Use It As It Was Designed

I’ve been working on a project at work that involved looking at a software package to see how it can be used to solve some problems.  I’ve learned several things but the driving point is that no matter what the software is you cannot use it for something that it is not designed to do.  When the writer(s) of the software started to work on it, they went in with a vision of what they needed to accomplish with it, and in turn, designed it for that purpose(s).

Now, I know that it should go without saying, but a lot of times this is attempted and almost every time it fails, or at least ends up with a lot of unhappy people.  The first step needs to be determining the intended use and building off of that.  Once that is done an accurate view can be taken as to how it can be used.

By using a product for what it was designed, it will not only save time, but also frustration that comes with using something for something other than it was designed.  I don’t usually write about this side of things, but it has been dominating the projects that I’ve been working on.

What’s your take on this?

Filed under: Technology , design, implementation, software, testing

Falling Into Place

So, plans are finally falling into place for our annual anniversary vacation, most likely because I’ve actually started working on them :)  Anyway here is the view from the room that we just booked.

Filed under: Family , anniversary, mackinac island, michigan, vacation

Birdwatching

Yesterday my father in-law and I decided to go do a little bird watching in Goosepond FWA.  This is something that I really enjoy doing when I’m down in that area.  It is hard to believe that there were people that actually protested the creation of that area a few years ago, that’s not my point though.  Every year thousands of Sandhill Cranes flock to the marshland and make it their temporary home.  If you have not seen thousands of these birds in one group it is truly a site to see.

We had gotten a tip that there were some Whooping Cranes in there as well.  If you don’t know what they look like here it is: They are one of the most amazing birds I’ve ever seen. They were near extinction and are now divided into two groups in North America, one west of the Rocky Mountains, and one of roughly 100 birds east of the Rock Mountains, this was the flock that the ones that we saw were apart of, even though we only saw 3 of them.  These birds were first guided on their migration path by an ultralight aircraft all the way from Canada to Florida.  Each of the birds are banded and are able to be tracked through the reporting of the sightings by birdwatchers.  Seeing these birds created a sense of awe in me.

After we moved on from that location we drove on up the road to where a Bald Eagle had had its nest a couple of years ago, but hadn’t returned because of the encroachment on the nest by people trying to cause trouble.  Much to our surprise we were looking at the nest and saw something sitting on top of it, sure enough, the eagle was back!  That was just the icing on the cake, the bird was perched on top of the nest just like you would see in a picture.

My lesson for the day:  These wildlife areas are there for you so get out and enjoy them.  I would bet that you will enjoy the stillness of nature and watching these creatures.  They truly are a sight to be seen.

I’d love to hear about some places like this in your area, so leave me a comment telling me about it.

[photo #1 by ulisesgirl]

[photo #2 by ariseandrejoice]

[photo #3 by art photo]

Filed under: Nature , bald eagle, cranes, eagle, goosepond, marsh, migration, nest, sandhill cranes, whooping cranes, wildlife

It’s Been A Year

The past couple of days I have been looking  through some old entries in my Life Journal and noticed that as of this very minute (March 10th @ 6:54 AM) I’ve been life journaling for a year.  It is a bit of a milestone for me, I’ll explain a little bit why.

Now, I can’t even begin to list the ways that I’ve been changed over the past year, but I do know that this last year was the first that I could say that God has actually been leading me through His word.

Another thing that I noticed is how my writing style has changed.  “Things get better with time,” comes to mind.  I’m not a good writer and I never plan to claim that I am, but I can tell a difference.  This was one of my goals for this year, and I think that I am well on my way.

If you are interested in learning more about Life Journaling check this page, or this one, or leave a comment, it is truly worth your time.

[image by derian]

Filed under: Faith, Life , bible, goal, God, life journal, milestone, word, writing

Small Groups

Jessi and I decided a few months ago that we wanted to get involved with a small group.  This was a decision that we made based on a few thoughts:

1. We have been wanting to get to know a smaller group of people, closer than just knowing their name.  We wanted to know the things that were going on in their life and we wanted them to know us.
2. We wanted something that we could do together that would help each of our relationships with God grow.

What we got was a small group led by the Gisel’s, discussing the different love languages and how to apply them to our spouse.  This is definitely what we had been looking for, especially since communication is definitely not one of my strong suits at times.

We’re going through the book “The Five Love Languages” and so far so good, it is prompting discussion, valuable discussion between Jessi and I and we’re learning as well as getting to know quite a few other couples that are in the same stage of life that we are in.

Look for more updates in the coming weeks, I’m looking forward to seeing where this goes.

Filed under: Family , communication, Faith, Family, languages, Life, love, small groups