David Gardiner - Faith

Christmas 2020

2020-12-26T14:00:00.000+10:30

Christmas this year started technically at 12.01am. I was rostered on to be 'Vision Mixer' for the streaming videos of my church's Christmas eve services - 7.30pm and 11pm. The latter finishing just after midnight.

I've been volunteering to be a camera operator and vision mixer since church started live streaming a few months ago. It's a bit of a dream come true as being a TV camera person was the second job I wanted to be when I grew up (this is before I discovered computers!). Mixing is a challenging job, and I have greater respect for those who do this as their paid job. It's one of those things when done right, you don't even think about it. The Christmas Eve services should be uploaded to the Seeds Uniting YouTube channel soon if you're interested.

I love Christmas. It was always an exciting time when I was a little kid, and I still enjoy it now that I'm well and truly all grown up. It is special as a time to remember the birth of Jesus, and a season of catching up with family and remembering old traditions (or possibly making some new ones).

COVID has obviously had a massive impact on many. Fortunately here in Adelaide and South Australia things are currently in a good state, so any remaining restrictions didn't impact us personally. I'm all too aware that there are many who are doing it much tougher, or who are missing loved ones that couldn't be with them due to travel restrictions, or tragically through sickness or death.

Narelle loves a brunch (and she's not alone there!), so she organised to have her parents and my aunty over for Christmas morning.

For lunch, we headed over to my sister's place. Food continued to be a highlight of the day. My sister, her husband and their very cute dog did a great job of lunch.

Yum! Oh and it turns out the Christmas crackers had balloons in that you could make balloon animals with. That was a great laugh.

Then just when I didn't think I could fit another thing in, Mum brought out the Christmas slices for afternoon tea!

Wow. We got to bring some leftovers home (plus my mother in-law's home-made fudge). Not sure how long they'll last. I'll have to try and keep up the physical activity to counteract all the good eating.

I'm on annual leave for the next 3 weeks. Will be great to have a break, recharge, catch up with friends and family a bit more, and staying cool over summer.

Oh, and what was hiding behind that scary wrapping paper (see first picture)? That was my son showing his creative flare to wrap a bucket of Cadbury's Favourites chocolates. Still deciding if I'm going to share them🙂

The church of the future (from 1995)

2020-09-12T10:30:00.000+09:30

Way, way back in 1995 I'd been a part of a team that published a newspaper leading up (and during) that year's National Christian Youth Convention (aka NCYC 95). After the convention had finished, the New Times newspaper (which had been supporting us) asked us to continue writing pieces.

Recently my Dad gave me a collection of articles from these publications that he'd kept. This one stood out as being surprisingly relevant! If you know me well, you'll be familiar with my unusual sense of humour, and I enjoyed sprinkling this into my written work.

The full text from my article, first published in the August 1995 edition of New Times follows:

YAWN, I don't think I'll ever get used to getting up early for church. It's good to catch up with friends. But worship is the real reason we get together each week.

Of course our church, like most, is "virtual". We all meet via our computer communications link. Sure, you miss out on actually being with other people. But there are advantages.

You can attend your own church, no matter where you are in the world. It allows people with disabilities to participate as much as anyone. What I consider the biggest advantage is that you can "tune-out" those noisy kids!

On reflection, I guess modern church life has changed a lot over the years.

Today, we had communion. I think my replicator is on the blink, because the wine/grape juice was an uncharacteristic luminescent green.

The minister's message was pretty good. I do appreciate being able to fast forward over the boring bits. I don't know how people used to cope when they actually had to site through a whole sermon.

The use of hypertext scripture readings, multimedia and 3D real-time computer animation are commonplace in the sermons of today. They certainly add a new dimension to understanding the Bible in today's society.

Like most churches, we are often struggling with our regular giving. Accepting all major credit cards has helped, though. But I'm not so sure about the floating of our church on the stock market. Next thing you know the CPI will stand for the "Consumer Prayer Index".

And another thing. Call me old fashioned, but I do prefer those tried and true choruses - I can't relate to all these modern techno-sampled tunes we have in church now.

Well, I guess things are always changing - technologies, language, people. But God never changes. God's still as relevant today as in the 1990s.

Given what's happened just this year, I'd say most of my predictions been pretty close to the mark.

2018 draws to a close..

