tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32472372010-04-30T22:57:24.208-05:00LukPac.orgLuke's blogLukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17377652869501527815noreply@blogger.comBlogger575125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247237.post-41077223621982479392010-04-30T22:39:00.002-05:002010-04-30T22:57:24.221-05:00The show must not go onOk, I lied last time. Here's one last post before Blogger turns off FTP. We'll see if/when I resurrect this blog in one form or another.<br /><br />Excepting a possible credit, TDS is finally completely behind me. And after having no DSL for 5 1/2 days, phone and DSL are now both with AT&T. Hopefully things just stay working so I don't have to deal with any of this again for a while.<br /><br />Slowly but surely various things are getting cleaned up around the house, inside and out. Over the past few weeks I've done some serious brush trimming outside, and inside I've been going through and organizing things that were dumped once and never looked at again. A somewhat draining process, but also a rewarding one.<br /><br />I've had a few small victories at work lately, but for the most part things are pretty status quo there.<br /><br />Fortunately the kids are still doing good. Jake is getting a bit hard of hearing, but other than that, the vet claims he's as healthy as a dog several years younger. And after a few months of a strict diet, Freckles has lost a good amount of weight. They are both just as crazy as ever.<br /><br />This feels a bit like I'm writing a Christmas letter.<br /><br />Well, to the few people who still read this thing, I bid you adieu. It's possible I'll move to some other form of blogging software, but I don't have any immediate plans, nor is doing so at the front of my mind. If anyone has any great ideas, feel free to share them.<br /><br />Ciao.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3247237-4107722362198247939?l=lukpac.org%2Findex.php' alt='' /></div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17377652869501527815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247237.post-35093537904024209382010-03-08T20:49:00.002-06:002010-03-08T21:36:00.405-06:00A farewell?This may be my last blog entry for a while. Not that I've exactly been prolific as of late, but Blogger is turning off FTP publishing soon, and I haven't yet bothered to figure out an alternate setup. At any rate...<br /><br />Since my last entry, I've (after a seemingly endless process) refinanced the house, interviewed and been rejected for a promotion at work, and finally (almost) dumped TDS. Yes, after over two and a half years of DSL headaches and no improvement in sight (with things getting worse, actually), I signed up for AT&T DSL a few weeks ago. While I had been stuck at just over 1 meg (and rocky) with TDS, I'm at 6 megs (and steady) with AT&T.<br /><br />Not that AT&T customer service hasn't sucked (it has, to the tune of getting transferred a half dozen times while spending an hour and a half on the phone), and I haven't officially canceled TDS yet (I need to get the phone line moved over first), but all in all things are a significant improvement. AT&T only gives you 1 public IP address, but TDS now does the same, so there wasn't much reason to stay. In my heart I would have preferred to stay with TDS, since they are local and I have friends that work there, but in the end the quality of the connection was just too poor to continue staying with them.<br /><br />At any rate...not much other news. Other than the lack of promotion, work has been good. After a protracted (nearly 6 month) battle, the developers finally have Firefox/Firebug. The bad news is a lot of code needs a serious overhaul. Job security?<br /><br />Until next time...<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3247237-3509353790402420938?l=lukpac.org%2Findex.php' alt='' /></div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17377652869501527815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247237.post-33201042589105439742009-10-18T19:39:00.004-05:002009-10-18T20:23:45.622-05:00After changes upon changes we are more or less the sameI find it interesting how significantly one's outlook on particular subjects can change over time. Some personal examples:<br /><br />The summer between seventh and eighth grades we went on trip to (among other places) Colonial Williamsburg. I was, to say the least, pretty bored. I don't remember what my 13-year old idea of fun was, but it wasn't walking around a bunch of historic buildings. As it happened, though, eighth grade history was early US history, and thus a mere few months later I was mildly kicking myself for not paying more attention to everything.<br /><br />For a history class in college we were required to write a report based on primary sources. I.e., original newspaper articles. My report was about the coming of the Beatles to America, and while I duly gathered up some articles from (if memory serves) the <i>New York Times</i> and the <i>Washington Post</i>, I was never terribly interested in the exercise, and probably didn't end up doing that great of a job on it. These days, however, I'm fascinated by primary sources, be they complete (as it was happening) videos of Kennedy assassination coverage or transcripts of events that have been selectively quoted by major media outlets. Context can be fascinating. We've all seen Walter Cronkite's announcement of Kennedy's death many times over, but the coverage that surrounds it (including the chaos that defines it) is much more interesting.