Why I hate FedEx

Okay, so I've been waiting for my Mac to be delivered for over a week now. According to the posted tracking info on the web, it was to be delivered today (Monday) at some time. So I went out to a nice breakfast with my family, only to arrive home and check the status to see that FedEx had come at 9:23AM and we weren't there (we got home an hour later). So I proceeded to call FedEx and see if they could drop it off sometime today, or if I could go pick it up.

Them: "I'm sorry, sir, but the package cannot be re-delivered until tomorrow."
Me: "So there's no way that you can call the driver and have them re-deliver it today."
Them: "Nope. I'm sorry, but we have no way of contacting the driver or even the service station."
Me: "You mean that nobody can call the driver's cell phone and let them know of anything?"
Them: "Sir, if you would like, I can put in a message, but they won't get the message until tomorrow morning."
Me: "Thanks, but I would like to have my package today. Its not even 11AM. Your guys deliver until 5pm. Can't I just arrange to have it picked up somewhere else today? I can drive and get it."
Them: "I'm sorry sir, but there's no way that anyone can contact the truck drivers once that they are on their routes. I know that it is an inconvenience, and we are working on making this process better, but there's nothing that we can do."

Apparently, FedEx drivers enjoy the freedom of being cut off from any sort of outside communication from their work. This must be a good job for the anti-social personalities out there. Nevertheless, I go yet another day of waiting. Stupid FedEx.

A link to share

Well, Its been almost a week and I'm anticipating the arrival of our new Mac Mini tomorrow sometime. Interestingly, I ordered some items from Newegg.com on the same day and they've been here for about 4 days now. Go figure. As for preparations, I've been reading some Mac info here and there trying to ready myself for the switch. I even dove into creating my own external backup drive. I made a nice discovery last night about my spare hard drive that I had. I went in to format it to FAT32 so that it would be Mac read/write compatible, when I noticed that it was not 80 GB in size, but rather, 160 GB in size (half of it was never formatted or partitioned).

Okay, since I'm going totally geeky with this post, I might as well share a funny link that a student of mine discovered for me. Its a link to a never-before released operating system by Microsoft. Check it out and see for yourself:

http://www.deanliou.com/winrg/

Thanksgiving 2007

This year we spent Thanksgiving in Waynesboro, PA. Liam got the chance to enjoy his first Thanksgiving with us, and also to meet his Uncle Jordan, Aunt Jenifer and Cousin Ashley. We had a lot of fun with some great food provided by Carol (Nona). Below are some photos:

Thanksgiving 2007

Oh The Times, they are a Changin'

It has finally transpired. We knew it eventually would. We've had our computer for almost 6 years now. Just about every component inside has been replaced or upgraded. When the CPU fan went on it a few months ago, I had a feeling that we'd be needing a replacement some day.   Finally, when Meg told me that the computer was randomly restarting on her, I knew that its days were numbered. We had over 20 GB of photos, several GB of music files, and other important docs and items that were not worth losing. So we did it. We bought a new computer. Not just any computer. This was to be a computer that matched our current lifestyle. It also had to fit our budget. So here it is: We ordered a new Mac Mini from Apple. It is now hurtling its way towards our address from California (so says the Fed Ex tracking site).  Stay tuned for futher reviews, thoughts and editorials on this new plunge into the unknown. Although, if we can base what we know on what our myriad of Mac-crazed friends tell us, we're going to be very happy with our decision. Now where's that kool-aid that Steve Jobs sent me...?

Safari Redemption and other Browser thoughts

Recently I've been surveying the whole gambit of alternative web browsers, in an effort to see if any of the competition (besides IE and Firefox) has been doing any improvements since my last survey. Here is what I've found:

  Opera 9 just doesn't get it. They pack a ton of features, they've slimmed down their browser's default settings so that you are not bombarded with stuff, but they still run into the same site incompatibilities that they've always had with sites. Their only benefit is the speed of their browser, but fractions of a second in browsing are not an equal trade to so many site compatibility issues.

