Some things will never change:

Some things will never change.
When the hair dryer started squeaking I had to take it apart to see what was up.

Engadget just reminded me

 Engadget just reminded me...

I miss parts of my childhood. Back then there was nothing better than a roll of quarters and the local arcade.

When did everything get so complicated?

 *sigh*

Photo credit: Daves Portfolio

Top Ten best things about this week : *spoiler alert*

Top Ten best things about this week : *spoiler alert* ( 9 of them contain alcohol) .

Come to think of it I will let you guess at the list. Lets just say ~Kinda glad lent is over.

The Park...

Was a little flooded tonight. We went around the barricades the city had placed for our protection to get this and couple of other photos. This forced us to go to higher ground for our nightly walk.

Tanner took the change in venue in stride.

Cloud Living : the Google Path

I have had mixed feelings about this whole iOS to Android move with the new phone.
The Atrix does seem a little, well glitchy at times. It shut off once by itself when I was waiting for a call. It also failed to recognize the fingerprint reader forcing me to re-boot. I cant say that the iPhone never needed to re-boot, because it did. It just seems android is not as polished. I know everyone says that but if you use both you will know what I mean.
On the other hand the Android experience is for lack of a better word, an experience. I have grown to love the finger-print unlock (a Motorola Artix only feature I believe) button. It is quick and easy and hard to remember why I unlocked my phone any other way before. The hardware although slightly lighter and some less sturdy feeling is snappy and responsive even when I am Streaming HD video out to my flat screen TV, While playing music and downloading something in the background.Sure I can hear the battery humming but that puppy screams performance. All this is nice but the real power behind a smartphone is the software, so how is that?

What really got me is the farther down the Google path I go the more interconnected things become.  I was using Google calendar before but now its my main calendar. I had a Google voice number set up, but never really did much with it.
Suddenly things are different. Free from the constraints of iTune syncing suddenly my word seems (almost) effortlessly together.
This morning was a great example. I have to tell you first that the first gen iPhone has not gone away. I am basically using it as an alarm clock/ iPod touch. It works exceedingly well in the charging dock on my night stand it is a great, dead simple alarm that I can pick up and check my email or play Angry birds on. iPhone first gen my not run all the newest software but it still is chugging along.  Besides my old alarm clock just died so it was perfect timing. With that in mind as I was getting up this morning my "clock" chirped. It had already woke me up so what now? It was to reminded me I had to pick up my mother at the dealer today as she was getting her oil changed. I stood there looking at it, blinking, how the hell did it do that. Then I realized that my Google calendar had synced over the wifi and because I had asked the iPhone check Google events (a long time ago) there it was reminding me... pick up your mother.  It had already sent a reminder to my work outlook calendar and well look at that: cross platform syncing over multiple platforms with minimal effort... who knew?
I grabbed the phone and not only was there a reminder there also, but as I was walking out I could SEE a voice-mail transcribed and scrolling across my screen thanks to Google voice and the corresponding widget on my Android phone. Huh... handy, I thought. I jumped in the truck my Bluetooth audio stream kicked in right where I had left off... nice. Three miles down the road the music was interrupted and the the phone rang. It was my mother making sure I was on the way. The Ford Snyc, gently stopped the music, took the call over the hands free connection built into the vehicle, and when I was done picked up again where I left off. Effortless. George Jetson eat your heart out.

To be honest, the iPhone did a lot of this also.Let face it: my morning was a bunch of platforms working together, iOS, Android, MS Office, Ford Snyc and more.  I  just seems freeing that the iTunes has been taken out of the equation and the bottom line Android just works better with Google: Calendar, Mail, Voice and Maps. I almost cringe to say it but 'it just works".
Maybe this it would be different if I was rocking a Mac at home/office as my main computing platform. I am not. So for me, so far, the farther down the Google path I go the more I like it. A little scary at times (like pulling contact info from facebook) , but also nice. Almost familiar. Most of all helpful in a " I don't have to fight with my phone or software" kind of way.
So far, so good as they say. I am hoping that this continues to be a positive experience but for now I guess I am all in. We will see how it all plays out. God help us all if the cloud goes down.