<br /><br />On a semi-related note, a question to my fellow Computer Science grads (UW or otherwise, BS or MS (or PhD!)): do you feel got all that you should have from your education? Do you feel you use it on a regular basis? It seems like I generally felt pretty comfortable doing project work (and feel pretty comfortable with projects at work today), but that there was a disconnect between that and the theory we were supposed to be learning in lecture. Even in classes I got great grades in I look back and think "did I really get out of that class what I was supposed to?"<br /><br />Part of me is quite glad I'm done with school, but another part is slightly interested in what it would be like again.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3247237-3320104258910543974?l=lukpac.org%2Findex.php' alt='' /></div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17377652869501527815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247237.post-77975031791761209552009-09-01T21:53:00.001-05:002009-09-01T21:54:10.515-05:00So much for that ideaSo much for WiMAX from TDS:<blockquote>Thank you for checking back on WiMAX expansion. Although our initial intent was to have full coverage around Madison, we no longer plan to expand this service. We appreciate your interest in our WiMAX product. If anything does change, we'll let you know.</blockquote>Bah.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3247237-7797503179176120955?l=lukpac.org%2Findex.php' alt='' /></div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17377652869501527815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247237.post-37680444297459116552009-08-10T20:59:00.002-05:002009-08-10T21:21:28.614-05:00Step by step, rung by rungHow can it already be the second week of August? Where has the summer gone?<br /><br />The good news at work continues. While the wheels have been in motion for a while, a few weeks ago I got a promotion. I'm now at the middle level of the 3 developer tiers. I know I've said it before, but it is nice to finally enjoy work.<br /><br />This past weekend the <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lukpac/DecaturAugust2009" target="_blank">family got together</a> in Decatur. It was the first time I'd seen my cousin Sue and her husband in 7 years, and the first time in 8 years I'd seen my cousin Lisa's daughter. I fixed my aunt and uncle's toilet and generally had a nice time.<br /><br />I recently discovered that <a href="http://www.harveydanger.com/" target="_blank">Harvey Danger</a> is <a href="http://www.harveydanger.com/news/2009/05/index.php#000082" target="_blank">disbanding</a>. Sad, but as luck would have it, they are playing in Chicago this weekend, and I was able to get tickets. It should be a great show!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3247237-3768044429745911655?l=lukpac.org%2Findex.php' alt='' /></div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17377652869501527815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247237.post-74405581419276004612009-06-03T21:09:00.002-05:002009-06-03T21:45:26.402-05:00You give us those nice bright colors...They say you can't get something for nothing, but I guess you can get close. I've wanted a film scanner for years, but I could never justify the several hundred dollar expense on what's basically a fancy toy, especially now that I don't even shoot film anymore. Those problems flew out the window a few weekends ago, though, thanks to some luck in the form of a rummage sale. I happened to stop at this particular one on a Saturday morning, and just before leaving I noticed a small cardboard box on a table next to the cash box. Scrawled in black marker was "$10 Nikon slide scanner & SCSI card".<br /><br />I quickly started looking in the box and found a <a href="http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/LS30/LS30A.HTM" target="_blank">Nikon Coolscan III</a> complete with all the accessories. I then asked the guy there "does it work?" Apparently he had some issues with it randomly crashing, but other than that he said yeah, it worked. Half of the accessories were still in their original packaging, having never been opened. He even told me it was worth $800 or more originally. But $10 and a smile later it was mine.<br /><br />And, with the exception of a few SCSI demons initially and a shipping screw still in place, it's been working great. I've already scanned a bunch of my negatives (I've found it's much better than the photo CDs I was getting from Wal-Mart at the end of my film days) and have been going through hundreds of my parents' old slides, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=66429&id=501947394&l=9e2476af8c">scanning a few</a> here and there.<br /><br />I do like my toys.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3247237-7440558141927600461?l=lukpac.org%2Findex.php' alt='' /></div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17377652869501527815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247237.post-5619464857390879392009-04-06T21:11:00.002-05:002009-04-06T21:19:14.565-05:00So far, so goodI really have this knack for thinking "I should write a post" over and over, then completely forgetting to do so whenever given the chance. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.<br /><br />A few weeks ago I passed my 6 month probation at work with flying colors. I wasn't exactly worried I wouldn't, but let's just say it feels good to feel appreciated. There are ups and downs, but for the most part I'm pretty happy there. Let's hope that continues.