Well, The soup is simmering on the stove and I have a few minutes to share what is going on in my life. First I want to say that I am shocked at how much time has passed by since I lasted posted. I knew life had kept me from posting this month but I had no idea I have been so neglectful. I did not realize so much time had passed since my last post.
I had intended to make a New Year’s post but obviously I was unable to do so.
A few years ago I met a woman on the bus while visiting my mother in northern California. This woman is deaf and so all of our conversations basically consisted of passing notes, even though I had two years of American Sign Language in college. (It is true-if you don’t use it you lose it.) Well, I would see her every day on the bus as I went to see my mother and she went to work. I was only in California for a week but sometime during that week we exchanged emails and that friendship continued on after I arrived home.
After much prodding from this long distant friend I finally decided to sign up for Yahoo Messenger. It did make our occasional conversations much easier. Last year I decided Yahoo Messenger may come in handy in ministering to others. Besides being able to chat with by typing, Yahoo Messenger allows long distance voice conversations over the Internet for free. My only problem is I did not have a microphone. So in December I started looking around to see what was available. I also went to ebay, where I discovered I could get a web cam much cheaper then in the stores and it would come with a free mic. So after speaking to a tech friend, I made a bid and won.
For a web cam to work DirectX software is required. Downloading such software should be easy but something went terrible wrong for me. Having several techs tell me they had never heard of the problems that I was having ever taking place before did not comfort me. One tech even said it was impossible. Basically, my computer could no longer find any hardware. The computer still worked, as I was still able to get online, back up my data, and do many tasks. I just could not print, load pictures from my camera or do many other tasks. When I went into Device Manager I discovered it was empty. My computer simply could not find the hardware.
I had tech friends all over the country trying to help me but everyone was stumped. Finally I was left with no choice but to reload Windows. That solved my hardware problem but suddenly I received errors when trying to get on the Internet. After wasting a day trying to solve that problem I finally downloaded Internet Explorer again. In the end, I spend over a week trying to fix this computer. For the most part I am up and running again, though FrontPage 98, which I use to design the web site and another program are still not working. If you are familiar with FrontPage and tech savvy, please contact me.
I have never desired to be a computer tech but over the years the Lord has given me opportunities to learn. The experience does come in handy when I have a problem, saving me from having to pay someone to help me. But lately I have been getting a lot of experience.
In December my neighbor asked me to look at his computer. With the help of a tech friend who lives in Illinois, it was determined the hard drive was fried. I borrowed several books from the library and am now prepared to replace his hard drive, just as soon as he has the money to buy a new one.
In early January a friend from Church complained about how slow his computer had become. I have been over to his house to clean old files and Spam off the computer and look for any other possible causes. He may need a new battery.
A few weeks ago an elderly church friend contacted me asking for help in setting up her new notebook and a lesson in how to do email. I still have not been able to get together with her, but it is on my to do list.
So here is a little update as to what I have been doing. I hope your New Year has gotten off to a better start then mine. And I promise to try and do a better job of keeping everyone informed of my activities.
Back to the reason all my computer problems began. If you have Yahoo Messenger and desire to speak to me about any spiritual issues, I am available by appointment. To do so please email me at ao_communities@yahoo.com and share your desire. We can communicate via email, chat or talk using Yahoo Messenger. But first you must email me and make your desire known. I do not chat with total strangers who contact me out of the blue.
This photo is the view I woke up to looking outside my apartment window on an early January morning.
