Santa Matt's ramblings

I use an Apple Newton. I have for years. And although I am slowly moving from the Newton to a Nokia Internet Tablet, there are still times I use my Newton and still some things it does better than anything else I have found. But that is a topic for another posting. In this posting I want to explain how I make maps for use with my Garmin Fortrex 101 GPS and GPSMap Lite for the Newton. Also, this tutorial will be for making maps on a PC. Apologies to my Mac friends but I have just never made a map on my Mac. The first decision is to decide are we making a road map or a wilderness-hiking map. Both follow the same basic principles but there is a difference in the map source. For Road maps I use maps captured from MS MapPoint. I have also used Google mapping. For hiking maps I generally use satellite photos from Google Earth. I did download a special mapping version of AdobeReader and you can get pdf versions of most US topographical maps from the US geological survey web site. But I found ...

As you may have guessed by now, if you have been reading my posts, I am a faithful Christian and a devout Roman Catholic. As such I pray a lot. And I pray in all of the forms of prayer. Briefly there are five forms of prayer. Blessing and adoration: This is where we tell God how much we love Him. And because God blesses us, we can bless others, including returning that blessing to God. Petition: Prayers of petition are when we ask for something for ourselves. Intercession: These are the prayers where we ask for something for someone else. Thanksgiving: A prayer where we thank God for all he has done. Praise: This is where we tell God how great he is. As I was saying, I pray a lot, from the small things, "God please help me find my keys.", to the big things, "Thank you God for this wonderful life you have given me. God regularly answers my prayers. Yeah I know what some of you are thinking "Nut ball!" but at least listen to a couple of stories before you make up...

Many years ago I had the good fortune to attend a Franklin Time Management seminar. At the time I was really into the Franklin. I never went anywhere without that Franklin Day Planner under my arm. One of the things you do if you follow the Franklin method is to set life long goals. And to help you in this you fill out these special pages. One of them is Called "Beliefs and Goals". I sat and ponder those "Beliefs" for many days and eventually came up with what I figured defined my life at the time. This was the first iteration of "My Rules". As time moved along and my Franklin was replaced with a Newton (Are all management systems named after scientists?) I just kept my rules in my head spouting them off to people as seemed relevant. Then along comes this show on TV called NCIS. It is my favorite show, a nice blend of procedural, mystery, action and humor. Now in case you have not seen the show, the lead investigator, played by Mark Harmon, has a set of ru...

Last night I sat vigil for a woman in hospice at the end of her life. She had family but sometimes they have to leave to get rest themselves. Earlier, in my Santa Claus post, I told how my mother had died in hospice surrounded by hospice staff. I had to get some rest and I did not think she would pass so quickly. But she did, but not alone because of the wonderful staff there. Well last night I paid some of that back. I sat with Rose. I rubbed her shoulder and sang hymns to her, the cross above her bed letting me know she was a woman of faith. I would read to myself a bit and then do it again. Sometime while I was reading, so gently that I did not even know the exact moment, she died. But I don't do this because I feel a need to "pay back". I do this because it needs to be done and because my spirit soars with the thought that I can help someone, some family, at that most difficult time. Rose died last night, but not alone. God Bless you and yours

When the phone rang at 5:00 AM I answered it right away. I am a light sleeper and come awake quickly and calls at 5:00 AM are never good unless they are from overseas or about babies being born. It was my mother. It seems my father had an infection in his leg and had gone to the hospital by ambulance. Once they had drained it, my mother said, they would need a ride home. So my wife and I got up, showered, got dressed and went to the hospital. When we arrived, a nurse in the emergency room called to me. He said your mother said you look like Santa. Then he led us to a patient elevator to go up to where my father was and my mother was waiting. On the way up he broke the news. "Your father has necrotizing fasciitis." I was stunned and my wife looked at me. "Flesh eating bacteria" I told her. Once we were in the waiting room my mother filled in what we had missed. My father had awakened in the night and told my mother that his leg hurt terribly and to call for an ambula...

Many years ago a friend of mine told me that at Christmas time he dressed up as Santa for his family. He even brought his suit to work and after work one evening put it on so I and others in the office could see how he looked. I still have a Polaroid picture of him tucked away. I thought it was pretty cool and that maybe some day I might like to try it. My chance came a few years later. At the children's Mass at our church, Santa would always make an appearance at the end of the service. The youth minister was always Santa but one year he told the organizer that he no longer wanted to be Santa as he was afraid that now that his sons were older they might recognize him and not believe in Santa. The organizer, Susie, could not find anyone else to be Santa. Everyone was too shy. She came to me and asked me if I would do it. I said "Sure". At the time I worked for an Alarm Company and company policy forbid having a beard but the church's costume came with a pretty nice be...