Jun
18
QuikTrip PumpStart
June 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment
My family and I have been affected by the high price of gasoline in the US (compared to what we used to pay) lately and I notice everything when I go to the pump. Well today I was surprised when I saw that the QuikTrip in my neighborhood started requiring all cash customers to either pay first (before pumping) or use a PumpStart Card.
I had never heard of such a thing and decided to do some research on it and found out that it is an attempt to help avoid the growing amount of fuel theft. Made sense to me (not that I like it) in regards to rising fuel cost. Lately in St. Louis people have been hitting car dealerships to steal gas from cars on the lot (see article). Then I found out this intitiative has actually been going on since 2005 (see article).
Oh well … another change … I found it interesting and discouraging (for several reasons).
V2
Jun
13
Movie: The Happening (8/10)
June 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment
V3 (my 21 year old son) and I went to see the new M. Night Shyamalan move The Happening. I have to say it was pretty good. On a scale of 1-10 (10 being the best) I’d give it 8 out of 10.
I won’t tell you about the movie because I don’t want to spoil it but it’s a good premise and a very interesting story. The characters aren’t very deep but the story is very engaging. I will say it is his goriest movie to date. It was very violent and bloody and is noted as being his first R rated movie (because of the violence).
V3 and I both enjoyed it … if you like bizarre stories and gore you’ll like this movie.
V2 (Vince Jr.)
Jun
11
KlipFolio
June 11, 2008 | Leave a Comment
I had been looking for an RSS aggregator (and more) and something that works kind of like Yahoo Widgets (but doesn’t suck). I found KlipFolio awhile back and it is really a neat little app if you want to keep in touch with several sources of information. It’s very easy to use and the new Beta for Version 5 has some neat new features.
I love the Facebook Friends update … I don’t have to log in to see my friends statuses. I even created some shortcuts to Twitter and Facebook to updates so I can update more frequently.
The programming interface is basically JavaScript and XML … I wrote a small Klip (like a web part in SharePoint) in just a few minutes (was building a clock and the object model didn’t work as expected). Anyway … it’s a pretty neat little application if you like that kind of thing. In combination with TrueLaunchBar and Actual Window Manager (the two utilities I just can’t live without) you get a lot of power, freedom and control over your Windows environment.
Vince
Jun
10
Why Joe Pass Rules
June 10, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Well … I guess you should listen to his music and you will be convinced. They guy just has massive amounts of style and cool. 
If you like good jazz and/or just unbelievable guitar skill you gotta check Mr. Pass out. My dad (Vince Arter, Sr.), who I consider one of a living legend in jazz and R&B (classic R&B) guitar plays a lot lot Joe Pass.
Anyway … check him out … give him a listen. This is what I aspire to. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Pass
Vince
Apr
28
My band (Second Birth) will be the entertainment at Holy Trinity’s 160th Anniversary block party (our bass player knows someone that goes there and got us the gig). I’ve heard they do this for the city of St. Louis every year and that it is usually pretty good. This year being a big anniversary year (and with us there) it should be even better. 
It is on Sunday, May 18th from 11 AM – 2 PM (we’ll probably start about 10:30.) For those of you that know Rich Stratmann he is in the band as well along with the bassist from the Bellville Philharmonic. We play a good mix of “interesting” music.
I don’t know why it calls us the Stratman4 in their newsletter. That’s not our name (or Rich’s by spelling) and we have 5 people (sometimes 6) not 4. I’ll have to ask Rich about that. I think they just forgot our real name but that’s us they are talking about.
So if you aren’t busy come on out and join us. Please feel free to forward to folks I forgot to include.
http://www.holytrinitystl.org/pdf/080677_newsletter.pdf
Vince
Jan
23
Simpsonize Me!
January 23, 2008 | Leave a Comment
I was watching TV the other day and noticed an ad for the site http://www.simpsonizeme.com. So I gave it a try. Not bad. You can tell that it fakes some of it by “analyzing” your picture and picking a starting picture close to you. Here is what came out of that with my tweaking for my daughter. Pretty close!
Anyway … have a good one … try Simpsonize Me and see how close it comes to you! Interesting … if not time consuming … diversion.
Vince
Jan
6
Musing the New Year
January 6, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Well I’ve been musing the new year 2008. 2007 was a good year overall but there were struggles.
We lost our great (and amazing) friend Alex Sutherland on December 3, 2007. He was one of a kind and I’ll cherish the fact a week before he went home to be with our Lord I was able to play music with him again (and what a great time we had). That Sunday he also shared Scripture at church (NCC in Wildwood, MO) and I was able to hug him and tell him we loved him. I’ll always cherish those last moments with my “good cronie”.
I wound up having a bout of Lone A-Fib (atrial fibrillation). No underlying heart problems … they aren’t sure why but it was probably one of the scariest moments and week’s of my life.
My brother, Chris, appears to be losing the kidney I gave him 21 years ago (in 1986). He’s been very down about it but is trying to keep his spirits as good as he can.
We started going to a new church (NCC in Wildwood, MO) and that has been interesting and nice. We love everyone at CFC (where we attended for 25 years) but wanted to go some place closer to home to be part of and with similar views on what we believe and where God is leading us by his Word.
Vince III is in his Junior year of college and then off the police academy. Dani is a Senior in high school and then off to university out of state. <sniff />
Well it’s been an intersting year. We are hoping for a happy (and quieter) 2008. We hope and pray for all of the best for you and your family.
Feel free to drop me a line and say “hi”.
Vince
Dec
16
Thinking about the online stuff
December 16, 2007 | Leave a Comment
You know I have to live on the computer at work. So I’ve been very lax in doing anything with my blog. Plus I keep going back and forth whether or not I should even have one other than MySpace and Facebook (of which I have profiles on both). I spend more time on Facebook these days. Just not sure.
Joe User is an attractive blog engine as are a few others … I just gotta figure out what I want to do. Does anyone even read this one here? Probably not. Harder to find. Oh well. Lots to think about.
Merry Christmas to all.
Vince
May
15
ESS Presentation
May 15, 2007 | Leave a Comment
If you would like to download a copy of the presentation I gave at the Enterprise Search Summit you can get it here: Monsanto ESS 2007 Presentation.
You can get more information on our case study (including a document and video) from the Microsoft website at http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/casestudy.aspx?casestudyid=201093. This content has been approved for release. If I can get permission to post my presentation I will do so.
V2
Mar
18
Sinus Surgery - Part 2
March 18, 2007 | Leave a Comment
OK. Part 2 … Sunday the 18th of March. I’m tired. Really tired. Haven’t been sleeping much as drainage is an issue. Pain is not too bad unless I touch my nose (at all).
Am watching LOTR: The Two Towers - Extended Edition. Watched Fellowship yesterday off and on between micro-naps. Worked a little bit to catch up on stuff I missed Friday … did the same yesterday as well but it was easier to sit up today.
For the most part I feel OK just not great. Nose hurts … head hurts … slight stuffiness. Feels like a bad cold with nose pain. Fun. NOT!
Going to try and work from home tomorrow. Should be interesting but each day it seems to get easier … now if I can just get a decent night’s sleep I’ll be good.
Until Tuesday that is … when I think they are going to go fishing up my sinuses for whatever they put up there to hold it all together. THAT I’m not looking forward to.
V2
