Did Droid X Mark the Spot?

Not quite.

A couple days ago (when I could actually walk), I purchased a Droid X as I was eligible for an upgrade and discount pricing. I’m not going to do real review on it just yet. I haven’t yet settled into normal use of the phone and I’d like to do that first so I can better judge how this phone responds to my needs and expectations. First impression is that I do like it but it does have some quirks and inadequacies.

The biggest pro is that the antenna picks up a cell signal a lot better where I live. Since moving into the apartment with my BlackBerry, the service has been somewhat unreliable with it going between 0/5-3/5 bars, and always fluctuating between 1 and 2. This is where I have experienced my first dropped call- on my end- on Verizon’s network. With the Droid X, I have noticed better reception, and I have not lost signal.

My biggest complaint is accessing contacts in general. First, it pulls in contacts from all your social networking accounts and I can’t delete them. So I end up with this funny feeling of carrying a contact list containing people like David Blue, Sean Bugg, or President Obama because I follow them on Twitter not because I know them personally. Second, with such a huge as contact list, it would be nice that there would be an autofill option for the phone dialer where I can just start typing in a contact name and it would fetch the number for me but there isn’t. Lastly, I can’t always control the contact names. For example, Roy’s contact name is not his real name but his twitter handle and I can’t get that overridden so that comes up as “Roy.”

Before I bought the phone, I scoped out some review sites. I also check out what people were saying about it on twitter.

A lot of people were complaining about the size. They don't get much sympathy for me. Did they not realize this when they bought the device?

There were also a lot of complaints about the battery life. Even with my more-than usual fiddling with it, I'm at 12 hours with.... hmmm... 50% charge left which is what I would expect for a smart phone quite honestly. I haven't had a multi-day phone since my E-815 which was just a run-of-the-mill flip phone.

Another complaint was the UI which I would agree, isn't the best. I have trashed most of the widgets but some are useful. It's definitely not as polished as HTC's or as easy to use as the iPhone but I still find it a couple steps up from my BlackBerry, so I can blind myself to that criticism just a little bit. :P

I've got to take another dose of pain pills now. I’ll probably post some more thoughts next week.

<<--See also: "Considering Giving it Up to the Cloud"

I’m just gonna lay here for a bit.

It hasn’t been a great couple of weeks for me and I think today is just the icing of that disgusting cake. I went to urgent care clinic this morning because I could hardly walk due to a painful knee. It was swollen all around the cap and felt very tight and tender.

When the doctor first examined me, she noted that the real pain was actually on my kneecap and said that if I had been overstraining the ligaments, then the sides should hurt more. She ordered some bloodwork to see if I had gout like I suspect I do as well as x-rays for the knee. I should get the results for the blood tomorrow. The x-rays showed that I have calcium deposits growing on my tendons. Calcific tendonitis, I believe she called it. She asked me if I had injured it playing sports or something. Honestly, I don’t think so.

So I am doped up on Vicodin and taking Prednisone. I hate Vicodin. Sure it takes away the pain, but I get mild nausea from it, especially if I have to wake up with it. I’ve taken tomorrow off from work. We’ll see if I can limp in there on Friday.

Meme time again!

It's been a long time since I've done one of these. Thanks Season!


What is your occupation right now? I am an “operations statistician” for a distribution company.

What is your favorite color? Dark Green (and yes, I liked it before I went to MSU)

What are you listening to right now? The Diane Rehm Show (an NPR podcast)

What was the last thing that you ate? Spaghetti and corn-on-the-cob.

Can you drive a stick shift? The simplest answer is no.

Last person you spoke to on the phone? Work phone: a member of inventory control. Cell phone: my sister.

What is your biggest pet peeve? Bad drivers

How old are you today? 28

What is your favorite sport to watch on TV? College football or gymnastics during the summer Olympics.

What is your favorite drink? Coke

Have you ever dyed your hair? No

Favorite food? Lumpia

What is the last movie you watched? In full: The Blind Side. In part: Sunshine

Favorite day of the year? Memorial day for the selfish reason that it’s finally a day off of work since New Years.

How do you vent anger? With a pissy attitude.

