Sept 4, 2024
Plugging along. A rollercoaster of a year. Working on a couple of Android apps, off and on. Would be nice to be able to focus! ;-)
I do need a favor...I can't go into much detail, but I could use some prayer power and good vibes to be sent to a friend. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Don't forget to wear your seat belts, and no phones while you're driving! Much love!
Sept 4, 2023
Very quiet year. Found a lookalike to add. Or rather, John Podlasek took the shot and I saw a Chuck clone!
There are still stories to add to the gallery. But not that many. Very sobering to see that almost all of my pics have been shared.
Take care, FOCs, and wear your seat belts.
Sept 4, 2022
So...20 years. Very emotional this week as you can imagine. Had a get together with some FOCs at the Old Bridge Tavern last night. Good time.
Another small update to the gallery. Little by little getting all of the images I have of Chuck out there. Want to give a sincere thank you for all the kindnesses
that everyone has shown me through the years. It is much appreciated and never forgotten. Wear your seat belts.
Sept 4, 2021
Can't deny it's been another rough year. This isolation stuff is killer. Trying to get some structure going, which is very opposite of the way Chuck lived. ;-)
Small update this year. The gallery updates open the gates for a lot of reflection. Stay safe FOC's, and wear the damn mask.
Sept 4, 2020
This has been a hard year for everyone. I don't think Chuck would be doing well with lockdowns, quarantines, social distancing. He was such a social animal. In his glory as the center of attention. ;-)
I have been working my side hustle as Laptop Cowgirl. It's been fun, and helps keep my brain going. Have also become addicted to jigsaw puzzles.
Baby update this year. A reflection of how I'm feeling in our 'new normal'. Be good to yourself. Be kind to yourself. Cut yourself some slack. Much love, FOC's.
Sept 4, 2019
Still kind of running in circles. Not so productive yet!
The biggest change this year is that I am no longer working at Incredible Technologies. Was there for 23 years. One day they asked me to come to a meeting and...fired me. No warning. That place was really killing me, so it was much better for my mental state to not have to go there any more.
I really miss a lot of the people there. There are amazing, talented, truly kind people. And there are some I don't miss so much. ;-)
After fruitless job searching, mainly due to a restrictive non-compete, I decided to retire. And do my own thing. Thinking of some app ideas. I believe Chuck would approve of me striking out on my own. Contemplating 'Laptop Cowgirl' for a company name. What do you think??
Have added more pics to the gallery this year for all to enjoy. Stay safe, and wear your seat belts, my FOC's!
Sept 4, 2018
Been another long long year. I don't think I've made any personal progress towards any of my goals. Certainly not the way I want things to be!
I found a guy while 'browsing' on a dating site who really reminds me of Chuck. Had me wondering what he would look like and be like if he were still here. See him under 'Lookalikes'.
Short update this year. Have a lot of challenges to face. Take care all you FOCs, and wear your seat belts!
Sept 4, 2017
15 years. Hard to believe.
More Gallery work. Slow going that Gallery.
Been a very rough and challenging year. Jim and I have split. Vegas is with him. Going to sell the house. So much to do and no motivation.
So, working on baby steps.
A little later today will go through a tutorial on setting up the environment to do Android apps. Chuck would have been getting me to do that the instant I found the tutorial!
And he would have 10 app ideas for me to do all at once. Never a down time when Chuck got scheming on something. I miss that.
Sept 4, 2016
More pictures, more pictures. Started the 2002 Gallery entries. I get to relive the moments as I process them. Always bittersweet.
I've started to work on Zlurp! again. It's been exciting. Redid the installer as there are a few dll's that are missing on Win 7 and 10 that the cow wants.
Waiting to release it until I get the project compiling, and can do a couple of long awaited fixes. It's gratifying that Zlurp! still works on Win 10.
And I still get emails now and then with questions and comments. Really get a kick out of that!
Somewhat quieter year. IT has given me a sort of promotion. I get to be an "official" game designer. So far I'm not really doing anything I wasn't already!
Wishing the FOC's a quiet year as well. It's good to have some time to breathe. And to wear your seat belts.