<br /><br />Ready, set, spring! Please!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3247237-561946485739087939?l=lukpac.org%2Findex.php' alt='' /></div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17377652869501527815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247237.post-12868720930936787152009-03-01T19:18:00.003-06:002009-03-02T17:42:40.154-06:0030 AlbumsThink of 30 albums that had such a profound effect on you they changed your life or the way you looked at it. They sucked you in and took you over for days, weeks, months, years. These are the albums that you can use to identify time, places, people, emotions. These are the albums that no matter what they were thought of musically shaped your world. When you finish, tag others, including me. Make sure you copy and paste this part so they know the drill. Get the idea now? Good. Tag, you're it!<br /><br />In no particular order:<br /><br />1. The Rolling Stones - Hot Rocks. Possibly *the* album that turned me on to "classic rock" and away from the top 40 of the late '80s. I couldn't count the number of times I recorded this to tape (and later CD-R) in an effort to produce the best sounding version. I often drift from the Stones but always come back.<br />2. The Who - Who's Next. I still remember laying on my bed and listening to this for the first time, with headphones. Of course, I had heard many of the songs on the radio before, but it was somewhat of a revelation to hear them all together. "That's on here too?!"<br />3. The Who - Tommy. My mom got really sick of Tommy. "Listen to something else!"<br />4. The Byrds - box set. I remember knowing a few of the hits from oldies radio and thinking The Byrds were kind of an unhip "oldies" act. I felt slightly embarrassed checking out the box from the library, but quickly discovered that, hey, this was good stuff.<br />5. Mason Proffit - Come & Gone. I had heard the "hit" 'Two Hangmen' on the radio a number of times and had always liked it, but could never remember who sang it. Then one day on the bus during Western Field Studies Kori Sustachek started singing it, and after hearing it on the radio shortly after getting back I ran to Best Buy and actually found a copy, which was somewhat rare at that time. Loved the whole album. And now I'm kind of obsessed.<br />6. Train - Train. One of my scattered forays into current/modern music. January, 1999, going over to my cousin's house shortly before school started again, WIIL played 'Free'. I immediately had to have it, and (as usual) ended up liking most of the album.<br />7. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin. A staple of bus rides to and from sports meets in high school. Somewhat ironic, considering Greg Lesnjak had tried to turn me on to them a couple of years earlier without success.<br />8. The Doors - Best of the Doors. Another high school staple, and another one popular with Greg. Failed attempt at impressing Sara Busarow freshman year when I made her a cassette copy.<br />9. Pete Townshend - Scoop. I was already a big Who fan at that point, but I can't remember what prompted me to go and buy it from the Exclusive Company on State Street, early during freshman year of college. I think Zach got sick of Behind Blue Eyes.<br />10. Buffalo Springfield - Again. Got hooked on 'Bluebird' after hearing it on the radio, and played it when *I* went on the radio. The album got me hooked on Buffalo Springfield in general.<br />11. Jimi Hendrix - The Ultimate Experience. Another one heavy in the rotation from late middle school/high school.<br />12. Sam Cooke - Keep Movin' On. Prior to my last year in college I didn't own any Sam Cooke, but picked this up on a whim for fairly random reasons. Sam is amazing.<br />13. Paul Butterfield - An Anthology. I can thank <i>Blues Brothers 2000</i> for this one. Memories of the second half of freshman year in college, some good, some not so good.<br />14. Eric Clapton - Crossroads. I'm pretty sure this came from a trip to the Exclusive Company in Greenfield, before a visit with Gordon and Susan (where I got my first listen). I knew *of* Clapton before this, and certainly knew some songs, but Crossroads got the ball rolling.<br />15. Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend. Another foray into "modern" music, about 15 years after the fact. I had heard the title track on the radio when it was released (again on WIIL), but for some reason I thought Matthew Sweet must be "uncool" until I saw Zach Moneypenny had it freshman year of college. It still took me another 8 or 9 years to actually get a copy, which I quickly started playing over and over.<br />16. Matthew Sweet - Goodfriend. Shortly after getting Girlfriend I found this and, you guessed it, started playing it over and over..<br />17. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois. I had seen the name online before, but didn't pay any attention until a You Tube search for clips by the band Chicago led to an acoustic performance of the song 'Chicago', which (surprise, surprise) I quickly became obsessed with.<br />18. Derek and the Dominos - Layla. Oddly enough, I don't remember this one having a huge impact on me when I first heard it (as part of the 20th anniversary box set), but it has become a standard with me.<br />19. The Who - Live At Leeds Complete. I almost forgot to mention this one. Many thanks to Pam, from which I got an original copy. Fixing it up, meeting Pam at Madcity upon coming to Madison, the Madison Who Mob...the list goes on.