Tuesday, February 6, 2007

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

It’s Tuesday and my potassium at 11:15 AM was 3.9
Blood sugar was 115
Very sweaty and cold. Have gone through a full change of clothes because of sweating excessively.
It’s all internal because the house is normal mid-60’s temp. My cap had to come off because it was soaked.
Small chills rumble through my torso and chest.
My hands have been freezing.
Breakfast first was small oatmeal at 7:00 AM and then some steak and potatoes and sweet carrots at 10:00ish.
Last night’s dinner was tri tip, potato with butter & sour cream and sweet carrots and salad with balsamic vinaigrette.
Yesterday’s lunch was…I don’t remember what it was.
Yesterday’s breakfast was 2 pieces of French toast with butter and some powdered sugar.
Spasms in my arms and legs currently.
Heading out to Costco and Walmart.
I ate a banana as we were walking out the door.

While we were out at Costco and Walmart I began to feel worse; all over body pain, back pain, leg pains, some confusion, weakness, jaw became stiff and sore, concentrated spasms in larger muscles in my legs, arms and torso. As CC drove home, I had a sense of deja vu from being driven to the hospital in the van; the sounds of the van, the smell, the turns left to right and the difficulty remaining seated correctly.

Although I began the day walking fairly “normal” and just feeling the noted above symptoms, within 4 hours I was having a hard time just walking.
When we got home, I made it, by my self, into the bedroom and lay down for a rest. CC came in and gave me some Tylenol and shortly thereafter, I went to sleep.
I woke up 3 hours later with no sweating, no chills, hands feeling normal and only a few occasional spasms and muscle jumps. I got up, clearly still needed the cane, walked in to the dining/family room and checked my potassium: at 4:30 my potassium was 4.5.
I believe we can deduce the following from this information:
- A banana can make a significant difference.
- my potassium had dropped during the night/early morning
- when my potassium is below 4.0, I suffer the now typical/known symptoms of: sweaty, clammy, cold, chills in my torso and chest, spasms in my arms and legs.
- when the potassium is “low” for me, I should take a half to full dose of potassium to stop the painful symptoms.

We want to know what a regular banana equates to in terms of K+ numerical equivalent. We also want to know what a half and full dose equivalent is in terms of the K+ number We aren’t certain how to determine it, but I plan to ask my online folks about knowing some of the answers to the questions I have. We’ll see what answers I get over the next few days.

I’m back on a cane for the foreseeable future now, but that’s far better than being in a hospital bed or ER, which was close today. As close as it has been.

