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Darkness in the World of Academia

I’ve been in IT at Indiana University since 2008. In that time, Bradley Wheeler has always been the CIO, head of all technology.

I really don’t know where this post will lead me, but I feel I need to write it to get it out of my head, the subject matter bothers me.

Recently, and shockingly it was announced by the president of IU that he would “retire” his role, take a sabbatical and then return to his roots as a professor at the Kelley School of Business.

Replacing him? The head of my very own department. A person that has went from essentially a nobody that I had never heard of before, to being the head of IT in just a short 2 years. It doesn’t pass my sniff test. Not by a long shot.

When I was just beginning to really make a name for myself in the pit of nameless souls called IT, Brad would come to the office I worked at and talk to me on a level that was personal. He would talk about how the office in which I resided was one of the first big projects he had been in charge of. My office at the time had a long curved desk, with a meeting area that was turreted with long vertical windows.

He spoke of that office like it was his baby. Genuine care and pride. He never made me feel like the hourly nobody that I was, and never did. I appreciated his vision and I appreciated his leadership.

As time marched on, and I did create a name for myself I was given a bonus and a letter from Brad. It was for being a IU Brand Ambassador, in my work in helping other centers of the School of Medicine across the state. I hold that letter in the highest of regard. It sits framed, right next to my degree from IU.

To get to my point however. I don’t think this is something Brad wanted to do, I think it’s internal university politics at play, with him paying the price.

The current lead of my division came to us more like a blue collar person, not a white collar leadership person. His speech was rough, his ideas even more obtuse. Overtime it was like he went through a makeover for executives. I found it very odd, and still do.

At the same point, we are all working off campus and working on paths to return to a new normal. My leadership are pushing unreasonable expectations to migrate our computers to a different build, regardless of what problems this causes the users of said computers. Users who have little to know real computer / operating system knowledge, medical research labs that are working hard to fight cancer, and computers that are accessed remotely by users that need them for their job.

They don’t care, they just want their dashboards to say X numbers of computers have this. There is no security threat, there is no significant reason for the change other than the change itself.

I sent a message to several of my research labs and faculty members to make them aware of this today. What came out of that message was one thing, consent. That’s what is missing here, consent.

My people rely on these computers to do work, and store data important to their work on them. If I were to blatantly rebuild these machines, there is a possibility that data that is important to them would be lost. To me, an unacceptable risk.

I haven’t connected all of the dots yet, but there has been increasing measures to combine IU and IU Health’s computing resources. Those measures didn’t increase until the head of my division started his role. Coincidence? I really don’t think it is.

I sent Brad an email, not expecting a response. I had to air some of my grievances at what is going on. He replied in kind, and thanked me for my kind words. I know he will be okay, I know I’ll be okay. I just do not like the direction I see the world of education going. A world that welcomed me in where the real world never did.

VCCA

On Saturday, I went to my first meeting as a member of the Indiana Chapter of the VCCA. What is the VCCA you ask? It’s the Vintage Chevrolet Club of America. Why did I join? My father was a member for well over 25 years. I went with him to many meetings over the years, tapering off my attendance as I got older.

Since I am getting to a point where the Camaro is now drive-able, I felt it proper to join in honor of this club that meant so much to him. I was sure at least some would remember him, and possibly remember me. Boy was I surprised.

The Indiana chapter is based out of Lafayette, but events happen all around the state to be inclusive of those who don’t live in the northwest portion of the state.

At first I was confused, as I thought we were meeting outside. There were several old Chevrolets in the parking lot – but I didn’t see anyone who I suspected were part of the club.

That’s when “John” if I remember his name correctly walked out the side door. I sat with him and his girlfriend and we chatted up a storm. It was nice.

The director of the chapter walked up to me not too long after we started talking, and said, “Yep, you’re definitely your fathers son.” He remembered my dad! Score. I also talked with a man who got along well with my father, named Gordon. He has a nice 70 Chevelle convertible.

We then went for ice cream at a place just down the road, based on the name alone, The Frigid Frog. They had some pretty good ice cream, it definitely lifted the old folks spirits, ha.

After ice cream, we then went to Hunter’s Honey Farm in Martinsville. Taking long and winding county roads in a cruise. While there, the owner gave us a tour of the place, and explained many things about bees that I didn’t know. He explained the whole process of making honey and candles from wax.