<br />20. Johnny Cash - At San Quentin. From which I learned country music doesn't have to be scary.<br />21. Otis Redding - The Ultimate Otis Redding. As with Sam Cooke, I got this very late in the game, relatively speaking. But thankfully I eventually did.<br />22. The Jayhawks - Rainy Day Music. Yet another foray into "modern" music. Love it, love the Jayhawks.<br />23. Harvey Danger - Little By Little... An album (and band) I likely would have never come across had it not been for Nikki getting me to read her review of it. Thankfully she did!<br />24. Harvey Danger - Where Have All The Merrymakers Gone? See above. While I had no conscious knowledge of this when it was actually a hit, listening to 'Flagpole Sitta' somehow takes me back to a time and place I may never have been.<br />25. Badfinger - Straight Up. Pop perfection. While I knew 'Day After Day' and 'Baby Blue' from the radio, I first heard the album via the gold CD in college. It became an instant classic with me.<br />26. The Byrds - The Notorious Byrd Brothers. Despite my earlier accolades for the Byrds' box set, I apparently didn't pay much attention to the tracks from this album, nor did I play much attention when I got the expanded CD in college. A year or two later I pulled it out again, though, and it immediately clicked.<br />27. Eric Clapton - Eric Clapton. I had owned the album for years, and while I liked it well enough, it didn't really click until I got to hear Clapton's own (and still unreleased) mix. Let It Rain indeed.<br />28. Magic Sam - West Side Soul. Memories of going to the Rose Bowl (and getting sick!) and more down times in college.<br />29. T-Bone Walker - T-Bone Blues. One of a handful of albums I can (and will) pull out and enjoy when nothing else sounds appealing.<br />30. Buddy Holly - From The Original Master Tapes. Made me realize that Buddy Holly was in fact *cool*.<br /><br />Ok, there's 30, take them or leave them. Some seem like lesser choices, but they bring back very distinct memories for me. Others are more "core" albums for me, but aren't linked to anything in particular. Some feel like a stretch, and it seems like I must be forgetting others. Yet for better or worse, these are the 30 I came up with this time. Enjoy.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3247237-1286872093093678715?l=lukpac.org%2Findex.php' alt='' /></div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17377652869501527815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247237.post-23227355559067694402008-12-25T22:02:00.003-06:002008-12-25T22:21:47.443-06:00Snowflakes make your bones ache in the winterI've obviously been lacking in posting as of late. I partially blame that on having class twice a week, but it's probably mostly due to just not getting around to it. Thankfully class is now done (for good, at least until I decide to take something else), so things are slightly more relaxed around here.<br /><br />Of course the big news has been snow, snow and more snow. We've already hit the <a href="http://www.madison.com/tct/news/stories/325584" target="_blank">record for December</a>, and there's still a week left. Thankfully after yet more tinkering my snow blower has been running fine this winter, but I'm running out of places to *put* the snow. And the street is steadily getting narrower and narrower.<br /><br />A few weekends ago I drove down to Decatur (IL) for a family get-together, the first time I've been down there since 2000. It was nice to get out of town and visit with some people who I haven't seen in a while.<br /><br />Oh, the job. Things have continued to go very good. I like my boss, I like my coworkers, and I like what I'm doing. Some days are slower than others, but I've had my fingers in several different things already, which keeps things interesting. Hopefully it all continues.<br /><br />Maybe I'll see if I can actually, oh, I don't know, post a little more frequently.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3247237-2322735555906769440?l=lukpac.org%2Findex.php' alt='' /></div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17377652869501527815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247237.post-16395560283973154502008-10-20T20:52:00.003-05:002008-10-20T23:23:12.714-05:00Home is where the what is?Winter is inching its way here. Seemingly overnight quite a few trees dropped their leaves. Some trees haven't dropped yet (and some are even still green), but the landscape is becoming more and more barren. Blah.<br /><br />I've been thinking about an interesting paradox lately. For most people, "home" is something that is very special. Stable. It doesn't matter if it's a house or an apartment. Yet in the grand scheme of things, people are really only visitors in their homes. Think about it: most of the time somebody has lived there before them, and there's almost always going to be somebody there after they're gone. "If these walls could talk" indeed. Although after thinking about it, what's perhaps more interesting is that we *are* able to create "home" in spite of that.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3247237-1639556028397315450?l=lukpac.org%2Findex.php' alt='' /></div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17377652869501527815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247237.post-41479184169951849712008-10-05T22:03:00.003-05:002008-10-05T22:23:57.337-05:00And the leaves that are green, turn to brownWell, it's been 3 weeks at the <a href="http://lukpac.org/blog/archives/2008_08_01_index.php#1359432375015454151">new job</a>. It was initially very slow going - lots of HR training (including learning FEMA command structure for some reason), lack of the correct system access, etc - but over the last week things have finally picked up. On Thursday I got Eclipse installed (development environment for those non-programmers), and on Friday I was actually working on code. Actual. Java. Programming. It isn't the most exciting thing in the world - updating and cleaning up some legacy code - but it still beats most of what I did at WPS for four and a half years.