Nothing to Fier

Sometimes a quick post is valid - albiet unreasonable and when coming from me, lacking coherence.

When I was 15 years old, I misread a play on the football field. I got stuck in a “run-read” and didn’t drop back into pass coverage enough. Needless to say, the quarterback threw a dump pass to the tight end, who got behind me, for a touchdown. They would go on to win 7-6. Something like that at least. The rest of the weekend and into the next week I didn’t talk to anyone. I cussed out anyone who wanted to give me their condolences. I argued that even though it was preseason, freshman football, and no one gave a damn, that it mattered to me. I couldn’t cope with losing, because I couldn’t handle imperfections. 

If this semester went any worse, I might be in a coffin. But if it went any better, I wouldn’t have learned some incredible lessons and gained incredible insight to what God is speaking into my life, what real faith means, and how insignificant my life is without grace whatsoever.

Between cancer (to my best friend’s mom, to my own Grandma), my godfather losing his eyesight after beating a late stage in leukemia, seeing a fatal car accident, learning my own faults as 15 year olds have shown me (“Coach, why are you angry when people mess up?), realizing what loneliness really is - and then not really understanding it, understanding why it hurts when you leave people, understanding that you have great power to hurt others simply by actions - or lack thereof, learning what happens when you burn enough bridges to feel alone…the list goes on and on.

But by grace I’m saved. By grace I (finally) found a church with a group of people that love on me - and that I can love on. By grace I have two steady jobs. By grace I have a wonderful roommate. By grace I have some wonderful friends that have surrounded me. By grace, the right phone call comes in at the right time. By grace, my worlds have collided even though they are 1000 miles apart. By grace, I’m saved even though I’m a continual sinner and a fallen being.

I’m trying to turn the corner, trying to quit old habits that die hard, trying to grow through selfishness and immaturities, and trying to become a better man of God. It’s a slow process. A hard process. A process that’s more than worth it.

At the end of the day, I’m learning that it’s okay to miss a run-read every now and then. That it’s okay not being 6’4, it’s okay to have some really bad character traits that need fixing. It’s certainly okay to fall down.  

Christ’s death and God’s grace, and the Holy Spirit’s initiative overcome the earthly perils that we (I) face everyday. That I’m still incredibly blessed. That I’m not alone. It’s okay to make mistakes. It happens. That’s what grace is for.

Hey guys!

Alright, I’m a huge nerd. I love that Apple finally has incorporated a system that looks like the Blackberry system, only better. Yet, the iOS5 has some bugs, issues, and quirks that are bound to frustrate people. In order to help, I’ve decided to come up with a list of simple solutions so that you don’t have to deal with the stress of perusing blogs for hours!

Problem 1: iMessage

I’m going to give you two points of view: one from the users of multiple devices (iPads, iPhones, iTouches) and then those that just use iPhones.

First, read this!

That’ll explain how to sync all your devices (whether you have 1 or 3). Make sure you use your Apple ID (Steve.Jobs@apple.com) as your primary if you have multiple devices. If you have just the iPhone, leave your “caller ID” as your phone number.

Now that the hard part is over with…

“My dad has both the iPad and iPhone. When he sends a text from his phone, it comes through as his contact, “Dad” which shows all our previous conversations. But when he sends me a “text” from his iPad, it comes through as “Tim Fier.”

How frustrating! Well, there is good news and bad. The good news: you can combine the contacts into one. The bad? For now, until Apple releases some kind of patch in the next 2-3 months, if it bothers you that much, you’ll have to delete all those texts from before!

If you’re impatient like me, here is what you do:

1. Go to your “Dad” contact. Add his Apple ID email to his contact card. 

2. Delete the previous text thread.

This should solve the issue. You’ll lose that precious conversation, but until then, that’s the only way to handle it. Now, the most important thing:

When you go to “text” dad, make sure you select his apple ID as the contact. Now, it’ll be synced into one message thread. Does that make sense? Good!

Problem 2: I’m a poor college student or parent who is behind the times. I don’t have Mac OS X Lion yet…so will the iCloud work for me? Yes and no. 

You’ll get some benefits, but you won’t get the massive overhaul in the system preferences of your computer. Here is the link to a great blog explaining that.

Problem 2a: Okay, I either have Lion or Snow Leopard, but now I’m getting issues of calendar items and contacts doubling up…what do I do?

Ah, now that’s the hard one because it takes busy work.

Take a look at this screen shot: 

For me, I’ve decided to sync my contacts because I don’t have an iPad and therefore don’t have to worry about doubling up contacts. This is a surefire way to make sure my “Address Book” on my computer has the files…

Update: I actually went ahead and enabled my contacts to sync via “The Cloud” (said in Toy Story Alien Voice). 

I went ahead and unchecked the option in iTunes. Make sense? Yay!

Problem 2b: What about my Calendar? That keeps doubling up too! 

This was the most frustrating thing because my Calendar has a LOT of detail and I was having double events reoccur. I thought if I deleted the double, including the reoccurring events, problem would be solved…wrong. Because Apple is trying to address this, it ended up deleting my whole calendar from the “Cloud” resulting in me trying to, and having to, recreate everything. Then I realized I could do this through iCal.

Now you will see this under “Calendars”:

I was stupid and deleted my computer calendar file because it bugs me to see doubles. I should have done a backup first. Why? Because iCloud is going to eventually get a site you can log into, and manage everything from there. If it ever goes down, and I cant reach the server, I’m screwed. Haven’t looked into seeing if I can “download” the file.

All that said, you have to copy and paste events into the new “icloud” server and then remake your calendar.

Conclusion: That’s the basics of issues people have been running into. Some had issues updating their phones to the new iOS5 but that seems to have been resolved. Let me know any specific questions.

I’m going to admit this publicly, once and for all, something I’ve admitted privately for years. The day Manning retires - no matter the circumstances - will be a day I shed some tears, and the day the last part of my childhood youth dies away.

Manning is the reason I approached football the way I did…and though I’ll probably never meet him, he has certainly had a big hand in my life. Some may scoff at this, but in the end, Manning has been my biggest childhood idol and hero, and this article reminds me that time has gone on, age and maturity has come with it.

I’m no longer 8, watching a guy named Peyton wave his arms and bark orders around like a squawking pigeon…and football is no longer something confined to Madden ‘98. Life has grown past the confines of my childhood and with growing up came responsibility.

Whether it be the loss of a friend to death, friends becoming tragically ill, car accidents, or whatever life circumstances that were brought into my life, in the end, my experiences from football and sports (and obviously, God’s grace), helped me adapt, shape, cope, and grow.

No matter how it ends, and I’m very afraid this may be the end, Peyton will be one of my idols and heroes forever.