Abby is in love. She found a guy that she fell head over heels for. His name is Benjamin and she is willing to make major sacrifices for him. One year ago today Abby made a deal with her dad that she would go without eating any candy for an entire year for one Benjamin Franklin, one hundred buckaroos. This morning she got her first one hundred dollar bill and her eyes about popped out of her head she was so excited.
I am so proud of her for her determination and being able to accomplish something that most kids would never even dare to attempt. She received major inspiration from her aunt kaka who has been doing the “candy deal” since she was a little kid. While Abby was going to take a day to eat some candy before she started her next candy free year, she changed her mind and decided to simply continue on without candy for another year.
Her little brother Tyler is also doing the candy deal but he took an extra two months before committing to it. So, as long as he continues with the deal, he’ll get his $100 on March 17th. Good luck Tyler and congratulations Abby, I love you both and am so proud of you!!!
Posted in Family |
For Christmas our family got a Kindle Fire. I only have limited experience with other tablets of any kind and this is probably the first device I have really had the chance to use that is based on the Google Android Software. We certainly have been having fun with it (Check out my I’m Watching you post to see how much fun).
In general, the Kindle Fire feels very solidly built and is a quality device. There are a lot of apps available for it. Our favorites so far are “Plant vs. Zombies”, Where’s My Water”, angry birds, and some other bird game where you have a bird cage and you take care of birds but I don’t remember the name of it. I understand that Amazon acts as a middleman for the apps and will only allow certain apps in. I don’t really like this but I haven’t run into anything that they aren’t letting in that I feel I’m missing. Apple does the same thing with the iPad. Amazon has basically taken the Google Android software and customized it with their own interface. The interface is very intuitive and easy to navigate. I don’t have experience with Android outside of the Fire so I don’t really have anything to compare it with besides the iPad. It does not have a camera which might be fun to play around with but I don’t care all that much about a camera. Perhaps a future Kindle Fire will have a camera.
I have played with the iPad a bit and I wouldn’t say it is any better than the Fire in playing games or accessing the web. Most apps that are on the iPad that I have wanted are also available on the Fire. The iPad does have a forward and backward facing camera though. The iPad also has a much larger screen. Going from 7 inches to 10 is a big jump in screen size. I kind of like the smaller size though too. I could fit the Fire in a larger pocket and take it to church or something.
I do have to say this about pretty much all of the tablets whether they are from Apple or run Android, they are not productivity devices. If you think that you need one to help your productivity, you are mistaken. They are mostly toys. They help you goof off and waste time. Oh I’m sure there are some custom apps that are used in certain cases that may allow some work to be done but they really are not for productivity. Tablets are good for consuming media whether that be videos, music, websites, or books. Just try to type out a few paragraphs and you’ll see just how annoying it can be to create content. Anyone who says they “need” an iPad or a Kindle Fire is full of it. Nobody needs one. But, they are fun. There are tons of games available for them. Some are better than others. Most are really cheap, like $1. I think tablets will put an end to Nintendo DS gaming systems as games cost $30 each and aren’t as good as many of the games you can get for $1 on the Fire or iPad.
The price is where the Fire really shines. I have always felt that all these tablets are way over priced. If I had $500 to spend on some computing device, I would want something that can be productive so I would probably buy a laptop where I could type about 100 times faster than on any tablet. But $200 is a lot easier to swallow for a device that I’m going to use to simply access my media. I think it was money well spent and we have been having a blast on it. I think I echo my children in recommending the Kindle. Good job Amazon on a great product.
Posted in Computer Networking |
Last night I gave my wife the scare of her life. I did it on a whim but I could not have planned how perfectly it turned out. She had planned a GNO (girls night out) with the other moms that are part of our baby-sitting coop. There were 5 women in all. Each of these women have 2 to 5 kids and have been married for many years. Last night they became like a group of scared teenagers at a slumber party.
So, like I said, they were all out for a GNO. They had gone out to dinner and had headed back to the home of one of the women in the group. I did not know where they were or what they were doing. At home, I had put the kids to bed and was playing around with our new Kindle Fire that we got for Christmas. I was downloading and checking out new apps and just goofing around. I found the TextPlus app and downloaded it. It is a pretty basic app that lets you text people’s cell phones. It provides you with a free random phone number and you can start texting immediately. The phone number I got was a Kentucky number. For fun, I thought I would text Jenny and see if I could scare her. Little did I know how perfect this trick was going to be.