Maxthon 2, a clone to IE seemed like a viable alternative. It comes with every feature under the sun for browsing, and most of them are way too overkill. Without getting too detailed on the features, let's just say that I use a browser to surf the web and too many bells and whistles just takes up space and gets in the way. Needless to say, compatibility is great, since they run on the IE7 engine. However, before I could declare anything good, I got into a situation where I had a random error which opened up hundreds of empty tabs and gobbled up 765 MB  of system memory with no remedy to fix it (other than killing the active task). This is a major no-no for me. If its not a beta, then somebody  needs to fix their junk.

Earlier in the year, I gave a look to Apple's new release of Safari. At the time, I found it pretty decent, but had some site compatibility issues that I couldn't get around so easily. Thankfully, I found that Apple has been working on them and I found very few sites that gave me problems. The speed is rivaling of Opera, which lends it to be a better alternative. In fact, I'm writing this post on Safari for windows right now. Its doing a fine job, but I'll continue to test it throughout the week to see if I'm convinced. 

Overall, I think that Safari has the advantage for anyone considering looking for something that is not IE or Firefox. I still hesitate to give it any advantage over Firefox, when you consider the expandability of Firefox. However, some people don't have time to tinker with add-ons and such. If that is the case, you may want Safari.

Make That "Extra Cheese", Please.

Not that I should be surprised, but we've come a long way when it comes to ordering a pizza. I guess we're still using a phone, at least.

Text message your Papa John's Pizza order

Here We Go!

 

We start them young around here.

The "Valuable" Internet

Here's a roundup of stupid stuff my students showed me this week:

DVD Rewinder

World's most annoying web page

Don't shoot the puppy

...and here's a few classics you might have missed that are still around:

Zombo.com

Insanity Test

Our Sunday Expedition

Today we decided to be brave and do something adventurous as a family. After viewing some photos online of a place nearby, we thought we'd take a hike near "Chiques Rock" as it is know around here to explore. Meg, Audrey, Liam and myself braved cliffs, dark tunnels, abandoned railroad tracks, and leaf-covered trails together. It was a great experience for Audrey, who really needed the exercise and freedom to explore. I think I was probably the wimpiest person on the hike, worrying about trails being too steep, etc. Nevertheless, we kept going and so did the fun. Click on the picture below to see the photos of our mini-adventure

ChiqueRock

Photography Anyone?

I'm a little crazy when it comes to photography, which is my newfound hobby. Why do I think that am I crazy? Well, first off, I listen to photography podcasts practically every day to and from work in my car. When I'm using the internet at home or at school, I'm usually researching cameras, lenses, or reading photography blogs, tutorials, or viewing photos. I teach a digital photography class at school, and I also manage a flickr page, and a digital photography website (blog) for our newly-formed digital photography club at school. Oh, did I mention that I have my own photoblog where I post my favorite shots? I'm also saving up every little penny I have for a Digital SLR camera of my very own (right now we have a simple point-and-shoot which I feel like I've outgrown months ago). I've also completely read through B&H's 2007 Digital Photography Source Book (a catalog), as well as about 7 different books on photography in the past 6 months. Do I have reason to feel a little nuts? Maybe. However, if you see me snapping photos or hear of my untimely death at the bottom of a cliff with a shattered camera in hand, now you'll completely understand.

A few more funnies

Here are a few more funny videos that I ran into on the internet recently. They are all SNL shorts:

http://danwho.net/mp/index.php?id=snl_spellingbee_td

http://danwho.net/mp/index.php?id=snl_teddybearheart

http://danwho.net/mp/index.php?id=snl_dontbuystuff

The World We Now Live In

Today is a good day.

Despite the lack of sleep, today is turning out to be a good day after all. I have just been given word that the school has officially hired a Spanish teacher. Here's the drama on that whole event: This past year, our Spanish teacher left and the school couldn't find a replacement. Well, actually they found me and a computer course to replace her. I ended up being assigned Spanish 3 and 4 and the 1 and 2 students were placed on an online program for Spanish (still trying to figure out how they can learn like that, but hey, its the 21st century, so, whatever). I've been having fun with teaching the Spanish class, and its really brought back a lot of the language I've lost over the past 5 years since I last taught it. However, my heart has not been totally in it. I love the Spanish language, and I spent 4 years of college and almost 5 years of teaching time with it. However, my new role as a computer teacher/technology coordinator has certainly been my preference of jobs. Doing both makes me realize that my passion definitely is for computers more so than Spanish. So let me sum up this whole post: They hired a Spanish teacher. YIPEEEEEEE!!!!!!!! :-)

First Smiles (Part 2)

3 years ago this past week, my daughter Audrey smiled at me for the first time. There have been many smiles since, but that one always comes back to my thoughts as the most memorable.