What was your favorite toy as a child? Legos

What is your favorite season? Fall

Cherries or Blueberries? Blueberries

Do you want your friends to e-mail you back? Well how about they just post this one their blogs?

Who is the most likely to respond? Better question: who the hell comes here anymore?

Who is least likely to respond? Google bot.

Living arrangements? Alone. Surrounded by mostly old people (which I kinda dig because they’re quiet).

When was the last time you cried? Two nights ago. Onions are bitches.

What is on the floor of your closet? Shoes and boxes.

Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending to? Of the people that I know who read this blog, that would be Season.

What did you do last night? Heh… should I answer this…? Vomiting in my bed. Not sick. Didn’t drink anything. My best guess is that I tried to drink the rest of the milk that I had before it would get bad. I’m not much of a milk drinker in the first place.

What are you most afraid of? Rejection

Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers? Plain. Wait… how plain because if it’s just a patty with some ketchup and mustard, forget it.

Favorite dog breed? Labrador Retreiver

Favorite day of the week? Saturday.

How many states have you lived in? Four (Nevada, Florida, Idaho, and Michigan). Seven if I can count provinces and landers (La Union, Hesse, and Laguna).

Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds

What is your favorite flower? Sunflower. What can I say? I think with my stomach.

A New Television Season Starts Tonight

The season premiers start this week. I’m not planning on picking up any new shows. Actually… now that I think about, I haven’t seen many ads about the new shows. Hmmm.

So far, I am only looking forward to Glee (which is on tonight), Stargate Universe (next week), The Amazing Race and V which will come later.

Partly because I can no longer watch ABC over the air, but mostly because I’m not liking the direction of the shows… I am ditching Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters. Although I will probably stick with Brothers & Sisters for a while until Emily VanCamp leaves the show.

Season, Don't Look!

...because I can't get enough of it.

h/t MSUAndyHRCMB for posting the vid.

I’ve got a beef with Burger King

I work in an industrial area of town and if I forget my lunch (which I do far too often), I have very few options. There’s a Subway right around the corner or a Burger King down the road. I took off for Burger King today and as I drove up to the board, I gritted my teeth because I knew what was coming.

BK: “Would you like to try a Whopper value meal today? Order when ready.”

Me: “Yes I would. I’d like a number one, small. Make the drink a coke, no ice. That’s all.”

The next thing anyone should expect is the amount that’s due and maybe a pleasant thank you. Oh no. Not here. I’ve been here enough times that I knew what was coming next:

BK: “You said a number one?”

Me. “Yes.”

BK: “Would you like cheese on that?”

Me: “No.”

BK: “Small, medium, or large?”

Me (annoyed): “Small.”

BK: “And you said, ‘no ice,’ right?”

Me (with a death grip on my steering wheel): “No ice.”

I hold my breath for a second because maybe this time they’ll ask if I want onion rings instead of fries.

BK: “Okay, that’ll be five-blah blah blah. Please pull around.”

It never fails. I don’t get this shit from McDonalds in my town. Hell, sometimes they’re telling me my amount due as, “that’s all,” are tumbling past my lips. With this Burger King, not only do I have to repeat my order… I have to walk them through it step by step.

You know, at least I’m not the asshat placing special orders for the four other people in his or her car.

I don’t like to bring it up.

I dread the anniversary of the 9-11 attacks. In my head I know that I shouldn’t be as affected by this event but in reality I am. It has disturbed me… in ways I can’t even articulate. So when of my friends was talking about how she was crying over the 9-11 videos that she was watching today, I got mad. That morning was one of the most vivid of my life and I have little desire to relive any of it. I don’t understand why she or anyone else wants to reopen old wounds because that’s what it feels like to me. It still makes my stomach cramp up a bit to see those planes flying into the towers even more so when they show people jumping out of windows to their deaths. I haven’t talked about the anniversary in a few years and I certainly haven’t talked about it in depth. Honestly, I don’t know how long it will be until I feel like I can.

Yes, Ma’am

I was listening to Talk of the Nation on NPR the other day and a piece they did was about the usage of ma’am. The guest that was brought on thought that this form of address was anachronistic. Women these days tend to be insulted by the word and Sen. Boxer was brought up as an example.