Sept 4, 2015
Finished the 2001 Gallery, finally. Setting up 2002 for your Gallery enjoyment. Will work on it more today, and we'll see what I can get going. New pic
in the Computer section, and if I can find where I stashed it, there will be a new pic in Work.
Personally, this year has been one of many changes. Most have been very challenging. More people than I ever imagined have left IT, either for greener pastures, or by being fired. Friends, bosses, team mates.
The most difficult change, and one that affects me every time I walk into work, is that Mae Keyes passed away. She was the kindest, gentlest soul I've ever met.
She was one of 2 people that Chuck would not curse in front of. Everyone who met her adored her and gave her the utmost respect. Her absence hits me every work day.
My home life was not spared from a shake up. Our sweet sweet dog, Vegas, had a disastrous, out of the blue injury. His rear legs are now paralysed. He had emergency surgery that saved his life.
Now, he's been going to water therapy twice a week for months. As a last resort, we've started a fundraiser to attempt to keep up with his costs. If you visit the site, at the very least, you will
see pics and video of an indomitable doggie spirit. And me making a fool of myself way more than once.
For The Love Of Vegas Fundraiser
For The Love Of Vegas Facebook
But, as they say, tomorrow is another day. May all you FOC's be happy and healthy and wearing your seat belts.
Sept 4, 2014
The end of an era is looming ahead soon. I'm going to have to retire TICow, my trusty PowerBook G4. We changed to Comcast to get spiffy speedy internet, and now
TICow can't connect to WIFI any more. This was bound to happen at some point. TICow is 14 years old. That's pretty old in computer years! There may be a way to finagle
a connection somehow, but I must admit it's been kind of painful to work on the cow these past couple of years. Not sure if I will get another Mac, but I DETEST Windows 8.
So I may stay Apple to go portable.
Did more Gallery work. I will probably continue on 2001, and try to get the year finished during the day. It is always so bittersweet to see the old pictures and write up
the story blurbs. I think it's more sweet than bitter though. I will take that as a victory.
Take care FOC's and buckle up.
Sept 4, 2013
So many things I want to get done. So little time. And even less motivation! Hard to make myself do things that I want to do. Doesn't seem right.
I did enjoy working on the Gallery for 2001. Got a lot of it finished. 2001 was a very busy year. Full on Touch-IT promotion, Tommy's band, and many bike rides.
One project that I am slowly getting to the end point is to finally give all of Chuck's things that I have saved to his family. It's time. I'm going to drop everything
off at his Mom's and let Kate arrange any final hand offs.
With that in mind, I took a few pics of some of my favorite Chuck mementos, and will add them to the Fun section.
This time of year I am more sensitive to car accidents, as you can imagine. A few days ago we got our new Consumers Report magazine. Ironically, there
was an article about traffic fatalities for 2012. The number one cause of fatality in an accident was not wearing a seatbelt.
Please buckle up.
Sept 4, 2012
10 years has gone by so fast.
Finished the Gallery for 1999. Was harder this year for me to work on the site. But looking at all the pictures brings back such good memories.
I'll try to rough in at least 2001 and hopefully 2002 as the day goes on.
IT is moving in October. Will be the first building that I will be in that Chuck wasn't. A lot of bittersweet times recently, and coming up.
Guess I don't have as much to say this year as usual. Stay safe, and wear your seatbelts!
Sept 4, 2011
It's your birthday...Happy birthday to you, Chuck!
WIth the 10 year anniversary of 9/11 next week, and knowing how deeply it affected Chuck, I'd like to share a Chuck tale concerning 9/11.
We were going to a show a month later, in October. People were still very nervous about flying. We went cheap and got a connecting flight in St. Louis. Sitting in the waiting area
at the gate, Chuck started eyeballing the passengers and saw a few he didn't care for. So he decided to play Air Marshall. As the plane began boarding, Chuck stood by the door looking
as fierce as he could. Standing tall, arms across his chest, total biker bravado, staring down anyone he didn't like the look of. A little old lady came up to him and timidly asked if he was riding
on this flight. Chuck gently said, yes he was. She said, thank goodness, I feel safe now.
