Month: August 2010

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Today’s Travels

Today we decided to go for a little drive and see something new.  So, we decided to head to the Bluewater Shopping Centre (we’d probably call it a Mall in the US).  This place has to be the biggest mall I’ve ever seen.  We have a few pictures we’ll get posted later.  In the meantime, here are some other pics off flickr of the centre:

Christmas crowds at Bluewater shopping centre Bluewater on a Sunday
from davepatten via flickr from adam tinworth via flickr
Bluewater Northside
from kenjonbro via flickr
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Internet!

We have internet.  Here are some details about the speed:

20100524_SerbiaNetworkSpeed 20100811_EnglandSpeed

Serbia

England
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Dippy Eggs and Soldiers (Update)

Dippy eggs

In my dippy eggs quest, I tried something new today.  Instead of using the hob (that’s what they call the stove here) I thought I’d just boil the water in an electric kettle, then pour it over the eggs.  I let them wait for 5 minutes.  When I cracked the first egg, they were dippy alright….they weren’t cooked at all!

So, here’s the latest:  I’ve made about 1/2 dozen hard boiled eggs so far and 2 raw ones.

Image from hugovk via flickr

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Worship this morning — 1 Aug 2010

Metropolitan Tabernacle IMG_0990

Cyndi and I are still trying to figure out where to worship here.  We’ve visited several churches, but haven’t really felt God leading us one place or another.  This morning, we decided to take the opportunity to visit a church we’d never really go to, but one that has TONS of history behind it.

We went to the Metropolitan Tabernacle really close to downtown (center/centre) of London (have a look at this google map to see where it is).  If you don’t know the name, perhaps you know the name of one of the former pastors:  C. H. Spurgeon.  Don’t know him?  Shame!

Anyway, if you are in London on a Sunday, I’d suggest you go.  The people were nice, the music was great, and the Bible Teaching was superb!

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Why buy a kindle?

used books

Last year for Christmas, I bought Cyndi a kindle.  I thought it would be a great ereader for her while she was in the hospital having Isaac.  Turns out the thing was awesome!  I liked it so much, I told her I wanted one.  So, for my birthday, I’m getting a kindle.  But why?

Why buy a kindle today instead of something like the iPad?  I thought about getting an iPad, but didn’t.  Here’s why I picked the kindle:

  1. Price.  The kindle I bought Cyndi was $259.  Recently, they lowered the price to $189.  To get the same connectivity in an iPad (3g) I’d have to spend at least $629 (the cheapest 3g+wifi iPad) but….
  2. Connectivity.  With the Kindle, Amazon pays the wireless bill.  With the iPad, I’d be paying for my own 3g service.  And yes, you can browse the web on the kindle…the 3g isn’t just for buying books (like it is on the nook)
  3. International connectivity.  Again, Amazon is paying the wireless bill and the kindle works around the world.  With an iPad, again, I’d have to pay the bill but the Kindle includes it.  Contrast this with the nook where you can only buy books if you are in the US.

A logical question would be why not the Nook?  Well, points 2 and 3 explain why.  With the nook, the 3g is only for getting books.  B&N doesn’t let you browse the web with it.  On top of that, you can only buy books from B&N if you are in the US.

Oh, I read this interesting comment the other day about what the Kindle represents.  Don’t think of it as something else you have to carry with you…think of it as a library you don’t have to carry with you:

For the people who buy a Kindle, it isn’t another device you have to carry around, it is a pile of books you DON’T have to carry around!


[Update 2012-12-26 15:40:13] Some internal links changed.  I’ve updated them.

Image from bablingdweb via flickr