Personally, I use sir and ma’am when I speak to strangers and in a formal setting. I have never been comfortable calling my bosses by their first names. I think though I may be one of the last that still holds to the old forms of address.

My friend Sara has a son and he calls me David. When I was his age, I would never have been allowed to address one of my parent’s friends in that fashion. Actually, I remember getting bonked on the head when I dared to call one of them Sherri. But Sara’s son? Didn’t even notice until a bit later. As I thought about it and as I think about it now, it doesn’t really bother me that he calls me by my name. So I wonder why the expectations that I hold for my own conduct, is not the same that I expect from him.

Even if they’re not, it was pretty gay.

Netflix has been suggesting that I watch Dostana for little while now. It looked to me like a Bollywood movie and I generally tend to avoid movies in other languages as I feel like I end up reading the subtitles rather than enjoying the film. The closest thing to an Indian film that I’ve watched is Bend it Like Beckam (which has become one of my favorite movies, period). Feeling in the mood for something different, I gave Dostana a shot and I am so glad that I did.

Two straight men attempt to go after an apartment but the girl that they would be living with has a protective aunt that will not allow men to live with her so they decide to pose as a gay couple. I know what you’re thinking, and that plot device was what kept me from watching it earlier. I mean, haven’t we’ve seen something like that before? So as you probably guess, both the straight guys fall in love with her and hilarity ensues, right?

The dance sequences are one of the elements that I surprisingly liked. I believed that these kinds of things did not belong in movies unless there was a reason to. While they mess with your head—now is this really happening—they do fit it rather well and I found myself wanting to dance a bit myself.

h/t to PremGatha for the vid post.

Now before you go ahead and check it out yourself, know that it is a fairly long movie. I’m not shitting you—it actually has an intermission. Some plot lines come up and get resolved within the entire movie. For example, one of the men comes out or rather is found out by his mother and goes all the way through to her final acceptance. But this is also where my biggest problem with the movie comes in. The movie is pretty much perfect in the first half but the mood changes quite a bit in the second when the two guys start their plots into winning over the girl.

As for the gay angle, I found it interesting to get a glimpse into Indian views on homosexuality. I won’t pretend to know that I have a good idea as I am not at all familiar with their culture but based on what I saw, it seems that they are still pretty homophobic. The movie could not even present an actual kiss between two guys. One of the more interesting lines of dialogue was when one guy told his soon-to-be-wife that he would never kiss another man, not even for her. Seriously?!

I would recommend this movie. It’s available to stream on Netflix.

I got my first visitor!

Not counting my sister...
Not counting my parents...
Not counting the cable guy...

Fellow blogger Stacey was kind enough to stop by my new apartment. She has been the first of my friends to visit me. Thankfully she gave me enough warning to take out the trash, throw my shtuff in a side closet, and hide some dirty dishes in the oven. You didn't seem to notice did ya Stacey? ;) It was great to see you again!

No Wicker Baskets Involved

I crossed the state line to attend a company picnic. I skipped out on the first two. The first time because I felt too new and the second because I had something to do that day (although I forget what it was). I had a pretty good time. Heck, I even played some game that I never seen before which I am calling testicles because they were a pair of balls attached together a little bit of rope and I guess the object was to throw them at some bars and get them ensnared on them. Hmm… apparently I’m not the only one that calls them that.

The park that we were at is located by the river and has walking trails. Personally, I like them and in particular I like the ones located by the river because of the varying terrain. I’ve never been to this particular park so I was eager to check it out.

One of the differences between this park and the ones I’ve been to in my county is how wide the trails are. You could drive down some of them. I’m used to ones that are not really maintained and only exist because people keep walking over them.

Only a very short section of trails actually comes up against the river and there isn’t any access point into the water…

…Well not for the humans anyways. Here are some coon tracks.

It’s been a decade?

I attended my ten year high school reunion. After almost a day of digesting the events, I am still not quite sure on how I feel about meeting my old classmates. I don’t keep in contact with most of them and I’m okay with that. Yet, when I see them again, I’m happy. I’m glad to know that they are doing okay. I don’t know if or when I will ever see any of them again, even if it would be awkward, I think I would like that.

