Something you probably haven't seen before and won't see again (for good reason)

The power button on my mp3 player stopped working a few days ago. Having learned my lesson about discarding items too quickly and not having the funds to purchase a new one, I decided to try fixing it.

I discovered that the joint where one contact on the button had been soldered to circuit board came loose. I tried soldering it back on, but I found that fitting a soldering iron with a 1 mm diameter tip and solder into a .4 mm wide space doesn't work particularly well.

I had discovered that by putting pressure on the button from the correct side pressed the contacts together and caused it to work. So I folded up a scrap of paper and wadded it inside the case so that when I reassemble the device, the proper pressure was applied to the button. Thus, my mp3 works now-I just hope it lasts till Christmas.

Being A Senior

Tomorrow is UW-Platteville's "Fall Break." Which means we get Friday off of classes. I only have one class on Friday, but all 52 minutes of it are canceled and so I'm home tonight. At the Quik Mart in Platteville we stopped for gas and I saw a friend of mine. I said something about how that's a sign that I'm a senior-I run into friends at the gas station on my way out of town. Just as I finished vocalizing that thought, a car filled with 3-4 other people I know showed up. And before I made it in and out of the gas station (to procure a mountain dew slushy) I ran into two other people I know. I like people and I know a lot of people, and that makes me happy :D

Life is crazy but good.

So I spoke at Quest tonight...

and it was kinda crazy. I really wasn't that nervous and I got a lot of positive feedback. For anyone who isn't in the loop, Quest is InterVarsity's large group meeting. I spoke for ~30 minutes to a group of about a hundred or so students. I was responding to some street preachers who came to campus a couple weeks ago. They did know the gospel, but they presented it in a somewhat incomplete and a rather offensive manner. I talked about a couple things that they did/said that don't line up with Scripture and then talked about the challenge to us to be showing authentic Christianity. You can see my notes here if you're interested.

The deeper question that it raises for me is if this is something I could see myself doing a lot more of. I did enjoy it, but right now I don't think I'd be able to spend all day every day preparing for talks and such. I need to design an amplifier every now and then to keep me sane :).

Every now and then I'm reminded of a a time when I met a pastor who immediately began ask me what I wanted to do with my life. I was probable only about 13 at the time, but I was already thinking about being an engineer and said as much. His response? "I went to school for engineering and now I'm a pastor." I still wonder if that short interchange will end up coming true.

Joy and Happiness

Different things make different people happy. This weekend I was floating pretty happily because I aced a test and a prelab for my comm class, one of my most challenging this semester. I enjoy my academic work when I do well. Other people don't care much about school.

Some people were happy because the bears beat the packers or were sad because the packers lost to the bears; I didn't even know they were playing until the game had already started and couldn't care less about who wins (although I was disappointed to find that one of my roommates is a bears' fan).

Sometimes having free time to watch a tv show makes me happy, sometimes lifting weights makes me happy, sometimes it's a phone conversation, or hanging out with some friends, or meeting a new person.

But sometimes hanging out with friends ends up depressing me... kinda weird.

Sometimes blogging seems like a chore (like the last week when I didn't blog) and sometimes it feels great (like now).

I really have no idea what I'm saying, I guess I'm trying to get back to the point that its important to keep everything in perspective: With any luck I'll be dead in 60 years or so, and most of the things that seem so important now will hardly matter.