The amusements of instant messaging

As always, I went to IV last night. I ran the sound from the back (as mentioned before), while Stephen ran the projector from up front where those controls are. I had figured out how to patch into the auditorium’s wireless microphone system, so we were able to use that for the announcements and everyone else that was talking down front. However, the signal was coming through rather loudly into my mixer, so I had to keep things turned down pretty far. To give myself more room to adjust the volume, I decided to ask Stephen to turn down the wireless mic from his side so I could have more room to adjust. After the music, the Guyana team went down to talk about what they had done over spring break. While Christina was speaking, I got Stephen’s attention, pointed at Christina, and motioned downward. Unfortunately, he didn’t get the message, but Christina noticed and asked what I wanted. I waved her off and she continued talking. Then Stephen started Gaim so he could talk to me directly and find out what I wanted (though I didn’t immediately realize this). However, due to how he had the dual screen functionality set up on his laptop, Gaim decided to open its buddy list on the screen feeding the projector. Thus, everyone saw it pop up before he quickly pulled it off the screen. This provoked some laughter, which befuddled Christina, who couldn’t see the screen, but she continued. I already had Gaim open on my laptop (with which I was recording the audio), so I proceeded to send him a message. I realized just as I pressed enter that there was a distinct possibility that the chat window would also open on the projector screen… which it did. Thus, everyone was treated to a chat window reading: “Tim Peterson: Good job. ” This provoked even more laughter, and some of those who read the name on the message (before Stephen corralled it again) turned around to look at me and congratulate me on my brilliance. I just grinned and gave a thumbs-up. I didn’t make that happen intentionally, of course, but it worked out perfectly.