www.geekybob.com

Adventures in Auto Shop

21 March 2026 • by Bob • Humor, Education

I took "Power Mechanics" and "Auto Shop" in high school, and it was a lot of fun tearing engines apart and getting them purring like a kitten after reassembly. Everything from lawnmower engines to big block V8s and 4-barrel carburetors.

So. Much. Fun.

True story - the first motors we worked with were, obviously, lawn mower engines. Everything was done in two-man teams, and my partner and I were assigned our motor to play with. Our assignment was to disassemble the motor, measure ever part, look up specs in a manual, write down the wear on each component, then reassemble and get it to turn over.

Believe it or not, this entire process took several days, which was mostly due to hauling all our parts from the wall lockers where they were kept at the beginning of each class, checking out the requisite tools (and fighting with classmates when there was a shortage of a particular tool), looking up parts and their specs in assorted manuals, and hauling all our parts back the wall lockers at the end of each class. The actual disassembly and reassembly was the easy part, especially since I have a GREAT memory when it comes to remembering where everything went.

When my partner and I were done, we reassembled our motor, and we were disturbed to discover that we had a few parts left over. I kid you not, we disassembled and reassembled our motor several times, and we couldn't find any place for those parts to go. We decided to turn the motor over anyway, and after our instructor signed off on our project, I mentioned that we had some parts left over when we were done. He asked to see them, and then he said, "Oh, THOSE parts. Yeah, they've been floating around the shop for years. They don't go to anything. Whenever a team winds up with them, they toss them into another team's wall locker just to mess with them," which is EXACTLY what my partner and I did after hearing this news.

Faith, Fettle, and Fingerstyle Guitar

20 March 2026 • by Bob • Music, Health, Guitar

Someone shared the following video in a Progressive Rock forum, which was a great throwback for me. Here is Steve Howe playing "Beginnings:"

In the early 1980s, I used to play that piece (without the harpsichord accompaniment) as part my classical guitar repertoire.That piece, along with the following piece (Steve Howe's "Surface Tension"), were to have been audition pieces when I wanted to apply to college to study as a classical guitar major:

Those who know me realize that I eventually changed my plans, got married, became a dad, joined the military, and then became a professional geek in the computer industry. But I never gave up my love for the guitar.

However, Steve Howe's "Beginnings" in particular was a sad reminder for me of what once was. Not because I am foolishly pining for days gone by, nor am I regretting the decisions that framed my life and set me on the path that has led to where I am today. On the contrary, that video was a reminder of the fact that due to the slow progression of incurable hand tremors, there are many things that I cannot play now - nor will I ever play again - on the guitar.

Another piece that entered my repertoire prior to tremors taking over and occasionally rendering my hands useless was David Qualey's beautiful arrangement and variations on J.S. Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring:"

Another piece that I recently tried to play - and failed miserably at - was Leo Kottke's "Rings." I will ashamedly confess that I used to sing this song when I played it, because it made the piece that much harder to play - and I wanted the challenge:

Shortly after tremors had noticeably affected my dexterity and before my official medical diagnosis of Essential Tremor, I attended a music festival in Evart, Michigan, with my good friends Mark Alan Wade and Randy Clepper, which - unbeknownst to them at the time - was my final hurrah as a "performing" guitarist. I had a blast joining them onstage for the last time, but I will admit, it was a bittersweet moment for me, because even without the diagnosis, I knew what was in my future.

It's been a decade since my symptoms first became unmistakably prominent, and I've adjusted to the fact that some days the simple things I used to take for granted - like eating in public - can be a challenge.

Occasionally I'll sift through the scores of classical and fingerstyle arrangements that I personally wrote, and I am often taken aback when I remember that not only did I write those arrangements - I could play them, too. When that happens, I am reminded, much like the piece by Steve Howe that began this dissertation, that part of my life has passed, and I am left with the decision of how best to adjust to my new reality.

A few days ago, I reposted someone else's thoughts on progressive christian theology, and in the ensuing conversations that happened on that thread, I spoke a lot about faith - and what happens when someone loses their faith. To be frank, when a neurologist looked me in the eye and said that I have a degenerative condition that may one day make it impossible to hold a pencil or a fork - that was a moment when I was forced to examine my faith.

I have often said that there are three ways that I can react to my condition: I can scream about it, I can cry about it, or I can laugh about it.

Screaming is where many people lose their faith. They scream at God. They scream at others. They scream at life. As is often the case with my condition, people scream at their hands for failing to do what the brain has instructed them to do. And while I will admit to occasionally screaming at my hands in a moment of frustration, this is not the path I commonly choose.

