Wow, What a Wild Ride!
It is now 10 years later, and I sit here typing this very relaxed and unburdened. I just completed a year of serving as the Most Illustrious Grand Master of the Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters of South Carolina, the fourth year as a Grand Officer in the Grand Council. This year caps…
Musical Chairs!
At our December business meeting, we elected and appointed the new officers for 2009, and I was elected into the Junior Warden seat. It is quite an honor, as in doing so, I unexpectedly skipped a couple seats. For 2008, I was appointed as a Steward. The natural progression is to move the Junior Deacon…
Faster, faster, faster!?!
I had the opportunity to attend the Order of the Temple work at another local lodge, and I must say that I was very impressed. There were about 25 people with three candidates, and the work was done very well. One of the older men had been doing his part for many years, and he…
York Rite Degree Work – Some ponderings
The local York Rite membership is a very dedicated group of Masons, but like so many Masonic groups, it tends to be somewhat “older-leaning” in its membership. The group that with which I went through the degree work is a bit younger than most of the membership (though I don’t know if my age of…
Seeking More Light – Part Two
After completing the Royal Arch and Cryptic Masonry degrees, the final steps on the path of the York Rite are the “Chivalric Orders”. These Degrees (called Orders in this group) include the the “Illustrious Order of the Red Cross” which is an Order that emphasizes the lesson of truth; the “Order of Malta” which emphasizes…
Seeking More Light – Part One
Since my journey in Freemasonry began, I have always been interested in Freemasonry’s Appendant Bodies, specifically the York Rite. My father was a Master Mason, went through the Scottish Rite, and eventually became a Shriner. (In his day, it was a requirement that to become a Shriner, you had to go through either the Scottish…
The York Rite Background
The York Rite, like the Scottish, is one of Freemasonry’s Appendant Bodies which is open to a Master Mason to join to further his knowledge of Freemasonry. While Freemasonry officially culminates with the third degree of the Blue Lodge, the nine additional degrees of the the York Rite are considered to expand upon and complete…
Brother, take a seat!
Less than three weeks after being raised to the degree of Master Mason, I was installed as one of the Stewards of our Lodge. The new Junior Warden-Elect appointed me and the other brother who was raised with me as the new Stewards for 2008. I’m honored that the opportunity to begin moving through the…
Raised to Master Mason!
This past Saturday, another Masonic brother and I were raised to the degree of Master Mason, the Third Degree in the Blue Lodge. It was an interesting, informative, and certainly memorable degree. We had our Fellowcraft examination, followed by the Third Degree work. Our Fellowcraft examination went very smoothly despite not having spent any time…
I Think I “Get It”
Obviously I still have a lot to learn about Freemasonry having only recently been passed to the second degree. So until I progress further, I can really only comment on my current knowledge and exposure to Freemasonry as a Fellow Craft. But of what I do understand now, I think I “get it” concerning just…
Gmail Tip #11: Connecting Securely
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Unlike many other Web-based email providers, Gmail offers an SSL-encrypted login by default. This means that your Gmail password is always encrypted when it is sent over the Internet. Secure HTTPS access is also available by going to https://gmail.google.com directly. This is just another way that Gmail ensures your privacy and security!
Gmail Tip #10: Some Tips about Conversations
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Conversations are very handy. They group related emails letting you easily track what was sent and to whom it was sent. One thing that you might overlook is that is that you need to remember that when you perform an action on a conversation such as “Print”, “Move to Trash”, or “Report as Spam”, you…
Gmail Tip #9: New Mail Notification!
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One often asked for feature has been some sort of automatic notification. Some suggestions ahve been integrating a button tn the Google Toolbar. Another was some sort of System Tray icon. Well, Gmail gave us a notification method that actually works very well… Open your Gmail account and look at both the “Title” of your…
Gmail Tip #8: Working With Lots Of Emails
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There are some idiosyncracies that you should understand when working with large numbers of messages. Read more for a couple pointers… If you are working with a large number of emails, (more than will fit on one screen “page”) be sure to remember that checking “All” doesn’t check all messages in the category you are…
Gmail Tip #7: Quickly Addressing A Message
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Want to know a quick way to address another Gmail user? Read more to find out! Did you know that you can send an email to another Gmail user by just entering their username into either the TO, CC, or BCC fields when you Compose a message? You do not need to type the rest…
Gmail Tip #6: Define a Signature!
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When Gmail was first released to Beta, it was missing the ability to create an automatically appended “Signature”. Well, after beta tester feedback Gmail has added the feature! Read how to define it… Go into “Settings” and click the radio button next to the edit box in the Signatire section. Next, enter any text you…
Sony to Suspend Clie Handheld Line
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According to a Palm Infocenter article, Sony is “suspending” it’s Clie PDAs, not releaseing any new models to the US market this Fall. This hits hard to many CLie devotees. Despite the news, the Sony Clie NX topics here on JimsTips.com will continue to exist. Unfortunatly, I haven’t added much new content simply because I…
Gmail Tip #5: The Plus Side of Gmail
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Like many Email providers, Gmail supports the standard “plus” addressing scheme. But just what is it, and how can it help me? The “plus” method of addressing lets you add additional words to your account name (the “left side” of your email address.) For example, if your email address is “[email protected]”, you could add “+club”…
Gmail Tip #4: Formatting Your Name
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Gmail’s account names (you know, the “left” side of your email address) are very forgiving. Read more for more details! If you registered your Gmail account name like I did, you likely used the form “[email protected]”. Did you know that it doesn’t matter if you used a period or not! “[email protected]” is treated the same…
Gmail Tip #3: How to Maintain Notes
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Some email providers provide a “Notes” function to let you maintain a list of notes. For example you might keep Web site links, random thoughts, etc. Gmail doesn’t offer this feature, but by using some of Gmail’s other features, you can set up a very nice, easy to maintain group of notes… Basically, the concept…