Receiving Good Gifts from God

I’m taking a real quick break from studying and checking to see if there’s anything in my e-mail that cannot wait until tomorrow. I’m also not blogging, as you can see.

If I WAS blogging, I would tell you that I started my “Introduction to the Lutheran Confessions class yesterday. There is going to be even more reading than I expected. There’s a short paper due every week. (300-500 words) There is a comprehensive exam. I also think that I’m going to enjoy this.

But… I’m not blogging so I’m not telling you any of that! Have a wonderful evening.

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One of the projects I would like to accomplish for myself is building a BookLiberator and collecting friends who might be willing to scan old and out-of-print books for me. Maybe you know of someone with the building skills?

http://www.youtube.com/user/agreenberg#p/a/u/0/XNfQb0NZjWY

http://bookliberator.org/doku.php?id=help

http://bookliberator.org/doku.php

http://bookliberator.org/doku.php?id=youcanhelp

Hardware

Build a bookripper! You can do it cheaply and with little more than a screwdriver.

Local plastic shops can cut the plexiglass sheets you’ll need, generally for under $30. Everything else can be built with a screwdriver, some scrap material to make the stand, and nuts and bolts from the hardware store. That is exactly how ours were put together.

Almost any small point and shoot camera with manual focus from the last few years will work. If it has a tripod mount on the bottom and can get ~5 Megapixels per shot, try it out. Some features like manual focus and an external power cable will speed up the process, but almost anything will get you high enough quality pictures for turning your books into PDFs or plain text files. Experiences with specific camera models can be found in CameraModels.

Current ideas for improving the working model, or prototypes for new ones, can be found at HardwareIdeas

Happy Friday!

Usually, Mom and I would like to wait until the end of early voting, or just vote on THE BIG DAY. I did not want to do that this year.

This summer, there was a fire that destroyed almost all of Harris County’s electronic voting machines. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7173960.html While everyone says that enough voting machines will be able ready, I know how bureaucracies work. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7201182.html I just expect more trouble than they are admitting to expecting.

So… we made arrangements to do with voting by mail. They were dropped into the USPS boxes today.

No, I’m not cynical about bureaucracies. I just know how they work…

Besides I had my list of who to vote for in the various races on my computer. I can’t begin to tell you how long it took me to work out the details, but the paper we filled out was four pages of something like 11 x 22″ paper.

Still, I think I prefer going on November 2 (or so) of election years.

So… are you all participating?

Normally, I Am Blessed with a joyful and optimistic attitude. For the most part, things still get me down. Usually. For the most part.

I’ve spent almost a week with building frustration. Most of the frustration is directly aimed at my own self. I am really angry at my seeming inability to do well in my “History of Deaconesses” class. For whatever reason, I have not been able to get above 85% on the exams. I’m doing everything wrong on my papers.

… And my brace is still uncomfortable…

… and I’m not getting any better at driving my new wheelchair… (Which, by the way, was giving me fits with charging — not holding a charge. I first noticed that little difficulty when it dropped from 100% charge to 97% charge in the 30 feet from my bedroom to the computer. It seems to have resolved itself, but I don’t know the cause or how it repaired self… so I’m not confident.)

… And Dragon NaturallySpeaking needed reinstalling. Three times.

… And my computer was acting up.

By Monday, I was in full-blown anger and frustration. At myself and at technology. If I was on my feet, I would have just found 10 acres and dropped off the grid. (Back when I used to read “Mother Earth News,” there was a book I kept threatening to buy, “10 Acres and Independence.”)

By Tuesday, I was back a little bit… at least laughing at myself.

As part of my FIELDWORK class, I’m memorizing a hymn, “Why Should Cross and Trial Grieve Me?” I’m finding it to be useful in my own life. The second verse is especially meaningful right now. It starts off:

God gives me my days of gladness,

And I will trust Him still

When He sends me sadness.

I hope you have a great weekend. I’m not going to say much because I have a paper I need to finish writing and turn in.

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Happy Thursday!

Yesterday was an interesting day, I guess. Either the battery or the charger for my wheelchair is/was acting strangely, and now I don’t trust it. I plugged it in Tuesday night like I do every night, and verified that it was actually charging. (Okay, *I* didn’t actually personally do this. Kathy D. Did, and Mother verified.) So far so good, but yesterday morning… when I went from my room to the computer room, it had dropped from 100% charged to 98% charged. We are not talking about me crossing 15 football fields, this is not a mansion. This is a nice little house.

By the time I got back from getting my brace fixed, the wheelchair was down to 90% charged. By the time I got back to my room after going to Bible study, it was 78% charged. Again, it’s not like I tried to run down town and back during rush hour! I doubt I went 200 yards during the whole day. I really doubt that I actually went 100 yards, but I’m assuming that I’m making a mistake there.

So far today, everything seems good. Still, I called to make sure that there is a record that this issue needs looking at. I know how bureaucracies work. It’s just way too soon for the battery to be going dead…

Kathy D., one of my helpers, is having an absolutely wonderful one. Another grandson was born yesterday, and she is positively over the moon with delight.

Mother has her fall garden going. I’m sure she will add and delete stuff, but we’ve got all sorts of things coming up… radishes and broccoli and brussels sprouts among other things.

It is absolutely gorgeous outside. We have the windows open and the brochure inviting me to play outside, but I need to finish writing this paper/presentation.

Even I will miss Lucy. I’m afraid that my brother-in-law, three of my nieces and one of my nephews are going to take this news quite hard.