Christmas Is Nearly Here ... And I'm Nearly Dead! :-)

Well, dead tired at least. There were some great moments in the day though, starting with the 24 Hours article that has already generated new people applying to get a computer, which is excellent. That photo shows a small glimpse of me being up to my eyeballs in computers. Thankfully there's no more incoming equipment and it's now going only out! Placing it all into the van is going to be a daunting task all on its own!

Another great moment was having Shaw call to tell me that they were going to give 12 families high-speed service for 6 months. That's an amazing gesture and one I appreciate very much. Kevin Younghusband from Staples is also helping out. I went over there to buy some software for one of the mothers who commented that one of her boys has problems with spelling. Well lo & behold, not only did this generous man give me this software, but he also invited me back next week to get even more for the families.
Yesterday's Guru Elf, Geoff, was drastically sick with the flu today. Undoubtedly he was sick already and pushed himself too far yesterday. But he wanted to help. Stepping into his shoes was a new Elf, Cornell. I had never met this great fellow before, but he came over and did great things with the Macs. Turns out that we went to the same high school, Eric Hamber. In fact, these ties are popping up in more than a few places ever since this got started.

Later in the day a friend & colleague from Seattle, Ahmed, came over to help. We were disappointed to see that more than a few of the machines had one thing or another wrong with them. Experience has shown never to give someone a machine in such a state as it only leads to frustration. So I had the unpleasant task of informing a few families that we simply couldn't deliver something to them by Xmas. But I in the longer term picture, they will be pleased to get a machine that works well than one that provides only frustrations. Thankfully we're able to fulfill our commitment to most of the families.

P.S. Does anyone want to help lift a thousand pounds of computer equipment into a van on the morning of Xmas Eve?!? :-)