Saturday, April 1, 2006 Came to the office today and was working on the editing the Houston messages. Here's what I ended up doing: 1. Open Powerpoint. 2. Start Captivate - and start recording. I recorded the Powerpoint, the end result are about 290 slides in Captivate. 3. Export from Captivate to Word. 4. Print Word to Adobe's Acrobat PDF file. 5. Once here, I can export (or save as) these pages to jpg. 6. Open Photoshop, and create an action to cut, resize (crop to 460 pixels high), resize (canvas size to 860x480), then resize again (to fit SD 720x480). 7. Copy them to my other computer - and import them into Adobe's Premiere Pro to edit. There - now if I forget I'll come back here to learn how to do this again. Hopefully, Captivate will have a jpg export to save 3 of the steps above! Sunday, April 2, 2006 Went to church with Barney and family - and hung around a bit after looking at bikes and trees and having a quick lunch. Nap in the afternoon and some other things I already forgot. Monday, April 3, 2006 Ran out of hard drive space on my editing computer, so we ordered more drive in - should be here on Thursday. We'll see about that later. I was able to capture most of the video needed for the second video from Houston, and made all the Powerpoint slides needed - since I was familiar with how to do it now. Finished transcribing the first video from Houston. It was over 12,500 words - took me a while to do that. Rode my bike home for supper and then back to the office after. Total of about 9 miles. Tuesday, April 4, 2006 A day of filling odds and ends. Like taxes. I filed mine today, which wasn't much fun, but you know how it goes. Wednesday, April 5, 2006 Again, another 'loose' day in the office, which has been very good, as it lets me get some things cleaned up and organized around my station. And if you know me, a little time to organize is a help in every sense of the word. This afternoon / evening I put together a slide shoe for Titus - he and his dad and some other folks went camping in the snow last Friday, and Titus wrote a song to commemorate the excursion. I'll have to see if I can get a copy for here for you all. It's pretty good. Friday, April 7, 2006 Lloyd's birthday! We all went out for breakfast with Lloyd at JB's. It was a good time for us all. Barney and I spent the day down at ABCINET. I finished the trim on the door, and put a coat of polyurethane on the door and door frame. I also cut the hole for a locking dead-bolt and got that installed, long enough to realize that it won't work for this application. Barney and Marc re-arranged the equipment in the racks, and installed our servers down there. We have yet to get air-conditioning hooked up in there, which is needed. Did laundry tonight. Not too bad - just 2 loads. Saturday, April 8, 2006 The forecast was calling for rain in later afternoon - yesterday
they were calling for rain for most of the day. That said, I figured
it would be a good day to tackle the tree out back. We started on it at about 8:30, and by 10:00 it was raining. Not heavy, but a drizzle. By that time I was able to get the branches cut off, and get both the tops cut off (as it was split up there) as well as an 8' chunk down as well. We belayed those three, but I let the branches fall as I went up. Most were just hand-cut, as the pine is very easy to cut. Tom and I took a load of branches to the dump (in the rain), we had lunch, and then I cut up the tops before heading to the office to put a few hours on the video. JRC teaching in Houston #2. Wednesday, April 12, 2006 I think this is the day Barney and I went down to install the electrical plug for the AC unit that is on order. Sure am thankful that I bought a nylon snake the last electrical job, as I needed on for this one. It's neat how it works out that way. Thursday, April 13, 2006 This afternoon, Barney and I went down to the server room and installed the air conditioner. It's working well, and glad we got it, and boy does it take the heat out! Afterwards, the card for my computer at the office came in, so that I could hook up 2 SATA drives together. This gives me another 750g of space to work video with. It's good timing, too, because I wanted to burn the last DVD I've worked on, but there wasn't enough space for it all. Friday, April 14, 2006 Managed to finish copying the files over from my old HD to the new, and ghosted my c: drive to an older - 250g instead of 20. Fred emailed me an said that the car we were looking at in NJ was taken off the market, so the only other option was in California. But all in all, got insurance for that and was able to borrow some money (privately) to make the deal. Finished off the DVD of JRC in Houston as well, and got a copy mailed up to JRC. I told Barney that he could go, but he didn't want to buy a $185 ticket to go. But he did figure out that he and I could take the train, stop at his dad's place in Oregon, and head down on Monday, arriving at noon on Tuesday. All in all it sounded like a good plan, other than the fact we had to leave Spokane at 2:30 in the morning. The rest of the day was made for packing and getting ready to take the train ride