Kitchen Updates!

Our old microwave finally bit the big weenie the other week.  It was slowly falling apart in various ways, but when I tried to open the door one day and the handle came off in my hand.... Yeah, it was time. We lived with the "stumpy" handle for a while until I finally picked out the new model -- i.e., opened up Consumer Reports and bought the recommended brand.  :)

I worked late today and when I called home, John's dad answered and said that they were installing the new microwave right then.  "Yay!" I thought to myself.  "I still have to go to the grocery store, maybe I will have a new microwave installed by the time I come back.  How long can it really take them?"  Well... when I came home around dinner time, the kitchen was totally taken apart and John's mom informed me that they hadn't even made the obligatory trip to Lowe's yet!  (Haven't you noticed that all home repair projects need at least one trips to Lowe's?)  Ugh!  I was so discouraged! 

I shouldn't be too hard on the menfolk, though, because they did all the work and made my kitchen look fabulous again!  I am excited about the new microwave; it's a serious upgrade from the one that came with our house, so I hope I won't make too many things explode before I get the hang of it.  :)

Testing....

My new toy (read: my new phone) is owned by Google... My blog is owned by Google... There should be an app for my blog to be able to use on my phone!

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New Toy SQUEEEEE!

First, let me sum up my absences:  I had a few weeks of vacation at the beginning of August... and I took it!  I was a waste of organic matter, resting and relaxing without any responsibilities.  Then, we took a week to visit family in Florida for my grandfather's 90th birthday party.  Not as relaxing, but not as stressful as it could have been either.  (John *loves* going to see my extended family; it shows him that I am one of the saner and more rational people in my gene pool.  Heehee.)

While in Florida, Mother and I opted to use our cell phone upgrades and get something fancy.  I have been suffering with extreme phone-envy since John got his Droid many moons ago, and Mother was finally caving to the lure of the smartphone.  I got the Motorola Droid X and Mom got the HTC Droid Incredible.

Can I get this out of my system?  ... SQQQQUUUUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Ok, I'm better now.  Seriously, this phone is slick!  I am slowly moving my way through all the settings and functions, but I think I can say now that I am enthralled with this phone!  I don't want to sound like just another review, but I highly recommend this phone to someone who is looking for serious fun.  Maybe it's just a symptom of upgrading from a Blackberry (which is probably the LEAST intuitive operating system out there), but I am really enjoying the Droid X.

Next step: choosing a skin for my phone.  I'm not really liking any of the cases I see, and as I suffer from "black phone in a black purse" syndrome, I need something to brighten up the casing of my phone.  There are several on ebay that I like, but I can't choose!  So indecisive!    :)

P is for...

P is for phone!  Well, folks, it's that time of year again.  When your cell phone plan is coming to a close and you start looking at your current phone... and you realize that you hate it.  Haha.  Don't get my wrong, I love my Blackberry in comparison to the Windows Mobile phone I had before (mainly because the BB would actually WORK consistently without crashing!).  But since I have seen John and his Droid.... I has the phone envy!  :(

Mom reminded me that our plans are renewing soon, so I am looking at the new Android phones.  Sadly, I am torn between two options:  1) get a phone that is a little bit better than what you have now, but is not expensive, or 2) pay an arm and a leg for the coolest phone out now, knowing that it will last longer before becoming totally obsolete.  Hmmmm.... decisions, decisions.

And yes, knowing me, I am making lists and comparison charts and reading up on all the reviews out there.  For some reason, I have a VERY hard time buying electronics / appliances without some serious research done first.  Maybe it's because they always cost so darn much and I have little understanding of what they're all about.

Wish me luck!

Blackberry Fun

Well, it all started Friday at work when my coworker (who has the same model phone as I) and I were talking about finding a St Patrick’s Day theme for our Blackberries.  We both had awesome Holiday themes for December and were ready for a new one, since are the kind of crazy person who likes to change out decorations every holiday season.  My coworker had transferred to a generic theme in January, while I had been holding on to my holiday one since it was snowflake-based and not Christmas-based (have you noticed we’ve gotten like 6feet of snow on the east coast?).  But since it’s getting just a little bit warmer, I have finally decided to remove the snowflake theme and find a good one for March.  Well, let me tell YOU!  St Patrick’s Day is not so popular that it warrants free themes for phones!  Christmas and Valentine’s Day are all over the internet, but nooooooo, not St Patrick’s Day.

