John David makes a surprise guest appearance, we shoot the breeze a while but have to get home in time for Lost, hey, priorities.
Chuck Pace © 2006
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So there is the missing post from Wednesday, now shut up about it!

Well, there is the bowling update to get to, but there is more than that. There is my luck rubbing off on my friends. Apparently Rich's Jeep has an electrical problem. Today is the first day of Rich's vacation. So what better/worse time for a automotive frustration. Yesterday on the way into work Rich noticed that he had no reflection of his headlamps on the cars in front of him in the post dawn drive. Last night before heading to Sport Bowl, with me the flightless Dodo in tow, he stopped at Autozone to see if there was a relay or something that he could replace to bring his darkness into the light. Not. HIs headlamps, expensive Sylvania ones, burned out with much less than 20 hours of use. With no relay to be had we drove across the street and bowled.
Scott Proctor, showing continual improvement as he starts to embrace the teaching of Master Rich had another "highest " league game ever. 158, and an average for the evening of 127, Jeff Moore had a good night too, with an average of 162, bettering his league average by 17. I had a 158 average (right on track with my 156 league avg.), and team high game of 173. Rich, who owned the wood lanes at Sport Bowl last year before the resurfacing, a evenings average of 150, 18 below his current league standing. None of this matters much, since we were trounced by team "Duck This" who's worse showing was a 13 point victory over us in the final game, after a 147 pin decision second game and a 15 pin first. Trounced!
Miss Kay arrived in good cheer, as only a bag of cookies and friends to share them with can provide, and stayed to watch our glorious first defeat, before beating a retreat, sweet, Sweet Treat. Thanks Kay for the edibles. Not long after Kay left, Maddie Tucker arrived, she was there to watch the last two wallops we took as we continue to fortify our last place position in the 14 team league, now one quarter over. Still, other than the pin fall, we were having a great time against our opponents, and really other than position humiliation, isn't this what life is all about?
That bit of kegeling mastery narrowly averted, Rich and I returned to the parking lot and game planned our night drive, there had been no lights since his morning dreve, he had a thought, and flipped over to brights, which worked perfectly and very brightly too to those who were unfortunate enough to be in our path. Just before the Brookville exit, the high beamed headlights both gave out as well, leading us into darkness' temptation, and the conclusion that there is problem with the voltage regulator, which is sending far to much juice to the headlamps (here juice is used as a colorful metaphor for electrical current, not actually the byproduct produced by extracting the liquids from various fruits and or vegetables. Clarifications like this are for Lightnin' at the stores back counter, and a few others I could mention.)
We drove the Jeep into the Gas America parking lot on Brookville Road, then I called Jenni, who was home all day nursing a migraine headache. She got out and picked us up, and before you know it Rich and I are watching HDTV here at the Cyber-Clampett Manse. After an hour of moving LCD TV I headed off to bed and Rich moved over from the love seat to the couch, where he is now, snoring away, even as I put these words to web. I suppose I should wake him up, and take us to Lenny's or something for sustenance and await the rising sun to allow him to drive in the light once again. I am working at the store today (on my scheduled day off), and will detour up to Gas America to see Rich safely off before the joy of employ makes me once again giddy as a little school girl. Happy, Happy! Joy, Joy! Still I get to drive again today, not the Bimmer, but the truck. Lets see if it can complete a circuit from home to Jeep to work to home without some major malicious mechanical malfeasance moment, for I am the still king of good fortune.
Chuck Pace © 2006
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Now Kelli LaFara is really going to have to 'ho' up, to even dream of competing with Rich or Travis, Wilson, Mel or Kay!

Listening to ''Wintertime Blues'', by John Hiatt (Play Count: 3)
My first alarm goes off at 5:05 AM. The first depressing of the snooze goes into effect at 5:05.01. Jenni's alarm goes off 8 minutes later, on a radio station, not! Her choice of wake up assist is high velocity static, with just a hint of de-tuned station noise, related to but not necessarily actually earthbound transmissions. (Oh, don't let's get started on about transmissions). My mind as quick coming out of repose, I think this is possibly a shuttlecraft breeching the ionosphere, as I jerk awake and tell jenni in a wake-up voice, "Do Something with THAT!" I have to be stern, because I'm on the far right edge of our queen-size bed, with space and the Queen between me and the left side night-stand and the 200 decibel "Staticmaster 9000, "kkkkkkkk..sss kkk ..ston we...kkkkk ssss ..ve a probl...kkkkkkkk" She rolls over and adroitly hits her snooze button and returns to her original position only missing one snore cycle, before she is fully back to sleepy bye dream-land and the entire moment will not have registered on her memory-map of the morning when at last her next radio hissy cycle wakes her. My second alarm goes off, I jerk awake like I'm in the electric char, kill the alarm and roll out of edge, scratching my ba..., yawning, stretching and hit the bathroom, then wander out of the rest chamber down the hallway and into the WorldHQ. Enervating the chuckpace.com main-frame takes a few minutes, then I fire up the "Thoughtpuke " recording software, and sit and wait for the moment to start typing, and start my iTunes, while fully realizing I have absolutely nothing to say today, I decide to recount the re-entry radio and Jenni's ability to sleep and rest, which far eclipses my ability to skim the nether-world of relaxation.

