Camera Phone

Ever since I upgraded my AT&T phone last spring I have really enjoyed using the 3.2 megapixel camera on it. I take pictures on vacations, short day trips, and when playing sports or biking. It is a Sony Ericsson a760 red slider phone. I got the last one of this model from a RadioShack store, before they were replaced by a newer model. I had a very basic Sony Ericsson cell phone for almost 5 years, before this one and chose this manufacturer because it worked well for many years. However, my new phone has many more features and generally much upgraded technology than the former one. For example, it has an MP3 walkman button on the side and large speakers for playing music instantly. Also, it features a large screen for internet browsing and a built in GPS. Those are the main reasons I purchased this one, actually got it free with the new 2 year upgrade. However, there are some disappointments that I will briefly mention. Sometimes the SIM card will not pick up the network signal and an "Inactive SIM" error message will reboot the phone. The screen needs to be constantly wiped off because moisture builds up easily and distorts the display. And I noticed that lower right side of the touch pad backlight is not lighted like the rest of the numbers. These are minor issues and don't keep me from getting some good pictures with the camera. Yesterday I took the M2 2GB memory card out and put it in a card reader connected to my computer. Then I copied several months of photos taken with the phone to the right folder in my pictures folder on my Vista desktop. I then renamed some of them and plan to post some to my facebook profile. I just finished renaming all those photos from my camera phone. Here are a few; they have not been adjusted with any software:

Harris Lake

Bikes at Fat Tire Festival '09

A ride at the NC State Fair '09

Beech Mtn 09

Here is a picture of Dad, Mom, Chico, and Austin at the Beech Mtn. August 2009 vacation.

Day number 22

Last night I was awakened by the sound of heavy rain and wind outside. Twenty years ago in the early morning hours of September 22, 1989 there was a fierce storm moving through at my childhood home in Charlotte, NC. It was a hurricane, with wind gusts of 80 mph, that toppled trees all around our yard and street. Hurricane Hugo was the worst storm that I ever been through and looking back I think it was a sign from God. Today I live in an apartment and the strange thing is the address number has the same first two digits as the date, it is 2214. My family were protected from the hurricane, while trees fell all around the yard, but thankfully not on our cars or house. I believe that the storm that is called the tribulation in the book of Revelation is on the way, but true believers will be saved from it at the Rapture with the help of the Holy Spirit. Today is also the first day of the season of Fall, a time when the earth is at an equal level to the Sun. For at the Autumn Equinox the earth is tilted at an equal level to the sun, in contrast to summer when it is bowed and winter, when it is raised. This is like man, represented by the earth, looking straight eye to eye at Jesus, the Son in heaven. The Fall season is a type of metaphor of the “fall of man” in the garden of Eden and also like when the flood destroyed the earth in Noah's time because the earth was so evil. There was flooding in parts of NC these last few days and here is an excerpt from a newspaper article: “Flooding in more than 20 counties in western NC closed roads, delayed school, and forced evacuations.” I pray that these people affected would be protected from the flooding. As I finish typing up this journal there is still heavy rain falling outside. I was driving on roads that had some minor flooding coming home from a movie. I am thankful that I am in the ark of God's grace, and safe from the flood of His wrath. I watched the latest Transformers movie and thought that the name could be another sign foreshadowing how Christians will be transformed at the Rapture to new heavenly bodies. Now it is even more clear than ever that only God knows the day and the hour of this event, since the Jewish new year has already started with the Trumpet blasts of Rosh Hashanah a few days ago. Still, Yom Kippur and the Feast of Tabernacles are yet to arrive in the next weeks and many are looking to these sacred days with new hope. Another interesting end of days thought that I had a few minutes ago is that I think it is the year 5770 on the Jewish calendar. Notice the last two digits of 70. In the year 70 AD something really big happened in Jewish history. The second temple was destroyed by the Romans, just as Jesus had told His followers that it would. The Christian body is referred to as the temple of the Holy Spirit in the NT. The 1970's were a time of strange people and pagan stuff like peace loving hippies, the new age movement, UFOs, and all kinds of new occult media. The US started to go down hill in morals and Christian living standards during this time, as people tried all those new age lifestyles and philosophies at the expense of the right, narrow way. It was also a decade when the born again movement in the church started and there were many revivals and powerful church services. In other words, it was a decade with a lot of spiritual battles and searching for truth. Even the film industry could have provided a sign to everyone with the release of the Star Wars movie in '77, showing how a time of spiritual battles between good and evil had arrived. I think that it is highly likely that as the 70's on the Jewish calendar are beginning, the world will see a great battle begin, it will be the final struggle between God and His followers verses the Devil and his. It will result in the great battle of Armageddon that the Lord will win and then the start of the thousand year reign of peace on the earth. So what do you think will happen in the last months of this year?
Your online friend,
Paul