Getting net access was really easy, mostly because a friend had an account and modem already setup and waiting for us. It's an ADSL connection, so I plugged it into the phone line, added Time Capsule, connected the iMac, turned on and secured the wireless network, and finally added Ann's laptop. Easy as pie.
Curious about my connection speed, another friend directed me to speedtest.org. Connecting to their Atlanta server, I'm getting 1750 kbps up and 580 down. Not good, but not bad. We tested a video Skype to my folks back home, and that worked pretty well, which surprised and pleased me. So far so good.
Stress
I read a security article a while back about a company who wanted to install stress-measuring devices at the security checkpoints in airports. The idea was that a genuine bad guy who is trying to smuggle a bomb or something onto a plane would be really stressed out when going through security, and these devices would be able to detect this stress, thus leading (so they claimed) to his capture. If the airports we went through had had this system, it would have flagged me as a bad guy. Visualize the four of us going through security...
Ok, where's the passports? Put the right boarding pass in each one. Take your coats off, kids, and put them here. Now take your shoes off and put them here. Ok, get these carry-ons onto the belt. What? All electronic devices must be taken out? Oh, jeez, I've got a Time Capsule and a Wii in there. Which bags where they in? Where's the keys? That's right, I put my keys and watch and ring in my coat pocket. Oh no! I already put my coat through the scanner. Ann, here, hold the passports. Now you go first to make sure no one scarfs our stuff on the other side. Ok, kids, hand me your bags. Now you two go through the scanner. Put the carry-on bags through the scanner. Put the personal bags through. Put the laptop and camera through. What? Why didn't you make it through the scanner, kids? Oh! Duh. I forgot the iPod in its little case on your belt. Sorry, mister-who-is-in-line-right-behind-me, I'll get all these bags through any minute now. (Really, didn't you see all our stuff? You shoulda chosen the other line, I think.) Ok, kids, back through the scanner. There, is that all the bags? Did I forget something? My turn through. Wait, where's my passport? Doh, I gave that to Ann, and she's on the other side. Oh, that lady on the other side of the doorframe has it. Whew. Thank you. Oh oh! Why is there a red light on that machine scanning our bags? Sure, I don't mind. You can take my daughter's bag over there and give it an extra special scan. Yes, I'd be very glad to stand exactly right here and not move and not reach out and grab the bag while you search it. Oh. Sigh. A water bottle from the last flight. I guess we forgot to take that out. I'm really sorry. Yes, it's totally our mistake, and we won't make it again. Yes, please feel free to re-scan the bag. Ok, so do we have all our stuff? Count the bags again. Count the kids again. Everyone get your shoes on. C'mon, let's move out of the way of the other passengers. Ok, let's repack Time Capsule and the Wii. Who's got the passports and boarding tickets? Where's my watch and ring again? Exhale. We made it. Now, where's our gate?
We did this in Norfolk, LA, and Bangkok. It was easily the most stressful part of the trip.
Ok, where's the passports? Put the right boarding pass in each one. Take your coats off, kids, and put them here. Now take your shoes off and put them here. Ok, get these carry-ons onto the belt. What? All electronic devices must be taken out? Oh, jeez, I've got a Time Capsule and a Wii in there. Which bags where they in? Where's the keys? That's right, I put my keys and watch and ring in my coat pocket. Oh no! I already put my coat through the scanner. Ann, here, hold the passports. Now you go first to make sure no one scarfs our stuff on the other side. Ok, kids, hand me your bags. Now you two go through the scanner. Put the carry-on bags through the scanner. Put the personal bags through. Put the laptop and camera through. What? Why didn't you make it through the scanner, kids? Oh! Duh. I forgot the iPod in its little case on your belt. Sorry, mister-who-is-in-line-right-behind-me, I'll get all these bags through any minute now. (Really, didn't you see all our stuff? You shoulda chosen the other line, I think.) Ok, kids, back through the scanner. There, is that all the bags? Did I forget something? My turn through. Wait, where's my passport? Doh, I gave that to Ann, and she's on the other side. Oh, that lady on the other side of the doorframe has it. Whew. Thank you. Oh oh! Why is there a red light on that machine scanning our bags? Sure, I don't mind. You can take my daughter's bag over there and give it an extra special scan. Yes, I'd be very glad to stand exactly right here and not move and not reach out and grab the bag while you search it. Oh. Sigh. A water bottle from the last flight. I guess we forgot to take that out. I'm really sorry. Yes, it's totally our mistake, and we won't make it again. Yes, please feel free to re-scan the bag. Ok, so do we have all our stuff? Count the bags again. Count the kids again. Everyone get your shoes on. C'mon, let's move out of the way of the other passengers. Ok, let's repack Time Capsule and the Wii. Who's got the passports and boarding tickets? Where's my watch and ring again? Exhale. We made it. Now, where's our gate?