Listening to ''A Benediction'', by Winterpills (Play Count: 1)

I have to apologize to my regular readers for my morose self-absorption and moody demeanor of late, but the death of the ability to relocate myself without another person's assistance has added another straw to the already swaying back of camel de chuckles.
Now where were we.
Corrections, additions and omissions.
I have to apologize to the lovely Miss Kay, for failing to mention her presence at the Jack and Joan event last Sunday, she was there in a lovely color coordinated key-lime colored outfit. I even had to body guard her two limed flute of beer while she was outside with "the others" on a smog break, which took so long I feared she had been dragged down the hatch, and then I was pretty sure I would have to dispose of her flute of golden and greened-up goodness, just to preserve the decorum and festive nature of the Green's soirée. Listening to ''Almost Gothic'', by Steely Dan (Play Count: 1) Musical coincidence #???, Kay gave me this music..

This is the Best they looked all night! Chuck Pace ©2006
Monday night: Rich, Mike and I went to the pre-season Pacers debacle against, no more like schooled by the Timberwolves of the Minnesota, the crowd was so lethargic and small that at times you could barely hear the continual booing of Stephen Jackson, but 'tis still only the pre-season, I'm sure the addition of another 8,000 voices at their regular season attempts will boost the boos up to respectable decibel levels (like Jenni's bed-side alarm). After the game Mike, Rich and I walked back to the box in the pouring rain, where we were delighted to see Monika Herzig and Cathy Morris on the stage and dreaming our atmosphere for us. Soon after our arrival, all the Indy Andrichik's arrived (David, Will and Dorothy), as did 5 Vodka Tonic Liz, Travis and Melissa Gallant, they had been to some high 'falutin' event where some semblance of class was required (certainly not a Pacer's Game), on their heels came Bill Meyers (bass man, manager and all around good guy) and Kellen. Of course Daryl Spurlock was lurking at the back of the bar, being a general nuisance and pain in the box while Cathy was on stage, but what can you do they're family, they didn't get the choice either.
Well there's an hour plus of re-capping the misplaced, not gone Monday. I'll bring Wednesday on-line soon, so Kay and Mel need not worry that their presence was not noticed or appreciated, even a guest appearance by John-David, so that's still in the future of my recovery to normal Chuckness (yes, far from normal I know, Brooks, I know). Now my re-entry is complete.Chuck Pace © 2006
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Hey Rebecca, does everything still smell like Iced Tea?

"What a long strange trip it's been.... "

There has been a little concern about the missing.
There is nothing missing.
There may be something gone.
But gone is gone, missing is misplaced. Misplaced can be recovered. Gone can only be replaced. The concern should be for the replacement. When will it arrive, what form will it take, what will it be. When Becky in Phily closed her virtual shop of recollections and collected thoughts after two years, I had first to muse, "did the blog finally make her butt look too big," then I missed her style of humor and wit for a while, then it was replaced, by what I can't rightly say, but I got over not having that, and I had something else, there was no void, no gap, just a different flow to the eventual inevitable end. Such is life. Change is not only good, its constant, perpetual and necessary, no one controls change, time or circumstance. Some move better within their sets of circumstances than others, some color within the lines of their cast existence, and get the gold star at the end, some leave the reservation and make stars of themselves. Sadly there are some that think that anonymity is the solution to happiness, we may never know if they were happy or succeeded in their quests, you can only make a difference if you make an effort, and somebody has to see the effort made. "When you're dreaming with a broken heart the waking up is the hardest part." John Mayer, Continuum, 2006. I got that line live as I was finishing the previous one. The song has nothing to do with the stream of my conscienceness here, but the line has everything to do with it.
I should be listing the humorous or interesting accomplishments and actions of my friends and acquaintances here now, but my humor colored glasses are broken, and I'm waiting for a new pair.
"I'm in Repair, I'm not together, but I'm getting there..." More John Mayer, (in fact the next song, In Repair, funny how I'm connecting with these things on the very first listen. But then music has always been a reason for me, and a release too.
Chuck Pace © 2006
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The youngsters were forced to sit and hear the birthday song,
(Jack may have turned off his hearing aids) Chuck Pace © 2006
It took until Sunday Night, at Scholar's Inn to find out for sure. The party for Jack and Joan was a big affair. The meatballs and chicken salad yummy. The musicians that have played most of Jack and Joan's openings, made a special trip down from Michigan to play the soirée. Everybody had a great time. It was a Mention Meter Who's Who. Rich, Mike Wilson, Mike and Barb Novak, Richard Plath. Bill Brooks and Jeanie Kiley, David Andrichik and Heather Basile, Travis and Liz DiNicola, Jody Grober and MaryJane Olinger, even Bruce Pallman there with his mother, the Roberts Matriarch Rose. Let's se am I missing anybody? Jim and Cheryl Strain, artists and photographers Dave Kadlec and Gary Chillufo, lots of Jack and Joan's family.

