The Weekly Wrap-Up: August 28 - September 1, 2017

Dear Font Creators,

When you create a font, please be sure to map all of the characters correctly, for all language configurations, in compliance with unicode usage.

I can't stress this enough.

Because when you don't map your characters correctly, I have to spend an extensive amount of time mapping the characters you missed manually.

One.

Line.

At.

A.

Time.

So, if you could just take care of that in the future, we'll all get along nicely, and I won't have a bloody tongue from the many times I've had to bite it this week.

Sincerely,

Jessica Hollopeter
InDesign User
Multiple Font User
Annoyed Patron

The Uber UBer Conference Post

What? A conference post a month and a half after it ended?

What can I say? We did get here eventually.

So, where to begin? A few months ago (more than a few by now), one of our MFM regional guys asked me if I'd be willing to represent OMS at the United Brethren National Conference in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I'm one of three UB people at OMS, and I guess a familiar face is helpful with these kinds of things.

Not gonna lie, I was a bit hesitant. There's some history if you will, and I also wasn't sure about logistics. Driving 500 miles one way isn't my favorite thing to do.

Fortunately, one of the other UB people at OMS was also coming along.

That's Sarah. Sarah and I work together in ECC, and we have lots of fun. (I also helped recruit Sarah - sort of - so that's a thing you know now.) Sarah and I convinced my dad to drive us out to PA for this most auspicious occasion.

You know the best thing about driving to Pennsylvania?

Tunnels!

Tunnels are awesome.

In order to save some money and our sanity, we decided to camp halfway. We found an interesting little campground at the Laurel Hill State Park. If you like trees and hiking a mile to the bathroom, this is the place for you.

We were visited by a few friends while we were there. 

Finally, we made it to Lancaster. My dad stayed with his brother while Sarah and I stayed at the new Hotel Lancaster. I don't have a picture of it. Apparently, it used to be some kind of flea pit (my uncle's words) before they spruced it up. I thought it was fine; not much of a view, but I had a place to rest my head, and at the end of the day (hehe), that's really all that matters. 

Lancaster had pianos in random locations, and this one was outside the hotel. 

We were about three or four blocks from the convention center where the conference was being held. That meant I had very little trouble getting my steps in for the day. We also saw some interesting sights along the way.

On to the reason for being in Lancaster! Our job was to represent the wonderful opportunities and ministries of One Mission Society to the lovely people of the United Brethren church. We were also heavily promoting the billion.global vision. Which, you know, you should really sign up for if you haven't.

Our booth was back in the corner, which wasn't the greatest position in the world, but we did okay. 

The conference went from Wednesday evening to Saturday morning, but we really only needed to be there in the evenings. Garth, the MFM guy, manned it in the morning, and we kinda hung out in the afternoons, but mostly, we had mornings to explore. 

Naturally, I found a bookstore.

And a few books.

On Friday morning, we went on the bus tour to see Isaac Long's barn and the Martin Boehm Chapel. 

Apparently, the United Methodists put up the sign and only deigned to include the UBers a few years ago, despite us existing first. 

The historical part is that little stone bit behind the barn in front. Yes, people still live there. I'm hoping someone told them we would be traipsing over the their land before we arrived.

Martin Boehm was actually excommunicated by the Mennonites for being too evangelical. They unexcommunicated him (recommunicated? recommunioned? uncensured, yes) in 2016. 

My dad's best "I'm so disappointed in you" face.

"Ye must be born again!"

Though we were done Friday night, my dad and I stayed for the final session on Sunday. They commissioned new pastors and Bishop Fetters gave a charge to the church. Did I mention this was the 250th anniversary of the church? That's important. Lots of history. Lots of people. Lots of awkward moments. coughcoughhistorycoughcough

Then, as we were in Pennsylvania anyway, my dad and I took a mini vacation. We saw some miniature trains in Strasburg. 

This model railroad would switch from day to night settings. It was quite a large setup.

Those are actual goldfish.

Kinda looks like I'm in a blimp for this game.

Look at that detail!

My dad was in his happy place.

Hanging out with old stuff is fun.

On Sunday, we went to probably my favorite place in the world, which you should know by now.

