I am starting to look forward more and more to moving out of the apartment soon. There are some things about renting the house that I'm not going to like, but I think having to hear people living above me stomping around at 1 in the morning will not be something I experience often in a house. Especially when the house I'm moving into is only one-story. I mean, it might happen, I guess, if some roofers got stuck up on top of the house or something, but other than that... You know what I'm saying.

I came in to the church around 10AM this morning. Andrew was almost done with the ClearCom/intercom wiring by that point. I helped him test all of the units and clean up some of the mess. I spent some time wiring the ClearCom master control unit into the rack next to the video switcher.

I brought in breakfast and skipped lunch today. After Andrew was done eating his lunch, we started on the light plots, which didn't take too long today since the stage setup was similar to last week. Once we were done with that, I helped Andrew "ring out" some of the microphones on stage by turning up the volume on each microphone and then clapping (to generate some sound), letting the microphone feedback (where it picks up the audio from the speakers and reproduces it). Andrew then listened to that feedback and notched out some of those frequencies on the sound board.

Around 1:30, Eddie stopped by my office to ask me a SQL question. At my old job, I used to write in SQL (Structured Query Language, a method of writing computer code to access and manipulate data in a database), and even though I don't do that anymore, I still know it well enough to be of help. He was trying to write a rather complex query that would group several "branches" of group trees in Shelby Arena (the church's database management application) and show records of kids that existed in more than one group on a Sunday morning based on that particular part of the "branch" (groups have sub-groups, which have sub-groups, etc.). Once I learned the data-structure of the tables we were looking at, it didn't take long at all. We worked on it until about 2:15pm.

When I came back to the Worship Center, Andrew had finished replacing the blue gels on the cyclorama lights (those things burn through like every 2 weeks) and was making the light cues for Sunday morning. I looked at the cues and then went back to my office to keep working.

Andrew helped make a few more XLR patch cables for the ClearCom master control wiring and then left around 3:30. I stayed until about 5:15pm cleaning up the control room, learning more about the intercoms, and wiring up a "program" input. The system has the capability to bring in a line feed of the sound system so that we could hear it in our headsets. I knew that but never hooked it up before. So, I hooked that up and experimented with how that would work and sound on a Sunday morning, being able to hear the live sound mix in our headsets along with the operator cues (from me).

I went back to my office and tried to make another XLR patch cable, but only succeeded in burning my hand instead. It's hard to hold a soldering iron, the solder, the wires, and the XLR jack all at the same time. I took a break from soldering to go set up some cameras in the Worship Center for IMAG on Sunday. I noticed that none of the chairs were set up yet, so I thought there might be something going on in the gym on Saturday. Ah, the joys of having a shared space. I looked on the event calendar and saw there was some kind of AWANA event going on from like 8 to 12, so, that pretty much meant I had to move the camera I had set up on the floor, since I didn't want to risk it getting broken or hit by a ball or something.

I also tried to make some more progress on the Care Ministry video, but I was starting to get a headache from all of the old solder fumes in the office, so I left for the day. On my way home, I stopped by Oriental House for some dinner. I brought food home and ate in the living room where Tim was watching some tv. I sat around at home for most of the evening.

Around 9, I left the apartment and headed toward my friend Dan's place. He invited me to go see "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" with him, Rachel, and Dustin. That was a movie I had been looking forward to seeing. Dan lives in an apartment connected to the house that Rachel lives in, so when I got there, I walked over to his apartment but didn't see any lights on, so I figured he was at Rachel's.

We sat in the living room and talked for a bit and then headed out around 10pm to go see the movie at Cherrydale Cinemas. On our way over (everyone rode with me), we stopped at a traffic light and a guy driving sporty looking Honda Civic next to me kept revving his engine. When the light turned green, I sped up quickly because I was trying to get over to the next lane to make my turn, and totally blew past the guy. I'm sure he was quite embarrassed that he was beaten by a guy driving a big SUV. That and I had my cowboy hat on, so, I mean come on. He had no chance. Not that I condone street racing. From my point of view, it wasn't even a race. It was just me trying to get over to the next lane, and this guy not getting over as soon as I did. Just saying.

I enjoyed the movie. It had some really funny parts. Like any movie, there were some things that just didn't seem believable, but I still enjoyed it. When the movie was over, I drove everyone back to Rachel's house, and then went home. I decided to see if I could find a quicker way home, and due to my great sense of direction, I managed to not get lost or have to turn around. I'm not sure it was any quicker with the new route that I took, but it wasn't bad. I got home around 12:30AM.

So, that was my Friday. And technically part of my Saturday, if you count that. I have to go in to the church later to work on that video, set up some cameras for IMAG during Sunday services, and finish cleaning up the tech area. I'm supposed to go see another movie with some friends in the afternoon but I am going to have to cancel so that I can make sure I get this video done. I'm also going to Nate's birthday party in the evening. I'll probably be the only one there wearing a tie, but that's ok. I look good in them. You don't have to say anything.

Later,

Joe