<br /><br />Speaking of WPS, tomorrow would have been my five year anniversary.<br /><br />Fall has descended upon us. This being Wisconsin, Mother Nature has tried her best to not make the transition gradual. Seemingly instantaneously I went from being warm at night with the windows wide open to cold with one only cracked a hair. I better get my behind in gear and work on the snow blower before the bitter cold and snow is here. One positive note - last weekend I installed gutter screens, so hopefully my days of cleaning gutters are behind me.<br /><br />I need a vacation. I'm just feeling really worn down and frazzled.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3247237-4147918416995184971?l=lukpac.org%2Findex.php' alt='' /></div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17377652869501527815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247237.post-13594323750154541512008-08-28T21:45:00.000-05:002008-08-28T21:47:44.022-05:00Workin for a LivinLuke has a new job.<br /><br />Today I gave WPS 2 weeks notice. On September 15th, I start at the state in the Department of Corrections as a programmer/analyst. It's a little hard to say goodbye to WPS after nearly 5 years, but I honestly didn't want to be an Image System Technician II for the rest of my life, and other opportunities at WPS never came to fruition. Not only that, I wasn't really developing many skills relevant to, well, anything. My (initial) compensation with the state really isn't any better than what I'm making now, but advancement opportunities should be *much* better. And I will (hopefully) be doing something I enjoy a lot more.<br /><br />I will say this - as happy as I am to have this opportunity, I will miss a lot of the people I've worked with over the past few years. As hard as things have been at times, I have genuinely enjoyed working with the folks I have worked with.<br /><br />Except you, Dan. You shouldn't be reading my blog at work anyway. Go fix some batches or something.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3247237-1359432375015454151?l=lukpac.org%2Findex.php' alt='' /></div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17377652869501527815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247237.post-1689943800445662802008-08-20T21:14:00.002-05:002008-08-20T21:27:37.175-05:00Kind of sad<a href="http://www.madison.com/tct/news/stories/301172" target="_blank">Stories like this</a> are sad, but I honestly don't usually put too much thought into them:<blockquote>Less than a year into a marriage that allegedly had taken a turn for the worse, Jennifer and Shaun Vordermann were found dead around 8 a.m. Monday morning at their home in Edgerton, the result of a murder-suicide, police said.<br />[...]<br />Jennifer's cousin, Melissa Bakken, said it also had become common for Shaun to stalk Jennifer, often showing up and waiting in the parking lot outside restaurants or bars where she and her cousin would be spending time together. Bakken said Shaun also would drive from Edgerton to Jennifer's former employer, Smart Toyota on Madison's west side, to make sure she was really at work.</blockquote>Smart is where I got my car, and I thought the girl in the picture looked vaguely familiar. I checked my paperwork tonight - sure enough, she got me setup with loaner cars a couple of times this past spring. When there weren't any Corollas or Camrys available, she got me a huge Tundra, and joked that she would love one if she lived closer to work.<br /><br />It's slightly surreal when things like this happen to people you know, even if you're only met them a couple of times.<br /><br />More details <a href="http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/301436" target="_blank">here</a>.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3247237-168994380044566280?l=lukpac.org%2Findex.php' alt='' /></div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17377652869501527815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247237.post-72740056063552127212008-08-18T08:16:00.002-05:002008-08-18T08:56:43.464-05:00Sweet home RacineWe finally got the guest bedroom <a href="http://lukpac.org/gallery/20080803wiring">repainted</a>. I still have to stain and install base shoe, however, since what was there before got ripped out when carpeting was installed.<br /><br />On Saturday I took a little trip to Racine, and ended up taking a few routes I haven't taken in a few years, namely through some parts of town that are, to use the term, "blighted". That was nothing new to me, but I did notice a few things that I had previously overlooked. First of all, most of said areas more or less encircle downtown. I realized that is in stark contrast to Madison, where (with the possible exception of some student housing) the area surrounding downtown is generally pretty desirable, and the more run down areas are further out, such as near the Beltline.