We got on last, and as we entered, people clapped for Chuck. He was thrilled. He was even more thrilled when the flight attendents kept bringing him free drinks. I was thinking, if somthing did
happen, Chuck shouldn't be drunk, but everything was fine.
When the plane landed, people (the women!) told him that they felt safe with him on the plane and a few shook his hand (the men!).
As far as a site update for this year, I got going on the Gallery. 2000 is finished and half of 1999 is up. Enjoy!
And what's the magic word? SEATBELT!
Sept 4, 2010
Happy Birthday Chuck!
Had some fun news from FOC Butch a few days ago. He was trying to install Zlurp on his
new Win 7 PC. After finding we needed to add a couple of dlls, and a few settings tweaks, Zlurp was up and running!
How cool is that? I have been shamefully neglecting Zlurp and am very pleased to hear the cow is not down and out!
I am in the process of changing the picture set loading. The random set load was interesting, but a tad frustrating
if you just wanted to look at all the pics. So I will be updating that thru the day.
Also started to catch up with my CECK listings. Believe in it or no, it comforts ME anyway. :-)
I'm into 2006 and climbing.
I guess the slowness of progress on this site is actually an indication of goodness. I am keeping busy and looking forward.
Take care all, and until next time, remember to wear your seatbelts.
Sep 4, 2009
You say it's your birthday! Happy birthday to you!
I was digging around for pictures to embarrass Tommy in his 10th year at I.T. presentation (mission accomplished) when I
happily found some new Chuck pictures. Check out the Friends and Family, Bikes and Fun sections for a new tale. :-)
I still haven't worked on the long promised Gallery, or got caught up on my Close Encounters of the Chuck Kind. Doesn't mean it won't
ever happen, but it's hard to fit it in. I am planning on adding one more thing today - the AOR radio commercial that was banned
after 2 days of airing. But my battery is starting to fade and I'll have to do it when I get home! I wanted to get this update out ASAP.
Remember to wear your seatbelts, and don't be a stranger.
Sep 4, 2008
It's your Birthday! It's your Birthday!
I find it so amazing that I am still hearing from FOC's who have recently discovered what happened. To me, that shows
that Chuck made a deep impression on people. Even ones he didn't have daily contact with. I heard from 2 new people this year.
As for me, I had a knee replacement in January. Hopefully that will do it! The doc joked that I have more fake parts than real in my left leg.
But I don't care, as long as I can get out and do more things than before.
Joe got his motorcycle license! I know Chuck would be ecstatic and start dragging him around on rides. Looking forward to riding with him and Krissy! I will try again next year to get my license. I should be back in shape for it by then! :-)
I found a few AVI's that I didn't put on my Chuck 1.0 DVD. I'm trying to get them situated on YouTube, and then I will embed them in the
site. Can't wait for you-all to see them.
Also have added pics to computers and fun. It does make me sad that the new pics are just things that had something to do with Chuck and not new
pics of him. :-(
As always, take care, wear your seatbelts, and keep in touch FOC's...
Sep 4, 2007
Happy Birthday to Chuck!
Been another of those rollercoaster years. Maybe that is what I should consider 'normal'!
Had a lot of upheavals at IT, old people leaving, new people coming, new people leaving. We lost 2 wonderful people to
cancer, Arturo and Julie. That definitely hit everyone hard.
One very nice thing that will be happening soon is that Chuck's bike is coming back to see the light of day. Joe will
be getting it any day now. It was stored all this time by Ross at AOR. Hopefully it won't need too much work before
it's ready to ride. Joe is really looking forward to it and is ready to take his riding class ASAP. He's going to try
to get in with the 'show up and hope there are no-shows' method. I'm sure he will get in!
On the site, I added a few entries in the Computer section. And I'm still planning to do more in the gallery. Honest! ;-)
I will probably be updating the site more than once today!
Keep in touch FOC's...
Sep 4, 2006
Happy Happy Chuck Birthday
Well, my best laid plans for the site certainly didn't materialize over the year. Recently I've had a renewed burst of motivation, and added a few new items.
Look in the Fun and Lookalike sections. Still gonna work on that gallery, and cookie idea.