Below are the texts I sent from my new Kentucky phone number from the Kindle Fire. I will interject what happened on their end throughout the text messages:
Unknown to me, Jenny happened to be in the basement of this friend’s house and was sitting next to a large window that did not have any blinds. Her initial thought was that someone got the wrong number when sending this text to her but she could’t help looking out the window to see if she could see someone looking in from the outside. Then the next text arrives:
She starts getting a bit freaked out and tells the rest of the women about these 2 strange texts. They told her it must be Steve but she is very doubtful because of the strange phone number the texts came from. She decides to call me on my cell phone. I of course play dumb and convince her that it isn’t me and that it sounds really weird. She freaks out a bit more. Then the following texts:
- Do you know who this is?
- Why won’t you respond?
- Who did you call?
After getting this last text, all the women really freaked out and ran out of the room into another room of the house that doesn’t have an open window. They have the husband at the home go out and look around outside to see if he can see someone in their yard or a neighboring yard. One of the women calls her husband to see if it might be him. He has no idea what they are talking about. Then:
- Aren’t you curious to know who I am?
- You have a nice van.
this last one put them all over the edge. Whoever this stalker is must know where they are and what vehicle she is driving. Jenny starts imagining someone hiding out in her van waiting for her or following her home when she leaves. I am unaware at the time but the owner of the home decides to call the cops. I then text:
I then get the one and only reply from Jenny:
- Just called the cops. Not freaking out.
I don’t know about you but I think that reply completely contradicts itself. If she wasn’t freaked out, why did they call the cops. I knew the joke had to come to an end. I called Jenny and told her it was me. She almost sounded hysterical on the phone and all of the women were mad at me. The cops had arrived and the owner told them that it was Jenny’s husband playing a joke on her. They laughed and left. Jenny told me the details of where she was with each text and how scared she had been. I totally could not have planned it any better than it worked out. After they knew it was me, everyone started to calm down. I was called a lot of names by the women that I won’t repeat here. I only wish I really could have been watching them as they freaked out. I’m glad I could add some entertainment to their GNO.
Posted in Family |
It’s that time of year again. We have an exclusive direct line to Santa’s workshop. Of course Santa is extremely busy this time of year and very rarely is able to answer his phone but at least you can leave him a message. Tell him your name and how old you are and of course what you want for Christmas this year. If you would like a copy of your recording, e-mail santa to let him know when you left your message, your child’s name and age and he’ll do his best to e-mail you a copy of the message (fun to listen to years later). If you’d rather just e-mail him, you can do that too and he’ll be sure to reply.
Santa’s phone number – (424) 2SANTA3
Santa’s E-mail – santa@claus.fami.ly
You can visit his website directly at www.claus.fami.ly
Merry Christmas!
Posted in Family |
It’s been a very long time since I have been a part of a club. I’m not talking about the official clubs like running cross country in high school, but the unofficial clubs that you become a part of simply by participation. The last time I felt part of one of these unofficial clubs was when I had my Honda Helix scooter. That thing was so fun to drive. I used to slap on my helmet and go for a ride with no particular destination just because it was fun to drive and feel the wind whipping around my body. Whether you ride a big Harly or a scooter, you are automatically in the two wheeled club. All the other motorcycle and scooter riders wave to you as you cruise on by because we are all a part of the unofficial two wheel motor club. We are friends even though we have never met before. I liked the friendly wave of the big Harly riders to me on my puny little scooter. It doesn’t matter what kind of two wheeled motorized vehicle you ride, you are automatically part of the club.
I have recently experienced this feeling again. I have taken to running a few times a week. I don’t run real far, usually about 4 miles each time I run and I’m not real fast, but it feels good to get out and try to push myself. Running is another unofficial club you automatically become a part of simply by participating. My neighborhood has a lot of active runners. We are all part of the runners club. We wave to each other without knowing each other or having met before. When you run, you automatically appreciate what you and everyone else is doing. It is not always easy to run, especially when you start putting on years like me. I was a much better runner in high school. Even so, I am enjoying it and grateful for all the other runners out there in our “club” silently encouraging my efforts and I theirs. Keep up the good work and thanks for the friendly waves. It’s nice to be in the club.
Now, to get another scooter…
Posted in Family |
This weekend I went on a business trip to Colorado Springs to setup a network for a client. It was a quick trip flying out on Friday afternoon and back early Saturday morning. I arrived and completed my work at the airport and then headed to the offsite location to set it up. When I finished everything up and went to my hotel room, I had an e-mail from Delta for early checkin. I went ahead and clicked the link to check in and was excited to find that I had seat 1A. The very front of the plane. I would for sure be the first person off the plane and of course there’s extra leg room up there right? What a lucky guy I was. I didn’t even have to CHOOSE that seat, I was just lucky enough to get it by chance.
