For Trillian, I found a cool MSN Messenger type skin. Makes Trillian act just like MSN. I switched over to that skin because I was sorta tired of hearing the ole AOL sounds throughout my online experience. I think I’m going to show this one to Mike. He seems stuck on MSN. I’ve tried to persuade him to use Trillian…since he does have an AIM account.
By now, everyone really should be using Trillian for their instant messaging experience. AOL is so old and antiquated.
That computer I’m trying to fix? Well apparently the hard drive is defunct. The repair utility on Windows 2000 has said that twice. I can take a hint. So I’m off to find a cheap hard drive. The friends told me that they can’t afford to fix it now. However if I can find a really cheap hard drive….I just might donate it. Its for camp use. Besides. It looks like a decent computer. I’m sure it could roar if I could get it working.
So its Best Buy time in Tennessee. Or maybe Staples or Office Max since they are closer than the Rivergate location of Best Buy.
I’m also going to look at webcams. Those are cheap too and it is sorta cool to see friends online… The problem is that I only know a few people who use them. And Marie Pickler never let me see her on the webcam. What’s up with that?
And the kids seem to be bugging me already to see the retreat video. Specifically that lame basketball game. Amazingly they’ve asked me to put it on this website. They don’t seem to understand bandwidth constraints. Somehow these kids think I can punch a few buttons and magically the basketball game will appear here in Real Video. No so, grasshopper. During the filming of it, I was thinking “They’re using up all the tape on footage of a game no one will want to watch.” But apparently not. Me thinks I’ll put it in the VCR to show to the kiddies. It’ll be a big hit for the first minute or two, then we’ll have to fast forward through most of it. Me, I filmed good stuff. Interviews. Rolling down a hill. I wish I could have gotten the sunrise, but alas, I never woke up that early.
Utility Rooms Behind Every Door
Our El Salvador mission report was last night. Personally I think we assume that the congregation knows alot more than what they do know about these trips. Start from the beginning. Explain as if they haven’t ever heard of the country of El Salvador.
Anyways they asked me to do the opening prayer, which I royally messed up (I felt) but the rest of the congregation either wasn’t listening or didn’t care.
Some final thoughts about this retreat. Friday night I was put in a situation which I did not want to be in. It took a bit of convincing, but finally a compromise was reached. The powers that be may loathe me for this compromise. Mayhaps I’m just living with ghosts of the past. Or maybe I’m just trying to keep the peace. Apparently others didn’t blame me, either.
Saturday night they played capture the flag. Again, another game which I don’t participate in, simply because I am not athletic and don’t see what the big deal about this game. But it was kinda intreging. Such as the vastness of the darkness. The empty field. The long explanation of the rules. I think an empty field is better than anything Short Mountain can offer. Capture the flag at Short Mountain causes chiropracters to pull hamstrings.
I’m gonna take an electric sander to that graffiti in the girls cabins. The graffiti seems to be written recently with lame “Retreat 2002” written abundantly. The wood is unpainted and the graffiti easily sands off. I figure an electric sander + extension cords = no graffiti.
With no graffiti around, budding artists will be less likely to draw on them. Leaving your mark on someone else’s property is just lame.
I did find the answer to what $96K buys these days. The basement of the main cabin looks great. I was promised a conference room, but it was more of a waiting area in the main hallway. That’s where the leather couch and chair were. Nice bathrooms too. Unisex. You couldn’t tell who’s they were. Utility rooms behind every door…seemingly.
They did get their money’s worth with this expenditure. It was needed. New windows and doors on the main cabin. I won’t miss those screened-in doors that had a distinct slamming sound.
While everyone else was cleaning up, John and I drove down to the creek to see if we could scout out any good place to hang a rope swing. There wasn’t anything that distinctly stood out in my mind. All I could see was poision ivy. I hope for a better solution. John and I agreed to meet up again about this rope situation once the weather (and the temperature of the creek) was warmer.
P.S. Josh Hunter has put up a new discussion board. The Burkas are posting there. Interesting.
Retreat @ Taylor
Somethings always wrong I guess. But it was a good retreat over all.
I arrived early. 2PM. The caretaker has an ancient computer chugging along with Windows 95…..probably needs Windows 3.1 back on it. Now I know why this computer was given away. Trashing a bunch of programs didn’t clear up its half gig hard drive. Another newer, yet broken computer is available. I’ve brought it home with me in hopes that my brother-in-law can lay hands on it for healing. Apparently the hard drive isn’t recognizable.
