Today's a sad day folks, my dialup connection is now terminated. Dot Communications have been my ISP since 1997 [I think], providing awesome service and speed and no drop outs for that whole time. They may not have had the best deal price wise but they could not be beaten on service and quality. If you are after dial up then give them a go, you won't regret it.

Of course that does mean that I have a reliable and speedy broadband connection - but Telstra are not the nice, friendly and helpful guys that Dot Communication were. Plus Dot never changed my deals so that they hurt me, in fact quite the opposite I kept getting more for my monthly fee - unlike the evil Telstra who either give me less or charge me more and give me less.

Well it's official Apple is planning to take over the world - recent photographic images of Mars show this startling fact - that Apple already has an outpost on Mars. Thanks to As The Apple Turns for highlighting this remarkable fact - although it took my talents to discover the truth - maybe ATAT are in on the cover up too....

Finally put Issue 181 of The Paper online - just one big advert really for the stuff coming up.

I hate being sick - and since Sunday my sickness [which has been hanging around for about a week now] has taken a turn for the worse. Just a head cold, but, I don't know, something else is bugging me too, I think. Just can't tell if it's being down cos of being sick or something more. I know last Sunday I went ballastic when they decided to come around my house after church without telling me and then someone had parked in my place - a bit of an over reaction left me sitting outside enjoying the cool air and asking myself what's going on. Monday I went to work but felt crap all day and I have had yesterday and today off - so maybe it's just being sick - but it feels like more.

A friend of mine may have MS - he turned 21 last year and this news sucks. What is worse we have one of those on and off friendship and the goose has decided that I just want to catch up cos I hear he is sick - well what you do think! I thought that would have been a good thing. At least I care enough to make contact - oh well, he has decide what he wants - at least I can pray for him and maybe we will catch up again soon.

Tonight is bible study and the gang will be here in about an hour and a half - I was going to call it off but I will be fine to direct discussion, I just won't say much for a change.

Am I missing my xbox - yes - am I missing Halo - oh yeah - but when I get a chance to play again I can enjoy it all afresh.

Finally it's here I have put up the movie of the arrival of xbox and the first game - not the best movie in the world but a little bit of bjd and preator history. I have also trimmed out the halo comments from my blog and put in on the page as well. The box is at the preators house this week so not much, if any, Halo for me.

Got back from camp a few hours ago. A good weekend overall, great weather, heaps of fun and cool stuff. I had the call for devotions for the weekend and I think in the end that God gave me some good stuff to say. I changed it around a few times but I think we came up with what we needed to hear and think about.

4 day week ahead of us as we move into easter. Which is always good. Both the short week and of course Easter itself. I get more of a buzz out of easter than christmas as Easter is all about what Jesus came to do for each one of us. If you click on the nail off to the top right you can read a few of my thoughts about easter.

Let's all have a great week.

Hey, Halo is drawing slowly to close and I must say that I do like it and have enjoyed it. All we have to do now is resolve the issue of who gets the TV and all will be find and dandy - or as fine and dandy as such things ever are. Anyway as of next week it will be living at Rob's place which will help me get back into the real world again - man it is easy for 2 hours to just disappear when you are playing the old xbox.

This weekend sees a combined all ages Boys Brigade and Girls Brigade camp which I am looking forward to. The head cold has sort of just hung around getting a little better but not really doing much else. James and B2 got baptised on the weekend and it was very cool. Hearing about how God has worked in their lives and in the lives of peope around them is always awesome.

Bible Study went well with some of the gang really nailing their memory verses - I think that the dicussion is going well although I have to be careful not to dominate too much - guess it's the teacher in me, too easy to get into a roll of explaining things without letting people discuss enough.

night all.

why does /cam2 show me with a stick - an attractive stick at that. Well a friend of mine sent me an invitation to his house warming party and we are to come wearing anything but must bring a suitably attractive stick - and so since I won't be able to make it I sent this picture along instead - a virtual party attendance.

I am coming down with a head cold - well I hope that is all it is. Runing nose and coughing - it could be hay fever. Who knows, all I know is that I sound like my voice is breaking - gives the students a laugh.

Things quiet at school today - people seem pleased with the results of fridays marathon effort to get the reporting solution into place. Still need to make up some documentation and a few more scripts to ease the jobs that I and the typing office ladies will have to do. The best thing about something like this is that you get immeadiate feedback and an actual end [well an end to each phase] which teaching doesn't always - you know you might term tests but that's ten weeks before you get a result.

The Database gets instant feedback and works or doesn't work, and often the logic needed to make it work is much simpler to work out than the logic that will help you teach someone something. Mind you the satisfaction is, in the end, the same. Seeing the lights come on in someones head when they understand some math that you have been trying to explain is way cool - just as seeing the reports in the hands of the kids will be.

HALO: it just gets more and more beautiful as you play it. And it just eats up the time - I sat down last night at about 12 planning to play until 1 and the next time I looked up it was 3:30 and I almost fell asleep walking to my room. By my rekoning it makes it a great game - to be so enthralled by it. I had fun exploring the island in It's Quiet Here.... [or whatever it's called] manged to kill a few marines and then had to kill em all as they kept trying to kill me - hey I'm still gettng the hang of the warthog, and it's not like it's a stealth warthog, they could have jumped out the way sooner.