Seat 1A sounds awesome until you actually sit there. First of all I learned that the front row of seats does not have any carry-on stowing area. Since there is no seat in front of you, you have no place to shove your carry-on and they don’t let you keep it on the floor between your feet, I tried. I ended up having to put it about 9 rows back in the overhead compartments. That meant that I had to get out of my seat and head back 9 rows, open the overhead compartment and retreive my laptop for the flight and then go back near the end and put it back before we landed. I like to get in my seat and stay there the whole flight, especially on short flights like this one.
The next draw back is your tray. You don’t get one. It would be entirely possibly for them to install trays on the wall in front of row one, but they don’t. You just have to hold your orange juice and not set it down. Your laptop remains on your lap and that is pretty much your only option. I didn’t know how much I liked having a tray until I got seat 1A.
As for that extra legroom, that doesn’t exist either. I can generally stretch my leg out a little by sliding it under the seat in front of me next to my carry-on. In seat 1A, there is a wall. Just a wall. However, I did have a better view of the stewardess as she was texting pretty much the entire taxi to the runway. I didn’t know THEY were allowed to text while the rest of us had to turn our phones off. She put her phone away just before she had to sit down and get buckled for take-off.
And finally, the person in seat 1A is NOT the first one off the plane. In fact, you are just about the last one off the plane. Remember your carry-on? Ya, it is way back at row 9, so you have to wait for just about everyone to come walking past you on their way off the plane before you can finally go back 9 rows for that darn carry-on.
So, my advice for anyone flying, if you have a choice of which seat to take, stay far far away from Seat 1A. You’ll have a much more enjoyable flight.
Posted in Computer Networking |
It’s funny how one tiny little act can alter the course of your life forever. Eleven years ago today I sent a short e-mail to a girl I had once dated and lost touch with simply because I had an impression to do so. I didn’t even have her e-mail address but looked it up doing a search online. That one e-mail found me my best friend once again. We got married 6 months later and that has been the best decision I ever made. I love you “Honey”.
Posted in Family |
It’s that time of year again. Santa Claus is coming to town to bring us presents on Christmas day. Since it can be difficult to actually see Santa before Christmas in order to tell him what you want for Christmas, Santa has created a website you can go to and let him know what you want. His site is http://claus.fami.ly. Be sure to visit the site and either call him or e-mail him at the info located there. Have a Mery Christmas.
Posted in Computer Networking |
My wife and I are planning a trip to San Francisco to see Wicked and play a bit as we celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. We will be leaving in a little over a month and are very excited. We don’t get to do much for our anniversary usually but since this is number 10 we thought we would make it special. I mean she has put up with me this long, she should get a little something out of it.
So, the plane and Wicked tickets are purchased, the rental car is reserved and we are researching which hotel to stay at. Planning a trip is a lot of work and can get pricey pretty quick. But it will all be worth it in the end.
I almost made it a disaster though. Yesterday we went to the bank to cash a couple of checks. My wife almost always handles this (which is why I never have any money). This time she wanted to wait in the car with the kids and play solitair on my phone. So I headed in and gave the two checks to the teller and said I wanted to cash them. She asked for my driver’s license which is usually enough to get a check cashed. Well, she started asking me to verify the last 4 digits of my social security number, my address, the other person’s name on the joint account, my monther’s maiden name, etc. I couldn’t figure out why she was being so thorough. She finally said that she would go ahead and cash them but they aren’t supposed to without current identification. She said that my driver’s license had expired 5 month’s ago.
I was like “what the heck”? I looked at my license and sure enough, it was expired. And, since you have to have current and valid identification in order to board a plane, I would have missed my flight to San Francisco, seeing Wicked, and missed out on a very fun anniversary.
Thank you bank teller for being so thorough and letting me know that my license had expired. I have shown that driver’s license at a store I buy parts at many many times and they have never said a word.
Moral of the story is to do whatever you are doing to the best of your ability and don’t cut corners or be afraid to speak up when something is not right. If this teller had been too afraid to question my ID, I would have paid the price when I went to board the plane. So, thanks again.
After we got home, I gathered all of the required documents and headed in to the DMV and renewed my license. What a relief!
Posted in Computer Networking |
My wife is a graphic designer. She has been doing graphic design for over 15 years. I get to listen to some of her frustrations as she works with certain clients. The problem is that graphic design is so subjective. What one person loves, another person hates. So, she has to try to figure out what the client is going for and try to come up with the perfect design. Her clients aren’t always helpful in communicating their wants. Anyway, I found this little cartoon that shows how a lot of clients are when working with graphic designers. I thought you may get a kick out of it.
Posted in Computer Networking |