<br /><br />The other thing I noticed is that a lot of the houses in said areas actually look like they were pretty nice at one time, and certainly more architecturally interesting than much of the (newer) middle-class housing farther out. Yet people moved (and continue to move) farther out of the city. More and more farm fields are being replaced by sprawling subdivisions of massive homes. I get the feeling <span style="font-style:italic;">This Old House</span> isn't terribly popular in Racine.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3247237-7274005606355212721?l=lukpac.org%2Findex.php' alt='' /></div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17377652869501527815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247237.post-19724830223424821982008-08-03T21:59:00.002-05:002008-08-03T22:58:31.214-05:00THIS old houseThere's stupidity, then there's remodeling.<br /><br />Much to my chagrin, the guest bedroom in this house only had a single outlet. I distinctly remember the previous owners having an extension cord run over and around the door to get to the other side of the room. Yet the reason for this isn't simply a matter of "that's how they did things back in the old days". No, despite being built in 1923, this house *did* have two outlets in that room originally. How do I know? Because there was a hole in the baseboard where the second outlet *used* to be.<br /><br />As far as I can gather, this house was (obviously) originally wired with knob and tube wiring. Then, at some point (I'm guessing sometime in the 1980's), a previous owner (two owners ago I'm guessing) did all kinds of remodeling. Some plaster walls remained intact, some were torn out and replaced with drywall, while others were *covered* with drywall. The second floor was finished (and stairs reconfigured - that seems to be a common theme with me), and the house completely rewired. The knob and tube was either torn out or left in place and disconnected and replaced with Romex.<br /><br />This led to two problems. First, odd things like only replacing one of two outlets in a room. Second, creating a veritable maze of cables and junction boxes in the basement, with cables criss-crossing each other and going off in all directions. On top of that, when the next owners finished the basement in the early 2000's, several junction boxes got walled in, which besides being annoying is against code.<br /><br />This leads us back to the missing outlet. On Friday night, I ran up a cable from the basement, got a new box installed, and wired an outlet. On Saturday I got to work in the basement, attempting to figure out where I could tie in to the existing circuit. After a lot of research and head scratching, I discovered a) the circuit made a big loop, wasting a lot of wire and making a much longer run than was necessary and b) the most logical junction box to tie into was one of the aforementioned walled off boxes.<br /><br />The solution? Rip out the box (tearing out a section of wall in the storage room to get to it), rip out a few cables, move a few more, install two new boxes and run some new cables.<br /><br />After a *long* day, I finally got the power back on, including to the new outlet. Things are still a bit messier than I would prefer, but given what was there before, still a vast improvement. I removed the walled in junction box and replaced it with two new ones (7 cables coming into one box would have been a bit too much). <a href="http://lukpac.org/gallery/20080803wiring/wire_map">Diagram here</a> for those interested in that sort of thing.<br /><br />Let this be a lesson, boys and girls - in old houses there are no easy projects. One thing will invariably lead to another, and before you know it you've made a big mess and your patience has waned (if not left you entirely).<br /><br />I'm Luke Pacholski for THIS old house.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3247237-1972483022342482198?l=lukpac.org%2Findex.php' alt='' /></div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17377652869501527815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247237.post-42347063119383205152008-07-12T12:16:00.002-05:002008-07-12T12:33:09.858-05:00All the leaves are brown...A week or two ago I was in the kitchen and heard a noise outside that was reminiscent of leaves blowing on a cool autumn night. And I got a bit excited. It got me to thinking that maybe I don't hate fall for fall itself, but for the dread of winter being just around the corner. Obviously I can do without snow, but I really get depressed by how barren and lifeless everything is. I think I could live with spring-summer-fall.<br /><br />A few years ago I had plans to get off of Blogger and create my own blog engine. That never really went anywhere, in part because, well, Blogger works. My creative juices have started flowing again, though, as a friend of mine and I want to update a <a href="http://lukpac.org/stereostones/stones-cd-faq.txt">FAQ</a> we put together a few years ago, and I really want to get it into a database. I've got a ways to go yet, but I have the database itself laid out, and I'm piecing together the various pages for it. Now if only I could get paid to do this type of thing...<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3247237-4234706311938320515?l=lukpac.org%2Findex.php' alt='' /></div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17377652869501527815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247237.post-46240125012022338212008-06-23T21:01:00.001-05:002008-06-23T21:04:00.716-05:00EwwCurrent promo on <a href="http://www.cnn.com/" target="_blank">CNN.com</a>:<blockquote>A T.V. exclusive! Christina Aguilera rocks the vote and talks about her new baby with Larry King! Wednesday, 9 p.m. ET</blockquote>Methinks the editor that wrote that should be reassigned.