We then ended our tour and everyone was checking out the store. My back was really hurting, so I told everyone that I had a wonderful day and I couldn’t wait to see them again and drove home.

I then mentally crashed, it was a long day. A good one however. I finally understood fully why it was so important to my dad.

Interestingly enough, while they were all interested in the Camaro there were many questions about dad’s truck. I hope to show it all to them one day. I’ve been working hard on getting the Camaro into presentable shape for them. I hope to bring it to the next meet in Anderson.

Oopsie

This week I’ve been working on recovering the sail panels and headliner on the Camaro. I had purchased fabric and glue weeks ago, but just made a realization. I bought the wrong color.

I’ve already cut the fabric, and I’ve already placed it on my sail panels. So there’s $50 down the drain.

The interior of this car is technically called “Medium Dark Grey.” Finding it however is not an easy task. The material I bought is called “Dark Grey/Charcoal” and per the image on Amazon and the review that stated it matched perfectly to a camaro with “Medium Dark Grey” interior, I was sold.

Images can be deceptive however. It’s actually a lot darker than this image shows.

Here is an image of one of my sail panels covered. I told myself it would lighten up.

Here’s the original headliner. Notice the dark grey area in the middle. That’s what I’m going for. To me, they looked very similar.

So where do I go from here? A part of me says to just stick with it. The perfectionist and person who wants to make this as accurate as possible says no.

So I’ve just ordered more fabric. Listed as “Light Grey” but with a online swatch that looks identical to what it should be.

I don’t look forward to taking the fabric off of those sail panels, but it must be done. I was really looking forward to enjoying the car this summer. That goal keeps becoming further and further away it seems.

It’s a Jeep Thing

I replaced the Rubicon stickers that adorned the hood of my Jeep. The originals were in sad shape when I bought it. My uncle, a man who makes vinyl signs and even stickers police cars took a rubbing of the original stickers but never made me new ones.

At some point, I got a steal on some new ones that are a different design than what I had. They emulate what the new “JL” wrangler has. I have the previous model, designated “JK”.

As a man who used to professionally detail vehicles, sticker removal is part of the job. I was in for a surprise though. I can only assume that the adhesives used have changed in the last 20 years. I first used a sticker squeegee, but it didn’t work at all. So I moved to a razor blade in combination with Goo Gone. I was able to get the sticker removed, but that adhesive did not want to leave the paint. Nevertheless, I persisted.

I was so exhausted from the removal that I rushed the installation. While not visible in this image, there are many bubbles in the stickers.

It definitely makes a difference however. I now have 100k maintenance to do, and I need to change the hinges on the doors as they are corroding.

This Jeep has been good to me, with not many issues. I’m appreciative of that.

Answers, they be coming

In the continuing saga of the speedometer reading incorrectly on the IROC I received some answers today.

I took the differential cover off. Thankfully the ring gear had the teeth numbers etched into it, 13:42. What does that mean? That means there are 13 teeth on the pinion gear, 42 on the ring gear. If you divide the teeth on the ring gear by the teeth on the pinion gear, you get the ratio. In this case, it equals 3.23 which is a widely used ratio.

From that, I now know what gears my transmission needs in order to display the speed traveled correctly thanks to this post on the 3rd gen forums. I went ahead and ordered a 38 tooth (blue) driven, and 15 tooth (gray) drive gears from eBay. These gears are commonly known by their colors.

I was a little apprehensive about taking the cover off, as it’s something I’ve never had to do before on a vehicle. I had a plan however. I purchased a different cover that has a fill and drain plug, the OEM one does not. The Dana 44 axles on my Jeep have them.

This differential cover is sold all over under different name brands, but all of them are made by the same place, LPW Racing Products. I purchased it directly from them through, you guessed it an auction on eBay. Besides having fill & drain plugs, it also has a girdle to help strengthen the already “weak” 10 bolt rear end this car has.

I also received the gauge clusters I had purchased from eBay, and was able to successfully remove the needle on the speedometer from one of them. I then used that needle and shaft from the donor cluster to rebuild my original.

I still need to purchase bulbs for my cluster. Not knowing how long they have been in there, but knowing how hard it is to remove the cluster – I want to replace them all. 1 of them is missing/broken.

In other news, I have removed the headliner with the help of my daughter. It definitely went better with the help of someone than had I attempted to do it alone.

Those dark areas show the original color

Last night, I took all of the old material and foam off. The backer is quite fragile, some small spots came off with the material or while I was taking the foam off with a combination of a vacuum and sponge.

