Off on a mission trip

I've been in a pre-trip crazed fog this week, as Don, the boys and I get ready to leave the country for a week on a medical mission trip to Guyana.

This is not a just going on vacation trip. We are bringing medical stuff (Don and other doctors will be seeing patients all next week) and other things, including stuff for us to pack for snacks. It's not like you can run to Walmart there if you forget something.

I am excited and nervous. It's a great opportunity to share the Gospel with others, and to provide help. But it's my first time doing something like this. I hope I serve God well down there and am the light He wants me to be.

I don't know if I will be able to update the blog from there - we are supposed to have Internet access, but who knows? If not you'll hear from me when I get back. :-)

List 5 reasons you are a geek (dork)

List 5 reasons you are a dork. And make them good reasons. Justify them. Explain them. Be loud and proud of how big a dork you are! Then pick the 5 biggest dorks you know and have them do the same.

Ok, Brenda challenged me on this, though I prefer the term, "Geekette."
Sooo...5 reasons...

1) I have built a computer from the case up.

2) I have Star Trek TNG, DS9, and VOY companions PLUS the Star Trek Encyclopedia which I use for references.

3) I have a stuffed Porthos in my office. (Porthos is the beagle in Star Trek: Enterprise)

4) My bookshelves have books from Star Trek, Forgotten Realms, and of course, The Lord of the Rings.

5) I have a Bible program on my PDA that I often use to follow the sermon.

Now...five fellow geeks (I assume they are people who might read this and have blogs...)

Nat, Dale, Evil Bill, Nelson, and even though he doesn't have a blog, Bryan, because he is truly a geek with a capital G.

He's now legal!

John passed his drivers' test without any trouble. I asked him where he wanted to go, and he said, "Dairy Queen." Worked for me, so we got celebratory Blizzards.

I was a lot calmer going home slurping my French Silk Pie Blizzard. Why hadn't I considered eating chocolate while he was driving sooner? ;-)

Pray for me!

John takes his driver's test tomorrow. I am almost certain he will pass it - he does well.

What I can't figure out is why, since he DOES do well, I am a wreck when he's behind the wheel! Is this just part of being a parent? Is it all the times I saw him handling a bumper car? Is it because his reflexes are superior to mine so he does things I can't?

Anyway, I'll let you know how it turns out. :-)

Steaming mad...

I heard someone on Sean Hannity's radio show today call the United States a terrorist nation. This same woman said years ago that she hoped Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' wife fed him a lot of eggs and butter so he would get heart disease and die. She says she won't apologize for THAT statement, either.

I get mad when people talk about conservatives being hateful yet someone from the left says something like this and it's OK. When will they call their own into account for what they say?

Building a Computer From the Ground Up 3

It's alive...it's ALIVE!

With a cable provided by our preacher (who has asked I not bug him for 2 weeks in payment) I FINALLY have John's new computer up and running. Windows is installed, and all the drivers.

Right now it is taking up half my workbench in my office. John has taken that over so he can install stuff and try it out. We took the network cable that went to my bedroom and hooked him to the Internet with that.

It means I share my office with my 18 year old for the next month or so. I guess that's not so bad, given he goes away to college in August...

Building a Computer From the Ground Up 2

We got the power working!
(Note to those who might ever get it in their heads to build a computer: they include those golden posts for a REASON! Use them!)

So John and I merrily start installing things now that we know we haven't broken anything. Then we find out the ribbon that attaches drives to the motherboard will plug into the hard drive, or the CD/DVD drive - but not both.

Ok, realize I live in a rural town in Central Florida, which has NO decent computer stores, especially no decent computer stores open on Saturday night. So John and I go to a Radio Shack, get a ribbon there, and think our problem is solved.

John says he can handle it. He plugs the middle plug in the ribbon into the hard drive. Nope, still not long enough. He tried to pull it out. It won't budge. He pulls harder. The plug breaks, part of it still firmly inserted into the back of the hard drive.

This is NOT good.

With pliers, a screwdriver, and a lot of kindness from God, we got the broken plug off the back of the hard drive without turning the hard drive into an expensive paperweight. But we are still without a ribbon. Oh, Bryan...

Building a Computer From the Ground Up 1

Oookay.

Well, we got the case open, the CPU and the memory on the motherboard, and the motherboard in the case.

We hooked up all the power supply things we could figure out.

I installed the hard drive and hooked up a monitor and keyboard.

I hit the power switch.

Nothing.

I unplugged and replugged things in, checked the instructions, thought about calling it names, switched power cords...nothing.

It won't turn on. I have no idea why.

I now have a headache and explained to Don that asking me to cook dinner tonight was dangerous.

I'll tackle it again tomorrow.