Email, Internet and Blogging
Hi everyone. I wanted to comment on the internet accessibility over here for a moment. One of the blessings of the internet is that I get quite a few emails from family and friends back home- which I love! However, it also takes me a long time to return emails. The problem is that the internet is incredible unreliable. Some days it is non-existent (e.g., if we get a dust storm, or strong winds... which is fairly common here). Other days it is just plain slow. Yesterday, for example, I returned 4 emails, and it took me about an hour. It wasn't that I was writing a lot... it's just that the web browser kept freezing as my internet connection would fade in and out. Plus, I'm in the office 12-16 hours a day... and they're not real excited about me sending personal emails from there. I send some but mainly to my wife. :)
So... if you email me and don't hear back for 1 week, or even a month, it's not that I don't love 'ya... but it's the reality of the internet here. I have about an hour in the morning where I know I usually have a pretty good connection, and my wife and I will IM during that time, and I send off a couple of emails as well.
Also... with my blog. This is a way for me to communicate what I'm doing here, as well as my thought, opinions, things I'm reading, etc. I appreciate and love comments on the blog. However, now that the blogger has made it easier for me to block individual comments, I am making sure to block out comments that include ad hominem attacks on individuals who post, authors I quote, or myself. (ad hominen refers to personal and/or emotional arguments/attacks) Bottom line: with this blog, I'm not trying to recreate 7th grade debate club. Some people will like what I post, some will disagree. That's ok. And I don't mind comments to that effect. I might be wrong, or my perspective might be limited. But the main goal of this blog is to communicate what I'm seeing, thinking and experiencing, and not to be the center of all internet debate.
One thing I know: while I appreciate the "easy" internet access from my room, I also constantly forget how much I miss the internet speeds back home.... even on dial up computers, and the reliability. My wife and I got DSL a while back, and so I have been especially spoiled. But it's nice just to have access... even if it is inconsistent.
So... if you email me and don't hear back for 1 week, or even a month, it's not that I don't love 'ya... but it's the reality of the internet here. I have about an hour in the morning where I know I usually have a pretty good connection, and my wife and I will IM during that time, and I send off a couple of emails as well.
Also... with my blog. This is a way for me to communicate what I'm doing here, as well as my thought, opinions, things I'm reading, etc. I appreciate and love comments on the blog. However, now that the blogger has made it easier for me to block individual comments, I am making sure to block out comments that include ad hominem attacks on individuals who post, authors I quote, or myself. (ad hominen refers to personal and/or emotional arguments/attacks) Bottom line: with this blog, I'm not trying to recreate 7th grade debate club. Some people will like what I post, some will disagree. That's ok. And I don't mind comments to that effect. I might be wrong, or my perspective might be limited. But the main goal of this blog is to communicate what I'm seeing, thinking and experiencing, and not to be the center of all internet debate.
One thing I know: while I appreciate the "easy" internet access from my room, I also constantly forget how much I miss the internet speeds back home.... even on dial up computers, and the reliability. My wife and I got DSL a while back, and so I have been especially spoiled. But it's nice just to have access... even if it is inconsistent.
posted by Christian | 6:45 AM
2 Comments:
Great to hear from you Chris--and THANK YOU for enlightening us on your daily schedule the the struggles of the internet. I think some of us back home think your reality is just like our world--you want something and you click a button and poof--there it is.
Also, I appreciated your e-mail to me regarding your schedule. I never dreamed the hours you put in were so intense. I guess I figured you were working 40 hrs per week and then off to the USO to see a Jane Fonda in a show! Perhaps you can share more of that schedule here--for I was AMAZED!
We always love hearing from you! We are always praying for you. The God of the Universe--the God you and I both serve is in total control in all situations. He has this all figured out. We are along for the ride and are only asked to seek his will and his guidance. The rest is just military paperwork, as it were.
I didn't tell you--Grant got an official game puck flipped to him by the Chicago goalie last Friday night. He was sitting in the front row, wearing a Stars Jersey and rooting for Chicago (said he was born there, why not?) and at end of the 2nd period, goalie flipped him the puck! What a memory that created!
Go Colts!!
Take care!
PAGGS
Thanks for letting us know how unreliable the internet is over there. My daughter's boyfriend is over there and internet contact (mostly IM) is very infrequent.
He doesnt have his own computer and gets "kicked off " after about 15 mins.
Is there any way to reach him more regularly?.....
A concerned Mom
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