That light area in the upper left quadrant came off

By the end of the weekend, I hope to have the car back together. When I receive the gears for the transmission I plan on having a shop change them. I might then have to remove the cluster again if it requires more calibration.

Whew. So much going on in such little time.

Dat Ass

I’m talking about the IROC. Part of diagnosing why the speedometer was reading incorrectly is knowing exactly what the gear ratio of the rear end is, and how many teeth the 2 gears in the transmission that drive the speedometer have.

Today, I did the easiest method for finding that with results that were not expected. Per the VIN and the RPO codes on the car, it should have a 2.77 gear ratio in the rear end, with a limited slip posi-traction differential.

For those of you that I just lost, that ratio means the driveshaft should turn 2.77 times for every time the rear wheels turn once. Limited slip is a form of posi-traction, which enables both wheels to spin at the same time. For this car, the other option was an open differential, where only 1 wheel actually provides the power.

I jacked the car off the ground, placed my camera under the driveshaft and rotated 1 wheel towards the front of the car.

As Described

The results? The driveshaft spun about 3.5 times. What? It should have only spun 2.77 times!

I knew “something” had happened while my dad and stepmother went on a trip, but didn’t know if it was the transmission or the rear end. I posted on Facebook about it where my stepmom and her brother, my uncle argued about the subject. I tend to trust him more about mechanical things like this, he did paint it after all.

My next steps are to remove the differential cover to inspect and verify the gear ratio. I also need to check the transmission gears. There is one located on the tail shaft, and one that is driven from that gear to turn the speedometer cable.

Unfortunately, I believe this is a Borg Warner 9 bolt rear end, made in Australia. I have done a lot of searching tonight and have only found used sets of the 2.77 ring and pinion gears for sale. Replacing these two parts is not a cheap venture, so it will be put on the back burner for now. I’m merely posting this for documentation and as my dad would infamously say to make a “historical document.”

My headliner material should be arriving on Friday, and I have been in the progress of removing the trim and parts to take the existing original headliner out. I hope to be successful in doing this, as it’s something I have no experience in. I will videotape and obviously post here about it.

I Can’t Drive 55

Here’s a setback I wasn’t expecting. I broke the needle on the speedometer of the Camaro. I’ve noticed that it’s been reading up to 10mph too high, sometimes as low as 3. I was trying to adjust it by using some advice that I sourced from the internet, and boom.

What good is an instrument if you can’t read its output?

The gauge cluster on this car is a relic of the past, sharing the same kind and style of components that vehicles 30+ years older than it have. Vehicles of today use digital instrumentation (even if you have physical gauges). Odometers are readouts on a screen, this one is a dial that shows up to 5 digits of miles.

I spent all last night researching and trying to find answers to the problem I’m facing. You would think there are replacement parts and people who are well versed in instrumentation woes who have said something on the internet right? Wrong. I’m coming up pretty empty on this one.

Camaros of this generation came with three, count em, 3 different speedometers. They came in 85, 115 and 145 MPH varieties. With this one having the 145 one, which is hard to find. From what I have found so far, each one had a different “spring” in it, which I can only assume helped it be accurate. Thankfully I have all of my parts.

Further complicating things, is the fact that many moons ago, there was an issue with the transmission. This makes me question whether the gears that drive the speedometer cable are the correct ones. My stepmother told me that my father chose to have a re-manufactured one installed at a dealership. My father never told me.

I just procured a 85 MPH speedometer on eBay, and am bidding on an entire instrument cluster. My next steps are to determine all of the gear identities so I’m not assuming things that may not be true. I need to find out what speedometer gears are in the transmission, and the actual gear ratio on the rear end, as well as the tire diameter.

With that information, I can make informed decisions on where to go from here. I will also continue to prepare to replace the headliner and recover the sail panels, possibly doing a transmission service as well. I figure it’ll be better to accomplish these tasks since the car is down right now.

I sure didn’t expect to have such a detour, but I might as well make the best of it that I can.

.

Period. Normally used as punctuation to end a sentence. However, I’m writing about the other commonly used meaning of the word, menstruation in the female of our species.

I was told the other day over text by my ex wife that our daughter, “is no longer a little girl.”

I’ve missed her significantly, as I haven’t seen her in over 3 weeks now. It could be why I’ve been feeling so down lately.

