My ideal start up gear: Canon 40D and Canon EF-S 17-85mm IS lens.

At first, I wanted to get a canon 30D which has a more durable magnesium alloy body and more resistant to weather and dust, but canon announced 40D with some new cool features on April so I waited for it to come out. Just before 40D came out, Nikon announced the D300 which had even more cool features that the 40D does not have. So I then decided to just get the cheapest DSLR canon body so that I can start enjoying my lenses... 300D is now very hard to find, so the next available one would be the 350D (Rebel XT) as I was checking for the prices, there is only a $100 difference with the 400d, so I said why not go for 400d for now and make it a backup cam when canon comes up with their nikon D300 rival.

Since I already have a 70-200mm F2.8 non-IS Lens, I think this lens will cover most of my all-around needs. I'll be monitoring the price of Canon 400d and 17-85mm IS lens. At the same time I'll be waiting for the Canon "50D" and 55-250mm f2.8 IS lens, while monitoring the price of the Canon 40D and 17-55mm f2.8 IS lens...

As of Nov 22, 2007
Canon 400D body only
Aden: $569.99
Henrys: $699.99
Vistek: $749.95

Canon EF-S 17-85mm f4-5.6 IS lens
Aden: $569.99
Henry's: $599.99
Vistek:$599.95

if you go to boracay a lot, you will recognize this rock... it's somewhere close to station one. this shot was taken by my brother (winston) and i just did some minor changes on PS. I enjoy photoshopping a lot, everytime i work on something, i learn something new. i consider myself a PS newbie that just reads a lot. I'm open to learn new tricks if you wanna share it with me.

Beautiful story.... makes you understand that things happen for a reason

The brand new pastor and his wife, newly assigned to their first ministry, to reopen a church in suburban Brooklyn , arrived in early October excited about their opportunities When they saw their church, it was very run down and needed much work. They set a goal to have everything done in time to have their first service
on Christmas Eve.

They worked hard, repairing pews, plastering walls, painting, etc, and on December 18 were ahead of schedule and just about finished. On December 19 a terrible tempest - a driving rainstorm hit the area and lasted for two days.

On the 21st, the pastor went over to the church. His heart sank when he saw that the roof had leaked, causing a large area of plaster about 20 feet by 8 feet to fall off the front wall of the sanctuary just behind the pulpit, beginning about head high.

The pastor cleaned up the mess on the floor, and not knowing what else to do but postpone the Christmas Eve service, headed home.

On the way he noticed that a local business was having a flea market type sale for charity so he stopped in. One of the items was a beautiful, handmade, ivory colored, crocheted tablecloth with exquisite work, fine colors and a Cross embroidered right in the center. It was just the right size to cover up the hole in the front wall. He bought it and headed back to the church.

By this time it had started to snow. An older woman running from the opposite direction was trying to catch the bus.. She missed it. The pastor invited her to wait in the warm church for the next bus 45 minutes later.

She sat in a pew and paid no attention to the pastor while he got a ladder, hangers, etc., to put up the tablecloth as a wall tapestry. The pastor could hardly believe how beautiful it looked and it covered up the entire problem area.

Then he noticed the woman walking down the center
aisle. Her face was like a sheet.. "Pastor," she asked, "where did you get that tablecloth?" The pastor explained. The woman asked him to check the lower right corner to see if the initials, EBG were crocheted into it there. They were. These were the initials of the woman, and she had made this tablecloth 35 years before, in Austria.

The woman could hardly believe it as the pastor told how he had just gotten the Tablecloth. The woman explained that before the war she and her husband were well-to-do people in Austria.

When the Nazis came, she was forced to leave. Her husband was going to follow her the next week. He was captured, sent to prison and never saw her husband or her home again.

The pastor wanted to give her the tablecloth; but she made the pastor keep it for the church. The pastor insisted on driving her home, that was the least he could do.. She lived on the other side of Staten Island and was only in Brooklyn for the day for a housecleaning job.

What a wonderful service they had on Christmas Eve. The church was almost full. The music and the spirit were great. At the end of the service, the pastor and his wife greeted everyone at the door and many said that they would return.

One older man, whom the pastor recognized from the neighborhood continued to sit in one of the pews and stare, and the pastor wondered why he wasn't leaving.

The man asked him where he got the tablecloth on the front wall because it was identical to one that his wife had made years ago when they lived in Austria before the war and how could there be two tablecloths so much alike.

He told the pastor how the Nazis came, how he forced his wife to flee for her safety and he was supposed to follow her, but he was arrested and put in a prison.. He never saw his wife or his home again all the 35 years in between.

The pastor asked him if he would allow him to take him for a little ride. They drove to Staten Island and to the same house where the pastor had taken the woman three days earlier.

He helped the man climb the three flights of stairs to the woman's apartment, knocked on the door and he saw the greatest Christmas reunion he could ever imagine.

True Story - submitted by Pastor Rob Reid.

Who says God does not work in mysterious ways..
I asked the Lord to bless you as I prayed for you today, to guide you and protect you as you go along your way. His love is always with you, His promises are true, and when we give Him all our cares you know He will see us through.

So when the road you're traveling on seems difficult at best.. Just remember I'm here praying and God will do the rest. Pass this on to those you want God to bless and don't forget to send it back to the one who asked God to bless you first.

When there is nothing left but God, that is when you find out that God is all you need. Take 60 seconds and give this a shot! All you do is simply say the following small prayer for the person who sent you this.

Father, God, bless all my friends and family in what
ever it is that You know they may be needing this day! May their life be full of your peace, prosperity and power as he/she seeks to have a closer relationship with you. Amen.

If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.

i'm just thinking aloud in here now... one month of ecf (employee charitable fund), new staff came and has been busy answering his questions (i cant believe they hired a newbie for IBM)... jeans day every friday, come home and cook, prepare sandwich pack the lunch (my S.O. is back to school, i do almost everything, for 3 months), gets colder every morning, getting so hard to get up in the morning, choose to have a margarine or cream cheese on a bagel for breakfast, have a hot choco or fresh orange juice, almost wanna take a day off, but no reason to take a day off when i have one of the best and easiest job at the moment, i will just feel bad losing a day pay for something so easy... wait for friday to come, chilli chicken on some fridays... fridays are even one of the slowest day of the week, so why take off... just spend the day and thank God it's friday... plan the weekend, make the most of it, dont mind travelling 50km just ot be with favorite buddies in mississauga, probably go to a new place, shoot some photos, learn new photoshop tricks.. before you know it, weekend is over, monday again and cant wait for friday... i ask myself, what did i do this week that was different from last week... one i can think of, i now know how to make pork chop with creamy mashroom gravy... we'll see what's new next week... til then...