If you've not done the cyclorama, you really, really should. It's worth the extra cost. Try to go when there aren't a ton of people so you can see more.

This painting will be in my mansion in Heaven.

Checking on my boys from Maine.

This doesn't look like much, but on July 2, 1863, probably close to 10,000 men died in this field.

Every time I go to Gettysburg, I take two pictures. I always take these pictures from roughly the same places. It's kind of my own memorial. 

The first picture, because it's early in the auto tour, is taken just beyond the Virginia Memorial. 

This is the view that Longstreet, Lee, Pickett, and the top brass of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia had as they watched their men march on July 3, 1863. They were all aiming for those trees in the middle there, trying to break the Union lines in the middle.

This is the opposing view. Hancock, Meade, and the top brass of the Union Army of the Potomac watched 12,500 Confederate soldiers march across an open field.

Pickett's Charge gets a lot of press. It's the "high water mark of the Confederacy," the point at which the Confederate cause pretty much reached its zenith (despite the fact that they were actually marching south - it's confusing, I know). That marker there, with the rebel flag, is for Lewis Armistead. He actually made it over the wall but was mortally wounded in the process. 

In my opinion, and I'm stressing that this is simply my opinion, Pickett's Charge, while incredibly brave, was also incredibly stupid. I don't care how many men you have. You don't march across an open field into the center of the enemy. He's got reinforcements on both sides with excellent interior lines. The Union troops didn't even fire their light weapons until the Confederate troops were about 200 yards away. Up to that point, though, you'd better believe they were firing all the artillery they had. The South lost about 50% of their men. Lee got caught up in his own hype and the push from Jefferson Davis to deal a crushing blow on northern soil. But the South was never going to win that war. (I don't care how many shows HBO makes with that premise, it's completely illogical.) I have a lot more I could say about the Civil War, and I'd be happy to if you contact me, but this is probably not the place for it.

So why do I take these pictures? It's a touchstone for me. It's a reminder that two sides stood this far apart and couldn't stop the inevitable. A lot of men died on this land, for a lot of different reasons. I don't ever want to reach this point again.

We headed back West on Monday morning. Have you ever taken US30 in Pennsylvania? With a camper? It's a daunting prospect at the best of times. You start to realize very quickly why the highways have tunnels.

On the way, we stopped at another place I've been wanting to visit. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about it, to be honest. That day holds a lot of memories for me.

You're looking out over the final resting place of Flight 93. The memorial is quite well done, and also quite sobering. I was in New York City in 2004, and I've seen the Pentagon from a distance, and I wanted to complete the journey in Pennsylvania. There were some parts that were quite horrifying. You can walk down to a memorial grove of trees, but it felt almost sacrilegious to walk over that ground. They also had recordings of phone calls that were made from the plane to family members. That's an awful thing to have to do. In some ways, I felt unprepared for the emotional gut punch, but at the same time, I think it was a little healing to be there and acknowledge the grief I've carried. It's hard to express just how much the events of September 11 effected me. A lot of people died for no reason. I'm still angry about it. 

Moving on.

We stopped to camp in Cambridge, Ohio, Monday night, mostly because we were tired and didn't feel like finishing the drive after dark. I'd be hard pressed to recommend the campground. It's right along 70, and it's crowded. A big rig came in around midnight, which also added to the annoyance. But I can't complain, because it was cheap and convenient. 

We got back Tuesday, a full week after we left. (By the way, we didn't just abandon Sarah in Pennsylvania. She had her own mini vacation.) It was a good trip, and I am glad I went. I'm not sure how successful we were, but I did see a lot of people I really only ever see at conference. And I gained some new supporters, so that's always a good thing. 

As ever, if you have questions, feel free to leave a comment. Or email me. Or call me. Send a pigeon. 

How do those work, anyway?

The Weekly Wrap-Up: August 21-25, 2017

Technically, I suppose, this also covers last week as well. I wasn't in on Friday, so I didn't write a blog post. I took the day to do some work at home. It was a good day. The rest of the week was mostly spent on French and more doctor visits and lots of meetings. Oh, and I went to the State Fair on Tuesday. That was fun.

