Denzel Washington Venn Diagram
February 26th 2010
It’s been a while
February 23rd 2010
I’ve gone and done it again. I get myself distracted and don’t blog for ages!
Here’s a short update of what has been going on over since Christmas:
- I’ve watched A LOT of movies – I got into the habit of watching a film a day, sometimes I would get through three!
- I have discovered a website called tvgorge.com that allows you to watch TV programmes online after they have aired on TV.
- And on the back of these two HUGE distractions in my life I’ve given up film/TV for lent! My life was beginning to revolve around a TV screen and I didn’t like it. So I have taken a step back and decided to spend the time I would have been watching moving images to get stuff done and focus on God.
- I’ve begun another Bible in a year reading plan. The difference with this on though is it is on my Android phone so I can read my bible on the move!
- And finally I have taken in a temporary lodger! A friend of mine found himself unexpectedly without a place to stay so he is sleeping in my spare room until he can get a place sorted.
That’s pretty much where I am at. I’m hoping to find more time to blog but I do tweet a lot so you can follow what I am up to via the sidebar on this website or at www.twitter.com/adamwhite1421
How to use a weird semi-naked dancing man as an excellent analogy for leadership…
February 16th 2010
Watch this and listen. It is a great explanation of leadership using a very novel visual aid!
The Big Red Tractor video
February 14th 2010
A testimony worth sharing
January 24th 2010
This is the kind of testimony that really stirs something in my heart:
My foodbank story all started at the beginning of this year. I met Kellie in January and we soon got together in February, I was homeless whereas Kellie was in emergency accommodation. Our benefits were getting delayed and we were struggling to feed ourselves. A friend mentioned to us that there was a company called the foodbank that could help us out, at first it seemed to be too good to be true. We went to the law centre in town and received a voucher entitling us to 3-5 days worth of food that we couldn’t afford to pay for ourselves.
So off we went to the foodbank one day and were given around six bags of food and met some wonderful people in the process. Over the coming months we visited a few more times, during this time the council finally found me a flat, as I was homeless however I had no furniture and hardly any belongings to move in with. Richard and his wife Sandra pointed me to the furniture project that was run by a member of their church and within a few months I had everything in place that i needed.
However during this time I had to make regular visits to the foodbank to just be able to feed myself and Kellie. Whilst we were choosing the furniture we were so touched by the generosity of the people helping that we decided to attend their church as a mark of thanks and respect.
The Sunday morning we attended something struck deep within us, seeing all the people there so friendly and passionate in what they believed in. It left a lasting impression on us and we started attending more and more often, soon after we were invited to join a small group from the church to learn and gain a wider understanding of God.
On 22nd November 09 Kellie and I were baptised and in a way our story all started with a visit to the foodbank to receive help that we wouldn’t have been able to get anywhere else. In the long run we both know it was God’s plan for the both of us and we’re planning our wedding at the church early in 2010.
This is our story, I hope you enjoy it at much as we are!
For more information about Swindon Foodbank please look a their website at http://www.swindonfoodbank.co.uk
Getting things done
January 17th 2010
I’m feeling a little overwhelmed again at the moment. Now that I have got back into the daily groove of work I am rediscovering how tired it makes me. This hasn’t been helping me get anything done so my to-do list has been ever growing since Christmas and my stress along with it.
Those that follow me on Twitter will notice the amount of films I have watched recently and will say “Stop watching films then and get on with some work”. This is easier said than done where I am concerned though.
My personality does not lend itself to self-motivation. After a little self reflection recently I came to the conclusion that the thing that motivates me more than anything else is getting things done. That’s why I love my 9-5 work at the moment. I feel like I achieve something on a daily basis and come away smiling.
Unfortunately, I am so tired when I get home that motivating myself to do anything apart from just pray, cook, eat and chill is too much. I want to relax in the evening and at the weekend so I can be ready for the next working day.
But if this carries on I will never get anything done at home again!
Before Christmas I discovered an online app called Teux Deux (http://www.teuxdeux.com) which allowed me to schedule what I was going to do on a day by day basis and it really worked. My problem now though is I have so many things to do that I don’t know what order to do them in.
My plan is to read up on the Getting Things Done principle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getting_things_done) which I have looked into in the past but never properly implemented in my home life.
So I may be a little busy for a while organising everything but hopefully when that is done I will find the motivation to blog again and get lots of other things done.
Watch this space…
A Rant About McAfee and Norton Anti-Virus
January 13th 2010
I’ve always been quite techy and know what I’m doing where computers are concerned. A lot of my friends and family know this so I have a number of calls over the years to fix technology related problems.
So it was again tonight: I was sat with a friend’s laptop which didn’t want to connect to the Internet anymore.
However, thankfully, I have been in this position before with other people’s PCs. Lots of times. So I knew exactly what to look for first.
A quick check through the installed applications highlighted immediately what the problem was: Norton Anti-Virus software.
McAfee and Norton anti-virus software are the most annoying applications I have ever come across. They are bloated and cause more problems than they fix. Why else would a program come with a special uninstaller that you can download from their website? Because they break your PC and are a pain to get rid of!!!
They scare the public into buying their products at ridiculous prices when people really don’t have to. If there is anybody out there who has a Windows PC heed my next piece of advice: Never pay for anti-virus software for personal use.
My advise is to use one of the following products instead which are all free, all really good and don’t mess up your computer:
Microsoft Security Essentials
The latest application to join the party but the one I am going to mention first as it is my current product of choice. It integrates extremely well into Windows (you don’t notice it is there most of the time), it rates highly on virus catching capabilities and is developed by a household name for that extra piece of mind.
http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/
AVG Anti-Virus
This is the product that I loved up until Microsoft’s offering and is still installed on a number of PCs I have fixed over the years. Again it is free, rates highly and is very popular. Get it if you have an allergy to Microsoft products! Be careful when navigating their website though as they try and confuse you with links to the pay for version. Just keep clicking the link for the free version though and you will be fine.
A lot of time, a lot of podcasts – Part 4: Movie reviews
January 11th 2010
![image_thumb3[7]](http://www.adamwhite.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/image_thumb371.png "image_thumb3[7]")
I love film. I always have and I think I always will. I watch an awful lot of films and regular readers of this site will know I review a handful of them too (followers of me on Twitter get to see my mini-reviews as well).
I keep up to date with the latest film news through a couple of film websites but I also choose to listen to two film podcasts:
Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo’s Film Review
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00lvdrj
This is by far my favourite podcast out of all I listen to. It is the one I regularly look forward to every week and am sad when Dr Kermode or Dr Mayo are on holiday as it is just not the same. The way these two banter between each other is brilliant and the film reviews are always entertaining. I even got the opportunity to go to Leeds and see a live version of the show which was brilliant.
While I may not always agree with the opinions given I don’t primarily listen to find out what to watch, I listen for the pure, unadulterated wittertainment.
Cinemagogue (Mars Hill Church)
http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/cinemagogue
Pastor James Harleman of Mars Hill Church regular shows films and chats about them before and afterwards from the Christian perspective. I find him very entertaining and he highlights things in the films that I would have otherwise missed. If you are a Christian and a film lover I recommend you catch a listen.