In other news - worked late yesterday but enjoyed it a lot - worked on the schools new reporting system, worked out how it functions, solved a few problems, and began to make it look nice and be useable. No classes and no interruptions from about midday until 8pm was so nice. Think I could easily get used to it. Maybe it's time for a change of job.

The Paper has been updated to Issue 180 - has pictures from the Water Fun Night [swimming carnival] which was won by us once again - well done guys.

Coming soon Timelapse movie of us unpacking and playing our first game of the XBOX.

I am so tired, I hope to squeeze in a bit of halo before going to bed - but it all depends on when Steve shuffles off to bed.

The weekend can't get here quick enough.

XBOX is here! Picked up our box at midnight and raced home to play HALO. YEAH! Very cool, much as I had read about it. The world is simply stunning although the interiors are a bit dull at times.

I am very very tired and still have many things to do - so talk to you later. Probably spend the weekend enjoying Halo.

okay /cam is now ready to go [although it is currently bjd.au.com/cam2] including a gallery. Just have to get the Kylie Kam re done and then I can start listing on the cam directories - an maybe even get a few new vistors.

Oh I am such a mean man - check out the Preators blogg and you will see that my "cheap" web cam now has amazing quality enhancements - actually the main enhancement was plugging in the Song Video Camera I am borrowing from Boys' Brigade and connecting it to my Mac.

But what this means for you is that Thursday morning AU time you will see crystal clear images of Rob and I playing the XBox. Probably start with shots of the "unpacking" and then plug the camera straight into the TV and send out live every 30 seconds shots of Rob and myself playing HALO!!!

Just have to somehow survive tomorrow at work and then Bible Study and then the 2 hours before we can go and pick it up.

See you then.

Well, I guess I will be bringing home the digital camera from work and doing some Halo movie making on Thursday.

The church consultation is over and we have a vision statement for our church. Has been worthwhile? Well I guess we will see, the hard part now is selling it and using it to filter everything we do through it. Oh and I guess the real hard work has to begin within myself. I don't have it with me right now and I have only heard it once or twice so it's not quite in my head.

Trusting God all the time is easy to type but hard to do. Especially when things aren't going the way that I think is right or in a way that makes sense to me. And yet that is when my faith really comes into play - just as being loving only really comes into it's own when you are trying to deal with 'difficult' people. But time and time again God has shown himself trustworthy - not just cos everything worked out fine but because in time I have been able to look back and see a little of what God has been doing.

But in the end, in fact in the midst of hard times, that is when I most have to trust God and yet that is when it is the hardest. But as I remember His promises, as I remember what He has done for me - as I remember that He is the one in control, then I find that my heart begins to ease and I find the peace I seek. Circumstances occur just as God wants them too, bringing about the plan of the one who made us all and keeps us going, and sent His own son to die for us - what better way to show His love.

God is good.

Well I have survived another week. The xbox is now not all that far away.

Bible study went well on Wednesday. And I didn't go to BB last night which has helped me heaps. Just needed some time out and not have to plan, arrange, meet or run anything. Next week will be interesting - Tues I am off to an whole day inservice on doing project work with Year 11/12 in IPT. Then Thursday and Friday are two days with no classes to work on the new reporting package. In between that I am picking up our xbox 12:00am Thursday morning.

Rob and I will then bring it home here where the web cam will be set up to capture the set up and very first hours of play in all it's glory. And as for Rob wondering how to show it on his cam - well you may just have to link to mine instead.

The day draws nearer and an X marks the spot. That weekend will be so good I need something to take away my troubles and help clear my head.

Bible study tonight and I am looking forward to it muchly - it will be good to talk to my friends about God and see them engage with the word of God and learn - I wonder how many remembered to learn their memory verse? I wonder how many know it!

This site which again was found thanks to core.org.au is specially listed just for Rob - I know he will especially love the toy with the title A Plastic Hydrogen Bomb.

Speedway finished early tonight - yeah! Had a real good team of guys on tonight and it all went very smoothly - thanks Rob, James, Tim,and John.

bb38th won the swimming carnival again as did our GB company - yay!

Planning on having the arrival of the xbox at home on the webcam as well as finally relaunching the two cams - just a small change to make them a bit more suitable for listing on the various cam sites. So the Kylie Kam will become Sink Cam and the one which will focus on the computer will just be called /cam [as in bjd.au.com/cam - this ofcourse will mean that the addresses of the two cams will actually change which is why I have held off listing with any cam sites.

I am off now to have an early night and then get up early tomorrow morning to pray. cheers.

Apple - Hot News - Grammy Award - what more is there to say..... MACS RULE!

Another week of work is over - yeah! And we inch closer to the day of xboxness here in Australia. I'm excited.

Bible study went really well on Wednesday night, with people sharing and contributing very well for the first night of real study. It was encouraging to see a couple of people blown away by the thought that they were right with God, not because they hadn't stuffed up [they had] but because Jesus had died for them - God demonstrates his love for us in this, whilst we were still sinners Christ died for us. Rom 5:8. A very awesome verse. And very cool that through faith in Jesus we can be right with the God who made us, not afraid to approach him, not concerned about what happens after death. Able to love others because we can always come back to God and get the love we need.

BB/GB swimming carnival tonight - btw did I mention that xboxness will soon be all over my house!!!

Issue 179 ofThe Paper is now online. And it is a most beautifully laid out issue -even if I do say so myself - and contains some very cool photos thanks James noble. Nice one James.