But we're back to business this week. Monday was pretty much entirely meetings from 8:30 to 4:00. (It was very difficult to get steps in that day.) I finished up French then and worked on Outreach proofs. It's always a nice change of pace.

I also did a little impromptu work on the fellowship hall. We're redoing it (and when I say we, I really mean other people with me offering an unsolicited opinion), so on my way through, I occasionally pick up a scraper or something. I'm sure it's not at all annoying for our dedicated crew of professionals. Of course, this also means no chapel for a few weeks. It's weird, I'm so used to being there Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9:00. Also, I hadn't realized that chapels seem to be the only time I see certain people.

My latest project is Hakha Chin. I've worked on it before, but we had to change the font, so we're going back over everything to make sure it's copacetic. Which it's not. There's a glyph missing, and it's pretty prominent, so I'm muddling through as best I can while I wait for the head of production to tell me how to fix it. Although I did just add four pages to a 52-page document, so we'll see how well that goes.

Aaaaand, that's about it. Time to hit the reset button and get rested up so I can do it all again next week. 

The Weekly Wrap-Up: August 7-11, 2017

First, a conversation with myself.

Jessica: Hey, how's it going?

Also Jessica: Great! I don't have cancer!

J: Oh. That is good. Was that a possibility?

AJ: Yes. There was a 30% chance that I had cancer.

J: I didn't know that.

AJ: Not many people did. I wasn't telling a lot of people because I didn't really know anything yet. But I think most folks knew something was happening.

J: Yeah, you've mentioned some health issues. And you had surgery, right?

AJ: Yes, back in July. The surgery cleared up some of the issues, but it also highlighted some other problems, like the possibility of cancer.

J: So are you healthy now?

AJ: Not entirely. But I'm on my way to being healthy, so that's good.

J: How can people help you now? 

AJ: Prayer is always greatly appreciated. Pray for my health to improve, for the tests to keep coming back with good news, and for the work to still get done. Also, pray for my finances, or contribute if you're able. All of these tests and the surgery have really wiped out my savings and bitten a huge chunk out of my credit card. (Ironically, if it had been cancer, everything would have been paid for by Aflac. But, you know, cancer vs. money... I know which I'd choose.)

J: Anything else?

AJ: No, I think we're done now. On with the regularly scheduled programming!



So, yeah, crazy week. I finished up my Hindi files Monday and sent them off into the ether. It's always satisfying to finish a project because it means we're making progress, and it's not always easy to tell that progress is being made. Don't think that the only languages we're working on are the ones I mention here, though. There's another gal doing what I do in Chile. She's working on some different languages, like Odia and Chinese. It's easy to keep just a few in our repertoire at a time so we don't get super confused.

This was T&M training week. I guess about 40 people were hanging out at the local church where we do training. This was the first time we've tried to do everything on the app, which had some positives and negatives. It's nice to get feedback on it since we've spent literal years building it. I hung out with the training folks for a few hours over the course of things, and I took the group photo on Thursday. It's nice to see so many different backgrounds and ministries coming together to learn more about T&M. It's a great window into how what I do is utilized around the world.

Finally, my latest large project is French group 2, which I'm actually taking through about four stages. It's a lengthy process, made even more so when I run into situations like this:

It's a little small, I know, but let me show you what it's supposed to look like (except in French): 

Neat, clean, one line of text, right in a row. 

So what happened with the first picture up there?

Our translator, instead of putting one part of the verse in each line, put the whole chunk of verses in each line. So where a phrase should go is an entire paragraph. 

I don't speak French. I could maybe puzzle out a few words based on my limited Spanish. But I somehow have to figure out where each part of that phrase should start and stop. 

I'll get fixed in proofing, yes. But somehow, I need to make sure all of the text is readable and ready to proof. 

This is just one issue I ran into. It's the most severe, which is why I used it for my example, but it is by no means the only problem. 

Word to the wise: when building template files in English that will then be translated into another language, leave plenty of white space. I don't care if it looks weird. Your graphic designers will thank you later. 

I still owe you a conference post.

The Weekly Wrap-Up: July 31 - August 4, 2017

We are famous for our acronyms here at OMS. We have ECC, MFM, and DWIM. SEMBEC, MECS, and CAM. You name it, we've probably named it better in a such a way as to spell out some pleasingly tripping little phrase or set of letters.