I should choose who gets to see my penis.

Considering that the government, despite their promises not to, are saving pictures of people going through these body scanners, I would like to bring in with me a sign that says, "Objects in scanner are bigger than they appear." Or... I'll just opt for the pat down.

Is it that bad that you have to go after the kids?

Republicans in Arizona would like to withhold citizenship to children born to illegal immigrants. The way this would happen would be that a hospital would be prohibited from giving a birth certificate. This, of course, violates the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause which reads, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the States wherein they reside.” Basically, this means that anyone born in the United States is automatically a citizen.

There is now a growing push, particularly amongst Republicans, to amend the constitution. They claim that illegal immigrants are coming to the United States to give birth to “anchor babies.” Their thinking is that if they give birth and have their kids obtain US citizenship, it would guarantee their ability to stay in America. Stripping jus soli out of the 14th Amendment would prevent these anchor babies and keep these kids and their parents deportable.

I am against getting rid of jus soli.

I get the idea of not wanting to reward illegal aliens but doing this would punish these children. If we were to go through with this, these children would be stateless. I can envision a whole new generation of people who will be born and grow up as Americans but not as citizens. They will be just like you and I but because their parents committed an illegal act, they cannot fully participate with the body politic. And then… what happens when those non-citizens start having children of their own?

In the context of illegal immigration as a whole, just how harmful and how numerous are these, “anchor babies.” My guess is that the problem it creates is just a tiny number in comparison.

The 14th Amendment prevents politicians, to a certain extent, from fraking over, racial—but now more practically—immigrant groups. It was passed to ensure that blacks could not be denied citizenship. This overruled the Dred Scott Decision which said that black slaves or their descendants, free or not, could not be citizens of the US. This became important during the time of the Chinese Exclusion Act when Chinese immigrants who could not be naturalized themselves, started having children. The Supreme Court ruled that these children were, by virtue of their birth on American soil, American citizens.

Considering how important the 14th Amendment is to our legal rights (just consider the incorporation of the Bill of Rights through the Due Process Clause), do we really want to start tampering with it?

Keeping jus soli tends to make citizenship a simple case. If we move more towards jus sanguinis, we would have to keep track of a person’s parental lineage. Who wants to deal with those potential court claims?

I don’t think that we need an amendment to punish illegal immigrants. I would allow the new citizen to stay and their parents to stay with them. However any illegal family member caught here would be forever be ineligible to naturalize.

I remember when they actually blew stuff up as well.

I went to the Chicago Air & Water Show yesterday. You may remember a post about it last year when I met up with a fellow blogger.

My only costs: train tickets at $21.90 and parking: $1:00

Please feel free to click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Walking down Michigan Avenue on my way to the beach by Oak Street.
Aerobatic maneuvers. There were a number of acts similar to these. A couple solos and duos. One memorable one was a small bi-plane. The pilot addressed the crowd through the radio. The guy must be a big fan of the Austin Powers series as he was throwing around “Yeah Baby!” left and right.


B1

A pair of Black Hawks.

KC-10

Here are a few Blue Angels flying out from the Loop.
These two were flying upside down doing a close pass of each other. It was amazing enough to cause the woman in the foreground which buried her face into her husband’s side just moments after the pass was completed and this photo was shot.

Dragons on the River

I stopped by Niles this morning to check out Riverfest. The highlights of this festival are the boat races. Personally I like the dragon boat races.

This video was taken in the morning. I believe these are just practice runs. They didn't bother with drummers.

After visiting with some people that I knew and grabbing a pop, I headed back home rather than staying to see which of the teams won. I mean, it's not like I had any vested interest in any of them. I did venture up river though to check out the boats participating in the "Anything that Floats" race. One of the teams had a kick ass version of the Mystery Machine--wish I thought of taking a picture of it.

A Yogi Bear Movie?

I'm not sure if I should be horrified or excited.

