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	<title>rantings, ravings and writings &#187; Life</title>
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	<link>http://jaledwith.com</link>
	<description>The thoughts, opinions and experiences of John Andrew Ledwith • jaledwith.com</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Thu, 15 Jul 2010 19:54:36 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>Missed It By That Much</title>
		<link>http://jaledwith.com/2010/07/15/missed-it-by-that-much/</link>
		<comments>http://jaledwith.com/2010/07/15/missed-it-by-that-much/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 15 Jul 2010 19:52:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andrew</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cell phones]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iPhone]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iPhone 3G S]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://jaledwith.com/?p=2584</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I almost ended a streak of DiMaggian proportion. Because of me, my former roommate nearly owned a cell phone for the very first time.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I almost ended a streak of DiMaggian proportion. Because of me, my former roommate nearly owned a cell phone for the very first time.</p>
<p>Alas, I fell short.</p>
<p>Just a couple weeks ago, sage blogger <a href="http://human3rror.com" target="_blank" title="Human3rror">John Saddington</a> (@human3rror) ran a contest on the website <a href="http://churchdrop.com" target="_blank" title="ChurchDrop: Exploring the Intersection of Mobile Technology and the Church">ChurchDrop</a> in which he <a href="http://churchdrop.com/giveaway-my-iphone-3gs/" target="_blank" title="Giveaway: My iPhone 3GS on ChurchDrop">gave away his old iPhone 3GS</a>. He had just bought the new iPhone 4 and decided against selling his old phone in favor of doing something more fun. </p>
<p><span id="more-2584"></span></p>
<p>The giveaway was not done at random. John spelled out the specifics:</p>
<blockquote><p>Drop a comment below telling us about someone that really needs an upgrade on their personal cell phone. This could be someone who’s got an old Nokia from the late 90′s or someone who’s recently lost their phone or damaged it but is unable to afford a replacement. &#8230; Our hope is to provide a handset for someone that seriously has a need instead of someone who’s just wanting to upgrade for upgrades’ sake.</p></blockquote>
<p>Reading this made me think of one person: my old roommate Joe. (The alert reader will note that this is the same Joe from <a href="http://jaledwith.com/2010/02/28/jumping-joe-meme/" title="The Jumping Joe Meme">the Jumping Joe Meme</a>.) I was one of the first to enter the contest:</p>
<blockquote><p>My old roommate Joe just got married and he’s NEVER owned a cell phone. I promise, cross my heart. I know it’s hard to believe. His wife Mandi (who has an iPhone) has said she won’t force him to get one until she gets pregnant. But I have to believe his lack of cell phone annoys her even if she’s a good sport about it. He has an iPod touch that he really likes, and I think if someone were to hand him an iPhone he would finally want to take the plunge. Plus, when people see he has a cell phone, there will be all sorts of fun rumors about their expanding family.</p></blockquote>
<p>I was extremely confident that I&#8217;d just turned in the winning entry, but it was not meant to be. <a href="http://churchdrop.com/winner-my-iphone-3gs-totally-deserves-it-video/" target="_blank" title="Winner: My iPhone 3GS (Totally Deserves It) on ChurchDrop">Joe and I lost</a>. The winner submitted the following video comment.</p>
<p><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" style="width:500px; height:307px;" data="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/IT2Dd5iqvdo&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;hd=1"><param name="wmode" value="opaque" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/IT2Dd5iqvdo&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;hd=1" /></object><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT2Dd5iqvdo"><img class="youtube-thumb" alt="iPhone 3GS hand-me-down" src="http://img.youtube.com/vi/IT2Dd5iqvdo/1.jpg" title="iPhone 3GS hand-me-down " class="alignnone" width="120" height="90" /></a><br /><a title="iPhone 3GS hand-me-down" style="font-size:10px" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT2Dd5iqvdo" target="_blank">Watch &#8220;iPhone 3GS hand-me-down&#8221; on YouTube</a></p>
<p>I have to admit, I think the guy who won was a good choice. Sorry, Joe. Better luck next time.</p>
                        <br /><p style="border:1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);padding:5px;background:rgb(221, 221, 221) none repeat scroll 0% 0%;clear:both;max-width:450px" align="left"><i>Visit <a href="http://jaledwith.com/">my site</a> for more, or subscribe via <a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=734391">email</a> or <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/RantingsRavingsAndWritings">RSS</a> to receive new content automatically. You can also <a href="http://twitter.com/jaledwith/">follow me</a> on Twitter.<br /><br />© 2004-2010 John Andrew Ledwith, All Rights Reserved</i></p>                  ]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Not Your Average Balloon Animals</title>
		<link>http://jaledwith.com/2010/05/03/balloon-animals/</link>
		<comments>http://jaledwith.com/2010/05/03/balloon-animals/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 03 May 2010 21:29:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andrew</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[balloon animals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[balloons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[monkey]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pirates]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://jaledwith.com/?p=2474</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Never before have I considered the skill of creating balloon animals to be an art, but I think I do now. Two days ago I went out to breakfast with some friends. As we were eating we noticed a little kid on the other side of the room playing with a balloon animal. It was [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Never before have I considered the skill of creating balloon animals to be an art, but I think I do now. </p>
<p>Two days ago I went out to breakfast with some friends. As we were eating we noticed a little kid on the other side of the room playing with a balloon animal. It was a fishing pole and line with a fish on the end of the line. It looked really complex. My friends Rob and Clint wanted their own balloon creations, so they asked our waitress if she&#8217;d steer the person making them over to our table.</p>
<p>Check out these works of art.</p>
<p><span id="more-2474"></span></p>
<p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaledwith/4568898988/" class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Medium" title="Rob the Balloon Pirate"><img class="alignnone" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4005/4568898988_13ffe8f04c.jpg" alt="Rob the Balloon Pirate" width="500" height="375" /></a> </p>