2018-12-26T17:24:00.000+10:30

2018 is almost done. It's the day after Christmas, about 38°C outside (just over 100°F in the old money - not uncommon for this time of year in Adelaide). As I sit here under the cooling, gentle breeze from the air conditioner, I've compiled some of my 2018 highlights. (Let me know in the comments if I've missed something obvious)

Work

RL Solutions are/have merged with Datix. No changes yet, other than getting to meet a couple of people from the Datix side (including from their Melbourne office).

Our Adelaide team also grew this year with some new hires. We do miss Tom (having lost him to Toronto), but we've managed to survive, and it was great to have him back for a week last month. A part from my coding and team lead responsibilities, Tom's move has meant I've picked up additional roles of office grocery/supplies organiser and local IT support.

One particular recent highlight was upgrading the office to a 1G fibre Internet connection, taking advantage of the 10G Adelaide initiative. That's been a huge win - bandwidth is essentially no longer a constraint on getting things done.

Toronto sent a lovely Christmas present to the Adelaide office. Yum!

User Group

The Adelaide .NET User Group has finished on a positive note. We've had increased attendances the last few months which is really encouraging. We've also had a sponsor come on board, which means we can run meetings for free now that our pizza costs are covered.

It would be great to have others join me in organising the group - it does concern me that I'm the 'single point of failure' at the moment.

In addition to monthly meetings, I'm looking forward to some announcements in the new year about a bigger developer event for Adelaide.

Presentations

Managed to do some user group talks locally as well as while I was in Toronto, but the highlight for the year was being picked to present as part of .NET Conf.

Travel

A bit less this year - two weeks in North America in March (Toronto for work and then Seattle/Redmond for the Microsoft MVP Summit). Coming down with a nauseous gastro-type bug for the last couple of days and the flight home was not a highlight. Definitely an incentive to remember good hand hygiene!

We also had a family holiday interstate and flew (instead of driving all the way). More costly, but quicker and less stressful.

Christmas

A significant time of year, and one I really enjoy. I have many happy memories of Christmases as a child, and I hope we're creating them for our kids now.

Our family traditions include taking part in our Church's Road to Christmas 'Bethlehem re-enactment', joining with friends to sing carols at a local hospital, attending a Christmas Eve church service, and then gathering with family for a meal on Christmas Day.

Bonus tip: My aunty told me that she buys a platter/plate from a 2nd hand shop for the food that she brings. That way she doesn't need to worry about having to remember to bring it home.

Turtles

We bought my son a turtle for his birthday the previous year. 'Nibbles' is now fast outgrowing his tank, so the current project is to build a pond out in the garden where he can live (the turtle, not my son!)

The pond shell/liner, redgum wood sleepers, a pump and filter, shade-cloth all add up to be a surprising amount. Not to mention the manual labour of digging the hole in the ground!

I think Nibbles will appreciate it when it's all done.

Nibbles the turtle, about to give the pond a test drive/swim

Sevenfold

That's the band I play in. We've had a few gigs this year, and might be doing some recording in 2019. I was sad when Jane (our violin/mandolin player) retired as that left me as the sole string player on 'Cello. I've had to pick up some of Jane's parts in some of our songs. Our last gig for the year was something a bit different (and special) - playing for Liz (who also sings in our band) as part of her service of ordination to become a Deacon.

Sound check, with Pete and Keith photo-bombing

When you're young, you sometimes dream about being a rock-star. Well that hasn't happened! But I do get to play instruments and sing on stage with good friends, and people seem to like our music, so while I'm not giving up my day job, it is a lot of fun.

Cycling

I try and get out for a ride when I can. Seemed to be less commute riding this year, but got out for a few Saturdays with the Mud, Sweat and Gears mob. Looking forward to the Tour Down Under in January and riding in the Challenge Tour with my Dad and my Son (3 generations of Gardiners) as well as brother-in-law James.

Family

I tend not to post much about my family here. If you know me personally then I might have shared a bit more about how we're all going. Needless to say, the kids are growing up fast!

Thanks for reading, see you in 2019 :-)

David

An inspiring afternoon

2014-09-02T22:18:00.001+09:30

This afternoon I attended a funeral. The church was packed with friends and family, I have to say it was one of the best celebrations of someone’s life that I’ve been privileged to attend.

