Art, Technology and Everything Else

It runs like a dream and rocks! I've had no problems with it, except that I cant use "moonlight", the Linux flavor of "Microsoft's Silverlight". It will kill some audio and visual playback abilities. I actually had to do a reinstall after trying it. That's okay with me. Since I am also a Windows user, if I really need to see something using Silverlight, I can always boot into XP to see it.

So, I have to fix a leaking bathtub valve. This means I have to put my head under my house to reach the main water valve. There are spiders down there and I hate spiders and spider webs, but it must be done.

After the water is off I have to see if I can take out the valve cartridge. Modern bathtub faucets have replaceable valve systems called "cartridges" that can be replaced when the valve goes bad. And eventually it will if given enough time.

If I cannot remove the cartridge, or if I cannot find a replacement cartridge, I will have to tear out a part of my dining room wall to get to the shower assembly and replace the whole thing. After that I will have to re-drywall and paint the kitchen/dining room. So this project, at best, will take an hour and a half, or at the worst, three days.

I'm not too enthused about this repair.

But it must be done. We are loosing gallons by the hour.

On the third of July, 2010, in Cle Elum, Washington, durring the Pioneer Days Parade, a group of four to seven men and a young high school aged girl harassed the general public with the notion they were all going to Hell. They held up a sign which displayed a picture of Christ on the cross. It looked like a model figured of raw hamburger and diapers. One sign said that Christ was the creator. One of the men yelled very loudly. Another tried to engage people in theological arguments which were more intimidation than logic. I thought, at one point, he was going to get violent. It looked like he wanted to beat the hell out of a nice man who's face seemed to have been burned in a fire. He insisted he put his face within inches of the other man's.

One sign they carried said that the nation is wicked. In whole, they did more to hurt people than help them. They turned an occasion that should have been a joyful celebration of community into pit of despair. They did this in front of the street fair and killed the buying mood. As a vendor of handmade jewelry and gemstones, they devastated my business by driving people away, scaring them, and putting a damper on their spirits. They also tried to fill the people with misinformation. The young girl with them gave out refrigerator magnets and told the young people that they were all going to hell if they didn't repent of their sins. That might be good and well but she classified attraction to the opposite sex as adultery.

The next weekend, a few hundred miles away... They struck again. This time they attended the McCleary Bear Festival Parade. The Arguer this time got into a shouting match with a young man that scared the children getting ready for the kid's parade.

Now I know these people believe that they are doing God's work, but thy have been deceived. The energy they feel is drunkenness, not on the word and power of the Lord, but of the energy of chaos and darkness. Jesus is not the creator. He is, like you and I, the creation. These people are full of anger that is only millimeters away from violence. They judge you as unworthy and in need of salvation while knowing nothing of your heart or bond with God. I know that they think (maybe even feel) they are doing right, but they have hurt at least two communities and I expect they will not soon stop. I imagine I will see them next week at Vashon Island's Strawberry Festival Parade. I'm bringing my video camera, just in case.

I'm timing how fast I can install Ubuntu 10.04 exactly the way I want it.

You see, I just did a triple install of XP Home, openSUSE KDE and Ubuntu. I aborted an update of openSUSE which broke the system. A new install would have forced me to delete and reinstall both versions of Linux so I said "screw openSUSE". I really wasn't getting along with it anyway. The only reason I wanted to try it was that I thought I was unhappy with th direction Ubuntu was going. I'm over that now. So I reinstalled Ubuntu. It developed sound issues after installing Moonlight (linux's version of Microsoft's Silverlight) and Conky would not go to the bottom no matter what I tried.

So again, another reinstall. And this time, I'm timing it!

Over the last few years I have enjoyed Linux. I started with Mepis, tried Knoppix and then Ubuntu. I tried UbuntuStudio but, like many others, could not get it to work. Tried a few more. It seems that whatever Linux I try, I still come back to Ubuntu.

Once I tried uninstalling everything I didn't like, Firefox, Transmission, Rhythmbox, Totem. They didn't uninstall right. It seems they do now which is reassuring if anything else. I might not want to get rid of Firefox any more. It has greater support than Chrome for some extensions.

In order to make it all faster I've created instructions with most of the code in a file saved on my main computer. This makes it easier to reinstall. So far I've been working on it for an hour and a half. Synergy is installed, it's updated, and is almost finished installing ubuntu restricted extras.

Well, I have everything done, except for some minor Firefox Tweaking, done. It took 2:30 hours. Not bad really. I bet I could shave off 30 minutes.

Okay! Death of three good boards.

Almost two weeks ago I woke up and went to my computer, as I usually do. I noticed one of the fans was making some noise. I opened up the case and discovered it was the fan for the Processor's heat sink that was sounding up. I thought, well I can't have that. So I went to Staples and picked up an 80mm case fan made by Antec. I had actually went to Radio Shack and passed on a Thermaltake 80mm case fan. Returned home and put the Antec on the heat sink. Went to fire it up and all the lights on the board and case started to strobe or pulse. The fans were not working well either. I thought maybe my board decided to die and did so from my pressing the heat sink back into place or something.

