Is It Wrong to Lie to the Printer? (or How to Print a 6 3/4 Envelope)

Technology is a fickle thing.

When it works the way you expect, it's wonderful.

When it refuses, there are few things as frustrating.

That's where I was on Thursday:  frustrated.

For the past several years, we have had a Building Fund Pledge drive at our church.  We have printed envelopes with places to record what's actually in the envelope and any additional pledge for the upcoming 12 months.  We have used #10 envelopes for that. (definition from officeguide:   A #10 envelope is 4-1/8" x 9-1/2". It is the most common business envelope size and is commonly used for standard 8-1/2" x 11" sheets of paper.)  I have set up all the information on a Publisher file and just run them through my hp printer.  Not a big deal and no need to pay a printer.   The problem with them is that they are so much bigger than our regular giving envelopes. They just don't fit into the filing system that I use.  I decided this year to make a change.

A 6 3/4 envelope is smaller:  3 5/8 X 6 1/2 inches.  (Why it's called a 6 3/4, I don't know)  It fits into my office better.  So, I went in to the Publisher file and adjusted the document size and scaled down the text boxes, made sure everything that needed to be there was still there and was ready to print.  I didn't want to waste any of the envelopes themselves, so I cut some used paper the correct size, drew a flap on the back so I'd know how to load the real things, and ran them through the printer.

What I got was the center of my text box printed across the narrow end of the sheet.  There was no way to change the orientation and I discovered that the 6 3/4 envelope is NOT supported by my driver.  RATS!!

I decided to research the problem and discovered that this envelope size, while fairly common, is not listed on many printers.  One forum gave me a hint, though.  Don't try to force it to use this envelope.  Start with something it will use and then position your information so that even though the screen doesn't look like your end product, the actual end product is what you want.

I tried it.  I told it I was using a larger envelope size it recognized and moved the text box all the way to the right edge.  Almost perfect.  I flipped the box upside down and reoriented the paper that was standing in for the envelopes to flaps on the right.  Perfect!!!

So now, as a church lady, I am faced with a dilemma:  I can tell lies to my printer to get exactly what I want or I can go back to the larger envelopes.  Is it wrong to lie to the printer?

Happenings

It seems lately that I've been consumed by several things.

But those things are just about done.

I've been making Spanish skirts for some of the girls in the pit to wear for the "Images of Spain" halftime show.  The skirts are all done, with the exception of the elastic being permanently adjusted.  I can't seem to catch up with those 2.  I had some fabric left over from each skirt, so I started thinking about what to do with it.  (I hate stuff going to waste.)  Realizing that I neglected to put pockets in the skirts, I felt that providing something to carry a wallet, phone and keys in might be helpful.  Here's my solution:

 They are backpack bags made to match each skirt.  Since the girls will be wearing black shirts, I made the straps out of black ribbon.  They'll still have free hands to get all their equipment into the stadium, and won't have to worry about dropping anything.  I made the yellow, blue and green skirts.  The grandmother of sisters made the orange and red skirts.  I got them to bring me their leftovers!

Em had a friend come home with her after the band yard sale today.  They made cupcakes for their Sunday School class.  They saw this idea and went with it.  The eyes are miniature chocolate chips and the mouth is made with the same canned icing that the cupcakes are iced with.  We added red food coloring and, since it was too runny to stay in a shape, we added powdered sugar.  We put the ingredients in a sandwich bag, squished it up and cut a tiny whole in one corner.  Then, all you have to do is squeeze it out into whatever design you want.

The goofy face was an accident.  Once they realized that perfection wasn't required, they got creative!

Em made the vampire.

It's been a long week, with our revival most of the week and opening the new building for Sunday School tomorrow.  This evening was fun and I finished up several projects.

Pictures from the New Building

Here are pictures from the new building.  This first one is of the children's reception area looking through 2 windows out onto Main Street.

These next pictures are from some of the classrooms.  This one with yellow/orange walls will be the home of our 6th graders.  There are 10 of those bean bag chairs in this room.  

Then there's this wild zebra, purple and green room.  Actually, an adult class will be meeting here on Sunday mornings, but on Wednesday nights, the GA's will LOVE this place!!!

The preschoolers have some awesome spaces to hang out in, too.  Every wall in the preschool area has cool stuff to do and cool stuff to look at.

This room is where I'll be on Sunday mornings.  It is going to be the class called Agricola Kids.  It is here especially for kids with special needs.   As far as I know, we'll be the first class of this kind in George County.

Below is a shot looking out from the stage in the children's worship theater.  It is currently set up for revival mid-day services next week.  Tables and chairs on the hard floor in the back and just rows of chairs up front on the carpet.

Here's part of the stage set-up in the worship theater. 

 To the left of the tall table and stools...

...is this great red couch.

I can't wait to see the first FX (Family eXperience) Production!