Of Course She said Yes! The engaging pair (and ED too). Chuck Pace ©2006
Oh yeah, the Talk of Roberts, Ed Sipes and his fiancé Pam Walker (fi:ánsei) n. a woman in relation to the man to whom she is engaged to be married [F.] -*Websters Dictionary. They were there, and drawing a bit of interest. Friday morning at the store, Ed bought his engagement ring, and by quitting time everybody at the store was excited, and hopeful for Ed. At the bowling alley later that night, Doris arrived and asked if we had heard from Eddie, Saturday Mel texted me asking of any news from Pam or Eddie, I sent to text messages to Ed's old phone number, not realizing he had a new one with his new phone, doh! My messages were, "Well... " sent Friday night at midnight, and "....and?" sent at 10:04 Saturday morning. Pam said that she was expecting a call from me, to go something like this, "Pam, hi it's Chuck, is Ed there I need to talk to him." But, I was just not sure I should call, just in case the timing was off, or he decided to wait, for one reason or another. It turns out the timing was off, Pam was in the throws of a painful medical flare-up when Ed got to her home to see her, and was popping Advil's, then there was Ed birthday party, and Ed's sister and brother in-laws, with Pam's mom and three little ones and cake, there had better be cake! Before Ed could pop the question the future sister in law, headed up and off to bed (them three little ones were the cause of her exhaustion, and the cake sugar!)_, so Ed had to wait until they go to his house just before midnight on Friday he asked the question. (too bad I didn't have the right phone number, the timing would have been classic, if not an interruption...). So finally a celebration. Jack and Joan who have no idea how long they've been married, and Ed and Pam who have yet to nail down a late spring early summer 2007 date. Yea, Love is Grand. All of us who know them have been smiling all week-end (both couples).

Chuck Pace © 2006
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Pammy, I photoshoped the chicken salad out of your sweater in all the shots, that's the depth of my affection.

As ominous as that sounds, it's just an accurate title to todays post. Breaking down what I did not have time to recount on Saturday morning before Jenni took me downtown to work.
Friday the 13th. Ed Sipes Birthday, work day, bowling night, John Hiatt, Lyle Lovett, Guy Clark & Joe Ely concert ticket 'on-sale" day. It was an interesting day, busy in spurts at the store, enough to make the day go by fairly quick. At 10:00 O'clock The concert tickets went on sale for a January 14th show at Clowes Hall at Butler University, I got 6 in the 7th row, I'll be joined by Rich, Mel, Jenni Rebecca Martin and Mike Wilson.

Nascar's King of the intermediate Track, #9, Kasey Kahne Chuck Pace ©2006
As I sit here at this exact moment writing this, I have my I-Tunes playing a Smartlist I created called "forgotten classics", the criteria for this list is songs with a 3 or higher "Star" rating, that haven been played in at least 3 months. The only reason I mention this is because there are 408 songs in the list, and they are being played randomly, and the song that started after I started the ticket line above was... Listening to ''Tip Of My Tongue'', by John Hiatt (Play Count: 2)
Friday was also Jeff Moore's oldest son Andrew's birthday (#11 I believe), so Jeff was out for the second week in a row as far as bowling is concerned. Mike Wilson was in for the second straight, and third time in 6 weeks, so we had a full team. I had to grab a ride with Rich sin e I am ride-less on my own until I can repair or replace the BMW and once again be going mobile. As I prepare to recount and elaborate on the bowling Friday the next coincidence song is now playing on the smartlist; Listening to ''Black Friday'', by Steely Dan (Play Count: 2) now I know this song is about the stock market crash of 1929, but I still think the title is so apropos. Part of the appropriateness of the song was the fact that we were playing team #13 (Team Sandbag), with an artificial handicap so ridiculous as it a sham, we still manages to stay close in game two, and win game three (after they had been doing shots, and drinking like it was shore-leave in Acapulco), I also have to give credit to out bonus Cheerleaders, Mel and Doris both showed up on their own accord, and encouraged us to prevail, which we of course did not, Doris actually left before the third game was even underway, so maybe her cheer remained, or maybe there's something else at play here. I once again carried the team, well on average and total pins, only Scott Proctor had a decent first game (155, and his new high league game), Rich Mike and I were woefully below our averages game one. In the second, which we lost by 6, Rich edged me by three pins for a team evening high 179, and in the third (which we won by 11) I had the high mark with 178. Mike struggled again and missed his new average by 1 pin in his highest game, so there will be a new, lower 132 average for Mike to build from next time he's there. After the fabulous bowling exercise, we (minus Mike) went to Wirty's World to shoot some pool. Scott, Rich and I did the shooting, Mel once again 'cheered' and provided moral support which is a good thing, with morals being so little in demand anymore, even a little bolstering of those that are around st. . I was once again the star, winning the first 5 matches, before rotating, out every other game, I finished with 8 K's, followed by Rich with 5 and Scott with 4. By now it's 12:40 and Saturday, and Rich doesn't want to take me home yet, he want's to get food, and some caffeine in his system before the drop-of, and I could use a little dining myself anyway, so off to Lenny's. Once again our party diminishes by one, as Scott Proctor thinks just because he has to be at work in 7 hours and 50 minutes, he could benefit from a sleep type thing. This was Rich and I's second Lenny's visit after Wirty's and Bowling in as many weeks, and we got the same waitress, Catie, who now worship's us. The nearing 1:00 AM crowd was large and unruly, and it was kind of a jungle at the Lenny's and Rich, Mel and I were actually an island of sanity for poor Catie, and we tip well, too. Home, sleep, wake, work with a ride in from Jenni, who closed 8 cases in appeals before coming to lunch with me at 12:30. We asked Becky if she could give me a ride home, since she's a far eastern person too (Marion County wise), so I got to ride in the burgundy Buick Behemoth with Dynaride and fadio-radio. Once home, I made my Nascar Fantasy picks, which got me a #10 finish in the red league, and a 120 points victory over the second place Mr. & Mrs. DiNicola team in the Blue league. Best though is that Kasey Kahne won again, that's 6 (so far) this year, and more than any other driver.