<p>Rob was transformed into a balloon pirate, complete with hat, sword, hook, and parrot. The parrot even stayed on his shoulder by putting a bit of Rob&#8217;s shirt in between its feet. That same little kid with the balloon fish looked pretty jealous when he saw Rob all decked out.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaledwith/4568261521/" class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Medium" title="Clint's Balloon Monkey"><img class="alignnone" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4034/4568261521_4c47d94eb9.jpg" alt="Clint's Balloon Monkey" width="500" height="375" /></a> </p>
<p>Clint has the most awesome balloon animal ever: a balloon monkey in a balloon tree with balloon bananas. As much as I dig Rob&#8217;s gear I think this one is even better.</p>
<p>Our balloon technician &#8212; a term coined by my friend Shaun &#8212; claimed she learned how to make all these on YouTube. Color me intrigued.</p>
                        <br /><p style="border:1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);padding:5px;background:rgb(221, 221, 221) none repeat scroll 0% 0%;clear:both;max-width:450px" align="left"><i>Visit <a href="http://jaledwith.com/">my site</a> for more, or subscribe via <a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=734391">email</a> or <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/RantingsRavingsAndWritings">RSS</a> to receive new content automatically. You can also <a href="http://twitter.com/jaledwith/">follow me</a> on Twitter.<br /><br />© 2004-2010 John Andrew Ledwith, All Rights Reserved</i></p>                  ]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Where Everybody Knows Your Name&#8230; Because It&#8217;s On the Menu</title>
		<link>http://jaledwith.com/2009/11/16/big-breakfast-menu/</link>
		<comments>http://jaledwith.com/2009/11/16/big-breakfast-menu/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 17 Nov 2009 02:15:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andrew</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Big Breakfast]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Camp Special]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[food]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[menu]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://jaledwith.com/?p=1720</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This past Saturday my roommates and I hosted an event at our home known as Big Breakfast. It was a throwback to an event held when I was a college student, but we wanted to put our own stamp on it. So we added something that had never been done before. We created the very [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This past Saturday my roommates and I hosted an event at our home known as Big Breakfast. It was <a title="The Coalition for a Bigger Breakfast" href="http://jaledwith.com/2009/11/13/big-breakfast/" target="_self">a throwback to an event held when I was a college student</a>, but we wanted to put our own stamp on it. So we added something that had never been done before. We created the very first Big Breakfast menu.</p>
<p>To tell you the truth, the menu was initially a big part of why Big Breakfast was resurrected. One Sunday evening my roommate Joe and I were casually tossing around the idea of hosting a Big Breakfast when one of us suggested the idea of creating a menu, complete with items named in honor of our friends. For the next hour or so we sat in our kitchen devising some of the worst puns you&#8217;ve ever heard, occasionally inventing something we wouldn&#8217;t be ashamed to admit we&#8217;d created. My roommate Aaron came home that evening and, upon finding Joe and I in stitches, added in a couple winners of his own. Later on I included my friend Zack in the madness. For a couple days I received these odd text messages from him while I was at work, each with one or two new suggestions.</p>
<p><span id="more-1720"></span></p>
<p>The result of our collaboration is impressive. I&#8217;ve reproduced our menu below. (You can also <a title="Big Breakfast Menu" href="http://j.mp/bbmenu1" target="_blank">view a PDF of the menu</a>.)</p>
<blockquote>
<h3>Welcome to Big Breakfast</h3>
<h4>Specials</h4>
<p>The Camp Special<br />
<em>“Your hosts recommend a breakfast of two crepes, two eggs, and hot coffee. Or just toast if you’re in a hurry.”</em></p>
<p>The Wirgau<br />
<em>“Nine items served between two pancakes.”</em></p>
<p>The Lighthouse<br />
<em> “If our carb- and fat-heavy options don’t suit you, try our wonderful fruit salad.”</em></p>
<p>The Cat’s Meow<br />
<em> “A pancake made from the finest dried catfood. Cat Wojcik approved!”</em></p>
<h4>Pancakes, Crepes, French Toast</h4>
<p>Creeps [Crepes]<br />
&#8211; ala Rob [Apple filling]<br />
&#8211; ala Kuder [Peach filling]<br />
&#8211; ala Shaun [Cherry filling]</p>
<p>Zhang-cakes [Silver-dollar pancakes]</p>
<p>Flap-Zacks [Large pancakes]</p>
<p>Gavila Gorillas [Banana pancakes]</p>
<p>M &amp; Emily’s [M&amp;M pancakes]</p>
<p>Futch Toast [French Toast]<br />
<em> “If you thought ‘freedom’ toast was good, you’ll love this!”</em></p>
<h4>Eggs</h4>
<p>Scrambled Eccles [Scrambled Eggs]</p>
<p>Skeen’d Eggs [Fried Eggs]<br />
<em> “Two fried eggs served uncomfortably close together&#8230; unless you happen to be one of the eggs.”</em></p>
<p>Eggs Summers Side Up [Sunny Side Up]</p>
<h4>More Breakfast Goodness</h4>
<p>Grit-ney Grit-aker [Grits]</p>
<p>Ash Browns [Hash Browns with ketchup]</p>
<p>Leigh Browns [Hash Browns with salt]<br />
<em> “Best when eaten in Malaysia.”</em></p>
<p>Diggles [Oatmeal]<br />
<em> “A bowl of two-day-old oatmeal properly aged in a refrigerator without a covering. Contains original spoon.”</em></p>
<p>Sausage Patricks [Sausage Patties]</p>
<p>Strips of Ba-Clint [Bacon]</p>
<p>The Lord Marius [Sausage Biscuit]</p>
<p>The Chief [Bacon Biscuit]</p>
<p>E-Clares<br />
<em> “Our E-Clares were recently given a new filling. The old has gone. The new has come.”</em></p>
<p>Ruthie Phooey Vegan Hooey<br />
<em> “If you say ‘Phooey!’ when offered almost everything else on the menu, you’re probably vegan.”</em></p>
<h4>Drinks and Condiments</h4>
<p>Cup O’ Liles [Coffee]<br />
<em> “Two Liles Starbucks baristas can’t go wrong.”</em></p>
<p>O Joy [Orange Juice]</p>
<p>MOOriak [Milk]</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: line-through;">Liz Spraybutter</span><br />
<em> “Item removed from menu as of July 26, 2009.”</em></p>
<p>Ta-Pax-co Sauce [Hot sauce]</p>
<p>Sar-up [Syrup]</p>
<p>Jam-aine [Jam]</p></blockquote>
<p>The four of us did our best to include as many people connected to the <a title="FSU Navigators" href="http://fsu.navigators.org/" target="_blank">FSU Navigators</a> community as possible, and we didn&#8217;t leave anyone off the menu intentionally. If Big Breakfast makes an encore appearance in the spring, we&#8217;ll double our efforts to include even more people in a new edition of the menu.</p>
<h3>Thank You!</h3>
