Posts Tagged ‘personal’ Return to Archives List
You decide
June 3rd, 2009 | 3 Comments
Which is better?
Leave a comment here, Twitter (@b3nst3wart), or Facebook.
PRK Recovery: A Year Later
May 19th, 2009 | Comments Off
One of the major search results that bring people to my corner of the interwebs is “PRK recovery.” While that is far from what this blog is generally about, that is something that I blogged about when my wife had PRK surgery about a year ago. I still remember all of the emotions that happened leading up to the procedure and especially during the longer-than-expected recovery time. We wondered if we had made a huge mistake–if she was going to recover or if her practically blind condition was going to be permanent. We searched the web for anyone else’s experience to compare notes and hopefully get some kind of reassurance that things might just turn out OK.
Well, it’s been a long time since my last update on Rebekah’s PRK eye surgery and that is because we haven’t really had to think about it in a long time. Rebekah still doesn’t have 20/20 vision (I think it’s about 20/25) but it is definitely good enough for her to feel good about having the procedure. As I said, it was a long and painful recovery process (much harder than we expected), but it ended up being well worth the time and pain. She still uses eye drops daily (usually in the morning but sometimes in the evening as well), but the dryness has been the only real side-effect. Overall it has been much better than the days when she had to wear hard contact lenses or glasses… although I do kind of miss how she looks in glasses.
(Maybe that wasn’t the best picture to post publicly.)
You can read the rest of the recovery saga here:
Cool enough for target
April 24th, 2009 | 4 Comments
I’ve spent a lot of time the past five years traveling with guys who play instruments on stage. That means I’m used to being the “uncool” one. I have accepted this role. I am married to a hottie who loves me and so I have no one I need to impress by being cool. I buy normal clothes from normal stores and I have a normal haircut.
The other day I was in Target with my lovely wife. While she was looking at jewelry and purses I decided to step over to the wall of sunglasses to find a new pair (mine are getting pretty scratched). I figured Target would be just the right mix of uncool, suburban, normalcy with a hint of trendy mixed in. Remembering how cool I thought my dad’s aviators were when I was a kid, these were the first pair I gravitated towards.
Obviously, I bought them. Now I feel like a poser every time I put them on… like I think I am cooler than I am. This is the same fear I had when I first got my iPhone. I was afraid people would think that I was trying to show off, or that I thought I was better or cooler than they were because I had it. So, let this be my public admittance that I know that I am not cool, but I thought I was cool enough for Target sunglasses.
Have you ever wanted to buy or wear something but been afraid people would think you were cocky or trying too hard to be cool?
Just a quick update
June 22nd, 2008 | Comments Off
I hate those “I haven’t blogged” blog posts so I try to avoid them. So rather than stating the obvious I’ll just update you on life right now.
I just finished The EDGE Camp in Pigeon Forge, TN. We had a small crowd (which translates positively into “intimate” and negatively into “bankrupt”) but the week was really good all around. I always enjoy working with Wayne Kerr and Ed Newton as well as the rest of our crew. If you are looking for a worship leader who can also do some pretty fat-daddy design work, definitely give Wayne a call. As far as youth-oriented speakers go I think you just can’t really go wrong with Ed and Craig, either. You can check out The EDGE Camp slideshow on Flickr.
I got home on Friday after camp, did laundry, repacked, and then left for Kentucky early Saturday morning. This time Rebekah was with me because we are taking a quick weekend trip for a family wedding. Rebekah is also learning to sew this weekend with her mom. She’s just so crafty.
It’s always nice visiting family in KY but honestly, I just want to go home. I’ve got a few days at home next week to finish some web development projects and handle some booking/management work and then I leave again. My next trips are a quick two-day run with a friend of mine and then another summer camp with IM. Busy, busy, busy. One day I’ll slow down.
I have goals to start a series of posts about Mac applications. I think I have a bit of an app addiction so I definitely know some of the better and worse applications out there for OSX. If you have any requests for a certain type of application or even specific ones you like/dislike let me know. Hopefully those “lazy summer camp days” will give me the time I need to get this started.
Will the thrill
May 11th, 2008 | Comments Off
So one of the perks to living in a dorm (and oh, there are so many) is getting to pick through all the stuff college students leave behind when they move out. It’s amazing what people leave behind. I’m talking things like couches, microwaves, printers, clothing… all because they don’t want to move it home. Amazing the mentality of poor college students.
Aside from end-of-the-year leftovers, we also get to poke around at any lost-and-found items. This stack isn’t usually as big or as interesting. However, the other day Rebekah found a gem! An iPod-shaped gem!
After waiting two weeks for the owner to ask about his lost friend, Rebekah decided to be pro-active. First, she charged it up so we could see the name of the iPod. It’s called “Will the thrill’s iPod.” That didn’t really help so we checked to see if it was engraved. It is, but it didn’t help either. I guess sometimes it is a good idea to put a phone number on your iPod. Looking through the music library wasn’t any help either. Just a typical college student mix. As much as we wanted to just keep it at this point, we knew we should try to do everything we could to track down the owner.
Next, we visited our local Apple store to see if they could look up the owner’s information in their records. I thought, “Surely the owner registered it and the fine folks at Apple can just look them up and ship it home.” I have to be honest here, the next thought that crossed my mind was, “What if the Apple employee just pretends to return it and actually keeps it for themselves… don’t we deserve it more than them?” But we both knew that it was better for us to try to do the “right thing.” Well, it turns out that they couldn’t tell me anything anyway. They suggested we call Apple.
So, we called Apple. After a lovely 10 minutes or so I was informed that the iPod was not registered. Their only suggestion was to call Apple’s security team and give them my contact info in case the owner calls them searching for their lost companion.
Now the only question left is whether I get to use it or Rebekah (because there will be no sharing allowed). Neither of us have owned an iPod that will play videos. In fact, we have never had a real “big boy” iPod at all… only Nanos. And, of course, if the owner asks for it back then we will (gladly) return it. But for now you had better believe we’re gonna put that iPod to use.
Two worlds
April 30th, 2008 | Comments Off
There are some good posts from Shaun’s recent trip to the Dominican Republic over at Shlog.
I don’t know how he keeps from going crazy living in American culture after these trips. There has to be a period of transition or immersion back into our sense of normal (or maybe the idea is to forget our sense of normal).