Today? Sunday, Jack & Joan's celebrate 168 years together. You say, that can't be right can it? It is they are celebrating 168 years together today at the Scholar's Inn on Mass Ave. With both having Birthdays near, they are celebrating both at once, Jack 88 of 'em, Joan another (overlapping, I admit) 80.
Chuck Pace © 2006
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Oversleeping has forced an abbreviated posting. I shall rectify this at a later time. There is so much to tell, and Mentions out the wazoo. So Mel, Mike Rich Scott and even Doris McQuain, should not feel sad that their stories and or actions are going to go unheralded there is just not time this morning. I wish to give proper time and weight to all the above. Not to mention Pam or Eddie, and what about 'Lightning" Scott Churchill? In due time people, in due time.
Chuck Pace © 2006
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Executive Material? NO, I think it's Suede. Chuck Pace © 2006
With the work day gearing down, I shifted from Wholesale district to Mass. Ave. and the Chatterbox. Around 5:30 the party started pulling in, and parked itself around my table. Brooks was there in shades, if not spades, Kay was at the end of the Bar (the Walton end) with some of her former Track Fan Fest coworkers, Six Foot Sue Hobbs and Brad Griffith, Jenni was pretty sure that Brad was a former driver and asked for an autograph. Ericka and Pam were there, as was Ed Sipes (today's Birthday Boy), Mike Wilson, Rich Culy and David Andrichik playing taps. Alysha Griffith (no relation to Brad), arrived to assist in the distribution of and raising of spirits, and eventually the city's newest Executive director wandered into the fray, and spotlight. Travis DiNicola will step up to the head guy spot at Indy Reads, The Adult Literacy program formerly ran out of the Library (now under construction, um, the library and the program). Congrats to Travis, a man who has had a goal of owning his own Book Store in more than the virtual world , is gaining access to future clientele and doing some good for the community at large. To celebrate this move I forced two Guiness' on Travis at the Box, Ericka forced a few car-bombs on the willing witless in honor of Ed's Birthday, and I was able to persuade Mike to have another Guiness on me. At just before 8:00 I jumped into the Bimmer, for a ride to remember, as I got to the interstate I noticed the car would not go into 5th gear, so I drove home in 4th, at my exit at Post I down shifted, or at least tried to, that's when the shifter disengaged from any mechanical relationship to the transmission, and became a flippy floppy knob on an aluminum stick, Joy, Joy! I will take that frustration to the bowling alley tonight and try to smash some of the pins.

The Guiness Crowd, Kay Niedenthal © 2006
Happy Friday the 13th friends, Mine arrived 4 hours early. Happy Birthday to Ed Sipes and Andrew Moore.

Chuck Pace © 2006
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Shit, ain't this jus good livin! (Yep, there were a real life swearin' word on the usually thoughtful, and fambly frienly Toughtpukes). Gaul Dang if'n my life and the liven' of it jus don't get better 'n' better all the dang time. I had me a pretty good time last night. Not so good as to be throwed up in the hoosegow, but a pretty damned good time none the less (sorry 'bout the nuther swearin word, but but gaul dang' it I'm in a swearin' word kinda' framework right now)! The mother fletchering linkage to the transmission on the BMW let go on the way home last night, and I hadda call the little missus and our right with Jaysus, 'merican made Dodge pick 'em up to pull my sorry kraut ass, Kaiser lovin' führer heil'in, monkey humping POS up the ramp and home to our sweet God Blessin' America rubber stamped, 'luminum sided, toss off new edition neighborhood development community. Wouldn't be so bad if the Bimmer were a car I could afford to drive (well, it is 'til something goes wrong, right?). I don't guess it would matter if I was coming from a brothel or a prayer vigil, the thing let go when it let go, (for your information I have been to far more Pray vigils than Brothel's {zero and counting on the latter}, besides the vehicle as a whole only has 302,196 miles on it it's not like it's used up or some shit! (them swear words are gonna' cancel out every last one of those vigils, Bucky, I just know it!). I don't care! Duck, Shiv, Damp, damp, duck, I'll kick your flexing Neck, Mother Fletcher! I'm Pumped off! [I took the liberty of using TV overdubbing of R rated movies to keep me put of Heck fire, there]. So it looks like Jenni will be providing me with transport to work and back until I can get under the car and have it run over my freaking head this week end, which may not be soon enough!

