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Wednesday, 26 August 2009

Xanga Revived!

Yikes!!
<brushes cobwebs and dust off of blog>
<coughs and hacks over dust cloud!>
<turns on fan to blow away dust>

Whew! Looking better!
Whoa, it sure has been a while!! Over a YEAR since the last post!!! Not good. For a while now, the majority of my social networking has been on...I had better whisper this...Facebook! Yeah, that "evil" rival of Xanga! Much more superior to Xanga, I might add! Um, yeah...anyway! I might as well put in a little update here and now about the current state of my life.

For starters, I've been more or less out of a job for a while now. I worked for the U.S. Census Bureau a little this spring as an enumerator, but that was only temporary. I also got a few electrical jobs here and there through a friend from church, and I've been helping out around home with our lodge and cabins. That's basically it. This crummy economy sure doesn't help the situation!

I'm interested in a career in graphic design and web design. This summer I purchased Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium, which is, in my opinion, the best graphic and web design software out there! I've been learning it through online training videos, and hopefully I'll get good at it sometime and be able to go somewhere with that!

Well, I think I'll wrap this one up...maybe I'll add more soon!

Sunday, 20 July 2008

   The other day at work, I was on a job that would have been a bit easier if we only would have had the right part available! After trying it one way without success, the other installer brought me some other materials to do it a different way. Among these were two connectors, possibly the last two that we had of that type.
   The first one I was able to put on fine, but then I discovered I had lost the little bag that contained the center pin for the other connector. Oops! We really wanted to get that job done that day, since it was a business.
   Well, I prayed that I'd find that thing.  I looked on the roof, down on the ground, in several gutters, I even checked out one of their trucks that I think backed in about the time I had lost it. I still couldn't find it. Finally though, after my fervant prayers, I found it in the gutter on the other side of the roof from where I had been! I may have looked there before, and just didn't notice it. Anyway I had it, and was thankful to God for helping me find it!
   Now just as it was looking like things were OK again, the very pin I had lost went and broke when I was putting it on! Rrrrghh! Talk about frustrating! Oh well, I'm still thankful God helped me find it anyway!

Saturday, 28 June 2008

What a coincidence!

OK, sometimes life throws us some interesting coincidences!

   For quite a while, I had thought that I should get my timing belt changed on my car. I kept putting it off and putting it off. Finally, a few weeks ago, I got more serious about it and called around for some quotes on what it would cost.
   About that time, I was offered a new job. The day before I started my new job, my timing belt broke! Just when I was getting quotes, it goes and breaks on me before I get it changed! Fortunately, though, I didn't have to get an expensive valve job done! (On some cars, when the timing belt breaks, the valves can get crushed by the pistons, causing costly valve damage.)
   Now just two days before my breakdown, I lost my internet service. We had a thunderstorm that evening, and I'm fairly certain my modem was fried from a power surge that came through the router from a device that had no surge suppression at the time. (Yeah, I know that's a long sentance!)
   The odd thing is...my internet service provider, Lightspeed Solutions, is the very company I was getting a new job with! So, the first day of my new job, after servicing other customer's equipment with Darren, I came home with a new modem and serviced my own! It's funny how things like that happen!
   My new job has been going well! The other installer, Darren, has been training me. Eventually they'll send me out on my own doing installs. So far we have done several installs, as well as tech calls.

Saturday, 22 March 2008

Back from Nicaragua and Costa Rica

Well, I'm back from our youth's mission trip to Nicaragua! I've been back for several weeks now...that shows how well I update! Anyway, the trip was great!

We left on Feb. 15, and arrived in Costa Rica that afternoon. We then headed directly for Nicaragua. The next morning we went to northern Nica. to visit a small, remote village. It was way back in a bumpy dirt road! We met with the locals there, and stayed overnight.

This is a cute little boy from the village.

In the morning, we had a church service with them, then headed back to our base.

On Monday and Tuesday (also Wednesday for the guys), we had a work project. We put up fence, worked on a house (roof, doors, etc.), put up an outhouse, etc.! Below is a picture of the house.

Monday night we went to the beach--that was cool! Tuesday night we took a boat ride with some fishermen, and afterwards we ate fish--whole fish...minus the guts! By this I mean they were gutted, but were still on the bone...and still had the eyeballs!! Gross, you say? It was actually pretty good!

This is what was left after I was finished! I should have took a picture of it before I started eating!

Wednesday evening we visited the Managua dump, where there actually were people living. It was really sad. Here are some pictures.

Eye-opening.

It was awful to realize how miserable they lived, especially the children. We passed out sandwiches, candy, flip-flops, etc., which were gladly received.

Thursday we headed back to Costa Rica. The next 2 days we did some fun things. We went to a place that had monkeys, butterflies, birds, snakes, and awesome waterfalls! The butterflies and birds were in enclosed areas that you could walk through. It was an interesting place!

A beautiful waterfall on the way there!

Butterfly cacoons...pretty neat!

Saturday we went on a canopy tour--that was awesome! They put you in harnesses and you glide through the trees on cables!

It was a great trip! I'm thankful to God for the great experiece I had and for our overall health and safety on the trip--no major problems! I am glad for the opportunity I had to serve God there.

Sunday, 10 February 2008

Mission Trip to Nicaragua and Costa Rica
   This Friday, I am leaving on a mission trip to Nicaragua and Costa Rica with our church youth group! We will meet at the church at 2:30 A.M.(!) and will fly out of Akron/Canton at 7:15 A.M., so there won't be much sleep that night, if any! We will fly to Costa Rica, and then drive into Nicaragua.
   Some of the activities we will be doing are working at an orphanage and passing out bags of things to needy children. The bags will have various items such as toothbrush and toothpaste, crayons, coloring book, toys, stickers, etc.
   I think there are around 30 people going. Please pray for us as we go. Here are some needs you can pray for.

Pray...
1. That God would be glorified in all that we do
2. That Satan would not hinder the work that God wants to do through our efforts
3. That we would have safety throughout our trip
4. That we would have good health
5. That we would be sensitive to cultural differences
6. That we would all get along with each other(!)
7. That we would be drawn closer to God through this experience
I'm not sure if I'll be posting any pictures until I get back; I may not have internet access there. In fact, if I don't take my laptop, I might not even have access to a computer! Yikes! Oh, I'll manage fine, I think!
Well, my sister is back from her honeymoon, and we're going over to their place tonight to watch them open gifts! I should post some pics of their wedding! Hopefully I'll get that done before I leave on my trip!