Appalachian Trail

Last week I joined my Dad and some friends on an amazing adventure down the North GA section of the Appalachian Trail. Here's some pictures of this amazing place!

Appalachian Trail

BBQ Pit Interim Solution

Well, since my brick BBQ pit has been put on a indefinitely hold... So yesterday we turned Cheralyn's old grill into a interim solution. The gas parts were rusted out, so with some handy masonry skills, TJay and I did a Gas to Charcoal conversion on the BBQ pit frame. Already enjoying it with some deer sausage!

Click on Picture and use arrow keys to go through each one.

Who needs Photoshop anymore?

The other day I needed to do some quick editing on my laptop. Unfortunately, my laptop hd crashed last year and I still haven't re-installed Photoshop. Plus, the installation disks were back at my office. So I was stuck with... M$ Paint.. eww. ;0)

Thankfully after doing a quick google search, I discovered some very ingenious programmers have followed Michael Robertson's model and developed some awesome online image editors. Wow... these cover all of the Photoshop basics and some even look the same!

Picnik (recently bought by Google!)

SplashUp

Pixlr

Citrfy

Ms Deborah in Louisiana

Here's some pictures from Ms Deborah's first taste of beignets in Louisiana.

My parent's home in the Louisiana swamps.

Our pet alligator, "Tiny Tim."

Da Kitchen where all the magic happens!

April Fool's!

Dear Gramma

As many of you have heard, my beloved Gramma passed away one week ago. She was always a great source of strength and inspiration in my life. During the funeral, my family had an opportunity to read our final words to her. My Uncle Mike and Dad beautifully portrayed their family history and her impact in their lives. I shared as well and have placed the contents of my letter below in hopes to pass on her legacy.

Dear Gramma, 

You will be missed. Your friends will miss you as you've always greeted them with respect and importance as well as an encouraging word and life-long wisdom. You will be missed. Your family will miss you as you always knew how to invest in our lives in such a way that would reap an abundant return in due time and bring an immediate reaction of joy and happiness into our lives. You taught us to respond to situations instead of reacting to circumstances. Your wisdom and love made us sensitive to the needs of others first and foremost, so that we could become effective people instead of just another person. You knew we all had a destiny, a purpose, and you were willing to do whatever it took to expose, encourage, edify, and magnify our God-given talent so we could make the maximum impact in our circle of influence for God's purpose. Thank you Gramma for making me feel special - verbally or physically - every time I was in your presence. Thank you for helping me look forward to the times we spoke or interacted. Though many times they were short in perspective, they made a big impact and helped shape my life into the man I am becoming today.


I remember once when I accidentally broke an expensive porcelain statue in your house. I remember carefully gathering the small fragments into a bag and feeling sorry for how clumsily I had been to break something special to you. But more than anything, I remember your response. You placed the pieces in the garbage without a hint of disappointment and told me, "Logan, that was just a material thing and the people in this house are always more valuable than the things."


You were such and inspiration in my life and I miss you. I miss our phone conversations where you would rejoice over the smallest victories in my life because you knew the potential they led towards. I also knew you were the best person to share good news with; just as telegrams carried good news quickly and efficiently in the past, I just had to 'Tell-A-Gramma' to spread and receive the best news from four (4) states away!


You were always the best communicator. Even in your older age, you captivated your audience. You motivated us to stand for what was right, especially in the case of another person being discriminated without sufficient reason. I remember when you told the story of how joined the Carnival Club only to, a short while later, speak up to why a lady was "black-balled" and rejected without reason. You spoke up and challenged others to have purpose and reason for their actions and helped them know the great responsibility that comes with rejection as well as any decision we make.


I remember your gift of giving. Whether it be compliments or a timely word, or even a tangible gift, it always seemed custom made. You were so gifted, Gramma, in speaking the love language of others. You honed in on our deepest need and gave fully and generously to us a word of encouragement, a hug, or even a simple gift just a the right moment.


I still remember the train you bought my sister and I as kids. Every year we would take it down from the attic and lay the track around the Christmas tree. It was a the blessing that always reminded us of you - a simple gift that helped us treasure that time of the year when our family gathers together.


And maybe you gave it to prepare me to be an engineer one day!


Well, Gramma, you were quite the person of laughter. Yet, you surprised me when you told me of your initial move to Louisiana. You told Papa that "you didn't like it - the people spoke a weird language ... they ate weird food ... and there were still racial tensions between blacks and whites on the sidewalk." But then you told me that you put your preferences aside to embrace the vision of your husband and well-being of your family. Now you've changed what you could, adapted to what you couldn't and ate the tails and slurped the heads of what ended up on your plate, all the while settling more and more into the place you comfortably made your home.