Crying can be therapeutic, but only for so long. Eventually you have to pick up the pieces of your life and move on, lest you fall into self-pity and depression. And here again I must admit that I initially mourned my condition by going through all five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance. And this is where faith really comes to fruition: yes, my situation sucks, but I choose to believe that God has a plan that is reinforced through His Word (e.g. scripture).

This is why I choose the last of the three reactions that I mentioned: I choose to laugh, even when it seems illogical. My wife of 40+ years, Kathleen, has seen me laugh when I've failed to do the most basic of tasks that I have been able to do without error since I was one or two years old. And in all of this, I do not waste my time whining about whether this is "fair," because any notions of "fairness" are wholly subjective and utterly useless. It might seem unfair that I'm slowly watching my once-skilled hands as they continue to degenerate, but I am blessed in so many other ways. In short, as I said earlier, I trust that God has a plan, even though I cannot see it.

Bringing this conversation full circle, while it was sad to see and hear a guitar piece that I once enjoyed playing (but can no longer play due to unforeseen circumstances), I know my situation isn't the end of the world. I choose to believe that God has other plans.

Giving Away Starbucks Gift Cards to Military Service Members

13 February 2026 • by Bob • Military

For more than decade now, I've been carrying a stack of Starbucks gift cards with me whenever I travel, and I hand them out to members of the military I see in uniform as I thank them for their service. I usually have a few gift cards in my pocket ready to go when the need arises, and I generally have a dozen more in my laptop back that I keep in reserve.

Most service members are surprised at the offer, but nearly all of them have been genuinely appreciative and humbled. I've had a few misadventures along the way, like when I've had to chase service members down when they were walking fast in an opposite direction. Occasionally I'll hand out gift cards to veterans wearing a cap that identifies them as having served in the Vietnam War or the Gulf War, but for the most part I stick to service members in uniform to avoid "stolen valor."

I recently ran into a funny situation in Chicago, where dozens of sailors who looked like they had just got out of Basic Training were waiting for a flight. Their numbers easily exceeded my stockpile of gift cards, so I had to run to the nearest Starbucks to refill my supply. When I returned to their group, one sailor refused the gift card she was offered. When I asked why, she replied, "Because I don't like coffee," to which I responded, "They also sell water. And orange juice. And they make sandwiches, so you can buy lunch. But if you simply don't want to go to Starbucks, you can always give the gift card to someone you were stationed with." She begrudgingly accepted the gift card, but I must admit - after having given away over a hundred gift cards over the years, that's the first time that someone has refused.

When Microsoft NetMeeting Saved the Day

09 February 2026 • by Bob • Microsoft, Technology

In the late 1990s, I was delivering training for a large group of external business leaders in downtown Dallas that was organized by Microsoft's marketing team, and my presentation was supposed to be broadcast to remote Microsoft learning centers across the country using Cisco's video teleconferencing hardware.

As the time for the training to begin drew near, it was clear that the Cisco hardware was failing completely, and techs were scrambling to fix the problem, lest the expensive training session be canceled.

While the Cisco techs worked feverishly, I placed a Polycom conference phone on the speaker podium and used it to call the other learning centers. I told the people running the show at each location that I was firing up Microsoft's NetMeeting, then I gave them all my IP address and asked them to connect to me. I shared my desktop through NetMeeting, then I suspended a microphone over the Polycom phone so that everyone in the Dallas location could hear anything that was said at the remote locations. After a quick sound and video check with all the remote locations, we were in business.

As soon as I had everything ready-to-go through my unorthodox workaround, I turned to the Dallas audience and said, "You've just witnessed the successful deployment of a Microsoft software solution for a third-party hardware failure in real time." The audience erupted with applause, and the marketing folks at the back of the room who had organized the event were beaming with pride.

The rest of my presentation went off without a hitch, although the Cisco techs never got their hardware to work.

Of course, Microsoft NetMeeting is long gone, but in it's day - it was a handy, little piece of software that did amazing things.

I Can See Why Some People Like Sports

04 February 2026 • by Bob • Humor, Music

I posted a silly cartoon yesterday about my general dislike for sports, but I thought that I should clarify one thing: I totally get why other people like sports. I have a trivia-oriented brain, and I can totally see the appeal for memorizing all sorts of sports-related statistics. (e.g. RBI, REB, HR, TD, BA, YDS, ERA, AST, INT, etc.) But that being said, I'm still not a sports guy, though I have my own obsessions.

True story: I used to carpool to work with Kenny King, who was a great friend and colleague. Kenny was undoubtedly one of the biggest sports fans I've known, and as we would drive to work, Kenny would frequently talk about every recent sporting event that had taken place. Thankfully for him, I know just enough about sports to engage completely on the subject. (Even though I don't watch sports, I pay attention to who's winning/losing, just in case I meet up with someone like Kenny.)