Yes, there was sadness and grief, but overwhelmingly a sense of joy of a life well lived - a passionate husband, father, and faithful man of God.

In his late 50’s, John was not an old man when he passed away last week, but the impact his life and love for others will continue to be felt for years to come.

An extraordinary day.

2013-12-24T23:17:00.001+10:30

"Sad, funny, thoughtful, thankful"

I wrote that on Facebook this afternoon after having returned from Eudunda where I had the honour and privilege of farewelling the father of a dear friend.

Max was a much loved husband, father and grand-father. It was great to see so many people come together today at his funeral to pay their respects and celebrate his life.

I did not know Max that well, but to hear the story of his life today, and see his legacy in his four daughters and their families was both moving and inspiring.

A man of faith and integrity.

It gives you pause to consider that when it's your turn:

what will people say about you?
will people still know how to make the jelly cakes, slices, curried-egg sandwiches, party pies and other assorted delights you find at the afternoon tea?

Speaking on SSDT at Adelaide SQL User Group

2013-04-10T00:48:00.001+09:30

Today just happens to be T-SQL Tuesday, and this month's question is "how did you come to love presenting?"

The first time I presented in front of a group? hmm that's a tough question. Actually now that I think about it, it might have been the first time I did the kids' story as a young teenager teaching Sunday School. Keeping the attention of 5 year olds is a tough gig, but I must have done ok as that's something I still enjoy doing to this day. Sunday school, youth groups, camps, church conferences – they all gave me opportunities to try out "being up the front".

Moving more to the IT-side of things, getting opportunities to present at local user groups and events has definitely been a highlight. The last couple of years I've also been able to work in and present at the hands-on-labs at Microsoft's TechEd conferences, which is great fun.

One great thing about presenting is that it can be a two-way street. Sometimes you end up learning just as much from those you're presenting to as you hope they did from you.

Speaking of presenting, it's nice to be able to get back to the Adelaide SQL User Group next week and present on SQL Server Data Tools. It's something I've been using a bit lately and thought it would be of interest to others too. I've been involved with this group since it first started years ago, but for the last 12 months or so I've been unable to make the Wednesday timeslot in person due to some family commitments, so I'll be looking forward to catching up with some old friends.

If you're free next Wednesday lunchtime, feel free to register and come along. It would be great to see you!

I know that it's Christmas..

2012-12-26T09:39:00.001+10:30

Because people will even dance to some guy trying to play the 'cello

Always nice to have enthusiasm when you're doing a sound check😀

This year we visited our friends across town who were organising a Christmas Eve service at Playford Uniting. I was also able to be part of their band playing a few Christmas carols.

Because the Road to Christmas is on again

And even made the Channel Seven news. Over the 3 evenings that this runs there's probably a few thousand people from the local community (and beyond) that come and experience sights, sounds, smells and tastes of Bethlehem. It's a great atmosphere and lots of fun too.

Because the cactus that flowers at Christmas is in flower

and the flowers came out first in the morning on Christmas day this year too.

Because the table is set for Christmas lunch

Because Narelle cooked up a storm

Yummo

Because the pudding is ready

Extra yummo.

Because Mum & Dad gave me a new Super Soaker

So it turns out that the CFS actually recommend having one of these around the house. If you did have a bushfire go through then then a key thing is to put out any spotfires in gutters or roof spaces once the main fire front has passed. They reckon a super soaker is good as you can pop your head up through the manhole into the ceiling and squirt any smouldering embers that might have found their way inside.

The other benefit is that it means I can now compete with my son's soaker he got as a LobsterPot Christmas present a couple of years ago (thanks Rob!)

Because it is a chance to take a breath

Borrowing from the theme of Pete's message at the Christmas Eve service. After a busy and in many ways difficult year this year it is good to have a couple of weeks off and take a breath (or two).

Time to spend with family. Time to sleep in (maybe). Time to do a bit of riding in preparation for the Tour Down Under in a few weeks. Time to reflect on the year that was and the year that is to come. Time to appreciate the extraordinary gift that is the real reason for celebrating Christmas.

Kids' Camp Out 1983 to KCO 2011

2011-03-25T22:55:00.001+10:30

KCO (formerly KUCA Camp Out, formerly Kid's Camp Out) is an annual overnight camping event that has been running in South Australia since 1978. It's also probably the largest event that the Uniting Church runs in Australia, as they've often had more than 2,700 kids, parents and helpers.