Friday night I had a decision to make. Either I could stay grumpy the entire weekend or I could have a good time. After my Scottsville friends arrived it wasn’t hard to decide to have a good time. Jess, Rachel, and Tabitha were there. Smiling faces. Mingling.
Anyways the green t-shirts are the best. Its the type of green that is my favorite color. Somewhere between yellow and green, but more green than yellow. Slimer color.
Afterwards I went to Allen County’s band concert today. The kids requested my presence. It was good. I had no idea Jessica was so talented. She received alot of awards for her dedication to band. She’ll go far these days.
Still, it was kinda strange to be in the same high school auditorium which only a few years back had hosted the funeral for Elizabeth. Her presence wasn’t lost either. The band played songs written by a cancer patient. They gave out the Elizabeth Stone award to a band student.
I’m pretty tired. I’ll write more later on, pending any empty threats.
What does $96K Buy These Days?
They tell me $96,000 worth of improvements have been put into Taylor Christian Camp since last year. I guess we’ll see what $96K buys these days. Probably a deer head, air conditioning and alot of other improvements. I’ve been told what they’ve done to it. I’m anxious to see it for myself.
So I’m driving up early to help the caretaker with their computer problems. One of those “We got a used computer but don’t know what to do with it” type of problems. Those happen all the time. I search around for internet service providers in the area, but they’re not so sure they’re ready for the internet just yet.
I’ll probably stop and have lunch in Scottsville…Subway most likely. My stomach might not be able to take anything else. Montezuma will have his revenge. Supper might be hard to find. A 20 minute drive back to Sville might be in order.
Anyways I’m teaching the high schoolers (a first for me, at least among this group). I’d rather not teach. Mainly because there are so many people who can do it much better than I can. I hate my inability to teach. To easily look stupid in front of people.
No updates through this weekend. I’ve got to give you a break somehow.
P.S. The beard is gone.
May Day
Its May already. Summer is just about here. May Day. I remember 2 years ago I was stuck on a 24 hour train ride from Shanghai to Xi’an. Those were the days. That’s how I spent my May Day. No big rally. No showcase of the Communist army. Just a long slow train ride to Xi’an. And seemlingly EVERY Chinese person in the country was out traveling those days, except those working at the tourist attractions.
Was the phrase “Wild horses couldn’t drag me away” coined by the Rolling Stones? Or was the phrase already around before the song came along? Its a good song, very atypical of a rock group.
And I got my tape player in the car fixed….for now. VW would only replace the whole radio…which might cost upwards of $300…who knows. So I got a tape cleaner at Walmart for 2 bucks and it seems to work now.
Story of the Day
It probably is imagined, but I do get the feeling people shying away from me. I don’t know why. Not as enthusiastic as before. People may read this…hanging on every word. When the story of the day turns sour, they automatically think I might be a negative person. That’s not true. I try to be positive many times. Its just this is an outlet to gripe. Or to share news that you might find interesting.
My brother-in-law and I have been trying to get these wooden coasters cut. We’re going to be using these coasters at camp for awards. Each kid gets an award on the last day. Something to take home with them. The only problems are finding the material and getting it cut properly. Both have been hurdles to overcome. I’m getting anxious about it, yet camp isn’t but a month away. Just a month to panic.
So like I said, I did get the photos from El Salvador onto a CD. I decided against putting together a slideshow on 2 reasons. 1) We had plenty of pictures to fill up a CD without the extra slideshow stuff. 2) I probably couldn’t find music which everyone would be satisified with. If I used secular music somebody would hate it. If I used instrumental Christian music, somebody would object. If I used acapella music, I probably wouldn’t be able to find enough suitable music. Acapella isn’t exactly a hot music item, you know.
I put together pictures from the El Salvador trip here. None of me, thankyouverymuch.
So the retreat at Taylor is this weekend. I’m looking forward to seeing some friends from Scottsville, but not necessarily the retreat itself. Difficult to explain, I know. Maybe things will change once I get up there. Taylor has alot of good memories.
My Own CD
There was a girl in our El Salvador group who made up her own CD to give out to everyone. Most if it consisted of showtunes and contemporary Christian music. Not my cup of tea, but whatever floats your boat, you know.