Such is the case with IAL.

Oh, you've not heard of IAL? It seems to be something exclusive to OMS, at least in this form.

What does it stand for? I'll tell you in a minute.

First, let's get the week out of the way.

I started out in French, of course, finishing up some proof files. I haven't worked much on French. I like the language, very lyrical, but I'm horrible at pronouncing the words. They always seem to come out with a Spanish accent, since I took Spanish in high school and college. I regret doing that somewhat. I think French would have served me better for studying history, as many historical documents were written in French during the medieval period. Latin, of course, is useful for most earlier things, and I guess if you're looking at church records. But when the church and state began to separate, French became the lingua franca. <---- obviously.="" p="">
As soon as I finished French, and I do mean almost exactly as I was uploading files, I was asked to secure some Korean files. We had a bunch of old files that had watermarks on them for various reasons. We fixed most of them way back when, but for some reason Korean got left out of the mix. And we need Korean because we have at least three Koreans attending T&M training next week. Since most of the training is going to be in English, it would be nice to have some clean files that they can actually read.

Securing files is pretty easy. It has to be done because we don't want people making changes to them or copying or formatting for their own (possibly nefarious but probably not) purposes. However, we still need them to print, so we run some fancy batch processes in Adobe and give it all a fun password so we can de-securify them in the future if needed.

We had a really great prayer rally this week. It was far outside our normal activities. Normally we sit around tables and sing and pray and listen to sermons and speakers and what not. It isn't bad, it's just a little tedious to do the same thing month in and month out. But this week, we did some prayer walking around the city of Greenwood. Some people went to the mayor's office, police stations, fire houses, hospitals, neighborhoods, local businesses, and elsewhere. Then we came back and heard testimonies from everyone's experiences. There were some real God appointments with people, which is very cool. I actually stayed in the building, though. Kathy and I went around to each office, work station, and public area and prayed over the people who inhabit them, the future inhabitants, and the future decisions and actions that will come from each space. Because we are pretty much up in everyone else's business (but in a good way), we had some specific things to pray about for each person. I hope they really felt God's presence in their area when they returned.

After finishing French and Korean, I turned my attention back to Hindi. New group, same job, making sure proof corrections are in and cooperating with the surrounding text. I'm not sure if it's easier to work with a language I sort of understand or one in which I have no idea what is being said. The temptation is to try to fix translations, which is a bad idea as the only language I speak with moderate fluency is English. (Although I did use the word 'cessation' today and was asked to please speak in English next time.) However, with character languages, I don't know any of the rules, and what I think is helpful may actually turn a phrase into something very rude.

Oh well.

I had another doctor's appointment yesterday. It took longer than expected, and not in a good way. I'd appreciate prayer over that whole mess.

I satisfied the creative part of my brain this morning, as Mike told me, by prepping some stuff for training next week. They needed posters for the 12 principles of church multiplication. I'm not sure what Mike meant by that, actually, because I literally spend all of my time creating booklets.

Whatever.

I'm not sure if they'll ask me again.

I thought it was creative.

Finally, we come to IAL. I first encountered IAL my first or second week at OMS. They had a training event right after CROSS training, and as my boss was recovering from a medical issue around the same time, I think they figured I might as well learn something else until she could give me work to do. What is it?

Interactive Adult Learning.

Basically, how do we make learning fun by focusing on the learner and not on the teacher. I'm still not totally convinced it works for everything, but it can be a very useful exercise, and it does break up the monotony of listening to a lecture eight hours a day. They needed guinea pigs this afternoon to listen to practice presentations, so I volunteered my services. It was a fun experience, and I'm always glad to get out of my office for a bit.

And that's the week. Be good, everyone.

Trolls Live Blog

I marked this movie for a live blog the second I heard about it. Justin Timberlake and Anna Kendrick playing creepy, hairy dolls with fake gems for belly buttons?

It's a no-brainer. 

I didn't really play with trolls as a child. They were created before I was born, and despite a brief resurgence (so Wikipedia tells me) in the 90s, I really only remember having a couple of them and not really doing anything with them. 

Seriously, what do you do with trolls?