Happy Easter Everyone

A pre Easter shot of my niece and nephew showing some holiday spirit.

Keeping with the reptile theme * this week:

I caught up this little guy a the park today.Tanner really did not get what all the commotion was about. It did take me a bit to wrangle this guy and in the end I just let him go again.
The other day there was some big deer bouncing away from us as we rounded the corner. The park has been our own little eco-system lately balancing out the work week and pushing out the paperwork cobwebs out of my head.
Tomorrow is Easter and the end of lent.
Hopefully it brings a nice peaceful summer.

* I know that a toad is an amphibian but lets face it... its close-a-damn-nuff 

You drained that faucet for the winter right?

Me: You drained that faucet for the winter right?
Tenant: Yep.
Me: Your sure? I can come over and do it for you.
Tenant: No I can get it.

Cool TV: Fringe

Possibly the best show on TV right now is more than a x-files for the current generation. I like it. I like it alot.

Yesterday in the woods...

Tanner and I came across this interesting tree at the top of a steep ravine.
The new droid phone has a pretty decent camera and I can see the better resolution paying dividends already. (click on this image to see it larger version) This is especially true in the video area.
I will try and post a vid to show you what I mean.

I caught this handsome fellow in the yard this morning

Like me the cold was not making him very happy. It was 38 deg and he was not going to move even if I almost did step on him.
Tanner remains the only one not discouraged by the cold weather and the slow start to spring.

Why my CE class is better than your CE class.

My CE class can beat up your CE class.
CE?  More like C-RIFFICK!
Time spent at class not deducted from life span.
Actually learning. HUH. Who knew.
And finally ...
FREE!

Well I finally purchased a new phone.

Well I finally went and updated my first gen iPhone that was dying the slow death on the isle of abandoned products.
Long forgotten and falling behind in software updates it was time.

It was both easier and more difficult than I had expected. I am still working out a new kinks but so far I am very pleased with the Android path I have wandered down. The Motorola Atrix is both powerful and sleek. I am reveling in the new Android format. Yet there are things I will miss...
I will let you know more once I have settled in completely. For now its like learning a different language that have only dabbled in before and I have a lot of ground still to cover.

Dear Mother Nature : We are over it.

Lets face it, you are among friends here.

But these destructive habits are just not good.
Not good for you.
Certainly not good for the ones around you.
I thought you were done with the snow?
You just could not resist one last re-lapse could you?
It this really what you want? It this really how you want things to be?
I know that deep down you are tired of the toll it takes... on you and others.
We all love you Mother Nature. Sure were not perfect either and we don't always show it.
We just want whats  best. I want you to go into Spring now. Dont be scared, really it will be OK.
The first step is admitting there is a problem.
Its OK to be upset. We are all upset.
We are here to support YOU Mother Nature. This spring thing may seem hard now but it will be good for you and then someday... and that day will not be that far away... you will be ready for summer.
You will be able to look back and smile at how far you came.
Now go with spring now. That it. Stop fighting it.
Good.
Remember we will be here  to support your decision and we love you.
Sincerely,
All of your friends.

Today was full of surprises...

Today was full of surprises... some of them good some not so good.
Yesterday I was telling the Girl it was so windy I was afraid a tree was going to fall on us at the park.
Today Tanner and I found this lying across the path.

Firday Date Night: Sabor Latino

As lent is wearing on our old haunts seem to be more and more mundane.
The Girl was in the mood for something different but still in our familiar comfort zone. Not too busy but getting downtown seemed like a good idea.
Sabor Latino fit the bill nicely. We had not been there in a while and were surprised to see they now had a license to sell alcohol  (A little Google Research says since Aug 2010) something we always wished they had. Ironically useless to us at the moment.
We spit the fajitas, with a extra side of the famous guacamole. 
It. Was. Awesome.
The best part, aside for the company,  dinner for two $22.00 ( pre-tip) in  a place we have been too long from. If you are in town, want some good food but are not feeling fancy check it out. You can thank us later.

Random observations: Starbucks and Zombie Bunny edition.

Random observations: Starbucks and Zombie Bunny edition.