Shit Luck Chuck© 2006
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Snap-Dragon Bone-yard, Medieval Seed pods. Chuck Pace ©2006
My alarm on my cell phone goes off at 5:23 AM. I reach for it and immediately realize that something is terribly wrong. The back of my head and the junction between neck and head are in agony. I'm feeling nauseous, and it hurts to move. I get up to go to the bathroom and before I can start my business I have to expel a minor amount of my stomach's contents from the previous evening, I'm trembling and starting to break a sweat. I get back to bed and lay there with what feels like a broken neck, the snooze goes off and I turn it off, Jenni's alarm goes off again in a few minutes and she starts to wake up. I tell her I'm in no condition to go to work, about the nausea and the pain. She gets up and gets ready, I give her the numbers to call for Bruce and Phil, then I asked her to bring me some medicine. Next thing I know I'm waking to the phone ringing. It's Bob and he's wanting to know if I overslept, it's 9:10 AM, I tell Bob that Jenni called and left word on Bruce's voicemail. He says Bruce is not there, I remember Jenni saying that Phil's never picked up, that it rang about 15 times before she gave up. I tell Bob about my head and my morning then go back to sleep. 1:30 I wake up feeling a little better and a little punchy, I call Jenni she says just sleep all day. I can't just sleep all day. I get up and drink a glass of water and eat some applesauce, then lay back down until 2:00. I get back up and Charlie wants to go outside, so we go outside, its drizzling, he goes.
I notice the snapdragons have started to turn into dragon skulls, so I bring some in. Next thing I'm at the computer, with the camera in macro, and checking e-mail and zoning. I slept some more, maybe and hour, then Jenni got home after 6:00, she doesn't feel too good, she lays down, then it' s almost time for LOST, and we watch that. After LOST I sit down to edit the pictures and start a post that I will put up before going to work, maybe even tonight. I'm supposed to have Thursday off, but I figure I should go in now, I got an e-mail from Wilson that James left early, and Jeff Moore didn't come in at all, so...
Enjoy the Skulls. They are cool, and very small, I just took one more shot with the seeds and standard tweezers, for scale.

Chuck Pace © 2006
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A hard start this morning. Trying to reboot the system. Get the peripherals to communicate with the main frame. The system came up slow, had a little trouble communicating with the hardware, but eventually connections were made wirelessly, electrical impulses up and down the invisible net or web got where they were supposed to be, and I crawled out of bed. A cool fall morning, the only thing better than staying in under the comforter and sheets for a few more minutes would be to stay in until noon. Well I'm up now that's a given, I don't compose my thoughtpukes by just wishing it in my dreams. Obviously I'm vertical now and in front of the bluetooth keyboard in the world HQ!
Last night I stopped off at the Chatterbox to toast Mike Wilson on his recent birthday, I offered to purchase a Guiness, but he settled for the Sam on draft, the Chatterbox and the lovely DeAnne bought him his second, and Ed Sipes bought his soft pretzels, so Mike got off scott free. Scott got off scott free also, at least as far as Mike's tab is concerned. Scott and Jeff 'Skippy' Barber were at the box for a couple, then just vanished. Jenni had two, and half of a pizza, then she too made herself first diaphanous then transparent. I didn't take any pictures, I still have some left over from the Flux that I wanted to share.
Perfect Portrait: Connie waiting for a House Chair to fall on her, There's no place like home,
no Place...
When I got to the Chatterbox, the first table had a horseshoe arrangement of characters at it, not being a round table the head was at the rail, while at the butt was the butt, of course I mean Brooks, flanked by Heather and David on the left, and Jack Green and Tom Woody on the right a lively discourse was in fool bloom, I'm sure. Kay joined us at our table, and as usual Kay's entry meant Brooks' exit, it just times out that way. Joan Green moved over to fill the void that Brooks left behind (she could fit roughly where Brooks left behind was, such is the spatial difference between their physical mass). DeAnne looking and sounding exhausted from the whole Fluxing weekend just put behind her, sat and shared a few precious moments with me, then scurried off again like the worker bee, rebuilding the hive, Heather went off to rent a video, David went back to the pounding headache construction/distruction of the storage room, C. Scott reappeared with the new Beck:The Information CD after a lengthy visit to Luna and Maggie. I dismissed everybody, meeting adjourned, ordered a coffee from Dee then stepped next door and purchased the self-same CD for my own bad self. I came back with the CD in my powerful, manly hands only to find Nicci quickly under them with her knotted and cabled back kneading worked on, DeAnne had warned her to be pleasant or all hell would break loose in Girl-Town, so she needed lividity in her muscles and my hands complied, at least until my coffee was consumed, then out the door jack! Heroes and Studio 60, then off to bed. Now you have come the fool circle with me, so I'm off to work.

