James is now Official

Today at the CVM James received his official badge. Basically these are the keys to the kingdom at the CVM. All he has to do is hold it up to any door in the hospital and he is in. So if he has the urge to hunt for the styloid process of the ulna at 2 a.m. in the dissection lab, he can. Oh the joy!

The Best way to Fold a Shirt

Megan and James found a fun way to fold laundry quickly. It is Japanese we think. There are some simple instructions for doing it and there is also a video link on the page for those who have high-speed internet. Click here.

Ride Along the Grand River

Megan and I went on a fun bike ride yesterday. It was fun to see a new part of the city. The trail is along the Grand River and the Red Cedar River. Also along this trail is the Potter Park Zoo which is Lansing's local zoo. We are going to have to check that out sometime.

Google Talk

If talking to friends and family is really causing your money to supply to run low then Google Talk may be right for you. You can "call" anyone in the whole world for free as long as they have Google Talk as well. This idea is not new, Skype has been doing it for a while now, plus you can call from your computer to a real phone for a very small fee. Either way, reach out and talk to somebody.

Google Desktop 2

For all those who enjoy the power (and price) of Google Desktop Search, they have a new version of it. It is a sidebar tool and brings all the info that interests you. Being able to check your mail without opening any other programs is a great plus. Click here to get it.

The White Coat

Today was the first day of orientation for James at the college of vet med. He was given his white coat that will last him for the whole 4 years. He felt very strange today as he was instructed at one point to introduce himself to people around him as "Dr. Finlay." The whole day was full of information about the profession at large and a tour of the facilities. One fact that blew both of our socks off was that all the tuition paid to the college only covers 8% of its costs, the rest is covered by donations and tax payers.

The Detroit Zoo

Yesterday we went to the zoo with some people who live at Spartan Village near us. It was fun to get out and see all the different animals. The strange liard looking creature is a relative of the salamander and is called a hellbender. The picture with Megan and the seal was taken inside of a glass tube in the Artic zone at the zoo.

Alternative to Microsoft Office

Let's face it, Microsoft Office is a necessary evil. If you don't have it you are pretty much unable to be productive and effective at communicating with others. You would think that an application as ubiquitous as that would be free so that everyone could own it. Well, you would be mistaken then. The standard edition costs almost 400 clams. Yikes! I have been using an application suite for a while now that is (in many respects) better than Microsoft Office. It is basically the same user interface and can open Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents (and can create them as well). One of the best features about it is that it is a PDF creator as well (something MS Office doesn’t have). The price? FREE! Download Open Office here.

Quick Visit to Ohio

James and Megster arrived in Akron, OH on Wednesday to spend a few days with grandparents before the school year started. We went on a nice bike ride today through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park and then went to a butterfly exhibit. These pics are of those adventures. We have really been enjoying ourselves here in Ohio. Tomorrow (8/19/05) we are going to Amish country in search of some baby swiss cheese. Much love.

Our new Abode!

Here are a few pics of the new Finlay home. We are loving (and using) all 450 square feet of it! We have almost all of the pictures hung up so it is begining to feel more like a home to us. We are enjoying our time here so far, although the whole idea of living out here has not really hit either of us yet. Remember folks, it may be small, but there is plenty of room for people to come and visit.

Keyboard?

The technology of a virtual keyboard has been around for a little while now, but never built into a cell phone. If you every need to type a paper or some notes while on campus or in a meeting there is no need to tote a folding keyboard anymore. I will get one once I can type on my lap, I think it would hurt to type a paper on a hard desk. Pretty cool anyway.

Gigapixel Camera?

So I know that we are think that we have great cameras that can shoot at a resolution of 8 or 9 megapixels, but what about gigapixels (1000 megapixels)? Well, they do exist and they take amazing photographs. A group has been going all over the USA taking pics of famous places (including the recent shuttle launch). Check it out!

Just One More Day...

Megan and I are in Coralville, IA. It is a city just outside of Iowa City. We have been driving for about 10 hours a day for the past 4 days. We are super glad that tomorrow we will be arriving in Michigan and ending this trek. We have loved seeing the country, but we just wish that we were in the same vehicle to talk about it. Another time I suppose. As if endless miles of corn fields were not exciting enough we do have books on tape and podcasts to listen to. In a day or two we should have pics of the new apartment up here. Much love.

The Move Continues

We are now back in Orem. We arrived about 5:00 pm tonight and loaded up the rest of our stuff into the truck. Luckily we had the help of the Christensens and Allisons to make things run more smoothly. We hope everything will make it to our next stop (Ogallala, NE) in one piece, including us! James will be driving the truck (that is towing his car) and Megan will be driving her car. It should be interesting!

The Move Begins

We rented our truck at 7:30 am on Saturday morning and drove to California to pick up a bunch of furniture that was so graciously given to us (a big thanks to Mom&Dad, Meg&Dan and Vov&Yogi). It was great to get together one last time before we left for the east. We packed our 26' truck (James calls it his "Rig") and left at 5:00 am today (monday).

Bush vs. Darwin

I've got my money on Darwin. I have nothing against children (or adults for that matter) being taught about "itelligent design" in a religious setting. However, I think it is bad practice to teach people that natural occurances can be explained using a theory that has little or no evidence. The theory of evolution is a unifying (not to mention faith promoting) concept of biology. Theodosius dobzhansky said "Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution." Click here to see what President Bush has to say on the matter.

In Case You're Bored

This is a clever marketing stunt. A version of reality TV on the internet. You can type in a message and see it on the screen. Click here to see it.

California Trip

We just got back from California late last night (actually early this morning). We had a wonderful time there. It was great to see so many friends and family. Even though it was great to go to the beach, Disneyland (Club 33), In-n-Out, The Hat, etc.-- the best part of the trip was getting to see and talk to so many family members. Also, welcome home Ian!!! Click here to see the album. Tchau!