The Boss'

I’ve been very happy with my Canon Powershot S2 IS 5MP Digital Camera ever since I bought it back in July of 2006. A couple of months ago however, the faithful camera just up and died on me. The lense had trouble deciding what it was going to do…retract, stay out, extend, etc. The screen went black with only the cryptic text “E18 Error” in the lower left corner. As I soon found out, I wasn’t the only one to suffer this fate. Indeed, there is a site called e18error.com. However, all of the tips, tricks, and potential fixes listed on the site didn’t help. The camera was broken. Suddenly, I was without my S2, and the thought of paying to get it fixed made me sick. One local quote to fix the camera was $175, and the guy at the camera shop was really crabby…like, you-just-lost-a-customer crabby. Equally unacceptable was the thought of having 5, soon to be six, kids, and not having a camera with which to capture their incredible cuteness.

One day, while retelling my digital camera sob story at work, one of my coworkers mentioned that he had an S2IS just sitting on his shelf gathering dust. He had replaced it months ago with a higher megapixel compact that he could more easily carry in his pocket or bike bag. He offered to let me borrow the camera and that’s what I’ve been doing for the last month. The other day I offered him $100 for it. That’s a little bit less than used S2’s are selling for on Amazon.com, but he took it, figuring that he wasn’t using it anyway, and he could use the pocket money for an upcoming  vacation.

So, I’m pleased to once again have the company of a fine S2IS…I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that my new S2 doesn’t suddenly exhibit the same bizarre behavior as my last one.

In other digital products news, we finally added a dedicated video camera to the collection of household gadgets. In trying to decide which camera to buy, I took some time and really thought about how we use video cameras these days. In our case, we really are just grabbing tiny video clips of certain funny/weird moments. Watching our home movies from years ago, I can’t believe the LONG shots that we took of the most mundane activities. Think about watching TV…how many camera cuts can you count in one minute? A lot. That’s what people expect today when they watch a video. In the past few years, we’ve been changing the way we shoot video with our digital camera to be more like that…short little scenes that are much more enjoyable to watch, and that can easily be put together to make a longer movie. Anyway, for this reason I went with a Creative Labs Vado HD 720p Pocket Video Camcorder. It’s a little bigger than a full-size iPod, and it holds up to 2 hours of 720p video. It also has HDMI out, and comes with a cable, so it’s easy to plug right in to any HD TV. That really sealed the deal. Another great thing about this camera is the ease of use. It’s really a one button operation. Push the button to record…push it again to stop. Even the kids can figure it out in just a couple of minutes. So far I’ve been pleased with the video quality, though, to be honest, filming indoors in the winter is never going to yeild the best results. I’m looking forward to getting outdoors with it and putting together some movies. I’ve done quite a bit in the past with photo editing and digital photo books, and now I’d like to try my hand at video production.

More videos coming soon. Stay tuned!

Here are a couple of photos that I took of the little building that we’re in the process of converting to a chicken house. I’m dividing it in half so that we can store feed, litter, and other supplies in one half, and the birds in the other. I’d like them to be able to go in and out when the weather is nice, but I need to keep cats and other predators out, so I’m not sure how I’ll handle that. There is power running to the building, but I’ll need to wire up a couple of outlets and a light switch, so that I can control the amount of light they get in the winter. Apparently they need about 14 hours of light a day for maximum egg production. We’ll see. We’re making this up as we go along.

I posted this same list over on my Facebook page. I reproduce it here for your perusal and enjoyment.

1. I once wrote and directed an anti-drunk driving commercial that was produced by WZZM 13 in Grand Rapids. My high school won a new TV and VCR and they didn’t even know I had done it. I had a pretty low profile in high school.

2. I hated school when I was a kid. (scrawny + homely + glasses + braces = hell on earth)

3. I love to learn new things. (remember, school and learning are NOT the same thing)

4. I became the class clown to make school bearable.

5. I went to the Art Institute of Colorado for a 2 year degree in Industrial Design. I was always on the Deans List in college for getting good grades. A radical departure from K-12.

6. I worked in the CAD lab to help pay for school. The CAD experience helped me get my first programming job because the job I applied for was looking for the odd combination of someone who know CAD software AND software development. I wasn’t much of a developer at the time, but I was willing to learn and they were willing to teach.

7. I’m frustrated by technology because so much of it is poorly designed and is insulting to the user. For instance, Windows will scream at me that I need to plug in my laptop because the battery is running out, but when I plug it in the message stays on the screen until I click ‘OK’. If it knew enough tell me the battery was low, then it should also know enough to realize that it is now plugged in and can dismiss the stupid message. I know, it’s minor, but it’s the sort of thing that makes me want to chuck my laptop out the window and makes me mad for at least 20 minutes.

8. I will solve your computer problem but doing so gives me license to use your name in any stories I tell involving dumb computer users.

9. I became a computer programmer to put food on the table. I would rather be doing about a million other things. Programming to me is like solving a puzzle. I don’t think I’m particularly great at it, but I am persistent enough to figure things out eventually. I HATE not knowing how something works, or why it’s broken.

10. I believe that between 18 and 36 months, a child is at the pinnacle of their cuteness. If you can’t smile at a 2 year old, you’re beyond hope.

11. My wife and I are expecting our sixth child in May. I think it’s important always to have a two year old in the house. (see #10)

12. I pray that my kids will never have office jobs like mine.

13. I occasionally post things to my blog at www.thebossfamily.com

14. I’m in the middle of a 3 year term as a deacon at our church.

15. I feel like a total screw up as a parent most of the time. My kids are awesome, and I owe that entirely to my wife. If cameras were rolling 24/7 like in one of those Super Nanny submission videos, I’d probably be arrested. I’m constantly surprised by what a complete jerk I can be to my kids. They always forgive me and I love them more than I thought possible.

16. I don’t deserve my wife.

17. I feel like having kids has given me insight into how frustrated God must feel most of the time. (You did what?! A golden calf? Are you kidding me! After what I did for you at the Red Sea? What do you mean you forgot?!)

18. I don’t think most Christian parents have a biblical view of children. Christians will call both their children and their material wealth blessing from God, but when was the last time a parent complained that God has given them too much money? But kids. No. They don’t want "too  many" kids. And, yes, I know that 99% of Christians disagree with me on this. The Bible leaves us some really sticky theological issues to wrestle with, like women in office, predestination, etc. However, the Bible is not ambiguous on the question of children. They are a blessing. End of story. However, in our culture, we apply for curses (debt), and reject blessings (children).

19. I think that it’s interesting that people feel comfortable making fun of me because I’m skinny, but the same people wouldn’t insult a fat person to their face.

20. When people hear that we have five kids, and are expecting number six, they often make jokes or say something like, "Haven’t you figured out what causes that?" It makes me want to punch them in the face.

21. We home school our kids. I’m a firm believer in it and a bit of an evangelist for the whole idea of home education. I wish that all parents would at least consider it for their own families. It just seems to fit very naturally with a child’s normal pattern of development, and the institutional model of schooling seems to introduce an enormous burden in terms of time and energy, that leaves nothing left for the family.

22. I often fantasize about being a lawyer, or CIA analyst, or some other really astute, educated individual. Then I remember that I’m really not that smart, and those plans fizzle out.

23. I read blogs of people sailing around the world. I don’t know why. I don’t even really like sailing that much. I think it’s the idea of leaving the work-a-day world behind and having no schedule.

24. It took me several days to put this list together. I’m so glad it’s over.

25. God loves me so much that he sent his son, (His Son!), to die on a cross to save me from my sins. (Me?! A wretch like ME! How cool is that?)