Our driveway

I have been doing my studying for Biology in front of our office window, which overlooks our front yard and driveway. I have seen a large number of cars turn around in our driveway, since it is the first and most convenient spot on the street.

For some reason, I got the urge today to put up a sign saying something like "hope you had fun turning around." Is that weird?

Rift Valley Academy

I just noticed a video on YouTube that talks about the high school that I attended in Kenya. You should all check it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHYmr3_qU5Y.

If you try to see it in the next few minutes, YouTube is down and under construction of some sort, so it won't be viewable.

Sovereignty

On Tuesday I prayed much more seriously and fervently than I normally do. I even fasted, which I have not done in years. I was bothered by the mediocrity in my life, and I was asking God to give me his passion in my life. I prayed about a lot of things, like my unsaved co-workers, but I also remember praying that God would shake up things in my life (only if He found it necessary of course - I don't really like trials in my life).

Apparently He found it necessary. On Wednesday morning at 9:30 or so, I was laid off from my company. This was the third round of layoffs, so it was not unexpected. In fact, there may be another round of cuts by the end of the year.

So, I am now looking for a job full-time. I don't know where this new path of my life will lead me, but I don't take it as a coincidence that I was laid off the morning after a day spent in serious prayer. My biggest concern now is that I will take the first "safe" job that comes along, ignoring the other plans that God may have for me. I am open to a change in my career, but I don't want to pursue something risky without His leading.

My wife brought up a good point yesterday. When God called Abraham, he did not call him to change his career (I don't know that there were many other careers open in that time period). Instead, Abraham was told to take his family and possessions and move to a new land. The important thing was that he was put in a situation where he had to trust that God would be sufficient.

I would appreciate your prayers that I keep God first in all of this. I have been reading from Isaiah in my devotions. Today I read chapter 12. It says "Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation." Wow, What a promise. It is so relieving to know that it is not me fighting the battle, but God.

Further in chapter 12 is says "...make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world." That is something else that I want to keep at the forefront of all of this. Since it is not me fighting the battle, I want to give the glory to God and make sure that his name is lifted high.

Dvorak followup

I have now had a week or so of practicing with the Dvorak keyboard, and I am still liking it. There are a lot of varying reports as to how long it takes to make the transition, anywhere from two weeks to two months. The problem is that “they” never say if they are using the Dvorak keyboard exclusively or not. I cannot use it exclusively because the programs that I use at work rely heavily on shortcuts, which are mostly under my left hand. Also, when I get really busy I cannot afford to take four times as long to type an e-mail.

I am hoping that by forcing myself to constantly switch back and forth, I will retain the ability to type with both layouts. However, as soon as my typing speed on the Dvorak keyboard gets anywhere normal, I’ll probably only type in Dvorak and use the standard keyboard for my applications. My typing speed is now up to 19 wpm. I actually did not test it before with the new layout, so I only know that I feel like I am typing more quickly. I am trying to decide what a “normal” speed would be for me, but I will probably just switch when I can type fluidly without pausing to think about where the keys are located. I think that once I get to that point, my speed will really pick up.

Right now, I find that when am typing on the qwerty keyboard too slowly, and I have to think at all about what letters I am typing, I will usually type the wrong letter. Luckily, I do not normally type very slowly or think about where the letters are at too much.

Did anyone else decide to try learning the new keyboard layout? It is so much fun, seriously. Now if only it where as easy to learn a new language.

The Dvorak Keyboard

When I took my very first typing class, I remember learning that the standard QWERTY keyboard was designed to slow typists down. On the original typewriters, if keys were struck in close succession, it would jam. So they designed a keyboard that made typing as difficult as possible, ie. The most frequently used keys were placed further apart and not under the “home row”.

At the same time I learned about an alternate keyboard called the Dvorak keyboard that arranged the keys in a very logical pattern. The keyboard arranges the keys so that vowels are all on one side, mostly under the home row. It also tries to have your fingers roll in, since that is more natural for most people. Some people report that after using it they experience an increase in writing speed. It is estimated that the average person’s fingers travel 16-20 miles on a QWERTY keyboard per day, while they would only travel 1 mile on the Dvorak. This means that someone is less likely to have injuries related to repetitive motion on the Dvorak keyboard.

As some of you may have guessed, I have decided to see if I can make myself learn the Dvorak keyboard. Actually this entire message has been typed with it. What’s cool is that I didn’t have to go and buy a new keyboard to do it. Windows allows me to switch the key mapping in one of the property settings, and then it put a little keyboard icon on my task bar so that I can quickly switch back and forth between the two keyboard mappings.

I am typing at a speed of about 10-20 wpm right now, and my normal speed is around 77. It is hard but actually pretty rewarding. Let me know if any of decide to try learning the Dvorak keyboard.

Look what Zog do!

This is a rendering I did for some very wealthy people who wanted to know what their condo was going to look like. I picked out the decorations and had a little help with the color. I think the curtains are pretty sweet.

Hobbies

I'm totally with Dustin here, I just have too many hobbies. Between reading, disc golf, writing, carpentry, archery, the occasional volleyball, and of course video games, I don't have the time to concentrate on any one thing. It is a good thing that I don't fish or hunt regularly.

I'll start writing again as soon as I have some inspiration. And it will not happen tonight.