New Church Position: Concierge!!

I had the privilege of serving at a church last week who took great care of me while I was there. I was surprised to learn the title of the person assigned to pick me up, take me to meetings, etc. His official title on his church business card is Concierge!

How cool is that!!

Two Tips to a Happy Marriage

Grace and I have been married for 28 years. That's a long time! We still have lots of fun together; we'd even say we're still in love. There are a couple of things I do to try to keep our marriage vibrant, and I don't know of many that do these two things.

The first is kind of a tech-tip.

I have a recurring task in Outlook remind me to ask her out on a date every two weeks. You might say I shouldn't need to do that; but I do! Without it I could easily go for many months before realizing it's been awhile since I last asked her out! So I let Outlook remind me to continue romancing her, and we both benefit.

The second is one which must be approached carefully. But, if not abused, it will do wonders towards keeping your marriage romantic.

Every few (3-5) years I take my wife on an extravagant date that usually involves travel, luxurious lodging, great meals, and entertainment. It's never in the budget, which is why it can't be abused. And it definitely sets us back a little in our financial goals.

This may sound irresponsible, so let me explain myself.

I believe our wives want us to be good managers, but they also want to believe we're head over heels in love with them. And that should drive us, every now and then, to show it in an I'm crazy in love with you kind of way.

I should also say that every time I have told my wife-- who is a CPA and, thus, frugally minded-- that I was thinking of doing something crazy like that, she was initially opposed. But, becuase they are always things I know she will enjoy (they cannot be something focusing on something I want to do for my hobby, etc), they become the stories she most loves to recount.

If the Lord takes one of us home early, I know these special occasions will be some of the memories that will always bring a smile. And life insurance can cover a multitude of such craziness.

Well, there you go. A couple of tips that can help enrich and build a marriage. Be careful on that second one, though! Don't go so crazy with it that you kill yourselves with debt!

Odd Travel Experience-- A First for Me!

I've flown more than 2.6 million miles on American Airlines. Today. I stood by to catch an earlier flight since I got to the airport early, and was assigned a middle seat about halfway back. No problem, it was for a short flight.

Amazingly, the passenger sitting next to me insists on having her arm 2-3" beyond the armrest and into my seat space! Not because of her size-- just because! I asked her politely if she would move it so that it is at least not past the armrest into my already narrow seat space, and she told me I was a rude bully!

Okay; that's a first for me!

______________

Post-flight update...

I wrote that post during the flight and published it via the airline's wifi. But the flight just kept getting weirder! Three things made that true:

1. The lady I wrote about decided her elbow wasn't sticking far enough into my side, so mid-flight she decided to move it towards me another inch or so.  Very uncomfortable. But I didn't want to make a scene, and the flight was short, so I lived with it
2. When the plane landed, some guy decided to take my suitcase out of the overhead! I said, "Excuse me, but that's my suitcase." He looked at me like he couldn't believe what he just heard, so I repeated it. He replied, "Okay, I'll just leave it on this seat." When he got off the plane he didn't take any luggage with him, so it was not a case of mistaken identity. That was also a first for me!
3. As the lady whose elbow was so intimate with my ribs got up to disembark, she called me a bunch of names! Four-letter names! I saw her in the terminal and told her I hope her day gets better, and she told me I am passive-agressive. Okay...

So, I'm not sure exactly what happened on that flight or why, but at least I got a good story out of it!

Church IT Round Table was Awesome!

Every time I attend a CITRT event I am so thankful!  Last week was the national event in Phoenix, hosted by Christ's Church of the Valley (in Peoria, actually); here are some of my takeaways:

• Incredible relationship building with peers.
• Great opportunity to serve my peers by sharing information, processes, and encouragement.
• Solid time of learning hi-tech details that will help on some items on our project board.
• Terrific times of worship and challenge from CCV staff.

The next national event is October 21st - 23rd this fall at Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City, KS (actually in Leawood, KS), and I strongly encourage you to go if you are involved in church and/ or ministry IT at any level.

The event to watch is http://www.churchitnetwork.com/, and the Twitter hashtag is #citrt.

Looking for a New Chair?

Here's one for that special geek in your life!

Get a Power Inverter in Case of Power Outage

A colleague brought a great blog post to my attention; I thought the concept was brilliant! The post was about using a power inverter connected to his Chevy Volt during a power outage. As I read it I thought, "You don't need a hybrid to enjoy that benefit; any vehicle in good operating condition will do!"

So I tasked myself to get an inverter to test.

I went to my local Lowe's and found a Stanley 800 Watt Power Converter; out the door for just under $65. I brought it home and put it to the test.

Proof of Concept
I connected it to my Ford F-150's battery and started the truck. Then I turned on the inverter (Stanley calls it a Power Converter) and plugged in a portable air conditioner. It worked! And the converter's digital readout said it was only using 100 watts. So I also plugged in our refrigerator. When the refrigerator compressor kicked in the converter registered nearly 1250 watts, but then quickly settled down to a combined total of about 450.

It turns out that Consumer Reports wrote about this too! Because it is a great solution to power outages in our homes! Who knew?!! I thought you needed a $1000 generator-- which makes a lot of noise when running-- for that!

Thjere are a couple of cautions when using an inverter:

• Make certain the vehicle is outside and well ventilated; not doing so can result in death.
• Be careful when connecting the inverter to your vehicle battery. No one enjoys electrical shocks.

Bottom Line
I'm going back to Lowe's and getting a second unit, and we'll keep one in each vehicle trunk-- just in case.

New Article: Microsoft Surface Pro Review

I just released my review of the just-released Microsoft Surface Pro to the publisher.  If you'd like to read an advance copy of it, click here!