Groups of kids aged 7-12 years (with parents & leaders) come from all over the state. As well as camping, there's games, crafts, rides, activities, musicals, dramas, bands, and(sometimes) fireworks, in a safe, well organised setting.

My own involvement dates back to at least 1983, as you can see from this old, silverfish-eaten certificate I came across just the other day:

A few years later when I was too old to attend as a kid, I went instead as a teenage helper. Directing traffic (sometimes in the rain), setting up, packing down, all kinds of stuff.

A bit later still, I co-led the teenage helper group for a few years until 2000. This also meant being on the organising committee for the whole event. Believe me, there's a lot of planning that goes into making sure KCO runs smoothly! One of my highlights was that I got to have my own walkie-talkie (my call-sign was 'KUCA Big Dave' if you're interested).

Probably the only year I missed during that period was 1998, which KCO kindly let me have off as it coincided with my wedding day!

While I have many fond memories, I'm quite excited because tomorrow morning I'm getting on a bus with my two oldest children (along with over 100 other kids and parent leaders from our church) and heading off to KCO 2011.

Some things will have changed in the 10 years since I last went (for one thing it's now Nuriootpa instead of West Beach – I'll leave my boardies at home this time), but I know it's going to be a fantastic weekend!

Christmas 2010

2010-12-26T21:38:00.002+10:30

It's been a big Christmas season in the Gardiner family this year. Last week we dressed up as New Testament-era characters in Aberfoyle Uniting's re-creation of Bethlehem in "The Road to Christmas". Thursday evening Narelle and I joined some friends for carol singing at a local hospital, then Christmas Eve we attended church as a family. It was a good service, and included this thought-provoking modern-day take on what Mary and Joseph went through:

On Christmas day we were hosting immediate family at our place for lunch, and were then joined by some extra friends for tea. Narelle had a thought a few weeks back that to cater for this many people, a second fridge would be useful. After checking out some second-hand stores, I ended up bidding (and winning) one on eBay.

It has been a great fridge. It fitted all we needed to fit in it, and saved all those minutes of "angst" when trying to fit the leftovers in it after lunch and tea. I must say that Narelle did an amazing job – the meat and veggies were perfectly cooked...and the pudding was out of this world.

(Narelle added the above two paragraphs while I was playing Kinect) But I agree, the fridge was a great idea. The day started at not an unreasonable time. We'd been to Church the previous evening, so things weren't so rushed in the morning. The XBox 360 + Kinect has proved a big success. Our family present this year, and all the family has been having a go - even our youngest (though sometimes to the frustration of other players!) – she can play some of the games, though some of the finer controls are too tricky for her yet. We've had a lot of fun playing:

Kinect Adventures – a great intro to Kinect and physical fun
Kinectimals – very imaginative game
Dance Central – funky dancing
Kinect Joy Ride – fun car driving – 2 players at a time

(Kinectimals and Kinect Joy Ride were presents, the other two titles came with the bundle). So far I'm totally impressed. The only thing I could wish for would be some family-friendly titles to be published that can have more than two players at one time (I've heard Kinect can track up to 6 people, though I think you'd need lots of space for that).

One of my other favourite presents had me up far later than I should have been Christmas night. I was only thinking the other day when we were watching "A Muppet Christmas Carol" that one of the best things to ever come out of the USA is Jim Henson's Muppets. That thought was reinforced by me getting a copy of Sesame Street: A Celebration of 40 Years of Life on the Street. A fascinating read so far.

Rob Farley on Talking Shop Down Under

2010-03-31T13:17:00.001+10:30

LobsterPot Solutions' very own Rob Farley is this week's guest on the Talking Shop Down Under podcast!

Since my last post about podcasts I'm listening to, I've now added the following to my collection:

Talking Shop Down Under – Interviews with Australian developers
The Home Server Show – Latest on Windows Home Server
FranklySpeaking – Microsoft Australia's Andrew Coates and Michael Kordahi
Elegant Code – Quiet since November 2009. One contributor now appears to be involved in PluralCast
Daily Audio Bible – Brian Hardin reads through the entire Bible in one calendar year.