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3247237-4624012501202233821?l=lukpac.org%2Findex.php' alt='' /></div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17377652869501527815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247237.post-69770413523922717822008-06-10T13:25:00.003-05:002008-06-10T13:50:42.262-05:00HS baseball weirdness and more contactsI could never figure out why everybody talked about spring baseball around here, when Park always played during the summer. Finally, an <a href="http://www.sheboyganpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080504/SHE0205/805040540/1882/SHEsports" target="_blank">answer</a>:<blockquote>Prep baseball has two seasons in Wisconsin – spring and summer. According to the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), Iowa is the only other state in the nation to offer summer baseball.<br /><br />The spring season begins in late March and runs through the second week of June. The summer season typically begins the fourth week of May and goes until the final week of July.</blockquote>Interesting...<br /><br />I've been playing the contacts game again. I've had rigid gas permeable contacts since 1993, and my pair is actually from 1993 or 1994. A <a href="http://lukpac.org/blog/archives/2005_06_01_index.php#111892819753662532">few years ago</a> I noticed my eyes were pretty red and during my yearly checkup my current eye doctor agreed to try some things to reduce the redness. He is a big fan of soft contacts, and while I wasn't thrilled with the prospect of switching, I agreed to try them. We tried 3 or 4 different pairs, but my vision wasn't as good, and my eyes were still a bit red with some of them. After giving up with that, we tried some different RGP designs, but those had problems too. Eventually we ended up with a pair that was supposed to be identical to the pair I already had, but I still wasn't comfortable with those and ended up just wearing my old pair.<br /><br />Fast forward to my yearly appointment a month or two ago. We tried a bunch of different soft contacts again, but again with no success. Right now I'm trying some different RGP's again, and while my vision is mostly fine, my eyes seem to be just as red or worse. I wish I knew what the heck was going on.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3247237-6977041352392271782?l=lukpac.org%2Findex.php' alt='' /></div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17377652869501527815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247237.post-22250514204316807252008-06-09T13:36:00.002-05:002008-06-09T13:56:28.374-05:00I have some water for Eddie MoneyI like rain. A lot. I like the sound of it falling, I like the muted look it gives things, and sometimes I even like being out in it. I love thunderstorms.<br /><br />I don't like when it tries to get into my house.<br /><br />Sunday morning it was pouring, so I went out and took a look at how things were holding up. There was quite a bit of water pouring over the gutter on one side of the house, so after it stopped and cleared up a bit, I went up and cleaned that out. So far so good. I've never been happy with the downspouts, though, so after a trip to Home Depot, I started to rebuild them using PVC. Of course, it started to rain about then, so I only got two of the four done.<br /><br />Then it started to rain *harder*. My PVC contraption wasn't quite working how I wanted it to, and that nasty thing called gravity was channeling a good bit of the water right to the corner of the house. With no shirt on and it coming down even harder, I went out to move the pipes around. Problem temporarily solved.<br /><br />Unfortunately, ponds were still forming in various places around the house. Eventually some water started to seep in from under and around the stairs. Nothing compared to some of the disasters at the old house, but still enough to make a good sized puddle. It didn't create too much of a disaster, but now I have to figure out how to get under the stairs and have Basement Systems come out to look at things.<br /><br />I did manage to get the lawn mowed on Saturday before the big rains started, thankfully.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3247237-2225051420431680725?l=lukpac.org%2Findex.php' alt='' /></div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17377652869501527815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247237.post-91823217668300337812008-06-06T22:25:00.003-05:002008-06-06T22:28:35.745-05:00Blah - somehow I managed to get sick. Wednesday night I started getting drainage down my throat, and for the past couple days I've been blowing a lot and have generally felt out of it. Today was a little better than yesterday, but I stayed home both days. Hopefully I perk up soon.<br /><br />Last week was my Little Rock trip. Pretty whirlwind, but it was still nice to get away. I just wish airlines designed their planes for 6'6" folks. Anyway, I took a bunch of photos which are <a href="http://lukpac.org/gallery/20080530littlerock">here</a>.<br /><br />The lawn is a hayfield. Who wants to come mow?<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3247237-9182321766830033781?l=lukpac.org%2Findex.php' alt='' /></div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17377652869501527815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247237.post-74123921095510657612008-05-27T13:08:00.003-05:002008-05-27T13:30:42.250-05:00Busy weekend. Yesterday I cleaned out the garage again - a car can once again fit inside. Barely. I also got some parts back on the snow blower that had been off when I was working on it. Unfortunately, while it started and ran the first time I tried, I couldn't get it to stay running a few hours later. Maybe I'll take another look in the fall...