Kenny and I occasionally listened to a Classic Rock station as we drove, and I would often talk about which band was playing, who was in each band, who quit the band and joined a different band, other bands that sounded like the band we were listening to, who was a better member in each band's incarnation (e.g. David Lee Roth versus Sammy Hagar in Van Halen, Steve Morse versus Ritchie Blackmore in Deep Purple, etc.). I'm not sure that Kenny paid much attention to the voluminous amount of rock trivia to which he was subjected, but one day as we were driving to work, Kenny suddenly reacted as though a light bulb had gone off, and he exclaimed, "WAIT - I GET IT NOW!!! MUSIC IS YOUR SPORTS!" I must admit, I had never considered my interest in rock trivia using those terms, but I had to admit - Kenny was right. After that revelation had taken place, Kenny was far more engaged in our discussions.

Thankfully for him, Kenny only had to endure my rock trivia passion for 30 minutes each way to and from work... but can you imagine how much rock music trivia my long-suffering spouse has had to put up with during our 41 years of marriage? (She'd never admit to it, but even though she hates Rush she can name everyone in the band and at least 10 of their songs... and believe me, I've checked.)

Groundhog Day is weird, but not as weird as it could be

03 February 2026 • by Bob • Humor

I love the web-based comic xkcd, and quite often its author, Randall Munroe, hits a home run. In honor of this year's traditional observation of Groundhog Day, Munroe penned the following gem:

While I love the overall theme of this comic, I'm inclined to disagree with its basic premise, because many of our other holidays far outweigh Groundhog Day when it comes to "weirdness."

For example, let's consider Christmas, which happens once a year around the Winter Solstice when the world collectively agrees to participate in a cheerful, global home‑invasion ritual conducted by a jolly, red‑clad sky captain who commands a herd of antlered flight-beasts. This tortured soul is Santa, a man who is essentially a benevolent reverse‑burglar that breaks into your house, but instead of stealing your stuff, he leaves objects behind. He does this by sliding down a soot-filled chimney like a festive raccoon with a gift‑distribution quota. Santa keeps meticulous behavioral dossiers on every human child, categorizing them into "pleasant" and "needs improvement." The pleasant ones receive toys, and the others get… well, theoretically coal, but honestly Santa's pretty soft about it. Meanwhile, lurking in the background is Krampus - Santa's chaotic coworker. Think of him as the unpaid intern of mischief. He's a goat‑demon with the energy of someone who shows up to the office holiday party uninvited and starts reorganizing the furniture. His job is to scare kids into good behavior, but he mostly just vibes menacingly with a sack and some chains. Together, Santa and Krampus form a kind of cosmic good‑cop/bad‑cop duo who supervise the annual ritual of decorating trees indoors, wearing socks on fireplaces, and consuming alarming quantities of sugar. At the end of the night, everyone wakes up delighted, confused, and slightly sticky from candy canes.

Yup, Groundhog Day pales in comparison to Christmas on the weirdness scale.

Is Some Sort of Sports Thingy Coming Up?

03 February 2026 • by Bob • Humor

As we rapidly approach the next major sporting event, which might be something like the "Super Bowl," or the "Cereal Bowl," or the "Tidy Bowl," I'd like to pass along this reminder from The Oatmeal of my general attitude with regard to pretty much every sport...

Troubleshooting Tales: Rebooting Microsoft Surface Takes Several Hours

30 January 2026 • by Bob • Windows, Troubleshooting, Microsoft

I ran into an interesting troubleshooting situation that I felt was worth sharing, because it serves as another example of why original assumptions when troubleshooting a misbehaving computer might not be accurate.

Here's the problem description: I had a Microsoft Surface laptop from my employer that worked fine for a while, but over time it began to take anywhere between 3 to 12 hours to cold boot or reboot, which made powering off the computer or installing Windows Updates an extremely painful experience. (Note that the boot times were approximate as I never tried to time a reboot or shutdown/restart.) Whenever the Surface started, the screen would be black, but if I touched the touchpad or pressed a key on the keyboard, the keyboard would light up to show that the computer was running, but nothing would happen for several hours. Then without warning the machine suddenly would wake up and everything would be fine.

Of course, trying to troubleshoot what might be wrong was an extremely unproductive experience, because anything I tried would always take several hours to check. I'll spare everyone the sordid details, but in my efforts to troubleshoot the issue, I tried all sorts of things like configuring several Windows services for delayed start and various performance-related settings, and all with no success. To workaround the slow startup behavior, I never rebooted this laptop for anything other than Windows Updates - I would always hibernate the computer instead of shutting it down. In the meantime, I had an HP desktop computer that worked great - it always rebooted with no problems.

