Text Messaging

I carried on multiple conversations with multiple people over text messaging today. I even ordered a pizza and had it delivered to my house using a text message. Pretty impressive. I distinctly remember the first text message I ever received. It was November of 2001. I was student teaching a third grade class at Casey Elementary School. The students were taking a math test. The room was completely silent. It was impressive. Suddenly a series of beeps interrupted the quiet. It definitely came from the corner of the room where my bags were... but the storage closet was also in that corner so we didn't think anything of it. A few minutes later the beeps occured again. The kids were starting to get distracted. I went to the back of the room to explore. I couldn't find anything in the cabinet making a noise so we moved on. The kids finished the test. We went to lunch. No more noises. After the bell rang, I gathered my bags and headed for the car. I took my phone out and noticed a flashing envelope. I had no clue what it meant. I had never received a text message. I pushed a few buttons and found a note that read "HEY!!" Pushed a few more buttons and discovered the message was from Jonathan. A second text read "Have a great day!" Also from Jonathan. I think it took me several hours to figure out how to respond. :)

Phone Twins

I am sure that most of you remember this phone. Jonathan bought it shortly after moving to California. I inherited it when I came back from Tanzania. Apparently when Jonathan purchased this phone, it was the hot new thing and certain to be quite popular. Unfortunately I think people couldn't get used to the circular dialing thing. When I took it into the Cingular shop to get a new number, the guy was all "I have never seen this phone. It must be ancient." Ah well... I never saw another one like it until... LUXOR Egypt... Our tour guide, Ahmed, had a phone just like this... it was even blue... the same as Jonathan's. I couldn't believe it. Of course Ahmed's phone was all in Arabic... and he really didn't understand why I was so excited. But it was a fun little JD moment in Egypt. :)

Jeeping Around

Late one night Jonathan purchased a 1980s Jeep CJ outfitted with oversized tires, lift kit, headers, and a 350 Chevy V-8 engine. He was very excited about the possibilities for his new jeep. He later decided that he would never purchase a vehicle in the dark again without a thorough inspection because this one leaked oil like a sieve. In addition, he had to immediately begin making repairs and modifications. It seemed that the 350 V-8 was a tad large for the jeep and some of the motor mounts would break whenever he revved the engine. Nevertheless, he had a great time driving his jeep, mud riding, jumping over logs, and evading the occasional law enforcement officer who happened down the Natchez Trace.

One Wednesday afternoon just before IMPACT began, Jonathan ran into the Christian Life Center looking very distressed. He shared that his jeep's drive shaft had broken and had fallen out onto the street as he was making his way to church. He had picked up the drive shaft but was forced to leave his jeep on the street about a mile away. We drove him back and, sure enough, his jeep was abandoned in the center turn lane of Old Canton Road. We informed him that he could still drive his jeep (with the front wheels) by shifting the transmission to 4-wheel drive. He thought this was so cool that he drove his jeep in "front wheel drive" for the rest of the week before getting it fixed.

-Patrick Kyle