Chuck Pace © 2006
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Three come from behind wins in a row. That's supposed to be good, right? Talk about a game where you wanted to leave at halftime. Luckily I had seen this show before. I stayed with my Colts through the bitter end, even though there was Talledega in HD at home. I did get to see the big ones, the 10 car pileup that took out the 24, and the tiny bump that will have Jimmie and Jr. fans seeing red for another year! Kahne finished 2nd and is still 185 points behind and in 9th! what the... well there are 6 left, a couple more meleé's like yesterdays and I think Kasey could have a top 5 season, three more and who knows?
O.K., back to the Dome. If the boys in blue hadn't come out of their coma's by the third quarter, I think the other run they couldn stop would be the fans running to the exits. I heard boos, I understood. I didn't join in but I understood. We've started to get our running game going, but can't get the others teams stopped. I don't know what it takes, but I do think that we are too concerned with the sack, and over running the play, Dwight Freeny! That said, Dwight did help the defense more this week, drawing the double and triple coverages.
I guess that what Mr. Sharpe said on Sunday Night Football in America is correct. At the end of the season, the Colts will (hopefully) be the #1 seed in the AFC, and it won't matter if they won game 5 by one or covered the 18 point spread.
Chuck Pace © 2006
- 0 COLTS!
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"Self Portrait", Ed Sanders 2006

I heard it said more than once, and I agreed. This was a great collection of work, this was Ed Sanders at his best. His wit, and humor, his dark medium with so much color, his quiet persona still demanding to be listened to when he spoke, this really was Ed representing Ed.
DeAnne Roth and her Flux Gallery were working with Ed for months to bring us this show in November, his illness and decline, prompted a rush ahead one month, hoping but not really expecting Ed to be there for at least the beginning. Ed was adamant that the show go on as planned, I think he knew the strength of this collection of pieces. It certainly was powerful, and telling in many ways. I interpret the super-hero stuff with Ed's failing health, especially the

Sleeping w/ Your Kryptonite" and "Superhero", as well as "Superhero in Distress" shown below. You can read what ever you want into the works, that's the beauty of good art. You might search, decide, discard and search some more for the motivations or reasons; then you're interacting with the artist. Ed certainly interacted with his audience on Friday night. When I stopped in before going to the bowling alley I noticed how many pieces were already sold, I called Jenni and told her about the few remaining, and how much I wished I could get one. When I returned with Mike, Scott and Rich after our disappointing bowling evening I found only three pieces remained un-purchased, and a couple I was interested were taken, one remained but was just beyond my purchasing power.

"Superhero In Distress" Ed Sanders 2006

It was a good night full of sad and happy recollections. I shared some of these with some of my friends there. Of course DeAnne and Nicci were there, so were Connie and Kay, with Kay bringing cakes, and treats for the opening feast. Brian Meyers, Phil Smith and Andi Short were still there after the "posted" quiting time when the bowlers arrived, Marti, Ed's significant other and many of his friends were there throughout the day. I'll miss Ed, but I got my memories and my own stories, plus a few photos over the years, so I'll always have a little Ed with me.

Chuck Pace © 2006
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Well it turns out this was harder than I thought it would be. I sat down in front of the computer yesterday, prepared to write all about the Friday I had. Work, in its best, ever-so work like wardrobe; bowling, and the struggles and travails of my co-bowlers while I was masterful and precise (hey, it's my fantasy, and my website, and my history to revision) and of course my pre and post bowling visits to Flux Gallery and the show of my recently departed friend and Herron classmate Ed Sanders. Then there it was, so of course it became difficult.
So the bowling then, Mike Wilson was in for the not so in Jeff Moore. Mike bowled the first week while I was at Branson with Jenni, for the surprise vacation of a week-time, and he established a decent average (too decent it seems), so two days before adorning the sectagenarian mantle, Mike assaulted and assassinated his average far better than the pins at the other end of the lane. With an evenings average of 118, Mike's new league average to 135 (same numbers as week 1, just rearranging the 5 and 3). Scott Proctor, you say? His games and average. I'll just say his new league average is around 110. Rich's average dropped 5 pins to 171 (still better than the rest of us on most nights) while mine goes from 149 to 155. We lost all seven points, because of the aforementioned collective performance, and the fact that the other team's anchor, with a 176 average had three 200 plus games for an evenings average of 219! Me now? My night's average 176 included a 184 high game, leaving in the dust, crushing, eclipsing my previous league high (this league) of 183! B-Bam! Boom! Ka-Pow! O.K. I know that's only one pin better, hey, I was being dramatic for cryin' out loud.