Results From Yesterday

I don’t have official numbers from yesterday’s primary but what I do have is this:

Businessman Rick Snyder will be the Republican candidate for governor having secured 36% of the party’s voters. He competed against four others: Oakland Co. Sheriff (and former state senator) Mike Bouchard, Attorney General Mike Cox, Congressman Pete Hoekstra (MI-2), and State Senator Tom George (20th District).

On the Democratic side of the governor ballot, Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero has won his party's candidacy. I've actually met this guy. He was invited to one of my Poli Sci classes. I actually remember thinking that this guy was ambitious. I may not have agreed with some of his policy positions but I had to admit, he made very good arguments.

Congressman Fred Upton (MI-6) has won his primary contest against State Rep. Jack Hoogendyk (61st District). He won with 57% of the Republican vote and had the edge in all 7 counties that the 6th District covers.

I’m just gonna call it right now: State Rep John Proos (79th District) will be moving to the other end of the capitol building. He has beat Todd Griffee with 77% of the Republican vote. The senate seat (21st District) is a safe Republican seat so dollars to donuts he will win it in November.

I Will Have My Say. At the Ballot Box If Needed.

I voted in today's primary. I have mentioned in the past--I do not vote in primaries but I thought that I should make this one an exception. My congressman, Fred Upton, is up against Jack Hoogendyk. Mr. Hoogendyk was a member of the Michigan House of Representatives and whose last run at an office was for Carl Levin's seat in the US Senate. Based on the campaign signs, Hoogendyk appears to have support of the party in this area. I have seen very few signs up for Upton.

I have been satisfied with Congressman Upton's work in representing MI-6. And as far as I could tell up until now, he had solid support of his constituents. But I think that the anti-incumbency and tea party movements may cast doubt on whether he will be seated again come January. Indeed, Mr. Hoogendyk supporters have labeled Upton a RINO and "water-downed Democrat." While I wouldn't call Congressman Upton a right winger, I wouldn't say he's a RINO either as he has supported many republican plans in congress, some of which that I am actually against such as the constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. So if this gentleman to the right of me is a RINO, do I really have to ask what that makes me?

If the Republican party is going to creep further to the right, I don't really have a problem voting for the Democrats and I have already cast votes to prove that but I did vote today and I voted on the Republican ballot. I voted for the republicans that I felt best represented my interests. I intend to stay in this big tent and if my vote in a primary can help it from getting smaller, then I'm gonna do it.

As I make my way out from the "50%" column and into the "plus one," I'm not sure I'm gonna be able to shake my bitterness when the righties and yes--the lefties come looking for my vote.

Justice Served... With a Side of Fries

Since the changeover to digital, the number of effective channels that I have been able receive has went down from eleven channels* to three**. So I haven’t been too thrilled about it. When I moved to the new place, I decided that I wasn’t going to continue with satellite or get cable. That was too much money to spend per month. Besides, most of the television shows that I was watching were available to stream on the internet. As long as I had high speed internet I’d be fine. Unfortunately the summer is the dry season of worthwhile television shows so I have signed up for… Netflix.

To my surprise, I actually like this service. For nine bucks a month, it’s practically a steal. The cheapest rentals around here are $1 so I figure that if I watch at least nine movies a month, I’d be making it worthwhile. And I’m probably four or five months ahead at this point.

With Netflix, it’s been a trip into my past as I have been able to dredge up some almost-forgotten films and even television shows. Anyone remember that Around the World in 80 Days mini-series with Peirce Brosnan? Was anyone else upset when Earth 2 was canceled and now wishes to see those precious few episodes that aired? My last few movies that I watched were adapted from some of my favorite books that I read as a kid: A Wrinkle in Time and Where the Red Fern Grows. A Winkle it Time was pretty bad but the Red Fern, I liked.

If you like movies but don’t want to spend all that money on a DVD that you’ll probably only watch a few times, I think that Netflix would work well. I’m pretty sure my dad and sister would probably appreciate all the anime crap that is on there. :P



* 7-ABC/Chicago, 9-WGN/Chicago, 11-PBS/Chicago, 16-NBC, 22-CBS, 25-I forget, 28-Fox, 34-PBS, 46-Some Religious Channel, 50-What was UPN, and 57-ABC

**16-NBC, 22-CBS, and 28-Fox.