I don’t know what it is, but i have this strange affinity for dialup modems. I entered a tithing batch for the first time today since I’ve been called to my new position as Assistant Financial Clerk and when I sent the batch to the church, I found myself excited about the fact that I was using an external 33Kbps FaxModem under Windows 95. I don’t know why. Perhaps it’s becuase it reminds me about how far the Internet has come or perhaps it’s just because it reminds me of when I was first getting online and my 56K v.90 modem was the latest and most cool thing to happen in residential Internet. Strange as it may seem, it was cool.
Even more cool was the fact that I was using a static (DOS Based) program to enter things. Although I feel a UNIX based solution would be a better fit, I find it amazing that the Church continues to “live within its means” by employing just the technology it needs rather than the technology that it needs to look cool. Makes me feel guilty about having a 4Mb connection to my house. :)
One of my good friends come through town last night with her husband and daughter. I’ve not seen Ashley for a LONG time; 5 years to be exact.
They were stopping through on their way to Vegas. I didn’t want them to make that drive too late so we offered to let them stay in our spare room, which they accepted. It was good to see them. Ashley has changed a bit (her hair is short, but looks good), Brian is a lot like I remember him, but seems to have lost his wild streak (haven’t we all?).
We stayed up last night talking, but not too late. They left just about 15 minutes ago to head out. They’re moving to San Deigo as Brian is starting S.E.A.L. training with the Navy in a week or so. It was good to know that they’re doing alright. It was certainly a joy to see them.
The first semester of this year shoudln’t be too bad. School was pretty decent today. I think I’m going to enjoy all of my classes with all of my instructors/professors.
Strangest thing happened though. In my ethics class, during roll-call, the name Mark Cropper was called. I knew a Mark Cropper growing up in Murray, he was my friends youngest brother. I moved from Murray nearly 13 years ago. LOL. He’s almost 8 years younger than me and in my same class at college. Okay, maybe not 8, but he was a LOT younger than my friend, his older brother, Matt. How strange. I talked to him for a few minutes after class. Seems like a nice kid. The funniest thing is that he said he remembered me.
Other than that, things were pretty uneventful. Mostly, we just covered our sylabi. I do have some light reading, but I do think I’m going to enjoy this semester. Yay for not having any math classes!
Also, I failed to mention that we received our new camera on Monday. I’ve been playing with it, but not really doing anything much. I need to get some vido transfered over to the new tape before I start filming. I can access the still images from my SD Card. I’ll take a few test pictures and post them up. I’m overly impressed with it though. The 1.33Mp 1/4″ CCD takes great web-ready pictures. I’m very happy with the unit acutally. I found a Samsonite case at Walmart that I’d like to get for it. I also found a cool site that you can get MiniDV tapes at for cheap! Film ON!
Well, tomorrow school starts. In preparation, Corinne and I spent a well needed weekend in Las Vegas with our friends Chris and Marta. We had an enjoyable and relaxing weekend. We went to dinner and just enjoyed one another’s company.
Monday was uneventful as was today. Mostly, I’m bugged that I just spent $300 on books for school. Oh well, welcome to the world of higher education. Books get more pricey every semester.
I did get a new fish whilst in Las Vegas. We bought a new plecostomus; an algae eater. He’s much larger than the other two that I’ve had. Gil keeps messing with thim though and it’s really iritating me.
School is going to be a challenge this semester. Fortunately for me, I know I can get through it. It will be interesting though.
I’m taking Philosophy 1010, Biology 1010, American Institutions (History 1010) and Intro to Drama. Yay!
I got authorization from my wife yesterday to purchase a new toy. I’ve been waiting to get a new camcorder for a long time. I had my eye on a few other JVC models, but finally settled on the GR-D200US. It retails for about $800.00 in stores and I got it for $550 shipped, so I feel good about the deal that I got.
I’ve always felt it important to be able to film my child’s life. I don’t know why. I was lucky enough borrow Jim and Alaina’s corder so I could film her birth. I’m happy about that. I want my child to be able to look back and see what she was like when she was younger.
I plan on making a few different tapes. First, I’ll make the “birthday” tape that is only used every year on her birthday. Basically, I want to be able to watch her yearly progress is short clips. Then I’ll just have another tape that runs and collects things throughout the year.
The corder will allow me to make video clips that I can e-mail from my tapes. I’m hoping that this will be a good way to keep the “distance” relatives (which in my case is everyone) in touch with what’s happening with the baby. :)
The more I think about it, the more I realize what cool time this is to be alive. We have so many conveniences and so many cool things that we can utilize to make our lives more enjoyable. I think about the impact that technology has had in God’s work. Geneaology is growing at an exponential rate because of it. It’s amazing. I can’t help but wonder what else is in store for us.
