Church - and yeah, I'm not a hardware guy

First church service in our new location. Loaded ALL my percussion stuff into the Jeep first thing in the morning and then got to the school at 7:20. Was at the wrong doors and realized that when I saw Jacque drive by and head around back. Got back there and everyone was unloading the sound stuff. Got my stuff unloaded and set up in about 45 minutes... Cool. That is how long I figured it would take, and I was maybe a little quicker than that. I've been playing with most the stuff set up for so long, I really wasn't sure how long it would take to unpack it all and position it. (Hmm... how was this boom set up again... ah, move it 1/2 inch this way... no that doesn't feel right, maybe a little over here)... but in the end it was all good. So that is very cool.

Worship was awesome, the sound was great. I've played in a "setup/teardown" situation twice before, but both of them were pretty small. This is our entire (rather large) team and it all came together great. Our sound team ROCKS.

I have to mention that with all the stress and stuff going on at work, and in the "job" part of church, the only time I really feel all that at peace any more is when I'm in worship. Its just a great thing, and I'm very psyched that moving to the school hasn't changed that. If anything, it is better. I have way more room (not scrunched up against the back wall), so I was just having a great time of danching around and worshipping. Great stuff.

So that was all great and then we had to break down, which took about 30 minutes (maybe) so that was good. Took about as long as we had planned. And everyone helped carry my stuff out to the Jeep, which was nice.

So - got all the stuff packed up and then we went and had lunch (which always takes a while with a large group) and then I went to do the deposit. We just moved the offices and the computer was not set up yet. Should only take a few minutes, right? I started it about 2:15 and I think I actually started the deposit and using the computer some time around 5:00 :( I'm not a hardware guy...

First, the computer was sitting where it goes, with the keyboard, mouse and monitor where they go, but nothing was hooked up. Pulled everything out (this will only take a few minutes) and started plugging things in. Hmm... no power cord. Start looking around. None in site. Made a few phone calls. Long and short of it - people knew it was missing but no one had actually moved it, so someone else must have done it. Finally start looking through other people's stuff and found it. Cool. Hooked that up and then went to plug in the mouse. No PS/2 port... must be a serial port. But there is no adapter. So I look all around for a while and nothing. I *seem* to recall one at home, so I head home.

Get home (while I'm here, I might as well unload all my equipment - so I do that). I find an adapter... which I *think* might work. Get back to the office, nope. Not the right kind of adapter. So I head to CompUSA and pick up an adapter. Get it back to the office and hook it up. Great, now things should be working. I boot up the machhine "No mouse detected on your PS/2 port" - Well duh, of course not, there is no PS/2 port. I mess with the mouse, the adapter, and the serial port... for several cycles of rebooting. Nothing.

I then pull the machine all the way out, unhook everything and take a look. Hmm... what is this missing bay on the bottom. So I pick it up and hear something rattling. (Not usually a good sign on a computer). I then take the shell off and see a card that is just rattling around inside the machine with a... yeah, you guessed it, PS/2 port on it. So I get that plugged back into the bay and put the machine back together. Hmm... mouse won't plug into it because the card isn't secure. Pull it all apart again, using a pair of scissors as a fake screwdriver and get it all secure. Put it all back together, attach all the other wires, get everything all put back, and turn it on. WooHoo! It works. Finally... 5:00 and I start the deposit.

Made it home a little after 6:30 (Lucky for me Jacque is dropping the deposit on Monday so I didn't have to drive the extra 30 minutes to get it dropped off).

So... I did better than someone who has NO idea how to hook up a computer, but not all that great. People always say "Oh... you work on computers." I always say "I'm a SOFTWARE architect on mid-range OO systems. I'm not a HARDWARE guy." Kind of like saying to a finish carpenter (or any discipline) "Oh... you work on houses?" ;)

It was a long day, and a bit frusturating at times... but hey, worship was great and everything got done. So all in all, a good day. And we'll be practicing in Teresa and Greg's basement this Thursday, so that is all good too. I'll just be bringing my little djembe - should be enough to practice and avoids hauling all my stuff. Oh, and I'll take one bag of hand stuff as well. Should be very cool.

As Michael would say "Peace out" - not sure why I said that... just popped into my head. :)