On March 6th 2005, on my first day back to work after vacation, my LeBaron Convertible burst into flames and died a horrible death. On March 14th, I inherited the 1986 BMW 535i that David the son-in-law left behind when he and Meredith moved to Florida. I could have it if I could get it running. Rich and I went to Auto-zone and bought the special BMW battery that powers the beast, and two gallons of gas in a gas can (plastic but some names don't die with progress), then we met Jamie Baker at David's fathers house where the Bimmer lay dormant waiting for the right person to bring it back to life. With no live battery, and no owners manuel it was a challenge to get the gas into the car, and to bring it up from its driveway grave. We couldn't figure out how to open the gas door, and didn't know that the fuel door was released when the car was unlocked (electrically), and we unlocked the car without a live battery, so the process was yet to be achieved. Eventually we got the fuel door jimmied open from the inside of the trunk, gassed the car and started it, if only we'd known the we could have locked and then unlocked the doors and the fuel door would have been released after the battery was in place we could have saved ourselves about an hour of aggravation.
Over the next few weeks I learned some of the other foibles of the car. The wipers worked but the windshield squirters never did. The AM radio never worked but the FM and CD player were fine, the blowers for the defrost and heat were full of leaves (and probably mouse nests) and it smelled of burning when they were turned on for quite some time. The low setting on the fan never worked, the medium and high raised a din that could wake the dead. The old key would not always disengage the steering lock and eventually broke off in the ignition facilitating a locksmith visit to the house to remove the shard, and a new set made from the serial numbers by Dreyer and Rheinbold BMW. Annoying problems but none dangerous or life threatening, and not unexpected for a car 20 years old with over 285000 miles on it when I got it.
I learned to accept the things I could not change about the Bimmer.
Flash forward in time 18 months to the present. It's October 5th 2006, I'm running late, I've been in a funk for a few days, nothing has really gone my way for about a week or so, and I'm tired of it. After getting my site to upload, I hit the road for work, it's already 8:05, and I should be half way there instead of just leaving the world HQ. A quarter mile from my neighborhood, as I near the Warren Central School zone, I decelerate to the posted 25 MPH, and set the cruise, (one of the best things the BMW engineers did was to allow the cruise to be engaged at any speed). Directly in front of me is a Ray's trash Truck, doing about 20 MPH, I catch up to him and slow, the cars behind me not wanting to play safety zone are right on my bumper. Before long I see what looks like milk covering my windshield, the trash truck is leaking something, and I am loosing visibility. Through the school zone, and all the way to Post, the truck never tops 30 (in a posted 40 MPH zone), and I am running late. I eventually get past the Trash Fountain where the road widens into turn lanes, turn onto Post and head for the interstate and work. Next I did what anybody would have done, I turned on the wipers. The smearing was not helping visibility. So, for the 100th time since I've owned the car I pulled the wiper lever to me and held it, fully expecting nothing to happen. Instead, for the first time ever, twin streams of beautiful blue washer fluid fire up from both nozzles. I held it for fully 30 seconds as the fluid worked on the grime. I know I must have looked like I had overdosed The Joker's Smelnick's Gas to the other travelers, such was the grin on my astonished face. I released the lever, the wipers completed a couple more wipes and ended their cycle. I pulled back again, the wipers sprung into action again, and two tiny dribbles issued forth from the nozzles, dwindled away and were once again dead. I tried again several times to the same negative result, but my gloom had washed away with the garbage grime, I could see and I knew I was going to be alright. My funk ended officially at 8:11 AM, one minute before I got on the interstate.
I still had to skip my daily Starbucks visit in order to make work on time and I walked in right at 8:30 with three other co-workers. After the first positive karma moment in awhile my work day started. It was a going to be a good day, I got through it without negative incident, made it safely home to Jenni and we watched Smallville and enjoyed our evening together.
Chuck Pace © 2006
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I Think I'm Winning!

Danny Elfman, So-Lo, "It Only Makes Me Laugh" 1984 (exerpt)

I Don't know why I feel this way
I don't know if it's right or wrong to laugh at misfortune
darkness can never last too long.
Every time that I think I'm falling
And there's nobody around to hold me up
and it seems like the world has come to an end
I look for miles but not a face is friendly
suddenly a hole opens up in the ground
the bottom of the hole is a raging fire
I try to jump over but there's no way
the next thing I know I'm goin' down
(and) Does it Hurt
Ohh It really doesn't matter
Does it Burn
Ohh I don't feel a thing
Does it Sting
Ohh Yeah, It really doesn't matter
Does it Hurt
Ohh, I don't give a damn.
when I find my self falling and I hit the bottom
it only makes me laugh
(It only makes me laugh)
When I go down the hole and I hit the bottom
The whole song is great, in one of the chorus' he substitutes I don't mind a little pain, for I don't give a damn.
Chuck Pace © 2006
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Playing the game.
At daybreak move token one space to the right. If you are already in the seventh square roll the die. Look at number, and reset token to first square. Remember the number, is it different from last week? Is it the same? This is the random variety. Enjoy your game, the average player will roll the die 3900 times before the die rolls him.