Starbucks- why on gods great green earth do you have to serve you coffee so bloody hot. It seriously is molten hot. The only valid reason is that you are trying to show NASA that your foam cup material can stand up to re-entry temperatures. I see Starbucks brand satellites in our future.

Barack and Michelle Obama- I know your busy running the country and all.  Must be hard what with juggling a couple wars, the budget crisis and everything. Pretty amazing that you could still carve out some time to appear on Oprah on May 2. Seems like a totally appropriate use of your time. Farewell show or not, thanks for illustrating that all it really takes is a crapload of money to have presidential access. Maybe while you are there she can cut you a check to cover the deficit?

In the “gee really?” category… recently after a government probe our very own Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) called Goldman Sachs “a financial snake pit rife with greed, conflicts of interest, and wrongdoing,” adding that C.E.O. Lloyd Blankfein should possibly face perjury charges. Pretty sure not actual charges are pending.

Probably the surest sign to date that an actual zombie uprising is nigh? Chocolate Zombie (Easter) Bunny found *here* . Cute. Someone forgot to tell them that the undead apocalypse is so yesterday… where is my glow in the dark Fukushima bunnies? (I know, I know too soon).

End observations.

How my mind secretly works:

Thanks to xkcd  for reading my mind.

The other part of Sunday.

Sunday lived up to its name today as temps soared and raced to highs you would expect in June not April.
My bother and sister-in-law had a chance to spend some time with some friends so I looked after my Niece and Nephew for a few hours.
After I pried Gabriel away from the Wii and the iPad we all walked down the the park with Tanner for some fun in the sun so to speak.
I spent most of the time wrangling the heard but did manage to snap these quick shots of my always stylish niece Mina enjoying the swing.
With the Girl out of town visiting friends it was a pleasant albeit almost to hot diversion to spend some time with the Kids.

Shop time: The Globe Stand.

 A long time ago, on a vacation the Girl and I bought this small inexpensive vintage looking globe in a small shop while on vacation.

It had no stand  but of course that could be fixed.

Several years later I realized I had yet to fix this. Since I did not have very much shop time today I decided to look past the other projects (some have been started some still just ideas) and knock this one out.

I had this oak disk sitting around so I found the center, divided into three 120 deg slices, and marked it all out. 





I drew these arms out with a compass on a scrap piece of oak that matched the disk and paying attention to the way the grain ran...something I have been paying more attention to lately.
Morticed some square holes to accept them and viola!
There was a bit more measuring to get the distance of the thee arms right and into the correct position as to contact the globe just way that looked pleasing to me. It was a little tricky... the rest pretty much fell into place.

Sure its needs some sanding still and I have to glue, stain and seal but I am pretty happy with the result so far.

Star wars marathon.... on again.

In an effort to prove that even I could get tired of the classic series there was another Star Wars marathon on tonight. I seems to be a weekly thing. Almost predictable.
I still watched it.
So....Where is the proof  you ask?
I only watched episode IV.
That my good friends is progress and an undeniable sign that you can over do a good thing.

I did DVR the rest of course. I said there was progress I did not say I was cured now did I.

Finally legitimately feeling better...

Finally legitimately feeling better... but I just went out side and realized I was walking out of one fog into another.
Storms rolling in tomorow and wicked warm weather behind it.
Should be interesting.

Top Five: Under the weather addition.

Top 5 things about being sick

1)      Personal satisfaction you feel for increasing the tissue industries bottom line.

2)      The ability to catch up on your "price-is-right".

3)      The- “I’m taking it easy excuse” to prevent that dreaded re-lapse

4)      Coughing until you feel like your lungs bleed… no wait... I hate that

5)      Increased Vernors consumption- never questioned.

It's official...

I have a cold.

I really don't have time for...

I really don't have time for a sniffle. Much less a cold.
This better stop now.

If today was a dinosaur... it would be a

If today....
was a dinosaur it would be a Dumbassasaurus.
was a car it would be a Kia SoGobacktobedto.
was a cereal it wold be frosted crap flakes.
was a color it would be burnt sayonara.
was a plant it would be a creeping-you-down.
was a disease it would be H1N2 bad for you.
was a city would be sukstobeyou ville.

(end mini rant)

Why the office staff hates me....

 

Happy Aprils Fools Day Everyone.