Tech No Week

It has been a busy week in the quad life, and not without interesting times. Last week Sunday was my first sermon of 2018, my parents left for a week-long vacation Tuesday, and I spoke at the Iowa Lung Association Tuesday. Each event has had it's own individual circumstances.

When I agreed to preach last week, it was early February and I thought by April 8 warm weather would be upon us. The day of the sermon bare got to mid 30's and had snow showers. I can tell I need to practice on single, one-time talks. The message I gave went okay, but I ended up missing a few points I had planned to cover. In every other presentation I give, I basically give the same talk year after year and adjust the first few times. Sermons aren't generally done that way, so more practice is needed.

The service was held in a school gym after a potluck lunch. It was equipped with a microphone system, but ended up being full of echos. I'm not used to hearing my own voice and partly ended early due to sounding dry and scratchy. My grandmother was unable to hear with her hearing aides, but I did get good responses from the rest of the crowd.

Before leaving, dad went around checking light bulbs and anything he could think may need work while they were away. Tuesday came and went without trouble and they got to start a much needed break from regular life.

Thursday's conference is one I have been preparing for and looking forward to since last fall. The organizers very nicely had a ramp to the stage so I could actually be seen. It was a little tight with my chair, and groaned under my chair's weight, but it worked. My PowerPoint worked okay, until it got to my videos. They stuttered and started and unfortunately wouldn't work for anything. I used a lapel mic and it picked up my voice, but I sounded like a metallic robot of sorts.

A few people told me to make sure to give time for questions, so I decreased a few of my talking points and had about 15 minutes to spare. Unfortunately, only one person asked for further information and I ended up ending my time short. One of my long-time RT's met me afterword and said the previous night's party may have resulted in a few hung over participants in the crows with fewer questions.

My assistant and I finally got home after the talk, hit my room's light switch, and no response. The light that dad had checked was now dead. It's a fixture that also has a very unique type of plug on the bulb that's making it difficult to find a replacement. Dad said last week that when the bulb died, it would likely require a new fixture. So I sit in a partially lit room with a lamp borrowed from another part of the house.

I'm very thankful that I had these opportunities to present and that my parents could get away. If everything went as planned, it would be boring. Hopefully this week is calmer, but I will look for God's guidance in good times as well as slightly frusting ones.