We did this in Norfolk, LA, and Bangkok. It was easily the most stressful part of the trip.
Details, details, details
I consider myself to be reasonably organized person. We've been preparing for months to get ready to move overseas. We've had list after list of all the things we needed to do for this move. And yet, somehow, inexplicably, when it came down to the last week, we still had a million things to do. Actually, it was about 60 things to do, yet it sure feels like a million when the deadline of an airplane departure to Thailand is breathing down your neck. Get the van ready to sell. Buy a couple last minute birthday gifts for Jacen--we do arrive on the day of his birthday after all--and a belt for me. Send thank you notes. Call a friend. Pay off a bill. Get enough cash for the trip. Repack the bags one last time. And so on. Somehow we got done on time. Barely. I can't quite imagine doing this and being unorganized.
MacArthur sermons now free!
I love good, expository preaching; it's the best kind of preaching by a long shot. When I'm studying a text, I love to download a sermon that a expository preacher has preached on the same text and listen to it. So when a great expositor indexes his library of sermons and makes this freely downloadable on the web, that's cause for shouting. John Piper's sermons are available at Desiring God. Danny Akin's sermons are available at SEBTS. And now John MacArthur's sermons are available at Grace to You!
Photos: Emmy's best friend
Emmy loves animals. It wouldn't surprise me one bit to see her grow up to be a vet or a biologist or a zoologist or whatever. Ann's folks have a border collie named Brandy, and she spends every minute possible hanging around her. Brandy is a blast. She fetches soccer balls, catches frisbees, attacks sprinklers, and other fun stuff.
Photos: Lawn mower
Like any boy, Jacen wants to drive. So Ann's father taught him how to drive the riding lawn mower and then turned him loose to mulch the leaves in the backyard and in the neighbor's yard. Jacen had a blast!
Photos: Family Pictures
It's been a while since we've had some good family pictures taken, so we asked a friend to take a few. This one with the yellow tree was my favorite. There are two others near a cypress tree.
Photo Gallery
I've been working on my (limited) photography skills the last few months, so I decided to set up a gallery to display some of my better shots. Since I use iWeb for my website, I started by using the built-in gallery. It was lame. But a friend pointed me to SimpleViewer, so now I set it up to be my gallery. Take a look and tell me what you think.
Online Backup
I've written before about having an offsite backup plan. After reading an article in a magazine, I decided to give Mozy a try. I started by using the free version, which lets you automatically backup 2 GB of data online. It's not much space, but enough to backup my documents folder. I like that it encrypts the data, so that (allegedly) not even Mozy employees can read my data. This won't backup all my data, but it will at least protect the most important parts.
Minions
I've been playing Desktop Tower Defense on the Casual Collective since it started. They've recently released a new game, Minions. I love it. It's a simple team game of robots destroying each other. It's Flash-based, so nothing to download or install (except Flash, of course). And it's free! Let me know if you like it.
Book: Culture Shock: Thailand
Culture Shock: Thailand is one of several books in this series, providing a guide to customs and etiquette. Thailand, like every country, has its list of things that will feel very strange to foreign visitors. For example, Thais smile lots, so much so that it's called the land of smiles. Smiling is a form of communication; how and when you smile all convey something to the people around you. The head is considered important, but the feet are considered unimportant and dirty; thus, you do not touch someone else's head, nor do you point with your feet. In keeping with their Buddhist beliefs, getting angry with people or even speaking loudly is impolite. Never wear black, unless going to a funeral. And so on. I've enjoyed the book, and no doubt will find it immensely helpful. I recommend it.
Photos: Science Museum
My father and stepmother came up to spend Saturday with us, so we took the kids and went to the science museum downtown. We had a great time seeing the exhibits and watching the shows. Emilee especially enjoyed the animals; she got to pet a giant cockroach (not a joke) and a rat trained to play basketball. Afterward we did a little shopping and had dinner. It was a nice break.
Fixing Spotlight
Recently Spotlight, the built-in indexing service on my iMac, stopped working. Conveniently I found this article while reading the Dec 08 issue of Macworld. I tried the Terminal command they suggest, and it worked fine for me.
Photos: Peter Panda
At Emilee's school, they take turns bringing home a stuffed panda bear, Peter Panda, and taking care of it. This weekend it was Emilee's turn, so we went out Sunday afternoon to have some fun with the bear and take a couple pictures of them together.
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