I’d like to make up my own CD to give out to friends…on trips and junk like that. But then again some of my music some people might object to for some odd reason or another. Brainstorming. Here’s what would be on my CD:
- Better Than Ezra – “Desperately Wanting” – Kevin Griffin sings this with such passion. Great song.
- The White Stripes – “Seven Nation Army” – My current favorite song right now. I still can’t believe its done with just a guitar and drumset. I confirmed this was true when the Stripes performed on Conan earlier this week.
- Cake – “Comfort Eagle” – Not many people get this song. It appears to be about televangelism.
- Foo Fighters – “Everlong” – A true classic in its own right. Its lyrics are very meaningful to me.
- Oasis – “Live Forever” – Another great song, usually overlooked by mainstream media.
There are probably a few others I’d add. I just can’t think of them right now. As you can tell, these songs are heavy on the guitar sounds.
Meanwhile, I really need to get my tapedeck fixed in my car. It’s been going haywire, causing much pain and stress in my daily drives without my music. I forced to listen to whatevery corporate radio puts out. It’s not a pretty site.
Sometime in this millenium
El Salvador debriefing was tonight. I did have CDRs of pictures for everyone, which put everyone in a good mood….that and the ice cream.
The only thing I brought up was how we should give every kid who comes thought the line a toy. Perhaps collecting some McDonaldland Happy Meal toys are in order.
I probably will shave my beard sometime soon. My dad says that its not my best feature. Perhaps I will downgrade to a goatee….then eventually shave it off entirely. Especially if I get a job interview sometime in this millenium.
I haven’t felt like writing in this thing lately. Perhaps it is just a phase. I’ve been getting some mean looks, so I’m not sure if it is because of this or just my face in general. Yep, it must be my face.
Lame
This weblog is hugely lame. I don’t know why I write in it. As if this is some kind of ego trip for myself. Nothing is happening tonight worth writing about. Thanks for playing. Here are your lovely parting gifts.
More Questions Than Answers
I have driven that road from Scottsville to Mt. Juliet tons of times. Those endless street lines of 231 and 109. Now I’m coming back with more questions than answers. Camp meeting today in Portland. Then a visit to Scottsville for their PM services.
I think there might have been some personality clashes among others in a previous meeting. It’s all 3rd party stuff, not involving me. I’m not likely to stand back and let the clash continue to happen. I just want everyone to get along. And don’t worry. Everyone will get along…at least in lipservice. It’s little comments that are taken the wrong way which cause unnecessary friction. I’m trying to be everyone’s friend here. The peacmaker. Jimmy Carter. Switzerland. Gunning for the Nobel Peace Prize, ya know?
My church doesn’t participate in this particular camp. So I go on my own….either through inheritance or though legacy. That, my friend, is why I’m a guest here. So I realize guests don’t put their legs up on coffee table and do other stupid stuff which might make it difficult to be invited back over again. So I don’t do anything which would not let me come back.
Still I’m not good at reading people. On a totally different note, when someone tells me something, but deep down thinks the opposite, I stress about it. Mostly because I’m fearful of what others think of me. Have I said something wrong that made them think less of me? Eggshell walking here. Its not an easy thing. Still, I think I’m overstressing over it. Most people like me, or at least say they do. They keep me around for some strange reason. I am very much aware that I’m a guest here. And I try to keep a low profile. Not offering any strong opinions one way or another. Only when pressed, do I offer my opinion. At least to this group of people.
Anyways Brian did a good job on his short devo tonight. One year ago he probably wouldn’t have done it. Shelton has done a good job at trying to get all the young men involved in leading worship services publically.
Our next door neighbor was taken by ambulance last night to Summit Hospital. His wife couldn’t wake him. He’s pretty feeble. He is 86 years old and had a stroke not too long ago. They still can’t wake him. They took him off of life support today, but he kept breathing. So now he’s breathing without life support. Laying in a hospital bed. Can’t wake him. Explain that one to me.
I’m not stressing too much about it, since I don’t know him too well. But he has been one of the constants in my life. From when I was very little growing up, I remember him. He kept an immaculate garden and always kept his lawn mowed. Now other neighbors are chipping in to help make sure his lawn gets mowed.
I’m not really sure what will happen in this circumstance. Most people don’t live too long without life support. But they call that a coma, don’t they?