<p>Joe, Aaron and I could not have done all this on our own, so we want to thank everyone who pitched in on Saturday. Jermaine&#8217;s french toast and Zack&#8217;s pancakes were fantastic. Mandi made a great hash brown casserole. Clare brought flowers to brighten up our kitchen. A number of people lent us additional tables, chairs, and cooking utensils. We had a few people give some generous donations to offset the food costs. There were a couple people who saw us losing our minds in the kitchen and gave us a hand without being asked. All of you are awesome. And finally, thanks to everyone who came and made Big Breakfast a smashing success.</p>
                        <br /><p style="border:1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);padding:5px;background:rgb(221, 221, 221) none repeat scroll 0% 0%;clear:both;max-width:450px" align="left"><i>Visit <a href="http://jaledwith.com/">my site</a> for more, or subscribe via <a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=734391">email</a> or <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/RantingsRavingsAndWritings">RSS</a> to receive new content automatically. You can also <a href="http://twitter.com/jaledwith/">follow me</a> on Twitter.<br /><br />© 2004-2010 John Andrew Ledwith, All Rights Reserved</i></p>                  ]]></content:encoded>
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		<item>
		<title>The Coalition for a Bigger Breakfast</title>
		<link>http://jaledwith.com/2009/11/13/big-breakfast/</link>
		<comments>http://jaledwith.com/2009/11/13/big-breakfast/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:48:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andrew</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Big Breakfast]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Camp Special]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[food]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reunion]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://jaledwith.com/?p=1717</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One of the top memories I have of my first two years in college is of Saturdays spent at Camp Special as its residents Brent, Joel, Rob, and JD hosted Big Breakfast. No, it&#8217;s not much more complicated than the event&#8217;s name makes it sound. About once a month on a Saturday morning at around [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>One of the top memories I have of my first two years in college is of Saturdays spent at Camp Special as its residents Brent, Joel, Rob, and JD hosted Big Breakfast. No, it&#8217;s not much more complicated than the event&#8217;s name makes it sound. About once a month on a Saturday morning at around 10am &#8212; okay, maybe closer to 11am or noon &#8212; I&#8217;d crawl out of bed and make my way off campus where a veritable feast was waiting for me and scores more. Eventually the Big Breakfast tradition migrated from Camp Special to a number of different dorms on campus, including Salley Hall and Kellum Hall the years I lived in them. And I&#8217;m sure it also inspired the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7622293831" target="_blank">Saturday Morning Breakfast with Disney Movie</a> crew who met frequently for two years or so in the apartments behind Camp Special. But for whatever reason, with the exception of one final hurrah before Brent moved to Austin two years ago, Big Breakfast has not returned to its point of origin.</p>
<p>Tomorrow it will.</p>
<p><span id="more-1717"></span></p>
<h3>My Family Away from Family</h3>
<p>I write today to explain why I&#8217;ve made such a big deal out of Big Breakfast on <a title="My Facebook profile" href="http://www.facebook.com/jaledwith">Facebook</a> this past week. Maybe it seemed a bit obsessive or over-marketed. But it wasn&#8217;t without cause. Going to Big Breakfast used to feel like going to a family reunion, where everyone I saw on a regular basis, those people I saw only rarely and those people I didn&#8217;t know but who were connected to my friends all gathered and had a great time over a large meal. Seeing my real family was pretty rare in those days. I never owned a car while I was a student, and even if I had owned one my nearest relatives were a five-hour trip away. Attending these kinds of events meant a lot to me.</p>
<p>Now I live in Camp Special (a house that refuses to be <a title="The Camp Special Renaming Project" href="http://jaledwith.com/2008/10/06/the-camp-special-renaming-project/" target="_self">renamed</a> despite <a title="Facebook: The Camp Special Renaming Project" href="http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=33803955683" target="_blank">67 comments left on Facebook</a> debating the subject). I&#8217;m roughly three and a half years out of college, complete with a car and money to spend on plane tickets to wherever. But Big Breakfast isn&#8217;t about me now. I&#8217;ve purposely chosen to <a title="Serving with The Navigators" href="http://jaledwith.com/about/navstaff/" target="_self">stay connected with college students</a> since graduating, and I wonder if maybe some of the ones I know can relate to my former situation. It&#8217;s time for their family reunion.</p>
<h3>An Invite Fit for a King</h3>
<p>My roommate Joe is a master wordsmith. I asked him to write the text to the Big Breakfast invite, which I&#8217;d like to share here for those out of the loop. It paints a vivid picture of what the morning will hold.</p>
<blockquote><p>Intimidating, isn’t it? The body of text below, I mean. Just look at all of it. Are those footnotes? You don’t have time for footnotes! No time for laughter! What you need are the facts in a straightforward, no-nonsense manner.[1] Here they are:</p>
<p>Camp Special is hosting Big Breakfast on Saturday, November 14 from 10 am &#8211; 1 pm and you should bring a couple of friends (or dollars, if you’d care).</p>
<p>For those of you with a little more free time on your hands (or as most people call you, “students”) I would like to present the following meager document. Behold, the unabridged history of a place named Camp and the meal called Breakfast and the superlative known as Big:</p>
<p>“Man is what he eats.” &#8211; Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach<br />
“Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper.” &#8211; Adelle Davis<br />
“Cheese on four.” &#8211; Joel and Brent</p>
<p>The illustrious Camp Special has served as humble home to great gentlemen (including the attributed geniuses behind the tertiary quote above) and final resting place for countless other tenants (bugs, mostly—and Rob’s Lincoln[2]). Camp’s history is certainly as storied as its hosts. Ponce de Leon once scoured the property, convinced that the fountain of youth lay underneath[3] and Teddy Roosevelt shimmied up the backyard tree and in search of bald eagle eggs.[4] Yet there is one event that outshines even Christmas tree burnings, Stuff-Gives[5], and Thursdays in scope and importance.</p>
<p>One weekend afternoon not too long ago, several roommates were sitting around in the living room. “I’m hungry,” said one. And just like that, Big Breakfast was born.</p>