I started the search immediately after I got home from the gym Friday afternoon … and finally got it working around 10pm!  I kid you not!  Over 5hrs.

The up-side is that I smile every time I see my phone theme, I have learned a bunch about downloading stuff to my phone (formats and all that), and I found about 5 more themes and half a dozen games as well!  A very frustrating 5hrs, but I came out with a good haul at the end of it.

X is for...

X is for Xtremely Angry!   >:0   Soooo, yesterday we were cleaning like good people who are soon-to-be hosting Thanksgiving, and I happened to drop my phone.  Now, this isn't the first time I've dropped it, but apparently I hit the "sweet spot" this time and cracked the ever-loving stuffings out of the screen.  The phone still works, but there is a big hole in it.   :(

That little piece that has separated from the cracks is UNDER the screen, riding (and hopefully not scratching) directly on the LCD panel.  Yay.

Well, I think to myself (after some choice words uttered in my head), there's a Verizon store just up the road-- maybe they can help us out.  NOPE!  Denied. Verizon apparently does NO repairs in-store, and only will do repairs at all if you are paying extra for an insurance plan.  Way to really go above and beyond on customer service, Verizon, we really appreciate you looking out for us.  I mean, it's a $3 screen for one of the more popular models Verizon carries; how hard is it to stock?

Next thought: there's a Sprint store on the way home, maybe I can hand them a big chunk of money to fix my phone for me even though I am not a Sprint customer.  After waiting over 30min for every clueless person to start an account, I am rejected again.  I ask, what can I do?! Sprint guy answers, "Well you can switch to Sprint..."   Seriously?!  You think that is what I want to hear right now?  Crazy people.  Crazy people who need a punch in the eye. 

I return to the car, either wanting to smash my phone on the ground like a monkey with a coconut OR wanting to burn down a cell phone store... Needless to say I have poor coping skills. 

On the way home, John is trying to keep me emotionally stable (a big job, I know), and I remember that eBay and Amazon sells just a plain screen... but how to fix it ourselves?  John looks up on YouTube instructions for how to take apart a phone.  Though, he is a little too gung-ho about fixing it and begins to crack it open! Wait! We haven't gotten the replacement screen, yet, honey!  ...oops.

Now that my first phase of poor coping skills is complete (desire to destroy the offending object), I have moved on to my second stage: grumpy & pessimistic.  John's about to smack me upside the head because I have now gotten all pouty about slow shipping times and how the screen will NEVER get here, and when it does the LCD will be scratched up anyways.  :(  I told you I got very angry yesterday.

So here I sit today, in a little better mood, but still anxious about preventing further damage to my already busted phone.  :(   Here's to hoping for speedy shipping that will deliver my new screen before Thanksgiving...

New Toy Semi-Review

So it's been about a month since I became one of the Followers of the Church of Crackberry (ie - bought a Blackberry).  I really blame Verizon and it's tempting offers: they frequently / periodically run a "buy a Blackberry for $50, get a Blackberry free," and about a month ago, Lara was in the market for a new phone and I noticed the ad.  I was getting tired of all the quirks in my old smartphone, and thought it would be a good deal for the two of us.  I mean, $25 for a Blackberry is hard to beat!  However, Verizon hates it's loyal, long-time customers and shut me down because the deal was only for new contracts, and no matter how I finagled it, they would not extend my contract or whatever to make me eligible.  Seriously?!  Why can't I be rewarded like new people?  Apparently years of loyalty mean nothing when you want a damn phone.  Only the people who have recently defected from another carrier get the special deals.  Maybe they should think about keeping the old customers so that THEY won't defect to ANOTHER carrier before they think about trying to steal new people away.... (deep sigh) Anyways, the story ends with Lara and Mom getting a phone for her, but I had to spend more money than I needed to at the time to buy my phone on eBay.  :(  Youngest sibling karma, I say. 