Gramma, we love you for that and all your life lessons. Overall, you taught us to love God, make plenty of time for our spouses, invest in the talents of our children, and share our last piece of bread with our neighbors - for you would say life goes longer that way . I love you, miss you and thank you my Gramma. Goodbye.


With Much Love,
Your Grandson Logan


p.s. - And yes, I know, you love me more.

Honoring Saint Patrick?

As the great-grandson of Irish immigrants, Saint Patrick’s day has always been dear to my heart. It’s an opportunity to remember and celebrate my heritage and family’s lineage. Yet, after these past couple of years, I feel a cheapened by what school and American culture has taught me about such an amazing day… or better, a successful man…

Growing up, St Patrick’s day was equal to ‘green.’ Got green, life’s good. No green, endure painful pinches. I think many of us remember, or still endure, those days. Yet, my particular disappointment is that St Patrick was a man – not a color. So why do we celebrate green on his memorial day?

Do you know?

Actually the color is a symbol of Saint Patrick’s passion. No, not green eggs & ham or even a flamboyant wardrobe. His passion for sharing freedom. As a teenager, he was sold into slavery by a group of bandits who raided his village. During this difficult trial, he drew near to God and underwent a transformation in his heart. His passion became to share the freedom of Jesus Christ to everyone who would open their mind and humbly receive the gift of salvation from a power higher than themselves.

But, what about the green???

Paul stated in his letter to the Romans, “For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” In the same manner St Patrick used a simple clover leaf to demonstrate the truth of this verse. One of the most difficult concepts of God to grasp is how He is THREE distinct persons, yet ONE GOD. Moses said, “Hear O Israel, the Lord, our God, the Lord is one."

A very widespread, living tradition tells ... When trying to explain the mystery of the Holy Trinity to his hearers, he saw the trefoil growing on the green sod beneath his feet, and taking it up in his hand, he pointed out how the triple leaf sprang from the single stem, even as the Three Divine Persons, really distinct from each other, were yet One in the unity of the Godhead. It was, of course, an imperfect, but yet, … very apt illustration … and made St. Patrick's Shamrock the immortal symbol of Ireland's faith and nationality.’ – Taken from Harvard College, ‘The life and writings of St. Patrick"

And here are the man’s famous words, translated from Gaelic of course:

Christ with me,

Christ before me,

Christ behind me,

Christ within me,

Christ beneath me,

Christ above me,

Christ at my right,

Christ at my left,

Christ in the fort,

Christ in the chariot seat,

Christ in the poop deck,*

Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,

Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,

Christ in every eye that sees me,

Christ in every ear that hears me.

I bind to myself today

The strong virtue of an invocation of the Trinity,

I believe the Trinity in the Unity

The Creator of the Universe.

Salvation is of the Lord,

Salvation is of the Lord,

Salvation is of Christ,

May thy salvation, O Lord,

be ever with us.

* Wikipedia: AKA the Stern Deck, name originates French word for stern, la poupe. In sailing ships, an elevated position ideal for both navigation  and observation of the crew and sails..

Excel: Quick Add New Color Comment XLA

It's been some time since I've made a post so I've decided to upload some Excel xla file add-ins that I've made for various reasons over the past couple of years. Enjoy!

Here's a link to download my AddComment XLA file. It allows you to press Ctrl + Shift + A to quickly made a decent looking comment within your cells! Also, it allows you to easily change the color of the comment. (Note: Use the toolbar shortcut to make your first comment.)

What's an xla file? It's basically a way of sharing the code to automate some functions in Excel. In this case, I did the work and you reap the benefits! Well... me too!

How do I install it? The easiest way I've found is to navigate to where you can Manage Excel Add-ins. Basically the screen below. (The way to get there depends on your version of Office.) Once you are there, click Browse... and it will open a normal windows explorer screen. Right-click in this screen to paste the .xla file from within the zip file. Highlight the file to add it to your list then click the checkmark to turn it on. All my add-ins use some very neat code I put together from a couple of VBA gurus to automatically add toolbar shortcuts.

One last note is that I offer these add-ins free of further work. That means that I'm not doing bug fixes and I'm sure some exist since I developed these in Excel 2003 and have refined some slightly for 2007. I still have many ideas on what could be done, but not the time to complete them! But, unlike many other xla coders, I did not lock or password protect these files. The source code is yours to do whatever you want with and modify as you like!

Please let me know if you've improved any of them and pass them back my way! Thanks!