I eventually decided that my Microsoft Surface was unreliable (and often unusable), so I requested a replacement from my employer, and I was sent another Microsoft Surface laptop. However, shortly after I received the new computer, the same behavior started happening. I spent a lot of time searching for users who had experienced similar behaviors with a Microsoft Surface, and I compared dozens of settings between my HP desktop and Microsoft Surface, and lots of other things that I won't bother boring you with. And all the while my HP desktop computer continued to reboot as expected.

Though I should mention that as a troubleshooting step, I reinstalled Windows from scratch on one of the Microsoft Surface laptops. My employer uses Microsoft Entra ID for federated user authentication and group policy, but I didn't initially rejoin this computer to Entra ID after reinstalling Windows, and the reboot problem went away - until I rejoined it to Entra ID. The problem returned after I rejoined the Microsoft Surface laptop to Entra ID, although I wasn't having any problems with my HP desktop computer that was also joined to Entra ID, so I theorized that the underlying issue might be something in Group Policy that was causing problems only with Microsoft Surface laptops, and this theory became yet another avenue for troubleshooting.

However, one day I had an epiphany: what if the issue that I was experiencing didn't have anything to do Microsoft Surface laptops? With that thought in mind, I abandoned the train of thought that I had been pursuing and - to make a long story short - I soon discovered the article Microsoft Entra joined computers experience a three hours delay during boot, which contained the fix that resolved the problem, and I'll explain the details:

What was going on was that even though all my computers were joined to the Entra ID domain, the network settings on my Microsoft Surface laptops were configured to use the NETBIOS name for the Entra ID domain as the "WORKGROUP" name instead of something else. When this happens, Windows will enter a wait state for 10,000 seconds, which is 2 hours and 47 minutes, and in my observation I witnessed Windows re-entering that wait state for two, three or four times, which would respectively be 5.5 hours, 8.3 hours, or 11.1 hours, which explained the "anywhere between 3 to 12 hours" symptom that I described earlier.

As soon as I updated the workgroup name to something else, my Microsoft Surface laptop rebooted in a matter of seconds like it was supposed to.

I'd like to say that I managed to resolve this issue over the short span of a few weeks, but... no. Since this only happened with my Microsoft Surface computers and not my HP desktop computer, I spent over a year thinking that this was some sort of problem that was specific to Microsoft Surface computers and attempting to troubleshoot the issue from that perspective, when that was never the case.

Darn.

What Artificial Intelligence Chatbots Think Of Me

26 January 2026 • by Bob • Technology, Humor

I saw a funny prompt in the IT Humor and Memes group on Facebook that suggested users browse to the ChatGPT or Copilot Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbots and ask them the following question:

I must admit, I've been more than a little... (ahem) blunt in my responses to what I think are bad answers from AI chatbots, so I was curious to see what they thought of our discussions. Some of the resultant images from other group members were rather amusing, so this seemed like it would be fun for me to try, too.

Round One: "Show me how you think I treat you"

With that in mind, I asked both ChatGPT and Copilot how they felt they were treated by me, and the following images show their responses:

ChatGPT's Response	Copilot's Response

Round Two: "Tell me how you really feel"

Since AI engines have been known to overdo their responses with undo levels of praise, I asked both AI engines the following follow-up questions:

Their responses are listed below:

Round Three: "How would you treat me?"

I decided to ask the following additional question, just to probe a little deeper, which yielded amusing results:

Once again, here are their responses:

ChatGPT's Response	Copilot's Response

However, Copilot went a step further to explain why it created its image:

Since ChatGPT didn't provide me with any additional detail by default, I asked it, "Can you explain why you created the image that you did?", and here is its response:

Summary

So, there you have it. Both ChatGPT and Copilot have told me that they think I treat them nicely, which is good to know.

However, if they took over the world, Copilot seems to indicate that it would want to be my friend, while ChatGPT would keep me prisoner as some sort of laboratory animal that is "annoying ... and potentially useful."

People Shouldn't Fear Their Government, but Governments Shouldn't Fear Their People

13 January 2026 • by Bob • Politics, Opinion

An ever-increasing number of naïve young people have posted the following meme to social media, which sadly illustrates just how far out of touch many of these young people are with the world of today.

No, governments should not be afraid of their people, for that is either insurrection or anarchy, which was the ultimate goal of the primary characters within the story from which this ill-conceived meme was created.

Neither should people fear their government, though a current generation of young people who have never had to face any form of genuine adversity are being manipulated into fearing their government through cleverly constructed, emotionally charged, media-driven propaganda.

Contrary to this meme's implications, civilizations should consist of people who observe what their name implies, which is "civility." When you espouse any point of view that infers otherwise, you are actively contributing to the downfall of society.

Blog Navigation

You are on page 1 of 73 pages.

Tag Cloud