<p>It wasn’t too long before citizens of Tallahassee were taking the house by storm, all starving and eager for a way to break the fast.[6] They found sanctuary in the warm halls of Camp Special—a place where flapjacks were stacked high and coffee cups ran over.[7] It was a time of perpetual bliss where no stomach went empty. But that time was lost. For a time. But now the time for waiting is over and a new time has arrived, for Big Breakfast is timeless.</p>
<p>Time for some fun facts.  Did you know:</p>
<ul>
<li>The plural for biscuit is biscuit.</li>
<li>Johnny Depp modeled Jack Sparrow after the vicious sea pirate Captain Crunch.</li>
<li>The following are anagrams for breakfast: “baker fats,” “stab freak,” “takes barf,” “bra—” actually, that’s probably enough.</li>
<li>Grits are awesome.</li>
<li>Theologians have long debated the subject of what Adam’s first meal was. Most agree it was fruit salad, though Aquinas argues that he had an egg white omelet with biscuit and milk. Five-point Calvinists maintain that Adam wasn’t in the garden long enough to eat breakfast.</li>
<li>Studies show that 36% of people prefer eggs for breakfast, 30% of people like pancakes, 25% of people enjoy cereal, and 9% of losers don’t care for breakfast.</li>
</ul>
<p>There are plenty of other things to know but for now, there are but three: It’s big.  It’s breakfast.  You’re coming.</p>
<p>Footnotes:<br />
[1] And probably a hug.  Seriously, take a breather.<br />
[2] Strangely enough, fate and local legend have it that Abraham Lincoln’s cousin Eustace died in what is now the carport (citation needed).<br />
[3] It doesn’t.<br />
[4] Which he ate, sunny side up, along with the eagle.  And half of the tree.<br />
[5] Technically there has only been one Stuff-Give. And a glorious event it was.<br />
[6] Which, by the way, has nothing to do with the actual word “breakfast.”  Go figure.<br />
[7] The latter “blessing” led to the much-repeated phrase “My flesh!  It burns!”</p></blockquote>
<h3>Coming Soon</h3>
<p>Even though I&#8217;ll be one of the cooks (eggs and crepes) I will do my best to take some photos and videos to post up online.</p>
                        <br /><p style="border:1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);padding:5px;background:rgb(221, 221, 221) none repeat scroll 0% 0%;clear:both;max-width:450px" align="left"><i>Visit <a href="http://jaledwith.com/">my site</a> for more, or subscribe via <a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=734391">email</a> or <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/RantingsRavingsAndWritings">RSS</a> to receive new content automatically. You can also <a href="http://twitter.com/jaledwith/">follow me</a> on Twitter.<br /><br />© 2004-2010 John Andrew Ledwith, All Rights Reserved</i></p>                  ]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Expressing Joy</title>
		<link>http://jaledwith.com/2009/04/29/expressing-joy/</link>
		<comments>http://jaledwith.com/2009/04/29/expressing-joy/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:25:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andrew</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[engagement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marriage]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://jaledwith.com/?p=1192</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Do not adjust your sets. I know my most recent post was about two friends getting engaged. So is this post, but these are different friends. As before, I waited to post this until the couple in question made their engagement public knowledge on the Internet. This past Saturday my roommate JD asked his girlfriend [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>Do not adjust your sets. I know <a href="http://jaledwith.com/2009/04/08/expressing-excitement/" target="_self">my most recent post</a> was about two friends getting engaged. So is this post, but these are different friends. As before, I waited to post this until the couple in question made their engagement public knowledge on the Internet. </em></p>
<p>This past Saturday my roommate JD asked his girlfriend Liz to marry him. Her first response? I&#8217;m told that she quite literally jumped for joy&#8211;on him! Even typing that makes me smile. They plan to be married this summer. I can&#8217;t tell you how happy I am for them.  I&#8217;ve known both JD and Liz for nearly seven years, going back to when I was a freshman at FSU. I first met JD through the Navigators after I had been in town for only a few days. Liz and I were in the same BCM Fish School our first semester. Later on, in a convoluted way, I was actually the person who introduced Liz to the Navs. So, I&#8217;m going to take minor credit for the fact that these two ever even met. Very minor.</p>
<p>Side note: Apparently I&#8217;m <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitch_(film)" target="_blank">Hitch</a> for alumni &#8220;<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdudQTGCcCA" target="_blank">never-daters</a>.&#8221; When I move into a house these days one of my single roommates will &#8220;find&#8221; a lady, begin dating her, get engaged and get married, all in less than one year. That&#8217;s now happened twice in consecutive years. Ridiculous. Awesome, but completely ridiculous.</p>
<p>With all sincerity, congratulations, JD and Liz!</p>
                        <br /><p style="border:1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);padding:5px;background:rgb(221, 221, 221) none repeat scroll 0% 0%;clear:both;max-width:450px" align="left"><i>Visit <a href="http://jaledwith.com/">my site</a> for more, or subscribe via <a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=734391">email</a> or <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/RantingsRavingsAndWritings">RSS</a> to receive new content automatically. You can also <a href="http://twitter.com/jaledwith/">follow me</a> on Twitter.<br /><br />© 2004-2010 John Andrew Ledwith, All Rights Reserved</i></p>                  ]]></content:encoded>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Expressing Excitement</title>
		<link>http://jaledwith.com/2009/04/08/expressing-excitement/</link>
		<comments>http://jaledwith.com/2009/04/08/expressing-excitement/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 08 Apr 2009 12:28:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andrew</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Navigators]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[engagement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marriage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[roommates]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://jaledwith.com/?p=1172</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I decided not to post this until the couple in question made their engagement public knowledge on the Internet. This past Monday night my old roommate Luke got engaged to my next-door neighbor Katie. Both of them are campus ministers with the Navigators at FSU, so as you can imagine this news is making waves [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>I decided not to post this until the couple in question made their engagement public knowledge on the Internet. </em></p>
