How Google Changed My Life

Ok, before you accuse me of blaspheming, let me say that Jesus and Amy have impacted me far more than the people at Google.  But let me explain my extreme headline: 1) Several months ago, I switched to using gmail as my primary email interface.  I use other email addresses from my karischurch.org and graceformissouri.org domains, but I have them all channel through my gmail account.  This not only allows me to check email anywhere I have internet access, but, even more importantly, it keeps me from downloading different messages on different machines and never finding what I'm looking for.  I can't tell you how much easier my life is now that I have told Microsoft Outlook goodbye and yelled, "Hello, gmail!"  And gmail has some amazing features that make email much simpler to manage.

2) Around that time, I also began using Google Calendar.  This is very similar to Outlook, but it's better, and, again, it's all online.  You don't have to worry about having your calendar on one computer and not on another.  Wherever the internet is, there also is your calendar.  The program is again packed with lots of great features.  Examples: It will email you reminders for all of your events.  I can set up separate calendars for the church and for my personal schedule, as well as for other staff-people, that all show up in one interface.  You can search for other calendars and events (e.g., Mizzou basketball schedule) and add them right into your calendar set-up.  If you know what you're doing (Troy does, not me), you can easily integrate your calendars right into your web pages.  I can't say enough good stuff about gmail and Google Calendar.  Take a test drive.  Your life will be different, I promise.