Fast-forward to 3 years later to the exact week, and my son Liam gives me a smile too. I'm thinking that it was a planned affair. Liam must have been reading my blog archives.

Our Fall Traditions

This weekend we went to Cherry Hill Orchards to do some apple picking. We typically make this a family affair, as we have in the past.
We ended up combining all of our favorite activities into one day and went for a hayride and pumpkin picking too. Audrey had a blast. I'm not sure about Liam. He pretty much slept through the whole thing. Good thing we have pictures. Speaking of which, here is a link to some of our favorite shots of the event:

Apple Picking 9-29-07

A Play for the Other Team.

(Geek alert: If you have no interest in computers, this post will probably be dumb. Unless, of course you have an interest in me, which by all means you should continue reading.)

Because of the nature of my job, I get a lot of respect from parents and staff who value my advice for computer decisions, purchases, etc. Today I had a parent approach me and ask for advice on a new laptop computer. After listening to the things she said she needed, I came to a somewhat uncomfortable conclusion. She needed a MacBook. Now, I'm not a Mac user at all. I don't own one, because I can't afford one. I've also never really used one. Okay, I might have used OS 8 and OS 9 (blech!) briefly in my college career, but that aside, all my my experience lies with the PC from windows 3.1 to the current Windows Vista. I felt uncomfortable, because it was the first time I recommended a computer platform that I didn't have a clue as to how to support. I might as well as recommended her a UNIX workstation. Why did I do that? From what I gather, her primary use of the computer was going to be for writing music (she's a musician). From what I understand of Mac's, that's the logical way to go if you are a musician, video production person, and graphic artist. Anybody out there wanna chime in on this? Did I give her good advice? Or am I crazy? Insane Mac users need not respond. We already know that you are crazy and have a secret Steve Jobs poster hanging somewhere in your house. :-)

Things I've learned so far this week

So far this week I've learned a few new things, such as:

1. Driving and manipulating a cell phone is probably more than likely to send me and my vehicle into a ditch.

2. One's silence can be more aggravating than one's attack.

3. Babies can keep pooping even while you change them (so gross).

4. According to my daughter, my 2-week old son is not talking yet, because he's a boy.

5. Driving and admiring God's beautiful sunrises on the way to work is probably more than likely to send me and my vehicle into a ditch.

6. For every victory there is an equal and opposite defeat, or vice versa depending on your mood.

A Quick Funny.

Little Liam Slideshow

Here's a little slideshow of Liam. He's not yet two weeks, but he seems to be getting so big already.

Jesus I Come

This song is not my own, but oh, how often I should be singing its words...

Out of my bondage, sorrow and night,
Jesus I come; Jesus I come.
Into They freedom gladness, and light,
Jesus I come to Thee.

Out of my sickness, into thy Health,
Out of my wanting and into Thy wealth,
Out of my sin and into Thyself,
Jesus I come to Thee.

Out of my shameful failure and loss,
Jesus I come; Jesus I come,
Into the glorious gain of Thy cross,
Jesus I come to Thee

Out of earth's sorrows into Thy balm,
Out of life's storms and into Thy calm,
Out of distress into jubilant psalm,
Jesus I come to Thee.

Out of unrest and arrogant pride,
Jesus I come; Jesus I come;
Into Thy blessed will to abide
Jesus I come to Thee

Out of myself to dwell in Thy love,
Out of despair into raptures above,
Upward forever on wings like a dove,
Jesus I come to Thee.

Out of the fear and dread of the tomb,
Jesus I come; Jesus I come;
Into the joy and light of Thy home,
Jesus I come to Thee.

Out of the depths of ruin untold,
Into the peace of Thy sheltering fold,
Ever Thy glorious face to behold,
Jesus I come to Thee.