Chuck Pace © 2006
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"So Travis how'd you do in the Mention Meter?" "Stinkin' Fourth." "No Way Sukka! Get Back!"
So begins the arduous task of producing the prizes (again) but for the first time ever there is a tie for 2nd place Congrats to Mel and Kay for putting up the good fight. They were only 5 points from making it onto a cup. As I write this a terrible storm nears, this is not a metaphor for anything, a terrible storm approaches. I fear a power outage may be in the offing.
Yesterday was the first official day of the new contest; the forth quarter challenge. The terminal mention meter of the year 2006. It was also the Nick Lachey bimbo circus to the Murât. From the Chatterbox I made the observation that nearly all the real concert goers were female from 19 to 29. With nearly each couple comprised of a Meerkat sized bimbo and a Rhino sized escort, both wearing the same black stiletto heals, and the same sausage casing designer jeans (in the same size in too many cases). Two exceptions were the occasional pair of pipe cleaners dressed to be seen and so two dimensionally "hot" that if Nick saw either one of them (that is the challenge ) he'd be sure to drop his millionaire "blond of the week" to be with them! The other exception was the Caucasian family robinson backing in their Rendezvous to take their 'ho'ed up coeds to the Nick show, with dad dreaming he is the white "Tiger" and momma pretty sure she can still catch Nicky's eye in her 'ho's-been outfit.
With me and Jenni on the patio or in the 'Box for the parade de estrogen lachey were, Rich, Eddie, Travis, Wilson, DeAnne, Mel, Kay, Kris Bowman, Peter Park and David clawing nails out of scraps of the former back room. After the street lights came on and the show time neared the parade dwindled. I went in to see Maggie and Wayne at Luna, bought the new Shawn Colvin and had a laugh with Wayne about them singin' queers (his quote). Jack and Joan left as I arrived. Jenni left, Liz arrived and joined the party, then Steve Singleton arrived to meet up with a date. I clocked out, tabbed out and made it home 50 minutes before Heroes and Studio 60, which it looks like I am watching now.
Chuck Pace © 2006
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Yesterday was an at work Saturday, I usually work every other Saturday and that was an other. It was a pretty slow day sales wise, but that's not to say that it wasn't still full of drama. Somewhere around 10:00 I went upstairs to see Evie and schedule my last week of vacation (which has to be taken before Thanksgiving), then back downstairs to await more customers. About half an hour later one of our regular customers and his wife were leaving, he came right back in to tell us that someone had broken out the side window and shattered the back window of one of the cars on our store lot. Bruce and I went out and saw that it Evie's Impala that was victimized. Henry, (the customer) told us that he saw a person walk into the parking structure next door, and described what he wearing. I checked the employee cars on the north lot, and saw a person matching the vague description about a block away, but though I'd better check our cars first. Then Vince and I took a drive to see if we could spot the posi-perp. No such luck. I called Jenni to tell here the news, and to see if she was coming to go to lunch with me, she was supposed to log some time in a work too. She said that she was on her way but started to get a bad headache, so she was going home lay down. I went to lunch alone, then after work to the Sport Bowl to see if my bluetooth headset was in my bowling locker. It wasn't and I remembered putting it in the locker when I got there, so it was lost after Bowling at either Wirty's, or the Lenny's, or somewhere between there and home.

The Seat of Power! Chuck Pace ©2006
I went home after taking a few photo's in the parking lot and in the alley, only to find Jenni in bed. She lay there in total darkness with an eye pillow head wrap on and the covers all the way to her ears. I stopped in at the World HQ, and seeing the chair that had tried to kill me, decided to run to Office Depot for a new one. Before I left for Connie Z's dream shopping trip, I called Maddie and Sue Reilly to tell them both that I would not be attending the card party due to spousal migraine, I may look stupid, but I not so stupid that I'd got to a party while Jenni's at home with a nasty migraine headache. I picked one out, then ran over to the Sprint store to get a new bluetooth adapter, while there I picked up a new phone for Jenni, since her current one is on a pay as you go T•Mobile plan. I got home and built the chair (photos above). Jenni charged her phone, and today she spent a great deal of time inputting phone numbers, and adding ring tones and such. The Colts continue to win ugly, and Tony Stewart was able to coast across the finish line in Kansas City with the car out of gas to win another Nascar race. So congrats to all the victors, Colts Win! Colts Win!
Chuck Pace © 2006
- 0 COLTS!
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Amazingly I missed an opportunity to toot my own horn! I screwed myself out of self aggrandizement and glorification. How could I have done this?
Thursday I did not post anything, I was off from work, and slept in a little and then did a bunch of chores. Well. I'll be dipped if I didn't forget to tell the entire world that at 6:00 PM on Thursday my site turned 1 year old (as far as the world is concerned), after a very long four days when I was in labor, and attempting to properly upload to the server that provides my public with these aptly named -Thoughtpukes-
So without further adieu, a reprint.

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
Happy belated birthday to www.chuckpace.com, and the thoughtpukes. The first visit to my site after the birthday as site meter visit # 7,777, I don't know if that is significant, but it's still cool. Lucky 7's.
Chuck Pace © 2006

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