Kate, Chuck's Mom, is out this week for a visit from AZ. She is having a mass said for Chuck today. Fourth anniversary on the fourth, and Chuck's favorite number was 44. Very fitting.
Biggest thing that has happened this year is that I'm moving. Jim and I are building a house in beautiful Johnsburg. 390 Willow has sold, the closing is Sept 15th. It is definitely a
bittersweet process. There are so many memories in that house! Hopefully, many FOC's will come to my new house and help me make new memories there. You are all very welcome, and I can't
wait to have you all over! :-)
Sep 4, 2005
Happy Birthday Chuck
Another year. It still feels unreal. It's been a roller coaster of a year for sure. Goodness and badness. Legal battles, continuing physical therapy, and meeting some incredible people.
I had the pleasure of meeting several of Chuck's past girlfriends, April and Kim. They are amazing, caring, special women. What can I say, Chuck had good taste. ;-) I owe both of them emails, of course! I love you guys! I also have started dating someone I met on match.com. I'm pretty sure that Chuck approves of Jim. :-)
Now for my upcoming plans for the site! I still have that pesky gallery to work on. Lots of typing ahead there, but it will happen. I also want to add one of those cookie dealies so that you will load Chuck Tales in order instead of randomly.
Dec 25, 2004
Merry Christmas!
Tried to get a little tricky with the site and wound up horribly breaking the message board. Added a subdomain, which required my host to move my domain to
another server. Path confusion ensued, and the message board never recovered. The good news is that the new URL for the site is http://chuck.finpuppy.com
So, I've started a new message board that has many more features than the other one. I have a bit more configuration to do - mainly changing the default colors.
(I'm not much for pastel blues!) And I'm going to see about transferring the messages from the old board to the new one...or get the old one working again. (it could happen! ;-)
Sep 4, 2004
Happy Birthday Chuck
Been a challenging year. I added a couple of new pics and stories for this tiny site update. I will get back to adding to the gallery. That needs the most work!
I have been making small but important Zlurp releases, which I know would make Chuck happy. Zlurp continues to be a very rewarding project. I've talked with people all over the world. Most recently an Italian
magazine asked to bundle Zlurp with a bonus app CD. Of course I said yes! :-)
Jan 1, 2004
Happy New Year!
Scattered some new pics and stories among the categories. Have been working very hard on that compilation CD. Today I've been burning copies! If you want a copy, let me know!
The rest of this month I'll be working on Zlurp.To be honest I'm glad the holidays are over. It was rougher this year than last year. Last year I was still in bed, with my family around 24/7. This year I was by myself.
Was a big difference.
Dec 4, 2003
Added a few more pics and stories here and there. Been adjusting to many more changes and haven't had a lot of spare energy. Touch-IT was cancelled, and Tommy has
moved out. So things are very different at work and at home. I'm just doing the best I can. Keeping up with
Close Encounters of the Chuck Kind more or less!
Coming up...I'm putting together a CD of all the Chuck pictures I can get my hands on. If you have any pictures of Chuck to contribute please e-mail me a jpg.
And if you'd like a copy when it's done, let me know too! Thanks to Kelly and BMan for the pics they gave me! :-)
January is going to be the next 'month of Zlurp'. Hoping to do one more site update before then!
Oct 1, 2003
September was the month of Zlurp! I worked on that as much as possible, so didn't do anything with this site. I'm happy to say that I got a first beta version
for XP/2000 support out on Sept. 30. If you want to check it out you can get it from HERE!
Have been steadily adding to the ongoing Close Encounters of the Chuck Kind
And I have just added 2 new Gallery events for 2000 - Bakifest and Boating. I scanned in a big stack of photos to make a slide show for the 2 Chuck get-togethers
we had in Sept, so the Gallery will greatly benefit! If you have any pictures of Chuck I would LOVE to have a copy! Please e-mail me a jpg if you can!
Aug 30, 2003
Added many new pics and stories! :-)
Almost caught up with Close Encounters of the Chuck Kind entries.
September is going to be the Month of Zlurp! My goal is to get the Win XP version working and ready for release. Chuck would be really happy about that.
Jul 19, 2003
Put in another 2000 event in the Gallery - BagLady show.