<p>This past Monday night my old roommate Luke got engaged to my next-door neighbor Katie. Both of them are campus ministers with the Navigators at FSU, so as you can imagine this news is making waves in our community. (If you&#8217;re getting a weird sense of <a href="http://jaledwith.com/2008/07/01/my-roommate-and-my-neighbor/" target="_self">dÃ©jÃ  vu</a> let me assure you it&#8217;s well-founded.)</p>
<p>I found out about their engagement Tuesday morning from my roommate Joe. He claimed he told me mostly so that I could tell our roommate JD. Joe hoped if the news came from me that I would be the one to receive JD&#8217;s all-but-certain hug. You see, Joe isn&#8217;t exactly what you&#8217;d call the mushy type. JD, on the other hand, is much more in touch with his emotions. Knowing this, I like to instigate moments of faux conflict between the two of them.</p>
<p><span id="more-1172"></span></p>
<p>Later that morning I emailed both of my roommates about paying rent. JD&#8217;s response was short, sweet and not at all germane to my message, but I used it to my advantage. Enjoy.</p>
<p><strong>Me:</strong> [My original message about rent.]<br />
<strong>JD:</strong> Luke and Katie are engaged!!! :)<br />
<strong>Me:</strong> Engaged to be MARRIED!!! =D<br />
<strong>JD:</strong> aaaaaaaaaaaah!! :) :)<br />
<strong>Joe:</strong> If I could punch you through the Internet, I would.  Andrew, we might need to talk to the Embarq guy to see if we can make that happen. [Stuff regarding my original message.] I hope you girls are doing well today.</p>
<p>Worth it.</p>
<p>Congratulations, Luke and Katie!</p>
                        <br /><p style="border:1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);padding:5px;background:rgb(221, 221, 221) none repeat scroll 0% 0%;clear:both;max-width:450px" align="left"><i>Visit <a href="http://jaledwith.com/">my site</a> for more, or subscribe via <a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=734391">email</a> or <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/RantingsRavingsAndWritings">RSS</a> to receive new content automatically. You can also <a href="http://twitter.com/jaledwith/">follow me</a> on Twitter.<br /><br />© 2004-2010 John Andrew Ledwith, All Rights Reserved</i></p>                  ]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>My Recent Vacations</title>
		<link>http://jaledwith.com/2009/01/07/my-recent-vacations/</link>
		<comments>http://jaledwith.com/2009/01/07/my-recent-vacations/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:35:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andrew</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bluehost]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Connecticut]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Florida State Seminoles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Honda Prelude]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Miami Dolphins]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Missouri]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Quote Of The Day]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vanderbilt Commodores]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[football]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://jaledwith.com/?p=1033</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Due to a fantastic set of circumstances I was out of the state of Florida for three whole weeks, finally returning to Tallahassee on January 3. For the first week I was in Missouri and for the following two weeks I was in Connecticut. I also took an unintended vacation from the blogosphere, which I&#8217;ll [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Due to a fantastic set of <a href="http://jaledwith.com/2008/12/13/extended-absense/" target="_self">circumstances</a> I was out of the state of Florida for three whole weeks, finally returning to Tallahassee on January 3. For the first week I was in Missouri and for the following two weeks I was in Connecticut. I also took an unintended vacation from the blogosphere, which I&#8217;ll address at the end.</p>
<p><span id="more-1033"></span></p>
<h4>Missouri</h4>
<p>The story of my vacation actually starts a few days before I left to go to Missouri. My parents came to Florida to visit my grandmother who lives in Lakeland to celebrate her 92nd birthday. They came up to Tallahassee for a couple of days to see my new digs and spend a little time with me in my element. Work had become very slow by then, plus I had already finished up my commitments to school and to the Navigators for the semester, so I was able to make the most of their visit. All three of us left Florida the same day out of Jacksonville, allowing us to drive there together, only they were going home to Connecticut and I was flying to Missouri for a week before rejoining them.</p>
<p>I decided to take a trip to Missouri for a week to visit my grandmother, who I hadn&#8217;t seen in almost two years. I have to thank my Uncle Chuck and Aunt Martha, who live in St. Louis, for carting me in and out of the tiny town of Louisiana. I had a really good time while I was there. Technically I was teleworking the five weekdays I was in Missouri, which meant that I needed to check my work email a few times a day, have my cell phone on to receive calls from coworkers and check the work voice mail a couple times each day. But after I put in my hours each day I was put to work by my grandmother. She owns two houses that are right next to each other. She has recently moved out of the house that used to be the Missouri governor&#8217;s mansion (long, long ago). Now she lives in a smaller, more handicap accessible home. But she has a tremendous amount of sorting to do in her old home, so it was my job to carry things from the big house to her current house. It was by no means grueling. It&#8217;s fun to see some of the cool things she has in that old house!</p>
<p>I had a few other surprises while in Missouri, too. My first full day there my grandmother dragged me to a church walk. Each year a bunch of churches in town, which are all within a few blocks of each other, have a Christmas celebration together. But rather than have it at one location, they each put on part of it at their own church, then the participants walk over to the next church. I didn&#8217;t want to go at first, but I&#8217;m glad I did. Not only did I get to meet a lot of my grandmother&#8217;s friends (I&#8217;m starting to realize that showing off your grandchildren never becomes old to grandparents), but each church put on a pretty impressive Christmas music display. I was especially impressed by the local Episcopal church who had a talented bluegrass duo perform.</p>
<p>Later during the week I also got to spend time with a couple of my grandmother&#8217;s closest friends. One, a woman named Elizabeth, is always such an encouragement to me. I truly look forward to seeing her every time I come to town. Another, Katie, who I don&#8217;t believe I&#8217;d met before, has family working with Frontiers. We had a very interesting conversation about witnessing.</p>