Make a movie, apparently. (Which is just a huge cash grab for Dreamworks, because they bought the original company in 2013, after they had announced a movie was being made.)

Let's do this.

(Netflix just informed me that Russell Brand is also in this movie. Not off to a good start, guys.)

Singing, dancing, and hugging sounds horrible. But the intro is funny.

Trollsyice?

I think I'm going to like the music, though.

This child is super annoying.

Why only eat trolls once a year? You literally own the tree. Start chopping those suckers up. Start a new restaurant for the elite. This could be your own foi gras.

This is what happens when you only eat trolls once a year - they plan elaborate escape plots. That apparently have to happen on the one day a year when literally everyone has their eyes fixed on your tree?

Is that right? Trolls grow on trees? How does that even work?

Nope. Toilet humor is also on my no-no list.

Woah. Full monty, there, fella.

Dude. Jeffrey Tambor sounded a lot like Robin Williams there.

Sure. Blame the weird chef for your own incompetence. Makes total sense. 

Let me guess... this kid finds happiness without eating a troll, thus dispelling the myth that only troll soufflé can make one happy. Does he fall in love with the servant girl? Because she is giving off stalker vibes.

John Cleese is also in this movie. Points gained!

Creepy child.

There's no way this can be a productive society.

Do they know Michael Jackson? He apparently exists in this universe, what with the P.Y.T. references.

James Corden!

How does that hair even work? And how horrible must that have been for the mother?

Wait. How do trolls reproduce?

They are certainly widely traveled with so many accents. Is this pre- or post-Tower of Babel in their history?

So there's definitely a life cycle.

Oh, Branch. You are your people's Cassandra.

Branch is my spirit animal. Or spirit troll.

And now I'm wondering if the trolls have a god. Or religion. 

I was right. Russell Brand is going to annoy me.

How does a troll evolve to become so unhappy when happiness is apparently the only gene available in the pool?

I'm loving the wooden wheels on this camper. 

That is not a troll. What is this Jamaican-sounding creature?

Seriously, these Bergen things are 1,000x taller than you, and you don't run further away?

He just pooped cupcakes.

I could have told you that hair was a disadvantage.

Okay, for how long were these trolls food? At least long enough for every Bergen to eat at least one (there's another question - do they only get one in their lifetime?). So why did it take so long to escape?

I want Morphmagus hair.

I've often pondered the wisdom of the "no man left behind" policy. On one hand, I totally get it. Every life is valuable, even if we pretend it isn't in every other circumstance. But on the other hand, throwing several lives after one does not satisfy my mental math.

It's convenient that all the ones taken were Poppy's special friends.

I thought Branch smashed the scrapbook thing.

I support this level of paranoia.

Branch is a Prepper. 

How does Poppy get out through the maze of bear traps?

Is this what troll eminent domain looks like?

Hug time is my hell.

She stopped to scrapbook her journey so far? This will go well.

Ah, the circle of life. How has this plant not killed everything around it, yet?

This song is annoyingly catchy.

Wow. Life on a small scale is terrifying.

Look, it's Frodo at the end of The Two Towers. There are even spiders.

And Samwise Gamgee. Who has a frying pan.

When did this become Lord of the Rings?

She is literally scrapbooking his plan! I was really hoping for that.

Where is she hiding all of these scrapbooking tools? I am well aware of how many of those things can accrue over a lifetime. My sister has a basement full of stuff she hasn't touched in years.

Branch and I just said the same thing at the same time. I'm tellin' ya. Spirit troll.

Again. Convenient that she has photos of everyone who was taken.

Is this the first hug time since they left? It can't be. So this conversation makes no sense. Also, I'm betting that hug timer thing comes into play later.

The Sound of Silence. Nice.

Into the fire goes the ukulele. Saw that one coming.

Valid question: who would wear socks without shoes?

This cloud is weird.

I've seen maybe two of these handshakes.

How did all of these Bergens survive being so depressed all the time?

An auto-tuned troll, really? I hate it.

I'm fairly certain most of those trolls could get out of that cage.

"And I bet you weren't expecting this!" "Agh!" "Oh wait, no that's okay."

Hug time. Called it.