down. Saturday, April 15, 2006 Hopped a train at 2:30 am, and landed in Portland by 10:15. Nice ride - wasn't much of a problem, and they let you carry your pocket knives, bigger seats. Just takes longer. All in all, it was an enjoyable trip. What they really need is power to the people - so you can work on your laptop as you tour the countryside. Internet would make it that much better. But we slept (as best we could) most of the trip, and looking out the windows was a nice way to relax the day. Once in Portland, we took a bus to Salem. I wasn't sure where the busses were, and for some reason thought it was Greyhound that we were supposed to take, so I went down there. There was a bus line printed on the ticket that I wasn't familiar with (and Greyhound and Amtrak shared the same building in Spokane.) Long story, but we got aboard a Greyhound bus for the next hour's drive. Barney's dad, Franklin, was at the train station to pick us up, but we went to the Greyhound station instead. We finally met up and he took us home. Gwenn had a nice lunch for us (turkey sandwich) and it was good to hang out with them once again. Sunday, April 16, 2006 - Easter We went to church with Franklin and Gwenn, and home for dinner. Very good food and fellowship. Some of the family came over and we ate, then played games and hung out for a bit. It was a nice relaxing day. Monday, April 17, 2006 Wonderful breakfast (ham, egg and cheese croissant sandwiches). It was a really nice morning - the beauty here is incredible. Barney and I played some ping-pong, and I won one game pretty well. Basically, after that we packed up and headed to town to catch the train. Got to town, and pulled the money for the car no problem. I had a cashiers' check made for the amount of the car, and then enough cash to cover the taxes / registration if needed. Wasn't a problem getting the money, which was good. We then stopped at a store to exchange a shirt, which didn't happen, so we went to the train station about an hour early. Well, an hour before the scheduled time - the actual time was delayed by another 40 min. But we got on and started down the track. My Amtrak experience isn't too bad - we had a lot of slow track (due to low maintenence) and that wasn't too enjoyable. We did have spells of 70 mph from time to time. There is plenty of room in the seat area, but no wireless internet - which is available on other Amtrak trains (business class.) Still on the train. By the time we got to Sacramento, we were about 2 1/2 hours late. The ride is still decent, but it sure seems like there's things that they could do. But we had enough room to spread out a bit to sleep, and sure was thankful for that. Ok, and now the fun begins. I called Tony, to let him know I was there, and needed a ride. Tommy came out with the Jetta to pick us up, and I was able to drive it home. Tommy was an older gentleman, who did detailing for Scott Motors - from Lincoln NB. On the way home, the check engine light came on. VW calls it a Malfunction Indicator. That wasn't very encouraging to me, having come all this way to learn that this car has problems. Other than that, the car was in great shape. Back at Scott Motors, the fellows there (Chris and Tony) were embarrassed that the light was showing, and bent over backwards to help us make this right. They put us up in a nice hotel, and made provisions for the car to be checked out the next day at 9:00 am. They also let us drive one of their cars for the time being. Well, that's all that can be done, so we checked in. Barney and I went down to Monterey, and to the golf course (thought it was dark by that time.) Not much else to do except the odd job on the computer. Wednesday, April 19, 2006 Barney stayed in the hotel today and worked on the computer, and I went to take the car in to the VW dealer. I figured that I would stay and wait, because they (dealer) were saying that t probably wasn't a big deal, and should be fixed quickly. Brian (the service manager) was very helpful, and kept me informed as to what was going on. It's a long story, but all in all, by 2:30, I was driving the car back to Scott Motors with it not being fixed. The problem was, as they say, the turbo going bad, which was a $3k fix. I would have bought the car for $3k less, but the owner decided not to sell. It was a little disheartening because of the expense and time to get there in the first place, but if I was the owner, it would have been a tough decision. I think the worst part about it all was the car was on consignment, and they were dealing with the owner - not me - so having people in the middle isn't always the best. But at least over lunch I was able to take a walk on the beach - though I didn't have my camera. Well, Barney and I caught a bus to San Jose (after Tony brought us to the Amtrak station), then caught a taxi to the airport, and then Alaskan Air to Spokane where Russ picked us up. That was one interesting day. Thursday, April 20, 2006 Spent some of the day looking for another car, but to be honest, pretty worn out of the whole process. But I kept coming back to the fact that I do need something that gets good mileage, and that is still