Yes, I got the pink one!  I am so girly.  I justify it by 1) I am a girl and 2) everyone has a silver phone so mine will stand out.

Well, all's well that ends well apparently, as I am hooked to my new Crackberry.  :D  That's not to say it isn't trifling in its own special little way, but I do like it better than my old phone.  Its OS is not as intuitive as Windows, but that's because Blackberry had to make up something different so that they wouldn't get sued by Microsoft.  That's probably my biggest gripe; that, and that I have found less free apps and games.  The Netlfix for Blackberry is far inferior than the Windows version, and I have yet to find a Solitaire that doesn't suck compared to my old one.  :(  For some reason, I have an aversion to paying for apps... even though there is a $5 Blackberry version of Oregon Trail!

The "pluses" are pretty significant though.  The internal antenna is better, so new phone gets better reception - like, "I can get reception in our room at work and don't need to huddle by the window" better reception.  :)   And the screen is set up for viewing better, plus there is no portrait-landscape orientation changes on the screen, so the programs bug out less often.  The internet browser is OK; I am used to running Mozilla on my computer, so anything on my phone will be worse for me until they can get Firefox on phones.  :P  AND, best of all, there's this thing called Blackberry Messenger that works just like AIM between Blackberry owners.  This means that Lara and I can communicate all we want and not rack up texts since it runs off the data plan. Yay!

I did rush out and buy a cover (because I am a clutz), and I think it's a nifty one.  Lara says it makes me both girly and coordinated.  I just know that I like it and it matches my phone.  :)

Shocking Puppies

Electrocution is fun! Well, before the SPCA and PETA come and hunt me down, let me clarify: we got an invisible fence for the yard to keep the puppies from running out into the street, and we are currently in the phase of "teaching the puppies to run back into the yard when they hear the warning beeps." So in reality we have only shocked them each once. Now we are reinforcing the threat of shock. (BF Skinner, I love you and your operant conditioning). Not as cool sounding as real electrocution, but less "animal cruelty getting Anne put in jail."

John says that the installation guy went through the first training round with them yesterday, so I missed zapping the fluffers. But if their behavior is anything to go by, they do not want a repeat performance! Dogee has already learned to head away from the beeps; Inu goes nowhere near the border at all; and Maile hasn't learned the boundary yet, but knows "beeps are bad" and cowers when they start. The guy said that for the next several weeks, we need to lead them up to the border until the warning beeps start, then praise them mightily when they move away from the fence. This way, you only will need to zap them once and they will learn that the fence is bad. Apparently, their collars have a "zap" setting and a "beep only" setting. If your dog learns that the fence is not something to be trifled with, then you can leave their collars on beep. Maybe the shock setting is for the stupid dogs who don't quite get it...

Sucky part is, we can no longer just pitch the puppies out into the yard when they have to pee, since then they have no reinforcement when they interact with the fence and all your training gets negated. So, they get to be leash walked around the yard... in the cold... and the rain... stupid dogs needing to pee when it's 33 degrees and rainy! (I am not exaggerating: schools are closed today because of possible icy death coming for our faces, and I had to walk the dogs this morning! grrrrr)

Gadgets!

Did I mention that I got a laptop for work? Anyhoo, I did. John was tired of listening to me fuss about the lack of computers there are at work, and he got me my Christmas and birthday present early (TOTALLY unexpected by me).

Well, I needed a mouse because I hate those little glide pads on laptops, and when we went shopping we saw the neatest bit of technology. They have developed "nano transmitters" for wireless mice so that it's super tiny when attached to your laptop! It's actually small enough that you can plug it in and forget about it. So cool! We were so transfixed that we had to get it.

Look at how small that baby it! Craziness!

FINALLY!

I HAVE A NEW CAMERA!!



And I have to admit, it's a bit of gadget pron. It's really cool. Very sleek, touchscreen on the back, smile detection... Who would've thought that all of a sudden I'd become such a techno-phile? (I already made the guys at both Radio Shack and the cell phone store envious of my new phone.)

So, yes, once I get a decent memory stick, I will be taking about a gazillion pictures and (hopefully) posting them! Yay! Pictures!

Sad, Tired Dance

Stupid phone.