<br /><br />I thought I'd ping TDS about WiMAX since I had not heard anything new. I got this:<blockquote>I had our WiMAX team look into your question about expanding WiMAX in the Lakeside St. area. According to the team, that area is not up for immediate expansion, but because of your inquiry, they are now looking at it.</blockquote>I guess nobody thought to "look at it" when I was calling them daily about DSL and phone problems.<br /><br />Oh - a family of robins built a nest on the light for back yard. The hungry babies are very <a href="http://lukpac.org/gallery/20080525robins">cute</a>.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3247237-7412392109551065761?l=lukpac.org%2Findex.php' alt='' /></div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17377652869501527815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247237.post-73571874258851333022008-05-19T12:39:00.002-05:002008-05-19T13:09:56.618-05:00As of yesterday, I'm now officially an Internet developer. Well, I received the <a href="http://my.execpc.com/~mikeber/certificate.html" target="_blank">Internet Developer Certificate</a> from MATC, anyway. I'm still going to take one more class in the program in the fall, but hopefully this should help with my future endeavors.<br /><br />Yesterday I took some chicken out for dinner, but didn't really know how I wanted to cook it. On a whim I decided I would try to pan fry it, which turned out amazingly well. I just sprinkled on some BBQ rub, dredged the pieces in flour (with a little salt and pepper mixed in) and fried in canola oil, about 6 minutes each side. I guess I did something right, because it was juicy, tasty and crispy. Even the piece I reheated in the microwave today for lunch was good. Add another page to Luke's cookbook.<br /><br />I'm flying down to Little Rock for a night at the end of the month for work. Long story short, somebody needs to personally deliver a hard drive back to Madison, and since I'm working on the project, I was given the chance to go. I won't have much time to bum around, but I figured it is some place I've never been, it's a few days off of work, and it's free, so I really couldn't go wrong.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3247237-7357187425885133302?l=lukpac.org%2Findex.php' alt='' /></div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17377652869501527815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247237.post-51582416296380716792008-05-05T20:15:00.003-05:002008-05-05T20:39:08.038-05:00<i>That was a well-plotted piece of non-claptrap that never made me want to retch.</i><br /><br />It has come to my attention that the entire series of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacGyver" target="_blank">MacGyver</a> is <a href="http://www.cbs.com/classics/macgyver/" target="_blank">now available for viewing online</a>. I've watched a few episodes so far, and well, it's a little more corny than I remember it being when I was a kid. That said, it's still kind of fun to see Mac get himself out of the jams he gets himself into. And considering I didn't start watching it originally until a few seasons in, I've got some catching up to do.<br /><br />Classic corny Pete quote: "What is MacGyver *doing*?!"<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3247237-5158241629638071679?l=lukpac.org%2Findex.php' alt='' /></div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17377652869501527815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247237.post-8537091447928086272008-04-25T10:18:00.002-05:002008-04-25T10:23:09.324-05:00This morning was the first this year I saw green on the trees driving down the street. Hallelujah!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3247237-853709144792808627?l=lukpac.org%2Findex.php' alt='' /></div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17377652869501527815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247237.post-65921364767726722592008-04-14T10:23:00.003-05:002008-04-14T12:08:20.596-05:00It looks like maybe spring has finally sprung. Most of the remaining snow is gone, and any that has come down recently hasn't accumulated. Plants are popping up. I even raked the front yard. A little warmer and some green and I'll be happy.<br /><br />There honestly hasn't been much going on lately. My biggest excitement around the house recently was putting up some shades in the porch that had been sitting in the basement. Those should help keep it a little cooler in the summer.<br /><br />For those geeky types, it looks like the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-verse" target="_blank">U-verse</a> infrastructure is being <a href="http://lukpac.org/gallery/20080328uverse">up in Madison</a>. I'm more interested in TDS <a href="http://www.tdstelecom.com/absolutenews/templates/news_template.asp?articleid=503&zoneid=2" target="_blank">expanding</a> their <a href="http://www.tdstelecom.com/absolutenews/templates/news_template.asp?articleid=496&zoneid=2" target="_blank">WiMAX coverage</a>, though.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3247237-6592136476772672259?l=lukpac.org%2Findex.php' alt='' /></div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17377652869501527815noreply@blogger.com