With my oldest daughter, mum was the word on the subject of her growing up. I wasn’t to know anything. With my youngest, things are different. It’s okay for dad to know. She’ll always be my little girl, but she’s now onto adolescence.

I’m nervous and scared at the same time. I just hope she knows that she doesn’t have to hide this part of her life with her old man.

Cruise Your Worries Away

This “new normal” has really been getting to me lately. My mind went through a period of depression as it normally does when it comes to change, but I am finding my escapes from it now. Those being my vehicles and my home. I have a laundry list of things I want to accomplish and that gives my soul energy.

Friday I was working as normal, then lunch time came around. So I ate something, watched a little TV and decided to take the rest of the day off. But what do I do? The day started out raining and gloomy but the clouds parted and it became beautiful outside. I know, take that Camaro out for a cruise!

So I did. I stopped to see several people who are important to me and this car. Namely my stepmother, my girlfriends parents and my car bro, Ira. He has a 87 IROC.

This is the first real drive I’ve ever taken the car out on, and I’ve got to say it was wildly different than the last time. The vibrations from braking are now gone. Due to my modifications to the proportioning valve, braking is balanced and effective.

While on the highway I did notice something that bugged me however. I was going the speed limit according to the speedometer, but was being passed like crazy. It seems the speedometer is off by about 10mph. This car has a mechanical speedometer. It involves a counterweight attached to the meter, and I think it is out of sync. It will take some tricky work to get this where it should be – but that’s one thing I have to get resolved as soon as possible! It’s going to drive me insane.

Yours truly, photo courtesy of my girlfriend’s dad

While at Ira’s he noticed something I hadn’t. The door moldings were gone on my car. I can only assume my uncle removed them when he painted the car. When I get the orange peel removed and the paint is where I finally want it, I will have to get these installed. I’ll probably have a body shop do it, to match the paint color and ensure proper installation.

While on the way back, I picked up my girlfriend on the side of the road and said “I normally don’t do this sort of thing, but your beautiful. Want to take a ride with me?” I think she loved it, and I did too.

With that cruise, a lot of the pressure I felt to get the car to a certain point before I did any driving suddenly removed itself. I still need to get the new struts installed but I’m going to take every opportunity I have to get out and drive at this point. I’ve had this car long enough to not enjoy it.

Car Therapy

I’ve been in a real funk lately. My mental status has been very low. Everything seems to be like Mount Everest at this point. It’s been beating me up, seriously.

So today, I decided to do something that generally cheers me up I worked on the Camaro. I had a laundry list of things to get done and most generally speaking, I accomplished them!

Over the winter, I spent over $1000 on parts to put on the car, with plans to do all of the work over the winter. Boy was I wrong. The inner bear who just wants to hibernate comes out in me in the winter.

I can proudly state the rear end work on the car is done at this point however. Now I just have to do the front, which includes the brakes, struts and strut mounts. Plus any rubber bushings or hoses that need to be replaced.

When I replaced the rear shocks, I had to pull the rear carpet section out of where it was to access the shock mounts. Placing it back was quite the struggle. I had to remove the back seat and remove a couple of screws on the plastic interior pieces in order to put the carpet back.

I then made a discovery that has really boggled my mind. The front seat belt holders were broken, and so I ordered some re-manufactured ones from Hawks. I was quite surprised to discover that the fabric used on the drivers side was maroon instead of grey. The passengers side is grey. I also found it interesting that the drivers side is longer than the passengers side by about 2 inches. I think the car was made on a Monday or Friday. Someone wasn’t paying attention. That’s for sure.

Old on Left, New in Middle, Seat Belt on Right

It’s been a while since I’ve made any real progress on the car. I haven’t posted anything new to YouTube, but I have shot some video. I just need to edit it. It feels good for a change.

I finished it off by installing the spare seat a Camaro buddy let me borrow since mine is still in Oklahoma, and due to stay at home orders/pandemic I haven’t went to get it. I will as soon as I can.

Then it was just a matter of putting the rear wheels back on and I now it’s finally a driveable car again. I’m still figuring out how to get a license plate, as our BMV offices have been giving some conflicting information on accessibility.

It’s been a long time since I’ve had this view

Tomorrow I’m going to clean up a few things in the rear of the car, get the old stereo out of it, and be done for a while. I want to actually enjoy this car this year – while I can.

I’m currently trying to make a schedule and figure out when I will do all of the front end work that I know will make the car about 100 times more fun to drive.