This Should Work

Holy Crap! It’s been a long time since I’ve put anything up here. So long that I’ve almost forgot the password. Too much Twitter and Facebook. But I still think there’s a place for this blog in my life, now I just need to figure out where.

Maybe something will happen with my little corner of web soon…

We started off just trying to capture some video of Lily walking. We got that covered, but then Lily wanted “artistic” control of how things were shot…

So I’ve been doing my homework on this iPhone 3G vs. new iPod Touch thing that’s been going on in my head for about three weeks now and I think I’ve got a possible solution: get the old iPhone.

I’ll be able to get the cheaper data plan (unlimited data plan $20 per month including text messages), I won’t have 3G where I’m moving to in Ohio, I’ll still get all the iPhone updates, and I can probably buy one for relatively cheap on eBay or some other site.

Who knows, with the iPhone 3G going on sale Friday morning, maybe some will give there old ones away in some sort of contest.

Ever since my iPod Touch cracked last month I’ve been trying to decide whether to just replace it with another iPod Touch or to take the plunge and get the new 3G iPhone. I have some very good reasons for taking the plunge:

• Need a new iPod, and want a new phone- which makes the iPhone a perfect choice. I hate having to keep track of two devices everywhere I go, and I’m more likely to forget my cell phone than my iPod. If I had an iPhone, I’d have both in one device.
• Access to the Internet anywhere- I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in a restaurant or parking lot and wanted to look something up on the Internet. I was out at lunch with my wife the other day debating about some small fact and said to her “if I had an iPhone, I could look this up. But there’s no Wi-Fi here so my Touch doesn’t work”
• My brother-in-law helps every time he talks with my wife- At least two times since my iPod Touch broke has my brother asked if I’ve made a decision, reminding her that there’s a 30-day return policy on the AT&T network.

And yet, there are a reasons to not buy the iPhone and stick with the Touch:

• No 3G in my soon-to-be area- In Mt.Vernon, Ohio there is no 3G network, it’s the basic AT&T network. In fact, the nearest 3G network is an hour away (in Columbus). While my current carries, Verizon, has their 3G network up and running in the area. I got full EVDO strength in some very remote places. While AT&T’s other data network (EDGE) will work, part of the point of the new iPhone is that it works on 3G.
• iPhone pricing plans are horrible-It looks like the cheapest plan for the iPhone starts at $60 dollars a month with 500 minutes, unlimited data, but no Text messages. If you want text messages (and I do) there’s a $5 add on change for 200 messages or $20 for unlimited messages. So that’s $80 per month for a useful iPhone, and that’s before taxes and fees. This price also does not include the Exchange feature (push email and calendars), that’s an extra $15. And none of that includes the $36 one-time activation fee.
• My brother-in-law doesn’t help every time he talks with my wife-He’s on the AT&T network and every time they talk, the call inevitably drops at least once if not more. And he lives in the San Francisco Bay Area where there should be a solid network. Every time after she gets off the phone she says “I’m not sure about being on the AT&T network.” Me too.

If the iPhone were available on the Verizon network it would be a slam dunk. But it’s not. And I’m not sure if it’s worth the steep price to break our Verizon contract, switch to a different carrier, and pay an large monthly fee (one that almost rivals our price for two phones on Verizon) all just for one phone.

Plus I think my wife will pay for the 16GB version.

Yesterday was my official last day as an employee of The University of Kentucky. While I’ll be going back next week as a consultant, I am technically unemployed this week.

And Thank God! I worked so hard over the past few months trying to get everything under the sun done for my department that I forgot to take care of myself. So this week I’ll be doing the following:

• Sitting on the couch and watch television
• Sitting on the couch and playing video games
• Taking a nap on the couch
• Going out to lunch with my wife
• Going to a matinee movie

Basically, I’ll be doing what I want to do without feeling guilty for neglecting work.

Such a good feeling.

At nine o’clock at night, here’s what Lily’s doing.

While Lily may have scratched my iPod Touch screen, my wife was able to do one better. Last night as we were going to bed, my wife tried to save me a trip downstairs and bring my iPod Touch upstairs to place at my bedside (I use it as a backup alarm, and it keeps me occupied if I’m walking Lily around the house at night).

Unfortunately, as my wife was heading up the stairs, my iPod decided to slip out of its case and head down the stairs. It went smack and crack the touch screen pretty badly. My wife says “…and I want you to know I’m getting you a new iPod Touch,” then showed me the damage. A large crack down the center of the screen.

Strangely enough it still works!

My wife is leaning toward buying another iPod Touch instead of an iPhone (the AT&T network is not great, and it’s really bad where we’ll be living in Ohio). but one can dream…

Of the many toys Lily can play with at our house, the ones she likes the best belong to mommy and daddy. Specifically, mommy’s laptop and daddy’s iPod Touch.

While mommy’s laptop has lost seven keys thanks to Lily, my iPod had remained unscathed until today.

Lily and I were playing on the kitchen floor when I decided to lookup something online. Rather than getting up to go to the computer in the other room, I decided to use my iPod Touch to surf the web-which meant Lily was interested in surfing the web.

After about 30 seconds of web surfing, Lily was done and wanted to put the iPod in a lunch bag.

In and out, in and out the iPod went, Lily grinning with glee. Then she decided to play with it like a car, rubbing it against the kitchen floor, still grinning with glee…until I took it away from her. I took a look to see if it survived and saw what I thought was a dog hair. I tried to get the dog hair off the screen but soon realized it was a scratch on the touch screen!

It’s not terrible (even though it’s right in the middle of the screen) and it really only shows up on things with either a light or white background. It’s enough to be annoying, but not enough to warrant getting a new one.

My wife reminded me “That’s why we don’t let the baby play with $300 pieces of technology.”

I’m usually keeping my wife abreast of where I am while I’m traveling through the airport via text message. This time around I thought I would also send those messages to my Twitter (since Twitter will accept text messages).

So if you want to know what’s going on while I’m on the road there are two ways to do it:

1. Talk to my wife
2. Follow me on Twitter

Now you’ll probably get better info if you talk to my wife since I’ll talk to her every night as well. But if you Twitter is the next best way to find out what’s going on during my trip.

This weekend I was supposed to rest (doctor’s orders). But I find that I’m not very good at sitting around and doing nothing. At least not at this moment in my life.

For half a day on Friday I sat on the couch, played video games, and took a nap. And while this may sound restful, let me state the my doctor told be to rest the entire weekend, not half a day. The rest of the weekend was spent cleaning the house for a couple of showings, hanging with friends, working, and preparing for a trip to Orlando for a conference.

Not exactly a restful weekend. Maybe I’ll sleep on the plane.

Maybe.