And still trying to catch up on my Close Encounters of the Chuck Kind entries. Have added a bunch, but still am a week behind!
By the way...wish me luck next weekend. I'm going to try to take my motorcycle class, July 25-27. This is something Chuck really wanted for me, and it's been a major goal since I signed up in February.
Jul 6, 2003
Started work on the Chuck Galleria. Boy that's going to be a lot of typing! ;-)
Take a peek at the year 2000, the Ascot event. If you have any ideas how to make this section better, please share!
Jun 2, 2003
More pics and stories to enjoy. Planning to add a lot more when I finally get my scanner set up. Have a lot of real live photos to scan!
There are also a LOT of new entries on the Close Encounters of the Chuck Kind page. Chuck still cares about us very much.
I tried an experiment in communicating with him. I created an e-mail account cez_harleyboy@yahoo.com and have sent him a few e-mails. I asked him to let me know if he can actually get the messages somehow, but I haven't gotten an answer one way or another yet.
Apr 11, 2003
Added some pics and stories here and there. :-)
Also set up the FOC 'There's Something New' Mail List. Will send out a note when there's a big change on the site, or if there's a new message on the FOC Keep-In-Touch Board.
Mar 21, 2003
I really want to share the times that Chuck contacts me. It is very comforting to know he still cares about us and is interested in us. Check out Close Encounters of the Chuck Kind to see how Chuck keeps in touch.
I know for sure that he has contacted others. If you would like to share your Chuck sightings, post them on the ever popular FOC Keep-In-Touch Board! I recently posted something that happened to Tommy. :-)
Mar 12, 2003
Thought of another funny category - Lookalikes. Whenever I'd see a pic of someone that reminded me of Chuck I would send it to everyone at I.T. Then there's the people that OTHER people thought Chuck was. That was always amusing.
Also going to start a gallery so you can see more pics than I've put into categories. Yes, I'm stealing Joe's idea!
Feb 16, 2003
Got the first pass of loading sets of tales done. This is mainly to help loading time for us poor dial-up slobs. ;-)
As I've said earlier, I'm trying to pay attention more and see if Chuck is saying hi. A couple of days ago, Tommy was driving me back from therapy. I was just staring out the window. It had to be Chuck shifting my focus a little, cause I suddenly noticed I was looking at a license plate, and it started off with CZ. That made me smile. If anyone else has had something like this happen, why don't you put it on the FOC Keep-In-Touch Board? I'm sure everyone would love to read about it!
Jan 27, 2003
Figured out how I wanted to do the multiple stories per category. Check out Authority. Will get the other cats going soon.
There's a board for Chuck that they set up at work. For some reason, no matter how I try, it won't let me post my contribution. I want to share, so if you want you can read about
the quiet and shy Chuck that I knew.
I continue to work on Zlurp as best as I can. Two days ago I was telling a box to come up checked and as I typed the word "check" I suddenly saw that I typed "chuck". I think Chuck gave me a little nudge to let me know he was watching me. A friend from work, Marguerite, sent me a great book,
"Talking to Heaven". I read it thru in one sitting. One thing it talked about is that people who have passed try to communicate with us all the time. We just don't bother to notice.
Jan 19, 2003
Found out that Netscape/Mozilla wasn't showing my slick text rollover changes. Silly Netscape/Mozilla! Have been working on Chuck's and my beloved CD Ripper/Tagger/Encoder Zlurp! Have a lot to do on it, including a new installer since Chuck took care of that task.
Jan 6, 2003
Made some layout changes. Trying to keep the scrolling to a minimum.
Dec 25, 2002
Getting the first pass at all the category pages done. Then I will add more pics and stories to each one!
I had a dream last week with Chuck in it. He ran up to me and gave me a hug and a kiss. He looked great. Long hair, beard wasn't so wild, and he was much thinner. I think this is the way he wants to look. He was dressed in painter's clothes, and ran off laughing. I believe Chuck is happy. I think he's having fun doing a "home improvement" project right now. This is the third dream I've had with him in it. He has always looked the same physically. I would really like to believe that this is how he's visiting with me, and telling me he's ok.
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