H.I.T.S.
It’s been a busy week, with some very successful projects — the biggest of which was my attempt to locate one of my few remaining relatives by contacting an English newspaper via e-mail and asking for help. Last Saturday, I received an e-mail notification from a Web site called Genes Reunited at a href=”http://www.genesreunited.co.uk http://www.genesreunited.co.uk end
.
I clicked on the link and read an e-mail from an Englishman named Graham.
He had read the article in the Preston, Lancastershire, paper and did a search on Genes Reunited for my relative.
He found the contact name of the husband of the relative’s sister (who I had already been e-mailing).
I had asked them late last year if they had her brother, Joe’s, address, and whether they were in recent contact with him.
They’d replied “no” on both counts, so I didn’t really expect any results.
It came as quite a surprise when I looked at my e-mails and found one from them. Her husband provided me with not only the full details (including telephone numbers) of both my remaining male cousins — and also a reminder that they were not really on speaking terms with the one I was looking for.
I already knew that, and had taken it to be the reason they were out of touch.
I remembered asking the same thing about the addresses at least three times since about the year 2000, so it was puzzling that they did indeed know where he was.
Nonetheless, I was just glad that, in the end, I’d located him. I look forward to calling and surprising him very soon, because, as I’ve said in previous columns, it’s been more than 30 years since we last talked and he was the closest of my cousins over there.
Kudos to technology for achieving something in a matter of days that would have probably stalled via regular mail.
Also this week, I got my camcorder battery that I ordered online. It not only arrived within two days of ordering it, but at a fraction of what it would have cost locally.
I hasten to add that is not always the case and, many times, our local stores will match Internet prices and can actually be less expensive.
My battery arrived, was correct and cost about $20, including shipping.
I ordered it online because my camcorder is about three years old now and not really a mainstream model.
I had looked locally to try to find a replacement, but not only could I not locate one, I was told that it would be an expensive item to find if it was ordered.
Anyway, chalk up two successes up by using the ‘Net.
I also ordered a cable to connect my camcorder to my computer via FireWire, which, although it sounds technical, is just a means of making a really fast transfer of data. It’s great for digital video or a movie you’ve taken. The cable simply plugs in at both ends and one end has this tiny little specialized connector. The price of it has also dropped dramatically from $30 a few years back to about $10 shipped.
I found a brand-new one on eBay and, as they wanted a PayPal payment, I asked Mrs. Schulze if she would kindly help. She later forwarded an e-mail that the cable was back-ordered, but later that same day, the company e-mailed again, saying that their order had arrived and that it was shipping the cable. I’ve neglected to say that I already have this cable somewhere (which I paid $30 for), but I can’t remember where I put it.
Chalk it up to old age?
I also got the greatest compliment last Saturday morning, when Nick, a student of mine, told me that he had created an “Eric” character on his Nintendo Wii video game console. This is one of the latest kids’ favorites at a href=”http://wii.nintendo.com/ http://wii.nintendo.com/ end
. I asked what he meant and he told me you could make characters with various features, so he made me — complete with glasses, a beard and a ballcap.
This was both flattering and amusing, at the same time.
During the course of lessons, many of the kids tell me about the various game systems, as they know I’m interested in all kinds of gadgets.
Usually, they tell me about Guitar Hero 2 (at a href=”http://www.guitarherogame.com/gh2/ http://www.guitarherogame.com/gh2/ end
).
To their dismay, I tell them that it’s not like playing real guitar, although thay at least get to hear songs that they then want to learn to play.
Guitar Hero 1 had the old Deep Purple song, “Smoke on the Water,” which has recently been used on a couple of TV commercials.
It’s funny to see how my guitar- teaching has shifted from past days of “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and “Ode to Joy” to things like “Smoke on the Water” and the “James Bond” and “Mission Impossible” theme songs.
Also, thanks to a new M&M’s TV ad that I saw, young kids will start to recognize the Addams Family theme, which I also use.
I’ve found that modern guitar instruction needs diverse methods in order to keep the students enthused.
Hopefully, you’ll also be enthused with our new H.I.T.S. show and with this column, where we not only try to entertain you, but also share with you some of our insights into what can be a strange world with even stranger terms for things.
With luck, we’ll debunk some of that computer myth & mystery.
Keep on surfing.