<p>Another highlight was seeing my cousin Beka and her husband Jeremy. Technically this was the first time I&#8217;d ever met Jeremy, even though I <a href="http://jaledwith.com/2007/04/01/the-howards-and-the-simpsons/" target="_self">attended their wedding</a>. Our time together was limited to a single dinner, but I&#8217;m glad they made the trip from Nashville just to see me. (Okay, so they were probably there more because it was also my grandmother&#8217;s birthday dinner. Details, details.)</p>
<p>The morning I left it was four degrees outside with a windchill of minus seventeen. After arriving in Chicago my flight was delayed for a couple hours, but eventually I made it to Connecticut. Eventually really is the keyword. I started my travel day at around 2 PM on Sunday (central time) and arrived at my parents&#8217; house at 4 am on Monday (eastern time)! And, yes, I had to telework on Monday.</p>
<h4>Connecticut</h4>
<p>I only had to telework for three days while in Connecticut. Starting Christmas day through the rest of my trip I was on vacation. That&#8217;s one of the great things about working at Florida State University. T.K. Wetherall, the university president, gives all faculty and staff from Christmas through New Years off as paid vacation each year. Back when I worked for the DOEA I was only given Christmas Day and New Years Day off, and since I wasn&#8217;t salaried I wasn&#8217;t paid on those days. So you might say I was excited about the change.</p>
<p>My priority for this trip was to spend quality time with my family since I hadn&#8217;t been home to see them since last Christmas. I was content to spend almost all my time at home and not hunt down old friends I&#8217;d lost contact with. My dad was given the same days off as me, and my sister was home from school, so the four of us were able to spend a lot of time together.</p>
<p>This didn&#8217;t mean I spent the whole time being lazy though. My sister wanted to wipe her laptop&#8217;s hard drive and install a 64-bit version of Vista, mostly so Photoshop would run better. I had never installed Vista before so, being the geek that I am, this was a fun experience for me. I did my best to trick out her computer with some bells and whistles that I&#8217;d read about on <a href="http://lifehacker.com/" target="_blank">Lifehacker</a> but had previously had no use for since I use a Mac. I think she&#8217;ll now be the envy the UT-Austin architecture school.</p>
<p>My favorite Christmas gift was from my parents. They gave me a <a href="http://www.theflip.com/products_flip_mino.shtml#scene=sceneMain" target="_blank">Flip MinoHD</a>, which is an HD video camera that&#8217;s about the size of my cell phone. I intend to use this to accomplish one of <a href="http://jaledwith.com/2008/12/10/blogging-goals-for-2009/" target="_self">my blogging goals for the year</a>, which is to post an original video once each month.</p>
<p>We watched a lot of football, which is still a little strange to me because my family never used to watch sports when I was growing up. But since my sister and I each went to schools that have good football teams my parents have started to follow the college football scene. But this year even my parents&#8217; alma mater Vanderbilt made it to a bowl game for the first time since 1982, which was about a year and a half before I was born. They were huge underdogs to ACC runner-up Boston College but pulled off a shocking upset win, 16-14, their first bowl win since 1955. Actually, all four of the schools my immediate family has attended were in bowls this year (FSU, Texas, Vandy and FAU) and all four won.</p>
<p>I also watched the Miami Dolphins win the AFC East in one of the most dramatic turnarounds in NFL history. I took a lot of pleasure in knowing that the Dolphins were the only team from their division <em>and</em> the only team from Florida to make the postseason. Even though they eventually lost to the Ravens in the first round I&#8217;m still really proud of their accomplishment this year.</p>
<p>I did connect with one old friend, a college buddy of mine named Josh. He moved to Connecticut after college to work at ESPN. He has since gotten engaged to a super cool lady named Lauren. Their wedding is in April and they&#8217;ve asked me to be an usher, which is a major honor. (Now I just need to wrangle some time off from work.) Anyway, Josh and I are both sci-fi nerds, hitting the swamp of our mid-twenties and doing our best to be faithful Christ-followers, so we always have a lot to talk about when we get together.</p>
<p>Here&#8217;s something super cool. My dad has owned a 1984 Honda Prelude since it was brand new. He recently bought a new car to replace it but he still hasn&#8217;t gotten rid of it. Recently he decided to put &#8220;antique&#8221; license plates on it which signify it as an &#8220;Early American.&#8221; I think it&#8217;s a riot that a car from the 80&#8242;s qualifies as an antique and that a Japanese sports car gets the same plate as a Model-A. <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/jaledwith/sets/72157612283677916/" target="_blank">Here</a> are a few pictures.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Medium" title="My Dad's Old Car" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaledwith/3176342813/"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3394/3176342813_9d686fbbe5.jpg" alt="My Dad's Old Car" width="375" height="500" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Medium" title="My Dad's Old Car" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaledwith/3177178242/"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3122/3177178242_a6c78dd2d8.jpg" alt="My Dad's Old Car" width="500" height="375" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Medium" title="My Dad's Old Car" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaledwith/3176343115/"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3444/3176343115_c4c33b59ff.jpg" alt="My Dad's Old Car" width="500" height="375" /></a></p>
<p>I made it home without a hitch. Both my flights were smooth and uneventful. I had a full day to rest up since I decided to come back on a Saturday. (My real motivation for flying on Saturday was to attempt to be bumped to Sunday and receive a travel voucher, but with the economy in the toilet both my flights had empty seats.)</p>
<h4>My Surprise Vacation from the Blogosphere</h4>
<p>Quote of the Day: &#8220;This is how good bloggers go bad. That and feeding them after midnight.&#8221; &#8212; Rob Hodges, in response to the following</p>
<p>Okay, now I&#8217;ll talk about my <em>other</em> vacation. The night before I left Connecticut to return to Florida I received an email from Bluehost, the company that hosts <a href="http://jaledwith.com/" target="_self">my website</a>. They said that they were shutting down my site because it was causing performance problems. This is a big deal because I&#8217;m on a shared server (meaning there are other sites stored with mine on the same server), so my errors were causing issues for other people. I hadn&#8217;t even been looking at my error logs, but it turns out my site had been having trouble for almost a whole year! They forced me to weed out my WordPress MySQL database. After it was reviewed by the powers that be, my site finally came back to the Internet yesterday afternoon.</p>
<h4>Back in the Saddle</h4>
