Truck Maintenace

Well, it's time to change the spark plugs in the truck again. It's a process that I look forward to and dread. I like having new plugs, but access to 4 out of the 8 is quite a challenge. The older the truck gets, the more likely I may need to fix something else along the way. 

I would like to take some time and fix many of the small things on the truck that need repairing, but find it difficult to squeeze the time in to do them when I have to run the truck around to someone's garage to do the fix. I can't wait to have a proper garage to work in. 

With any luck, I can get 4-6 six replaced tomorrow, and the remaining 2 on Wednesday. Did I mention some of the plugs are hard to get to. 

Should I post some pictures of the process? Or even how dirty I get? What would you like top see a picture of?

Museum of Science & Industry

April and I took a trip down to MSI today to see the Harry Potter exhibit. The car you see here is the only prop out for photographing, a Ford Anglia, one of 16 used in the films. Just to hazard a guess, I'd say before the Whomping Willow scene.

Overall we quite enjoyed the experience. We also rented an audio tour device that gives extra narration of the exhibit. Most of the information was rather nonspecific, leaving gaping holes in our curiosity. I'd say only 3 of the many item codes gave any really interesting information.

As it turned out, April new someone working in the exhibit who provided some much more interesting information. Thanks Katie!

If you are a Harry Potter fan, it is worth the trip!

Been busy

So things are being very busy and very slow at the same time. How is that possible you ask? Easy I say. April and I are gearing up for our first home purchase, which we put a bid on two weeks ago, that was accepted by the owner, which means we're getting a lot of paper work in order, making lists of items we will need, how quickly we can afford them, but we are also still waiting from the lenders that actually hold the mortgages on the house. This is the part that really slows things down. 

So as we wait, I find more things to do. 

I am taking photos this weekend for two children at their Church. My second gig as a photographer, the first with my camera[I love my Nikon D90]. I'm looking forward to making their parents quite happy. 

Wednesday next week, April and I will be checking out the "Harry Potter" exhibit at the Museum of Science & Industry. I'll post what I can, I'm sure that photos inside the exhibit a not allowed. Of course I can get a picture of us in front of the entrance. I'm looking forward to the day trip, and hope April will enjoy it as much. 

I've been rapidly learning Adobe's Lightroom, in an effort to better process so many of the photos that I do take. It streamlines the ability to take the photos right from the camera to the web for sharing with clients. I hope to put that to use here pretty quick. 

I hope that all of you that check this page out have gotten out to enjoy the weather the past few days, I know that it's been wonderful just about everywhere here in the Midwest.

Eola Yard Crossing

The BNSF has decided to close the McClure Rd crossing at the Eola yard. This really isn't a huge surprise, as it was frequently blocked by yard switching traffic. It also allows more control of people access at the west end of the yard. With the large number of METRA trains, and increased rail interchange traffic with the EJ&E, now Canadian Northern, fewer grade crossings are a good thing. For rail fans, it takes away a quick cut-through that provided a great place to view trains. We just have to be more picky about our vantage points.

Time For a New Lock

So last week I went to get under the hard top on my truck bed, it wouldn't pop. Now usually I would put the key in, turn it 180 and press down to unlock it. Such was not the case the other day. As the picture will tell, the key had a bit of wear. I have a new lock now, should be good for at least another ten to eleven years.

Computer News

So... It's up and running. With some help from my friend Garrett, he managed to recover data on a drive that didn't want to read. Things are running smoothly. I've transfered a lot of data from a nearly full drive onto the new 3 drive array. About half way thru copying the data, I get a system crash, no blue screen, just black, followed by a reboot. As the server manager comes up, I inspect the status of the hard drives, one of the three drives has failed redundancy. I just can't seem to win.

So I ponder the next solution.

I can't wait for solid state drives to come down in price!