connecting the dots in community

This week is not unlike most in that it was a blur. I knew that it would be busy just because of the nature of my job but here it is Saturday night with only 4 minutes to go until Sunday.

Wednesday afternoon at 1 pm I took part in a meeting about the IP phone system at work. I spent most of Monday and Tuesday getting ready for that meeting in the hopes that we as a collective team we can put those issues behind us once and for all. At one point in the last 10 months the system was purchased and configured and it replaced the old Avaya system that was in place. We have had nothing but problems with it every since.

Wednesday evening we had praise team practice at church which happens every week like clock work. Thursday evening marked the end of the Mixed Nuts bowling league at Royal Z bowling alley in Goose Creek. My wife and I met up with all of the league bowlers and we all ate food and chatted just before the awards were announced and the pay outs were given. We left the bowling alley at around 8:30 pm on Thursday and then ran over to meet up with the Low Country bloggers who were meeting in Hanahan for their monthly meetup.

Due to having been to several of these meet-ups I recognized most of the faces and I actually know some of the names. Having been in law enforcement for over a decade I never forget a face. Remembering your name is a good trick though so it takes more than random meetings in a room for me to get it drilled into my brain cells. The tough thing about these low country meet-ups is that while people are gathering in person you still have to do more than just be there to get to know folks. Participation means that you have to engage the people and be a part of the action. For me it is just easier to sit on the outside periphery and watch and observe.

This particular blogger meet-up was special because one of our members had his birthday wish granted. Chuck celebrated 70 years of living this week and he had mentioned in one of his blogs that he wanted to celebrate his birthday with a cake with 70 candles. Several folks who are better at reading other blogs noticed that and decided to help make his wish a reality. Thanks to Heather and several other folks Chuck got his wish and the Hannahan Fire Dept got to crash the party thanks to the 70 candles that were all ablaze. I am not sure the fire dept actually got called to the event because we arrived after the fact but that is what Chuck told me.


While we were at the birthday celebration Thursday evening we found ourselves taking part in a trivia game that was being run by the DJ that night. It was fun to watch different people at the table putting their heads together to figure out the answers to the trivia questions. There was a sense of competition in the room as the DJ called out the scores. In the end the Low Country Bloggers were victorious with 40 points and they won a 25.00 gift certificate to be spent at that restaurant which was cool.

I have been told recently from people who are not that familiar with the Internet that they just do not “get it” when it comes to social media. What is all of the chatter about Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Friendfeed and bloggers? Why is everyone buzzing about this new phenomenon? As I think about it all I realize that these tools enable us to build community and to connect with other humans.

I have been blogging for years and I have been part of the Low-country bloggers website but I never knew it until just this last year. I became aware of the community after I got caught up in the Twitter madness and I think Jared Smith reminded everyone of the low-country blogger meetups. Once I started going to these meetings I started making personal connections with other bloggers just like me. When you make a commitment to go to the meetings and you participate in some small way you are able to connect the dots. You meet with other people just like yourself who are in their own unique worlds writing about things that they are interested in and are passionate about.

Being able to connect the dots through social media and getting to know the people who are part of the local group of Internet users in our area helps me to realize that I am part of a bigger picture. If you look at the Internet from a distance you could very easily get lost in the huge vastness of what goes on. It is sort of looking at the night sky and trying to comprehend how huge our universe is. Only until you start focusing on the planets that are close to us like the moon are we able to bring things into focus. Yes, we are all part of the bigger picture and we are never going to be able to meet everyone or understand what makes everyone tick or how to fix all the problems that we see. What we can do is to make the connections that we can make within our own local communities and do what we can to help one another through personal connections and by sharing our dreams and visions and talents.

Friday was not a typical work day because it was so darn quiet. Most of the time my Friday is usually like a horrible Monday. It seems as if Tuesday through Thursday everyone is in meetings and planning on how to unleash holy heck on the IT department on Friday. Everyone comes out of the word work and wants everything done yesterday. This Friday was unusual because it was quiet but it was a nice break for me so I could get ready for other things coming next week.

It is hard for me to believe that it is Sunday May 4th. It seems like we just celebrated Easter and that was two months ago. In 14 days we are moving out of Duck Ditch and going to Johns Island. We are doing this so I can be much closer to my job on Kiawah Island. For the last 9 months I have been driving back and forth to Kiawah Island and I have to say I am getting pretty sick and tired of it. The morning drive is usually bearable however when I am tired at the end of the day the last thing I want to do is to get hung up in the five O'clock processional of traffic leaving Kiawah Island. When I am mentally worn out I find it very difficult to be patient while I am stuck behind soccer mom or the school bus who is inevitably doing 8 miles per hour under the speed limit which then drags my commute beyond the typical 60 minutes. I also have to consider the amount of money that is being drained out of my family budget for gasoline and the wear and tear on our family SUV that is now three years old and getting closer to having 70,000 miles on it.

Saturday was a laid back day that included running errands and taking naps in the middle of the day. The children managed to box up some more of the stuff in their rooms and they are trying to separate the stuff they want to keep vs the stuff that needs to be donated or thrown away. While at Walmart I rented two movies. One was The Day that the Earth Stood Still and one was Marley and Me. Both of them were excellent movies. The first one was a Scifi that Katy and I had seen before in the theatre but the kids have not seen it. Marley and Me is a definite chick flick but it also turned into a huge tear jerker at the end so if you have a tender heart just have the tissues ready because you will need them.










James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
chiefpropellerhead@comcast.net