<p>I&#8217;m now back at work. Next week I will begin a new grad class on line-editing and begin leading a new freshmen Bible study on Philippians. I&#8217;m also going to begin attending a small group at my church which begins meeting tonight. With any luck I&#8217;ll also be coleading a seminar for graduating seniors in a couple of weeks. I&#8217;ve always liked the spring semester better than the fall. The tempo has always felt more relaxed to me, probably because there isn&#8217;t any football to deal with. I&#8217;m very hopeful right now. I&#8217;m excited to see what the next few months will bring.</p>
                        <br /><p style="border:1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);padding:5px;background:rgb(221, 221, 221) none repeat scroll 0% 0%;clear:both;max-width:450px" align="left"><i>Visit <a href="http://jaledwith.com/">my site</a> for more, or subscribe via <a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=734391">email</a> or <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/RantingsRavingsAndWritings">RSS</a> to receive new content automatically. You can also <a href="http://twitter.com/jaledwith/">follow me</a> on Twitter.<br /><br />© 2004-2010 John Andrew Ledwith, All Rights Reserved</i></p>                  ]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Extended Absense</title>
		<link>http://jaledwith.com/2008/12/13/extended-absense/</link>
		<comments>http://jaledwith.com/2008/12/13/extended-absense/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 13 Dec 2008 12:00:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andrew</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[telework]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vacation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://jaledwith.com/?p=998</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Yesterday was my last day in the office until 2009! No, I don&#8217;t have an enormous vacation coming up, but by all appearances it may seem that way. I scored one of the best deals ever. I will be teleworking starting Monday all the way through Christmas Eve. After that I will be on vacation, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Yesterday was my last day in the office until 2009! No, I don&#8217;t have an enormous vacation coming up, but by all appearances it may seem that way. I scored one of the best deals ever. I will be teleworking starting Monday all the way through Christmas Eve. After that I will be on vacation, since all FSU employees are given December 25 through January 2 off.</p>
<p><span id="more-998"></span></p>
<p>How did the telework come about? Well, the building I work in will be receiving some maintenance over the next couple of weeks. They won&#8217;t be closing the building, but they won&#8217;t be running the heat either. So my boss is letting us all telework instead.</p>
<p>Furthermore, the conditions of my telework are simply that I must have access to a phone and Internet connection. That opened up a lot of options, so I&#8217;ve decided to leave Florida for the rest of the month. Today I&#8217;m driving to the Jacksonville Airport with my parents, who were in Florida to celebrate my grandmother&#8217;s 92nd birthday. From tonight through December 21 I&#8217;ll be in Missouri visiting my grandmother (my other grandmother), followed by a trip to Connecticut to see my parents and sister which will last from December 21 through January 3.</p>
<p>If you are in either of these locations and want to see me be sure to let me know and we&#8217;ll see what we can put together. I&#8217;ll have all kinds of flexibility after Christmas. Before that I&#8217;ll be on the clock during the day, but my evenings will be free.</p>
                        <br /><p style="border:1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);padding:5px;background:rgb(221, 221, 221) none repeat scroll 0% 0%;clear:both;max-width:450px" align="left"><i>Visit <a href="http://jaledwith.com/">my site</a> for more, or subscribe via <a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=734391">email</a> or <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/RantingsRavingsAndWritings">RSS</a> to receive new content automatically. You can also <a href="http://twitter.com/jaledwith/">follow me</a> on Twitter.<br /><br />© 2004-2010 John Andrew Ledwith, All Rights Reserved</i></p>                  ]]></content:encoded>
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		<item>
		<title>My Hiatus</title>
		<link>http://jaledwith.com/2008/06/02/my-hiatus/</link>
		<comments>http://jaledwith.com/2008/06/02/my-hiatus/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 02 Jun 2008 20:10:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andrew</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bible study]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[summer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[writing]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://jaledwith.com/?p=673</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I only blogged once in May (and, technically, I wrote that post in April). That&#8217;s a record low for any month since I started blogging over four years ago. Honestly, though, I&#8217;m not at all upset about it. The spring semester was one of the most intense four month periods of my life. As such, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I only blogged once in May (and, technically, I wrote that post in April). That&#8217;s a record low for any month since I started blogging over four years ago. Honestly, though, I&#8217;m not at all upset about it. The spring semester was one of the most intense four month periods of my life. As such, I spent the month of May recharging my batteries.</p>
<p>In an attempt to spice things up a bit I took a break from many of my regular activities and commitments and began some new ones. I started sleeping in, which for me means waking up between 7:00 and 8:00 AM instead of 5:30 AM. I stopped running to rest my bum foot and started weight training with my friend James. I&#8217;ve been cooking more and eating out much less. I spent less time one-on-one with students and instead put a lot of energy into leading a Bible study on 2 Timothy. But most significantly, I barely did any writing in any form all month. I&#8217;m hoping the result will be a freshness in my blogging and journaling that I think it disparately needs.</p>
<p>I have a few topics that I&#8217;m really looking forward to writing about here over the next couple of weeks. Keep checking back for updates.</p>
                        <br /><p style="border:1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);padding:5px;background:rgb(221, 221, 221) none repeat scroll 0% 0%;clear:both;max-width:450px" align="left"><i>Visit <a href="http://jaledwith.com/">my site</a> for more, or subscribe via <a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=734391">email</a> or <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/RantingsRavingsAndWritings">RSS</a> to receive new content automatically. You can also <a href="http://twitter.com/jaledwith/">follow me</a> on Twitter.<br /><br />© 2004-2010 John Andrew Ledwith, All Rights Reserved</i></p>                  ]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>My Buffer Week</title>