I just keep seeing the evil stepmother from Into the Woods whenever I hear the chef.

Yup. Stalker.

Whack-a-troll. Classic.

Aww, dead Grandma.

Okay, Trollstice happens once a year. You don't keep your children (or grandchildren) inside the tree on this day?

"No, it was like an angel's." Yeah, okay, Justin.

This is a weird mix of Grease, Cyrano de Bergerac, and Ratatouille. 

And a little Cinderella for good measure.

Okay, the thing with the skate was funny.

Maybe Peter Pan? With the crocodile?

Is it a croc or an alligator? 

Did not see the traitor coming, though it is Russell Brand. So, you know...

What an asshole. (Sorry, not sorry.)

Jump in anytime, Branch.

Well, we solved that whole "trolls are appetizing" problem.

Get with it, Bridget. 

I like the mix of pop songs and original songs. Though it's a little jarring.

Do they not synchronize their watches? I realize it makes a better song. But these are the things I think about.

Guys. Do you not realize that being sad means you don't get eaten? Probably not the message you meant to send.

Okay, what is that creature? It's weird.

Bridget to the rescue. 

Ah, love. The secret to being happy. 

Now that's an entrance.

I am so good at predicting these things.

Okay, there's a huge difference between being happy and having joy. If you search for happiness only, you're going to be constantly disappointed. So good luck with that, Bergens.

Good song.

Did they just light the chef on fire? And the traitor, apparently. That's some Disney level justice, there.

How do they hug with such large heads? This will haunt my dreams.

I guess Zooey Deschanel was in this? You couldn't prove it by me. Wait, was she Bridget? I did NOT hear that at all. 

So. That was ... cute? I guess. Not terrible. Not earth-shattering. 

I'd probably watch it again.

The Weekly Wrap-Up: July 24-28, 2017

I do hope you catch the reference. Don't bother watching the show, of course, because it's actually terrible minus a few clever phrases here and there.

But that's neither here nor there. Point is, I've been gone a couple weeks. In fact, this time last week (as of writing this), I was riding the sweet wave of anesthetic and pain killers. That stuff is gnarly, dude. Not a care in the world, seriously.

So yes, surgery last week went well. I was pretty useless the rest of Friday, most of Saturday, and I did way too much on Sunday, so I took a half day on Monday. I probably could have gotten away with taking another day, to be honest, but that's just not how I roll. Besides, most of my job is sitting, so it's very low impact.

Also, most of my Monday was actually spent doing various updates to my computer. Do you guys put those off as much as I do? Like, one pops up, and I just start getting annoyed. What? Again?! I just did this six months ago! (Unless you have Telegram, then it's every two days. Sometimes twice a day.) It's a pain. But it's important, so I tend to bunch them all up at once. And I work with a lot of important files, so it's not just updating. No, you have to back everything up first. That way, if the update screws up your computer, you have all of your files still. I'm great at this on my work computer. Not so great at home. Of course, my home computer is 8 years old and has 32 Safari tabs open. If I update something, there's no guarantee that baby is booting back up again. (I need a new computer, guys. I've been doing my research, but I'm picky. And poor.)

Anyway, I got all the updates and backups done in time to start the final proof phase of Hindi group 2. We're nearly ready to publish! I used to be more excited about publishing, because it meant that I never had to look at those particular files again. Except when you do, as was the case with Estonian. We had published group 1, but I guess the language changed since then? I don't know. I should be nicer about it, except I had to manually make the changes since it was fiddly, and you all know how much I love fiddly bits.

But my frustration was offset by one of my favorite days at OMS. Tuesday was spiritual warfare day. And you know what that means?

SWORDS!

Yeah, buddy.

I do so enjoy showing off my collection. And it's more than just appreciating the oohs and aahs of the crowd. It's an effective object lesson about keeping yourself armed against the devil.

Finally, I just started working on new proof files from French. I don't usually do three languages in a week, but I guess everyone just wanted me to feel really special. I certainly feel like I'm back in the groove of things.

Guys, August starts next week. I'm not sure how that's possible. Kids went back to school this week.

I bought Christmas presents this week.

Someone slow this bus down, yeah?

(I still owe you a conference post. I'm working on it. Really.)