Saturday started out well enough but after about 40 minutes of non-stop exercise, my stomach was doing backflips (I think it was the Naproxen I am taking for aches and pains), so I had to sit out a big part of my martial arts workout. Even after doing only about half of what the others did, I am still hurting. Our instructor really gave us a work out. It showed me how out of shape I really am.
Jimmy* showed us several good moves and some of the MMA stuff we watch on UFC. The kicker is seeing how the guys in the UFC tend to use poor skills and still win. Jimmy said he could take almost any of his students (sans me) and train them for 2 months and beat MOST of the competitors except the champs. After he showed me errors in their styles and how to correctly execute counters to these attacks, I watched a couple of matches and saw exactly what our instructor was talking about. I think the biggest weakness we would have would be conditioning. Most of us would not be able to go 5, 5-minute rounds.
Life is getting busy for us it seems. We have something planned every weekend for the next 5+ weeks, we have vacation coming up, I am going to start teaching (!) a Sunday school class, I am doing 1 to 1 Discipling with my wife's boss, we have a be weekend celebration coming up that I am helping with, we have painting to do, maintenance on a PC for a SiC (Sister in Christ) (more on that later), and all the normal day to day stuff we do. Oh, I almost forgot there is a wedding we are attending in two weeks and I still have to mow 2 yards each week. I hope I have the time to do it all.
Saturday night we had dinner with our friends in Anna, TX. Mickey* grilled chicken legs and breasts and they came out fantastic! A little pasta salad, spinach salad, and some "Razzleberry" pie with ice cream for desert and I was set. Mickey and Mary* are sweet people. Too bad they had to move all the way to Anna. It is a bit of an out of the way trip for most of us, but it is always worth the drive. I really enjoy their company!
We picked up some totes and cardboard boxes from them before we left. They said they would not need them anymore so we are donating the totes and recycling the cardboard. Everyone wins.
My wife asked me to help Darlene*, a friend of hers and a SiC, with her PC. I had looked at it once and got it working, but it was acting very odd. Now when I went to look at it, none of the MS Office apps were working (they were asking for the install CD). When I went to check it out, the modem stopped working (she only has dial-up ... Netzero freebie) and she did not have the Office CD. I asked her where the software was and she said there wasn't any. She said her son had a friend who got the PC for her. Well the PC is a Dell Optiplex which is a business PC, designed to be used on a LAN. We had (and still have some) at our old shop and while they were fine for the LAN, we always had issues with them when using dial-up. Well, I played with it for a couple of hours but had no luck, so I took it home and played for a while. I even switched out modems but that did not help. I think that the removable chassis that holds the PCI and ISA cards is a not making good contact and that is causing the problem. If that is the case, then I need to let her know. I wish she would get a better PC and broadband, but she is on a very tight budget and cannot afford it. I have tried everything I can think of to make it work but no luck.
I have an idea, but I am not sure it is going to fly very well. I could offer her the old laptop I have for her desktop, if she would consider that. It is a little rough, but it works. I could then upgrade my server by using her old machine (since I do not need any of the cards on the removable chassis) and we both win. Of course I lose my "toy" but I will live. It would not be the first time I have been without a laptop, nor will it be the last.
You should have seen me trying to get the PC running. I was so angry and looking so silly. I am sure that my wife had a good laugh at it. I get so emotional when dealing with PCs for those I can about. I guess that can be a good thing. I want to take care of the people I care about.
I never could get the MS Office stuff to work and since she did not have the CD's I just installed Open Office. It should be ok for what she needs it for. If my wife can get used to it, then I am sure Darlene can.
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