Introducing William "Liam" Albert Jurina

Born: September 2, 2007 8:14am
Weight: 8lbs 10oz
Height: 21 inches


Meg did absolutely awesome. She even forwent the epidoral and went 100 percent naturally. What a woman! She's doing great as will be seen in forthcoming photos. Anyways, I'm sure you'd like to see some more photos of little Liam. Here they are:

http://picasaweb.google.com/abjurina/WilliamLiamAlbertJurina

More photos to come, naturally.

No Baby No Cry.

Let's face it: Nobody in America likes to wait. We live in a hurried and fast-paced culture where millions of people need to "gitt'er done!". So we keep going at a furious pace without stopping. Why? Because there's no time. Or so we believe. Then God says says something like, "Oh, you want a baby, huh? Well, you're gonna have to wait on that one. And just when you think you can plan it, I'm gonna make that baby come when I want it to, not you."
These past few days if not weeks have been pretty tough on my poor, loving little wife. She's got aches and pains, and a baby kicking and punching her internal organs wondering why his room keeps getting smaller. And because I'm the useless male-type person, I have to sit back and watch this all unfold. Sure, I help her where I can. But short of pulling off her round little belly and strapping it on me, there's not much more I can offer her for that kind of discomfort. So we wait. My poor wife waits too. She's said things like, "Its weird, but I'm actually at a point where I'm ready to welcome the pain". I've seen her in labor before. I'm never going to know exactly how bad she feels in labor but from what I gather its probably equivalent to being stabbed repeatedly in the abdomen with a blunt screwdriver. In any case, we wait as patiently as we can. I know that God makes us wait so that when it all pans out, He can say, "See that. It was all worth it!"

When it rains it pours.

Obviously, my previous posting of my ToDo list shows that there's much to be done at work and such. I've been attempting to work extremely hard at getting as much done at the new school as I can before the baby comes. It seems that this task is not immune to setbacks. For instance:

-Discovering that Verizon decided to delay our internet connectivity in the new building to the end of the week, after last week telling us that it would be done by today at the latest.

-Also discovering that the computer which managed our school's grades, classes, etc. had a major melt-down which destroyed even the hard drive and data.

-Repeated crashes of our brand new phone system, which leaves us unable to call out or anyone else to call into the school (which, I might add, is less than ideal for one who expects that his wife can call at any time announcing that she's in labor).

-A giant move-in-day for the school which included a host of furniture and other items...all except my stuff which sits in the upper room of a church 2 miles away. For some reason, my dilligence in getting the network set up and the lab running afforded me not to be able to stand outside with a bullhorn announcing, "Hey, you forgot about MY stuff!".

-Really crappy Verizon wireless service that drops off of the face of the Earth each time I walk within 200 feet of the new building. Yet another way my wife CAN'T contact me in an emergency.

So what's to do? Panic? Strip naked and run down the middle of the street shooting a pistol in the air while screaming at the top of my lungs again? (Okay, maybe you weren't supposed to know about that incident?) No. I'm gonna do what David did, what Abraham did, what Moses did. I'm gonna trust God and dive in. Besides, I can't find my pistol.

I've seen some neat stuff in my life...

...but this artist is just amazing. Scroll down to see it all, and also how he does some of it.

Things to do before September 4th

1. Move server to new building
2. Set up server to manage/authenticate all users on network.
3. Learn how to properly do the second thing on my list.
4. Learn new phone system at new building.
   
5. Set up 2 wireless access points for BIC Church.
   
6. Install and re-image 25 desktop computers.
7. Add new student and teacher accounts to active directory group.
8. Create new group policies for staff.
9. Review/edit student group policy.
10. Add all teacher computers to the domain.
11. Set up new staff members with computers.
12. Install wireless access points in new building.
13. Set up teacher computer and networked printer at Sandhill Road Campus.
14. Find storage and move extra computers to storage.
15. Install computer clusters in several teacher classrooms.
16. Review and plan curriculum and lessons for Spanish 3
17. Review and plan curriculum and lessons for Spanish 4
18. Review and plan curriculum and lessons for Spanish 8th Grade
19. Review curriculum and plan lessons for Digital Photography Course
    
20. Review curriculum and plan lessons for Intro to HTML Course.
21. Review curriculum and plan lessons for Modern Tech Essentials Course
22. Review all School Technology Program Curriculum (Grades 7 and 9).
23. Assist Meg on the delivery of our second child.
24. See Simpsons Movie with Brock.