Apparently, you cannot ACTIVATE a new phone in an Extended Network area, only in actual Verizon areas. The nearest Verizon, non-Extended Network is Roanoke! That's an hour away!

After much back and forth with the guy at the Verizon store, we learned two things:
1 - I need to be in a Verizon area to activate a phone (see above)
2 - Because we tried to activate the new phone, my old phone was kicked offline! I had no phone at all!

My plan was to just drive towards Roanoke tomorrow after work and activate the phone whenever I got to the appropriate area. John, though, gets mega points because he suggested that we go tonight - he'd drive and I type my paperwork - and that way I wouldn't be roaming the countryside with no way to communicate. (I thought of that, but rejected the idea, as it would waste his time, too, not just mine. But he's a sweetie.)

So we drove, checking the phone every 5 minutes to see if the network changed. It was super annoying, but it's done now and we can all go to bed. Doesn't technology make our lives easier?

Happy Dance

I got my phone! I got my phone! I got my phone!

So, yea. New shoes last night (part of anniversary present) and a new phone today! Met up with the Cavers coming through Charlottesville, and got my phone from Mom. It's so cool! I love it. It's definitely smarter than I am though. It's going to be a while before I figure everything out on it.

Felted Mittens Part 2 and others

1 - Just finished the second and final week of my Felted Mittens class... and I feel that it could have gone better (realizing mistakes after the fact, of course) but at the same time, it could have gone MUCH worse! So I feel that I was at least an above-average teacher. My "warm and fuzzy" moment as a teacher happened when one of the younger (and by younger, I mean, my age) participants, looked up at the end of an explanation, and said, "Ohhh! So you just do this and this and this, and it works out like that... I get it!" Inside, I was like, "YAY! I don't completely suck as a teacher if she can understand me!" Mom says all teachers have that fuzzy moment when they are validated.

The hardest part of this class, for me, was explaining the top-down hat with as little math as possible. People, especially knitters, get really scared when the M-word is mentioned, even though it's not calculus or anything. So, I typed up the hat directions as simply as possible; I even put in a little "plug and chug" section where they could enter their gauge and measurements. I think it went over OK; I saw some blank stares, but we made it through alright.

Sharon reports that it received positive feedback and that people want another session. She told them after the New Year, so maybe I can repeat this and work out some of the kinks. :)

2 - Last week we had a communication blow-up, but Victoria and I finally got together this week. It's funny, we go through four years of living together in college, then as she moves into the area, I move out. You'd think we'd have planned that better. But, we try to meet up whenever one is in the other's neck of the woods. So, I stopped in at her place and tried on the bridesmaid's dress (the number one reason we needed to meet!) and then we went out to Panera (mmmm... bread bowl soup) and solved the problems of the world. I think everyone needs that person with whom you always reconnect, no matter how long it's been. It's good for the soul.

3 - NEW PHONE HAS BEEN DECIDED UPON! Yes, after ages and ages of thinking about it, online shopping, online "customer reviews" searching, and hours in the stores, I have finally decided which phone I want. Whew! I promise, I didn't try to make it harder than it had to be. The issues start when you realize that I am now in a full-time job that is not always in the same place. I've got a school schedule that I need to balance with the Agency schedule, as well as all my trainings. I am terrified that I am going to forget something dreadfully important and then be in a world of trouble. Couple that with the amount of texting done between my coworkers and the lovely school filters on the Internet, I was playing with the idea of a Smart Phone. Not necessarily a full-on Blackberry, but something that was easier to text with, something that had a good calendar/appointment book, and maybe something that could access my email (since the school computers can't).

So. Here it is. Drum roll please. The Verizon SMT 5800! It's what I call a "baby smart phone" because it has the basic package of features, but nothing over-the-top. I've got texting, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a calendar that talks to my computer, online web surfing, and a MASSIVE screen. And as a total bonus, it runs on Windows, so I can access and edit Word, Excel, Powerpoint and PDF files! How cool is that? I like it. Sadly, I won't be getting it until next week. Mom was going to order it (free stuff when you do it online) and it was supposed to be mailed to me tomorrow, but it's out of stock online. So she's gone back to a store and I will pick it up from her next Sunday. She's going caving with the Girl Scouts, and they always stop in Charlottesville for lunch on the way home; so I am just going to meet them for lunch and pick up my phone. Yay! New phone!