		<link>http://jaledwith.com/2007/12/21/my-buffer-week/</link>
		<comments>http://jaledwith.com/2007/12/21/my-buffer-week/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 21 Dec 2007 23:01:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andrew</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christmas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Connecticut]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[work]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://jaledwith.com/2007/12/21/my-buffer-week-2/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I write this to you from the Orlando airport, where my long layover has just turned into an even longer layover thanks to a half hour delay. I arrived here from Tallahassee at about 3:30 this afternoon. I wonâ€™t be taking off from Orlando until 7:55, assuming their current estimate is any good. And Iâ€™m [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p class="MsoNormal">I write this to you from the Orlando airport, where my long layover has just turned into an even longer layover thanks to a half hour delay. I arrived here from Tallahassee at about 3:30 this afternoon. I wonâ€™t be taking off from Orlando until 7:55, assuming their current estimate is any good. And Iâ€™m not even flying into Hartford. It was cheaper to go through Boston. So when my next flight touches down Iâ€™ve still got a long drive home ahead of me. Itâ€™ll be well after midnight before I get to bed tonight.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">This past week was a buffer week. All the students had gone home the week before after they finished their finals, but I had to stay in town to work my state job before taking off for my vacation. Iâ€™ve been in Tallahassee getting as much done around the house as possible. As soon as the fall semester began it was non-stop commotion. I was able to move in my things and get situated throughout the semester, but there always seemed to be those jobs around the house that Iâ€™d like to get done if only I had the house to myself without the threat of anyone coming by unexpectedly. Sure, we got every Monday off to do with as we pleased but honestly, who wants to spend that day taking care of projects around the house? They werenâ€™t things that <em>needed</em> to get done, just things that itâ€™d be nice to have done. Things like replacing the thirty-year-old curtains in our family room (that, by the way, is not hyperbole) or hanging up the speakers for my surround sound system or finding a better way to store Lukeâ€™s bike. Iâ€™m happy to say that all of these tasks have been completed and that my house has probably never looked as good as it does right now. Sadly, as soon as my roommates return home itâ€™ll probably never look this good again either.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I didnâ€™t have this week off from my job at DOEA. I worked five hours Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The office is starting to quiet down now that people are taking leave for Christmas. (Excuse me: for the holidays.) I had no shortage of work though. For those of you who donâ€™t know what I do, most of my hours are spent entering data into an online database collected from our volunteer counselors. These counselors are all over the state of Florida talking to people who have questions or problems with their Medicare or Medicaid or whatever. Those counselors fill out a form after each counseling session detailing what they talked about and the demographics of who they talked to. Those forms are sent to me. Between November 15 and December 31 is Medicare Part D open enrollment, so thereâ€™s a lot more counseling going on right now than at any other time of year. That means lots of forms. Iâ€™m doing the same job now that I was doing last year, only last year I was working full time. Itâ€™s going to be a real trick to get all the work done thatâ€™s been given to me to do between now and the end of January.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So now Iâ€™m going home. Iâ€™m really looking forward to this trip home since I really havenâ€™t been home in a year. Sure, I was in Connecticut this summer but that trip was all business. I was there for just a few days and most of my time was spent fund raising for my job with the Navigators. This trip will be much more relaxing. I do have some fund raising activities planned and I also have one other Nav related project to take care of while Iâ€™m home, but this trip is primarily about spending time with my family. Iâ€™m looking forward to being able to give them quality time.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Sunday after Christmas Iâ€™m going to be giving the sermon at Wethersfield United Methodist Church. That Sunday is â€œStudent Sundayâ€ and they figured since theyâ€™re supporting a campus minister who will just happen to be in town that week they might as well ask me to speak. (Iâ€™m putting words in their mouth; I have no idea what their decision-making process looked like.) Iâ€™m not entirely certain what Iâ€™ll be saying, but I do have some note sketched out. Iâ€™ll pull my thoughts together sometime next week.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What is this Nav related project Iâ€™m talking about? Well, the big one is creating a new website for our ministry. Iâ€™m really excited about this one. Up to this point weâ€™ve had our site stored on the FSU servers. Soon itâ€™ll be on the Navigatorsâ€™ servers (the hosting will still be free too). The site is going to use WordPress as its content management system, the same CMS I use on my website. This will make the site very easy to update, even by people who arenâ€™t especially tech savvy. Thatâ€™s my vision. I donâ€™t want our websiteâ€™s level of functionality to be dependant upon having a student or staff member around who knows a lot about web design. I want anyone to be able to keep this thing up-to-date. By the end of the break that should be a reality.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Those are the things on my mind right now. Sometime over the break Iâ€™ll write a post reflecting on my first semester as a campus minister. I havenâ€™t spent a lot of time processing that yet though, so itâ€™ll come toward the end of the break. Until then, safe travels and enjoy your time with family and friends. Merry Christmas!</p>
                        <br /><p style="border:1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);padding:5px;background:rgb(221, 221, 221) none repeat scroll 0% 0%;clear:both;max-width:450px" align="left"><i>Visit <a href="http://jaledwith.com/">my site</a> for more, or subscribe via <a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=734391">email</a> or <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/RantingsRavingsAndWritings">RSS</a> to receive new content automatically. You can also <a href="http://twitter.com/jaledwith/">follow me</a> on Twitter.<br /><br />© 2004-2010 John Andrew Ledwith, All Rights Reserved</i></p>                  ]]></content:encoded>
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