Tylenol Packaging

This afternoon, I opened a new package of Tylenol.  After opening the glued ends of the box, I unwrapped the clear shrink-wrap around the neck of the bottle and the lid.  Then I opened the cap of the bottle and removed the seal over the opening.  Three layers of tamper resistance.........

It made me think about the reason for all those barriers between me and the pain reliever inside.

If you are younger than, say 35 years of age, you've probably never seen any kind of medication or even food items without at least one of those tamper-proof lines of defense.  Ketchup and mustard have the clear wrap to keep you from opening the bottle in the store, and then when you get it home and take that off, you still have to unscrew the cap to remove the seal under the cap.

It hasn't always been that way.

In 1982, the way we think about the products we ingest changed forever.

The Tylenol Tampering Murders is a link to a lengthy accounting of the events surrounding the Tylenol case, complete with the stories of the victims, police investigation, and Johnson & Johnson reaction.

I remember the way the Johnson and Johnson Company handled it. Not the details, of course, but the big picture.  They didn't wait to see what they would be required to do.  They did the right thing.   They recalled EVERYTHING and stopped production to see what could have happened on their end.  That had never been done before.  If you haven't looked at the above link yet, you can read a brief synopsis of the company's actions here.   The fact that you can still buy Tylenol (and trust its safety) almost 30 years later is a testament to the decisions made in a horrifying time of crisis.  Their response was based on the company's credo, written in 1943, way before mission statements became popular.  Here's the first sentence:

We believe our first responsibility is to the doctors, nurses and patients, to mothers and fathers and all others who use our products and services.

Isn't this the way we would want to be remembered in a crisis?  Not that we obeyed the letter of law, but that we responded in a way that was the most beneficial to those who were at risk.  That our first responsibility is to those that trust us.

There is a lesson here.  Let's not forget it.

After School Snack

It's 9:00 a.m. and I'm starting an after school snack for the girls.

They are both bringing home a friend from school today.  Em and her friend are both in the band, so they have to be at school shortly after 5 to load the bus and trailer and do whatever it is that bands do to get ready.  (It's a trade secret:  you have to be in the band to know that kind of stuff!)  El and her friend are in the Middle School band, but tonight are just spectators for the High School game.  Both friends are coming with us specifically for the youth group bowling after the game.  (I love church activities that attract friends!)

But since we will be leaving the house before a chance for supper, there will be a substantial snack consumed beforehand.  Band kids typically get the 3rd quarter off, but when the game doesn't start until 7:30, 3rd quarter can be WA-A-AY past a normal supper-time.

So here we are at the after school snack preparation.  (You thought I forgot where I was going, didn't you!)

 Home-made bread!

After a long hiatus, last week I made my first attempt in quite some time.  It was acceptable.  That's about all I can say.
However ........... I assessed the results and made a few changes:  less flour, different rising schedule, more my intuition and less specifically following directions.

I've made notes in my cookbook, too.  Makes me feel rather like the "Half-Blood Prince."  For those of you unfamiliar with the world of Harry Potter, here's a VERY BRIEF explanation from wikipedia:

Harry discovers that the previous owner of his Potions textbook, the "Half-Blood Prince", has annotated the book with refinements that allow Harry to excel in class.

 We'll see how much excelling is going on in an hour or so...

The Sound of Summer

There is a sound that I associate with growing up in Mississippi.

It's the throbbing buzz of unseen cicadas.

I have loved this sound for as long as I can remember.

I walked out to put mail in the box this morning at church.  Standing at the mailbox looking across the road, the view is what you see above.

Resonating from the shade of these trees is a chorus of cicadas.  I really didn't want to come back inside

Morning Wind-Up

Every morning, I turn left out of our lane.  Just up the hill is a driveway.  Lounging in this driveway and spilling out into the road are 3 dogs.  Two of these dogs appear to be siblings.   Apart from their coloring (one has darker fur on its back and sides than the other) they look remarkably alike.  They also look remarkably like Luci.  Luci was given to our eldest daughter for her first birthday by a very old friend of Mr. H's.  From the time she was about 2 years old, Luci was a constant bedtime companion.  Luci went to camp several times, but a head lice outbreak forced Luci (and every other article brought by every single girl in attendance that week) to take a spin through a commercial washing machine.  Luci stayed safely home on the bed for subsequent camps.

Hmmmm....where was I?  Oh, yes.  Two of the dogs look like live versions of Luci.  The 3rd dog looks like a white shepherd.  It's the 3rd dog that performs a trick that amuses me.  This dog is usually in the road when it sees a car coming.  It takes a few steps back up the driveway, then it turns back to face the  road.  Here's the amusing part:  now that it is facing the road, it reverses several more steps up the driveway, then launches itself towards the road.  It reminds me of one of those little wind-up cars that you pull backwards to wind up, then let go to zoom across the floor.

This dog must not wind up enough, because it doesn't zoom very far.  Or maybe he zooms just far enough ... just to the end of the driveway.  I guess this is a smart wind-up dog.