I spent hours replacing the motherboard with the one from my UbuntuBox (it's what I called my computer running linux in my office) and when I went to fire it up, I got the same result.

I came to suspect the fan. After all, it was at the precise moment I powered up from installing the fan that my motherboard decided to die. It was present on the second board which also was damaged. I tested both boards with a different power supply and they will not start. I even reset the bios on both boards. They are doomed.

The next day I spent searching for a board (socket 487 with MHz Front Side Bus). For some reason, they just are not that common. I have a 3GHz P4 Hyper Threading Northwood that requires one. Found it. Mounted it in the case. Used the old power supply, but not the fan. This time I actually smelled to board cook.

To make matters worse I actually was having six items auctioned on eBay at the time and to make that matter worse, I had changed my email from one ISP to another. In a few words "Don't Do IT!" Headache!

It makes is so that if a buyer wants to pay though PayPal, it won't reach your new address. I will go to the one you created the listing under.

I was forced to take my Living Room Computer (LRMachine) and use it. Drawbacks are It won't boot up to SATA drives unless it has had a driver software loader installed which can only be done via floppy. I don't even have a working floppy. So I had to boot to a IDE hard drive. Also, its a Celeron 2.6 GHz with 1280 mbs if ram. It has a nVidia 6800 card and it can't play Halo for a damn.

Well, due to the sales on ebay, I bought and nVidia 9500 with 1024 megs of ram, 1 gig of ddr2, and a P4 3.4 ghz as well as a new fan. I also bought a used 478 board off of eBay. My in-laws are also sending me their old tower. So I ought to be back to normal in about a week.

I'm sending the fan, power supply, and the first two boards to Antec. They said if the fan is at fault that will pay be current market value. I hope they understand that an Asus P4P800 SE goes for about a hundred bucks used! and the other Asus card goes for about $70.

While in Phoenix we took the car to a AAA car shop. They replaced the water pump and all the hoses, as well as the break fluid which they said was dark and mucky.

So I get the car back and am driving with my wife on the 51. I said to her "well, hopefully we wont have to take the car in for the rest of the year". I look down and at that very second, the car's "check engine light" comes on!

So the next morning I take it back to the AAA and they hook the computer up to it and it gives out two codes. The first is a code for the air conditioner relay. Well, we bypassed it last Summer. "That wouldn't trigger the check engine light", the shop manager tells me. "The second code is really going to piss you off... You might want to sit down...it says 'Inefficient Catalytic Converter'". And then he outlined how a catalytic converter works and said if I live in an area where I have to have emission tests, our car will fail.

Other than that, it runs fine. The "check engine light" is always on, but it runs fine.

I contacted Chris Otto. He refered me to NAPA. I'm sure this will be continued...

No, no, no. If you have car trouble in Wells, Nevada, I don't know. You see, when the car trouble began I suspected a cylinder was not firing. I made the mistake of saying "cylinder down" to the old man in Jackpot.

I know I raved about Chris Otto in the last post. I was mistaken.

We are driving to Phoenix, Arizona from Monument, Colorado. Some time out of Pueblo, Colorado the trouble begins again. We trudge along at 4 miles per gallon of premium gas (our Durango drinks premium which we fudge to Medium if we are not hauling) all the way to Santa Fe where we stop to visit friends. We had planned on driving through because we were on the heels of a snow storm. Instead, it caught up.

But our friends took us out to dinner at Cafe Pasqual which has won the James Beard award and OMG was it good! I had Lamb Osso Bucco with Polenta and Mustard Greens.

The next morning I took it to AutoZone to see what the Durango's computer had to say. It had two flags, both which could pertain to the #6 cylinder not sparking. We thought a tune-up would be in order so we checked around. It seemed sort of steep to pay over $200 bucks to fix a $20 problem. So I went back to AutoZone and bought plug wires. And then it started running right. So we went back to our friends. The snow kept coming.

I thought I would drive up their driveway and turn around to make it easier to get out, but I was wrong. The driveway was ice and I almost ran off it through a tree. We battled the car and ice and snow for a half hour. We through car mats under the tires and sacrificed a set of matchstick blinds but I got her down and back on the road without damage. But the snow kept coming. It didn't seem as bad in town. We had to get out or be stuck through Christmas.

The car was still running perfectly after Albuquerque. But up the hill on I-40 it's issue returned. We had a close call with running out of gas on the way to Gallup. There we stopped vat a Pep Boys to deal with the issue. Leaving, I thought we tacked the issue, but I was wrong. I thought maybe the residue from the cylinder not firing hampered the exhaust, that it might blow out. No. We quit driving at Camp Verde, AZ.

The next morning I tried to re-seat the plug wire. I just couldn't get it done. I drove to the local Napa. I bought a socket extension, yanked the plug to inspect it. It looked good and I changed the plug wire. The darn thing runs better than ever.

So, it wasn't the catalytic converter... It was the #6 plug wire! Chris Otto should have known this, instead he stranded us in Wells for a day and soaked up almost $500 bucks. I find it hard to believe that he was on the-up-and-up.

Now we are in Phoenix with what seems to be a leaking water pump. Chances are the leak was caused by the use of a chisel to loosen the nut on the shaft of the fan when they replaced the fan clutch at the Shell in Wells.