4 - Oh yea, did I mention that I have a sinus infection ravaging my face this weekend? It's been loads of fun. At the Mitten class, I was feeling icky... then I felt my sinuses go all weird... then the ick started to turn colors. Yay, infection. I didn't go to work today and have been one with the couch trying to sleep it off. Though I do feel loads better than I did on Saturday. Hopefully this will clear up soon.

U is for...

U is for updates! Okay, so this may be the worst letter ever, but I am running out of ideas and my Garmin GPS just flashed that it's time to buy the map updates. :( Stupid thing needing $70 map updates...

I think my main problem is that I wanted to do "unfinished projects" for U, and then "works in progress" for W... and really those are the same thing. So I have been debating which I would keep, and as I am super behind on my alphabet this month, U gets the short straw. Hopefully, I will be better when W rolls around and I can get some pictures posted as well.

Camera malfunction

Stupid camera! grrrr..... I am so saddened by my camera. Since about last December (I noticed it starting at Lara's wedding because there was a lot of need for many cameras then), my camera has slowly been dying and it angers me. There has been a steady progression of it not recognizing the batteries put into it, such that now it won't even turn on... even with fresh, new batteries there is not enough juice to turn on! :( I am so sad / angry becuase it's only about two and a half years old and it has totally pooped out on me. Technology should last longer than that.

So the other week when I was in Lynchburg, we were passing a Ritz camera shop in the mall, and we stopped in to ask if they do repairs. They do. So I asked roughly how much it would be. They pulled out the big book of pricing, and for my camera model it would be $250 to repair! >:O What the heck! I can buy a whole new camera for that much.

Now I am in a quandary because I can't think of too many other places that would repair a digital camera... and I definitely can't afford buying a new camera / fixing mine for that much. :(

Thankfully, I have caught up on taking pictures of knitting projects because Lara told me that you can get a CD of pictures when you develop a disposable camera. So I got a little cheap camera, took a LOT of pictures in one night, then I dropped it off this morning to be developed. Except that I am just getting the digital copies of the pictures, not any prints. Which seems funny to me.

Does anyone know a place that fixes cameras?

Randomness

So, it's official: my life is boring. I was trying to think of anything exciting to post about and I couldn't really come up with anything spectacular. :( Things do happen, just not bright shiny things.

Mom's been in Florida visiting family for the past week, so I've been here by my lonesome, just me and the furries. Frank has been especially fussy because he only has me to fuss at. Normally, his fussing would be divided between two people, but this week he just has me. Poor cat. (The hammie is blissfully unaware as usual.) Since I'm here by myself, and since I don't live by myself well, I picked up a few extra days working at the store so I can keep busy. And get paid. Extra pay is good when you only work part-time.

Then Saturday was the KnitWits First Anniversary Sale and Party. That was a small whirlwind in itself; people just love the sound of "__% off." We also had a Lawre's Laine trunk show, so Lawre was there with all her bag fabrics and customizing possibilities. I fell in love with some of her fabric and got a few accessory zipper-pouches (her smallest item; I love her bags, but definitely cannot afford them). I was good though! Most were for gifts, only one was for me. Though I bought lots of yarn too... bad me. But, in my defense, it was all on super sale, so normally $80 sweaters were only about $50. And when you are using really nice yarn, that makes a difference! You can justify cashmere when it's on sale. :) Well, maybe you can always justify cashmere... I know I can.

So, yes, now I am poor; but the extra work days I picked up balance out most of my spendings this weekend. And have I said that I won't be buying yarn once I move out to Lynchburg? Therefore, it will also balance out in the long run. Yarn gluttony now, yarn fast later. It's the circle of life. ;)

And the final excitement of the week, was that John came to see me! Yay! I like him. :) But he was also quite handy because he fixed a technological problem we were having with some presents (which I won't describe for a few more days, because the presents haven't been delivered yet and I don't want to spoil it for the recipients). John's so nice to have around.

And that was my week. Not exceptional, but mine just the same.