Copy and Paste

I remember a day when copy and paste were something you had to teach people how to do on computers. Depending on your platform of choice, you had to teach people the keyboard shortcut to first Copy (or even to Cut) and then Paste that which had been copied or cut. That has always been relatively simple by holding Cmd-C for Copy or Cmd-V to paste for our Mac users and Ctrl-C or V respectively for our Windows readers.

To be clear (as i abhor confusion) I prefer a Mac... though I have and use both Mac & Windows. I wouldn't want a person to think I'm speaking from only one perspective. There... now i can make my point.

As I said a moment ago, copy and paste USED TO BE something you had to teach people how to do. Now! NO LONGER! We have mastered the art of keyboard shortcuts. I believe there are computer engineers & nerds who's stomachs knot every time they see a Baby Boomer actually do the Ctrl-C/V combination. Their internal dialog rages like an Emo Teen, "It was supposed to be OUR SECRET! It was COOL then... now EVERYONE knows how to do it."

So what did our Windows Engineers do? Why they made it only work half the time (if that). That's right... now you have to hit Ctrl-C+C or something to actually get it to copy to the clipboard. Or sometimes you have to (HAVE TO) do it through a right click. Or sometimes, you just CAN'T get it to copy the text. Or sometimes it copies something... But when you go to paste, it pastes a picture of a trash can. I wish it could be that interestingly unpredictable on a Mac.

Y'see, on a Mac (remember... I use both), we have the boring old... COPY IT... and PASTE IT. It's been the same old Command-C or V for the last 20 years. You'd think that Steve's flair for being all "innovative" and crap, he'd have dreamed up some new dance you have to do or some neat surprise for every 15th attempt. But no, we just get copy and paste. What makes it worse, on a mac it literally works in every application, window & pop up the exact same. I'm sure there are the rare exceptions. There always are...

Oops. I misspoke. There aren't exceptions in Windows. Y'see, before there can be exceptions... there must be a standard practice. Once you have a standard practice... THEN, you have exceptions. That's like when you blow your nose with your left hand instead of your right because you broke your thumb on your right and it's in a cast. That's an exception. An exception is when history doesn't repeat itself after an 11 year confirmed pattern. An exception is when the female police officer DOES give you just a warning. That's an exception. Windows doesn't have an exception in copy and paste anymore.

To be fair, I can't say that I'm the best person to ask. I'm rather naive when it comes to computers. I have that tendency to naively expect something to work the exact same 90–98% of the time.

In the immortal words of Tommy: "How silly of me!"

"After using Microsoft Windows Vista, I bought a Mac..."
~ Brooke Philpott - Director of Product Development: Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Development Engineer

Flu Like Symptoms

Ok, now I've got it. I'm blaming Tommy cuz he was the last one to have a post about the flu or being sick. So, that proves it.

That said, what is it with the enemy of our soul & body? These virae not only make you stuffy, but muscle aches and head aches, too. Not only can you not move well, but you can't breathe either. When you do breathe, you have a constant dripping in the back of your throat. Sit idle long enough, and your mouth tastes like a sewer. If that doesn't top it off, the insides of your nostrils burn like someone has burned them with acid or something (obligatory princess bride line).

I'm trying to stay away from my wife. I don't want her catching what I have. Nor do I want my little girl having it, too. We've got 5 more weeks until the little stinker arrives. I feel totally excited and equally unprepared. But, one guy said, "G_d gave you the common sense & intelligence to raise your child. He will help you out."

Well, at least this bug hasn't stopped me from writing on my blog. Remember: small victories are victories, too.

Shalom, y'all!

Some Camp Ideas

1. Leadership Training Event/Class/Weekend/Week:
   Here the idea is simply to build a leadership team. This could be targeted toward specific church needs and church leadership, or camp leadership and jobs. This might be a great staff development idea or also bring potential staff member campers in and train them in a different specific job each day.
2. Staff Classes:
   Have a class for the staff on the theme. Dunno if there's time for a whole hour class... maybe a 20 min touchpoint session during class times?
3. Men's/Women's week/weekend:
   Specific week of camp for men or women built to culminate in one weekend (late arrivals register for the weekend only... thur-sat) for topics involving gender specific issues. No, not necessarily sex... but definitely a topic to discuss.
4. Married's week/weekend:
   Similar thought as the single gender, just a smaller group and marriage specific issues. Great place to have 2 - 4 on staff licensed counselors.
5. Christ in Business week/weekend:
   Topics for the business professional.

If it's not apparent, yes... i'm really putting the storm in this brainstorm. The lightening flashes and thunder come from me suggesting changes to a specific week... but these are all around good ideas not necessarily aimed at SWS... but could be incorporated.