We were on the way to Colorado for a pre-Christmas gathering of family. We decided to take the Columbia Gorge instead of Snoqualmie or White Pass because of concerns of snow. And for once, I-84 seemed to be the better choice. In past years, the Gorge has not been a good route. This time, it was perfect. We raced up to the higher elevations hauling our trailer, easily passing truck after truck and even some cars. We are making great time.

We gas up in Ontario, Oregon. We used to hate getting gas in Oregon. And here's why: we've been ripped off in Oregon twice while getting gas. Once, in Portland, we had our Rider Truck filled up, only to find that we were given a half tank when we paid for a full one. We had a similar thing happen outside of Eugene with our Dakota Pickup. I used to enjoy pumping my own gas. But in 31deg. weather, Oregonians are welcome to pump our gas. We proceed.

About 60 miles out of Boise, I notice we are losing power. We just don't have the strength. I look at our mileage computer and it says we are getting about 4 miles to the gallon. Yikes! Our average is a low 8 while hauling and fully loaded. But 4? The gas is running out. We are not even sure where the next station is. We make it to the next station and proceed to Twin Falls. Now our goal is to pull in to Cactus Pete's in Jackpot, Nevada to sleep because we know they won't mind. We want to go that route, through the Bonneville Salt Flats to get to Salt Lake to visit a friend of H's. So, we get into Jackpot. On the way there we actually experience 2mpg. At Cactus Pete's we ask if there is a mechanic in town so in the morning I pay him a visit.

Now I suspected maybe we had a bad plug wire or something because the engine wasn't exactly smooth. While telling the mechanic he looks at me like I have a hole in my head and says, "if one of your cylinders wasn't firing you wouldn't go anywhere". He asks me which way I'm headed. I tell him I'm headed to Salt Lake but would rather go back to Twin Falls than pay mechanics prices in a little town like Wells, Nevada. He says it really wouldn't matter very much at all. If it were him he would gas up and head to the Shell Station/Tire Company in Wells. So we do. And at one point we get 2mpg and go no faster than 20mph. We finally pull into the Shell. They want to sell us a fuel filter and it's attached to the pump so the fuel pump has to be purchased too and it's in the gas tank so the tank has to be emptied. But instead I might try a couple bottles of Heet water remover if I have bad gas and oh, by the way, did you notice you have a bad fan clutch? "It's shot. If this goes it will be sent right into your radiator or worse. We should replace that now." I ask how much and the guy says $180. $280 later, we hit I-80 for a few yards.
It's running worse than ever.

We pull over and I call the Shell. A Nevada stater jumps up behind us. He wants to know if we need any help. The mechanic tells me to bring the car back. There is not an exit for 22 miles. I ask the officer if I can turn around in the emergency turn around. He says he's not supposed to but this time we can, but let him pull up behind to guard us. Awesome.

I get back into Wells and Heather says "let's look around for another mechanic". I agree.

We find The Otto Shop, a NAPA certified mechanic ran by Chris Otto of Wells, Nevada. It's about 33deg outside. He is not too happy. He's very busy. I tell him the issue. He takes it for a drive. He comes back and says "I know exactly what it is...You need a new Catalytic Converter". It's falling apart inside and blocking the airflow resulting in loss of power. It makes perfect sense to me. He puts it up on jacks because he's got some ladies car on his lift that can't be moved. They are, and have been, waiting on a part and will be waiting for days to get that part and get that car off the lift. He does not have our Catalytic Converter in stock. It will have to be ordered. He does some more checks to make sure. Yep, that's the problem. He's sure of it. He's bothered, by the way, that those guys at the Shell got me to buy a fan clutch. "Oh sure, that will help".

Chris says "come back at 8 in the morning and we'll get it fixed".

The management at 4-Way Truck Stop Casino let us drop our trailer in their truck lot. We spend the night there. It's 20deg. We have propane heater. We get up to our alarm at 7:30 so we can be there at 8:00. We get into the car at 8:00 after brushing off the snow. On the way there we realize our clock was set to Daylight Savings Time. We are an hour early.

We go to the restaurant at the casino and drink coffee until it's time.

We bring our car in and wait and wait and wait and wait. It's done at 12:30pm. Chris takes it for a spin, returns. It runs fine, but it's smoking. I open the hood and Chris says "what's that?" pointing to some liquid on the alternator and belt. "I'll tell you what that is it's anti-freeze", and I'm thinking, WHAT NOW!?

He takes a closer look. "See that? They used a chisel to loosen the nut for the fan clutch and might have damaged your water pump. See, that's why we don't use chisels!"

Thank God my in-laws paid for the repair or who knows what!? I spent my money at the Shell Tire Store in Wells!

So here is the lesson part: if you are on the road and you have problems with your car but can still drive, find the mechanic that has the most business. Find the mechanic that has government vehicles waiting to be repaired even if the government isn't local. If you find a garage that is empty in a small town miles away from other towns there is a reason that shop is empty. And remember, there is such a thing as Car Artist. Chris Otto is one of them.

Thank you Chris!

I reflect on how we would have bought a new fuel pump at Shell.