the best option if I can find something decent. Oh, and I was able to get some office work done as well. Friday, April 21, 2006 Spent the day in the office, till Barney took me to Qudobas (sp?) for lunch. After that, we went to ABCINET to finish installing the lock on the security door. This time we were able to get it finished, and it is working very well. But it took us most of the afternoon, as we needed a run to Lowe's and I had 2 locks to install. Saturday, April 22, 2006 Finished up some things in the office, and then started cleaning out my truck. It's about time - hasn't been done since - can't remember. But I do know it's been to Canada, Texas, IL, IN, WI, NE since the last time I cleaned it. After that, I filled it up with the order going to Olds. It just about right filled everything to the brim. I have yet to put in my desktop computer and some last bits but I'll have enough room for that I'm sure. Drove to Ken's house, and Sherri drove Ken and I to the airport. Flew Southwest - and this was the first time that I didn't have assigned seating. It works out ok, just fills the front of the plane up first instead of the back. But if you want space, just head to the back and you'll find plenty. When we arrived, we caught the bus to get our rental car. Apparently, they were all out of the economy roller skates, so they gave us a PT Cruiser. Well, I never! I wasn't impressed with that car - turning radius was not too good, and it was gutless. But it did beat walking, and even though 26 mpg was 2x better than my gas-guzling truck, it wasn't as good as could be. No worries. The first stop was Hoover Dam - because we couldn't get into the motel till after 3:00. The HD was something that I've wanted to see for a long time, just because of the work and all that went into making it. It wasn't long before we decided to drive to the Grand Canyon. Again, this was another thing that I've been wanting to see for a long time as well! It was about a 4-5 hour drive from the dam to the canyon, but well worth it. And yes, I did take pictures of both. maps - (5 pages deep - click on NEXT to continue, click on picture to return here.) Monday-Tuesday, April 24-25, 2006 Walked the days away at NAB. map from Motel 6 to Convention center. Packed up what I could, then headed to the office to pack what I could pack there. Barney and I went to visit the car dealer that he's been in contact with, so I could meet him to see if he can find me a car. Nothing came up this week, so we'll keep looking. After all that, I headed North. Got to the border, and realized I didn't have my passport. Oh, yeah, I took it out before going to California. Good planning, but not good enough. I checked with the US border and they said I would be ok with a copy, ID drivers license and all that good stuff. Canada didn't have a problem with my Passport not being with me either, so I made it. Well, that's the condensed version. I was there about an hour and a half, and they gave specific instructions as to what I could and couldn't do up here. No worries, I didn't come with the proper documentation, and that's the breaks for not having that. The rest of the trip was grand - drove to PH's place for the night.
Distance: 419 miles Time: 9:46 hours (over 1 hour at border) Overall Speed: 43 mph Thursday, April 27, 2006 Got up, and helped a little with the TERM seminar - but I didn't film any because that was forbidden. I let Jim do that. After it started, I split to Olds, where Roger and I unloaded the fully-packed truck. I was able to get the audio files together for the Korean translation - they want to translate and record audio for the Stranger DVD, and so I wanted to get the audio files with no English, but included the music and background noises to go with it. Supper at Trevor's - Trevor, Esther, Mandy, Sarah, Mitch, John, Janice, Naomi, Andrew, Ellie, Morgan another friend and I were there. Friday, April 28, 2006 Yesterday Andrew called and said he had a head cold, and couln't
teach the next day (which, if you were following would be today)
and asked if I could sub for him. So, that's what I did today -
helped teach at the TERM seminar down in Airdre, AB. For the evening, I drove up to Olds, to help pack books for the orders from the seminar. What a night. Was able to sleep in to 9:45. Ya-hoo! Sleep hasn't been a real good thing the last week, or even last two. Drove down to Airdre with all the orders from the TERM seminar, and let Roger and Renee go early. They are heading to WA to see their kids / grandkids, so it's my charge to take up the tables, and all the other stuff from the seminar. Also ran a lady to the airport. The way back home was packed full of stuff - including 14 tables. No problems, though. Made it to church in Olds, and that was great. It was really fun to see lots of people around, friends all over the place. Went to dinner with the Boffe's, and the Causch's, Kary's, as well as other folks from church. After a nice 1.5 hour nap, I went back to church where Cindy Palen's trip to Africa. Then I drove up to Friesen's place - to arrive to an empty house. No problem
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