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The Trickster
13 years ago
Lately I've been wondering if there's a lesson I should be learning, but it hasn't dawned on me yet.
Starting about a month ago, I kicked off one of the longest strings of bad luck I've ever had. It all started when I was loading a new tune onto my truck. 3/4 of the way into the process, Windows 7 claimed the tuning software had froze. Unfortunately what this meant was that my PCM was just turned into a door stop because if the tune loading process is stopped at the wrong moment, it instantly corrupts the internal memory. I chalked this up to my luck running out as far as tuning goes. I'd gone over 50 tune loads without a hitch which is abnormally high. It was never a matter of if I'd brick a PCM, it was when.
The next day I saddled onto my trusty motorcycle as the sports car was down for repairs and rode it into work. I ended up taking a half day off work and rode 40 miles to the South side of Wichita (the bike has a seat that is incompatible with my butt) and bought a used PCM from a local salvage yard for $100. Using another PCM was going to use yet another license slot on my tuner (valued at $100 a slot), but I was OK with that as long as I was going to get the truck running that day. After connecting the tuner to the new PCM and accepting the use of another vehicle license, I soon ran into errors preventing me from being able to do anything. As it turns out, the PCM was for a 1996 Caprice with the 4.3 liter V8, not the 5.7 liter V8. This was kind of crucial as the tuner could not tune the 4.3 liter programming in the PCM.
The irony was that I could use the tuner to identify what the PCM was for so it should have known it was incompatible, but it still used a vehicle license before I got that far. The warranty claim with the tuner vendor is still pending on that matter.
So I was now left with two PCMs I couldn't use and a truck that still wouldn't run. Thankfully after a couple days without a vehicle, I got the sports car running so I at least had something with a roof to tool around in. Ultimately I sent both PCMs to a fellow in Ohio who, for $150, would repair the bricked PCM and reprogram both to share the same VIN and software. I'll get back to this later.
In the meantime, my cell phone began acting up in the high heat we've had lately. It has a handy knack for going into a reboot loop until it cools back down. Usually this is only if I take the battery out and leave the phone off for about a half hour. While I was contemplating to haggle with Verizon about renewing my phone a couple months early, they miraculously released a new over-the-air update for my two year old phone. It was labeled as fixing my specific problem, but I wasn't going to hesitate trying!
Now, while my phone seems to be doing better and is consuming less battery, it has rewarded me by attempting another update automatically at 2 AM for the last three days and rewards me by sounding off "DROID!" while I'm trying to sleep. Lovely. ;)
Amongst that stuff I've also had a handful of things break or go abnormally wrong, but they're not worth spelling out.
So, returning back to the PCM debacle, the repaired/programmed PCMs showed up on my door step today, hardly a week after I sent them (nice turn around!). Making sure to restart the netbook before I attempted to flash the tune onto the repaired PCM, I held my breath about an hour ago as I watched the progress bar slowly fill. After about 90%, my fears came to fruition... another bricked PCM.
The only thing I can figure is that the latest Windows 7 update is not playing nice with the software and now I'm forced to load XP on this netbook... I like to refer to it as the $300 update, in reference to what it has cost me so far.
So far I've been just shrugging it off and laughing about it. What else can I do? What good would getting mad about it do (not to say I haven't been frustrated)? Still, it makes me recall the stories I've heard on Native American lore about Coyote, The Trickster, and how he'd often play tricks and pranks on people to teach them lessons. Eerily accurate in some ways.
The only problem is I've yet to latch onto what that lesson is. ;)
Starting about a month ago, I kicked off one of the longest strings of bad luck I've ever had. It all started when I was loading a new tune onto my truck. 3/4 of the way into the process, Windows 7 claimed the tuning software had froze. Unfortunately what this meant was that my PCM was just turned into a door stop because if the tune loading process is stopped at the wrong moment, it instantly corrupts the internal memory. I chalked this up to my luck running out as far as tuning goes. I'd gone over 50 tune loads without a hitch which is abnormally high. It was never a matter of if I'd brick a PCM, it was when.
The next day I saddled onto my trusty motorcycle as the sports car was down for repairs and rode it into work. I ended up taking a half day off work and rode 40 miles to the South side of Wichita (the bike has a seat that is incompatible with my butt) and bought a used PCM from a local salvage yard for $100. Using another PCM was going to use yet another license slot on my tuner (valued at $100 a slot), but I was OK with that as long as I was going to get the truck running that day. After connecting the tuner to the new PCM and accepting the use of another vehicle license, I soon ran into errors preventing me from being able to do anything. As it turns out, the PCM was for a 1996 Caprice with the 4.3 liter V8, not the 5.7 liter V8. This was kind of crucial as the tuner could not tune the 4.3 liter programming in the PCM.
The irony was that I could use the tuner to identify what the PCM was for so it should have known it was incompatible, but it still used a vehicle license before I got that far. The warranty claim with the tuner vendor is still pending on that matter.
So I was now left with two PCMs I couldn't use and a truck that still wouldn't run. Thankfully after a couple days without a vehicle, I got the sports car running so I at least had something with a roof to tool around in. Ultimately I sent both PCMs to a fellow in Ohio who, for $150, would repair the bricked PCM and reprogram both to share the same VIN and software. I'll get back to this later.
In the meantime, my cell phone began acting up in the high heat we've had lately. It has a handy knack for going into a reboot loop until it cools back down. Usually this is only if I take the battery out and leave the phone off for about a half hour. While I was contemplating to haggle with Verizon about renewing my phone a couple months early, they miraculously released a new over-the-air update for my two year old phone. It was labeled as fixing my specific problem, but I wasn't going to hesitate trying!
Now, while my phone seems to be doing better and is consuming less battery, it has rewarded me by attempting another update automatically at 2 AM for the last three days and rewards me by sounding off "DROID!" while I'm trying to sleep. Lovely. ;)
Amongst that stuff I've also had a handful of things break or go abnormally wrong, but they're not worth spelling out.
So, returning back to the PCM debacle, the repaired/programmed PCMs showed up on my door step today, hardly a week after I sent them (nice turn around!). Making sure to restart the netbook before I attempted to flash the tune onto the repaired PCM, I held my breath about an hour ago as I watched the progress bar slowly fill. After about 90%, my fears came to fruition... another bricked PCM.
The only thing I can figure is that the latest Windows 7 update is not playing nice with the software and now I'm forced to load XP on this netbook... I like to refer to it as the $300 update, in reference to what it has cost me so far.
So far I've been just shrugging it off and laughing about it. What else can I do? What good would getting mad about it do (not to say I haven't been frustrated)? Still, it makes me recall the stories I've heard on Native American lore about Coyote, The Trickster, and how he'd often play tricks and pranks on people to teach them lessons. Eerily accurate in some ways.
The only problem is I've yet to latch onto what that lesson is. ;)
Also, what have you done to upset the trickster spirit?? Better make up for it somehow
I hope this helps clear the fog my friend~perhaps you can offer Coyote a victory token...let him think hes got one over on you..he should move on.