On to another topic, or as Monty Python would say, “And now for something completely different”.
I’m on a Yahoo Groups Church Music list which is comprised mostly of Worship Pastors, Ministers of Music and some tech pastors, choir directors and accompanists. A question was posted today asking what gear and process should be considered for creating a church plant. So, needing no further invitation than that, my answer was the following and I thought it might prove thought provoking here as well and I’d be very interested to know if anyone has additional thoughts on it past what I suggested or in opposition to what I suggested. I’m curious to know. It's not a completely finished product, but pretty much going where I wanted to go...
Anyway, here you go:
~~~~~~~
Church in a box?

A basic “How To” of what to consider if you are planning a church plant in a school or other venue (not necessarily a home)

Crew (It’s pretty important to a church who sets up and strikes each weekend)

Assemble a team that can be split into two groups, if possible. Assign them the task of technical (limited) ownership and responsibility over the set up/operation/strike and storing of the new equipment. I would, however, caution you against a large rotating crew of people who might not be as focused as need be. It is preferable to have folks cross-trained on different focuses of technical ministry, but see if you can group your volunteers or staff into Audio, Video, Lighting and CG (Computer Graphics). Everyone on the team can learn to correctly wrap cords (figure 8 style) and can learn what cables and pieces of equipment go in what box or container, but when it comes to operations, you will want focused training for certain individuals who will be responsible for what your congregation sees and hears. The rest of the crew will be vital to set it up and get it running, then struck and loaded securely. You will find that people will excel in the areas they are comfortable and confident in and when possible, it is best to equip them into those areas, if you understand what I mean. I am a true believer in having some bench depth in each area but I would caution you to give the crews a series of weekends on then off in order to maintain consistency and routine.

Projector

Before determining a projector, it is critical to determine its probable location and distance from intended screen or surface. This will help determine the size of the lens needed.
It is also most critical to determine the amount of expected light that will be used in the room when the projector will be used. This helps to ball-park the number of lumens necessary to adequately show the projected images.
I cannot begin to stress the importance of bringing in a professional systems contractor/consultant on this one to make certain you get what you need instead of what’s on sale or is over-stocked and being “blown out”, if you understand. All projectors are not created equal and it is far from wise, in my opinion, that someone with no experience in this field can appropriately suggest and recommend the proper lens and projector. If you need a suggestion for a competent consultant or integrator, I’d be happy to suggest one to you at your request.

Laptop computer

If possible, I would suggest having the laptop be a dedicated laptop for the purposes of graphics use for projection. This will limit and specify the necessary software and potentially keep the laptop in fater working order than if it as used for “normal” desktop processing and use which can clog up the works, so to speak.
The concerns here are to pay particular attention to processor power, hard drive size, hard drive speed, video card with extended desktop capability with as much RAM as can be afforded, having a silly amount of memory, particular software needed and not, external hard drive (silly fast and large if possible) for media clips (MPEGS, AVI, etc.), DVD burner, network capability.
You want speed and efficiency over looks and tons of “bonus features”. In this case, it is better for “them” not to throw in a bunch of applications or an impressive sound card since you won’t be wanting that stuff taking up space, “good deal” or not

Basic sound system (speakers, mics, cables)

This can be a black hole of investment if not researched and determined first. Research will be the key on this; know the intended size of the Band or team or worship personnel make up so the number of channels can be seen pretty clearly and then add channels to that for upcoming growth, which I promise will come (probably just after the board is installed). Much of this is either going to a near-by music store that carries some sound gear and buying a portable system from them that you can box and load/unload weekly and store same way, or it is buying it through an integrator or contractor/consultant who will do the buying for you. Consequently, they can do the set up and strike the first time as well, to instruct your team how to do it properly without damaging any of the gear (I could write for a while on some of the “accidents” that happened to portable systems on their maiden voyages when power cords were plugged into non-power cord inputs and the like…). A “basic sound system” is a very generic term in and of itself and is generally defined first by the size of the budget and then by the size and needs of the team/personnel up front as well as the media playback anticipated and the instrument and vocal processing anticipated.
Any one of us can suggest a name brand and model as well as our personal opinions of Ford versus Chevy and Dodge when it comes to sound systems but what will always matter first will be the budget, then second to that will be the budget and then third will be how much you can spend, then lastly will be what you actually need. Figure the fourth thing out first, then go after the first three with the help of a pro (who hopefully has been through that process before and can quite possibly help those deciding on the budget understand the needs more clearly, if given opportunity to meet them.) if possible.

Basic “need to know’s” in no particular order:
Band size (number of expected mic and instrument inputs, expected monitor usage (hot spot, floor wedge or In ear), needs and number of monitor sends to the stage, will the person mixing the service be responsible for the monitor mixes as well or will an AVIOM or similar monitor matrix technology be used, amount of EQ control desired on the board itself, are there going to be other venues or destinations that the audio mix will need to be sent to (either currently or eventually) via Matrix, how many seats, size of the venue (sq. ft) including height of the room, acoustic properties of the venue itself (carpeted, mats, hardwood flooring, tarp flooring, reflective walls and ceiling, folding chairs with or without cushions), wireless needs (pastors to In Ears to instruments), storage of the equipment on site or in a secured trailer? Do not forget insurance for EACH AND EVRYTHING you have in that system. Keep an Excel spreadsheet of the original inventory from the time or purchase and then update it as equipment is added, repaired and lost or stolen. The best time to do this is upon delivery of the new gear the first time. Plan ahead and keep accurate records; insurance companies won’t mess around with “maybes” and “I think it was...I can’t remember”.

CD Player

I would suggest that this be fit into the Basic Sound System category, but include a CD burner as well as a CD player and also a Cassette player and a cassette recorder. Seems like a lot, but in the end, when so and so comes up to sing a tune to a track, they often have those on cassette, not CD. Also, many folks still want to have sermons on cassette for shut ins and elderly who have not embraced the digital age and likely won’t. CD burning is part of today’s service needs and allows immediate input into a computer for any audio editing and podcasting that might be considered, let alone having a digital archive of sermons and services (though this will tie into the grade and quality of the console and equipment you end up choosing. If this will be a priority at some point in the future, you must take that into consideration BEFORE you buy a mixing console that is incapable of producing that opportunity.

…fini

Peace-