Visit With Kuya RJ!

I'm back!
Wow. So I was useless to the world yesterday, at nobody's fault but my own. Today was a slight improvement, although I'm still a little lagged from the weekend. The good news was, there were a few things on the agenda for today that made the day well worth it!

First off, I finally had a phone graduation from my trusted little Evo to a Galaxy. I now tote two of these suckers around: one for work and now my personal one. Yay for bricks (:

becoming an sgsIII family! :p

And more importantly.... my long lost kuya RJ made a pitstop through Cincinnati tonight! He's en route to Nashville for work, but made some time for dinner and an accelerated version of catching up on the last... eight years almost.

To reiterate just how far we've come... here's a 3-shot flash of kuya [which, for all of you non-Tagalog speakers out there, means "big brother"] & me. There are more, probably from 2004-2007ish, but who knows where those are now [probably a good thing, heh...] I'll say one thing about my time in the rice paddy [endearing term given to the group of us that lived together for a short while]: This guy was more of a big brother to me than anyone before that had ever been. I owe him a lot, specifically for keeping me out of some hairy situations and  Here's a rare glimpse, also, of a phase through which I went that included hoards of facial piercings and multi-colored hair. I think we are all happy that is over.

kuya rj!

We did dinner at Max & Erma's in Rookwood, joined by Nader & Keith, and Carolina as well at the tail end of it all. When that was all finished, RJ headed out to finish the last leg of his trip to Nashville, and the rest of us headed back to Nader's for a couple hours of YouTube videos, SNL skits & Family Guy re-runs. Nope, not mad at that (: I'm home now and it's past my bed time!
G'Nite!

xo | cmd

FIASCO FRIDAY

I'm all about alliteration ;)

Anyway, HOLY CRUD I am glad to see this day come to an end. [hello, backdated entry]

Today was my first run at dropping Sydni off at Mindi's before work; I came all the way from Northside and it didn't take as long as I'd thought - a reassuring thought since I'll be over halfway closer when I finally move. It was an early start though after a restless night; I was running on empty today outside of my excitement for the weekend.

I got my work phone today, along with some more Express swag... I don't know why I'm still surprised at how much stuff my company actually prints with its logos, but I suppose it's that way everywhere and it's a sign of good faring if nothing else ;)


helloooooo, express... ;)
[[this is just a taste of it, too.. haha]]

I really had no complaints when it came to my day at work. We're starting to find some consistency to a routine and things are picking up. I did decide to get my oil changed in the middle of Norwood today, and aside from the boisterous gal on her cell phone for a half an hour next to me in the lobby, there was also this to keep me entertained:


only here......

Yeah. The day was progressing just fine until it came time to head out. I made my way to Milford at a snail's rate, partially due to traffic but moreso by my own choosing of a varied route that took much longer than I'd thought. I finally got Sydni, and together we started out on the road to Illinois.

There was no making this an easy trip:
1. Car fire on 275, blocking all but one lane.
2. Motorcycle/car accident on 75/74 interchange.
3. Sheets of RAIN in the dark as we headed into Illinois, realizing then that there were tornadoes touching down not more than an hour from us.
Long story short, the usual 5-ish hour trip to Illinois wound up lasting 15 minutes short of EIGHT HOURS, and when we got to Granite, the storm had knocked power out completely. Rob's entire neighborhood was pitch black, save for the flickering candles barely visible through some of the windows.

jackknifed fed ex ... :(

I realized tonight how thankful I am for Rob's Macgyver-like ability and problem-solving skills. Since the power was out, the pump in his basement stopped working, and the water started flooding up over the drains. If it were me, we likely would've been floating by morning. Rob on the other hand, had more than one solution, and had the room looking like Frankenstein's laboratory with wires, batteries, pipes, but more importantly without overflowing water. It was a lengthy process though, one that he didn't finish until about 3am :(.

Like I said, we made it safely [amen], but this day could not be over sooner.

Nothin' like a rocky start to a weekend. Here's to the rest of this weekend (:

xo | cmd

New Text Message: THANK YOU!



happy textaversary!

I'm lacking orginality in my thought processes [processees? - ssi? smh, I dunno] today. Bigtime. I started to formulate a line of really interesting, thought-provoking diatribe on my way in to work this morning, but Monday got the best of me and so instead, I just drove my little commute in song to Alison Krauss.

You can't go wrong..... with Alison Krauss.

Anywho - guess what factoid I [along with anyone else who plugged into the news] heard today?

That text message I just sent has an ancestor that just turned 20.

Consider this my token of sheer gratitude to Neil Papworth [&& if that's not a British name, I don't know what is] for his contribution to the technological era. Thanks, Neil, for that 1992 Christmas well-wish that revolutionized the world of mobile communication and is now a staple for insta-contact here in 2012. You're pretty stellar.

I've got real work to do today. Happy Monday (:

thx!

xo | cmd

iDon't Have An iPhone.

If there's one thing we love as a culture, it's technology. Granted, there are exceptions to that as with anything else, but generically speaking, we are a society consumed with the latest and greatest technological advancements.

Hello, iPhone.
First: if you don't know what an iPhone is, well, walk down any street with more than five people and chances are, at least one of them have one. That, or in light of the fact that you have access to this blog, I'm willing to guess you have access to Google.
Second: if you have an iPhone, well, to each his own. I have zero qualm with Apple or iAnything; it just isn't my thing when it came down to choosing a phone.

However, the Apple empire is pretty impressive, and the progression of the iPhone is a testament to the power of creative ingenuity and strategic marketing ;).

^ Nothing flashy, but it is kind of interesting considering that the movie trailers they used to advertise were Pirates of the Caribbean and Zoolander. Funny. 2007. Doesn't seem that long ago? Hrm... What gets me the most is not the incessant reliability of an annual release of a better, faster, newer, re-tailored version of this thing. I will also attribute the random and absolutely unnecessary obsession with constant eye contact between a user and their that I witness on a near daily basis to the fact that just about everyone around me has an iPhone.    Today I was a restaurant and saw a girl using an outlet across the room to charge her phone while she was there. I'm totally not judging, it was just funny to watch her cross the room what I would guess had to be at least 24 times to check her Facebook during the time we were both there.    Same scenario a few weeks back, and it was a table full of teenagers sitting silently together at a table glued to their phones. Yeah, I know it's not just an iPhone thing, but it was pretty funny that every one of them had an iPhone. It kind of resembled a test study of some sort, complete with a subject group of teens. It was at least a full five or six minutes before any of them took a breath from phone time to acknowledge the presence of anyone else at the table. I found that sad, but interesting.    I'm not really even sure where I'm going with this one; I think I'm just at the realization that, while everyone around me has an iPhone, I'm still going to stick with the good old Droid ;) I felt like venting. I'm curious but at the same time slightly afraid of what type of technology will be considered a common household name when Sydni is my age. Kinda scary.    *Yawn. It's supposed to rain tonight. That'd be excellent; sleeping is so much better when it's raining :).  [[Almost Friday, wooo!]]   xo | cmd

Words With Friends [Is Ruining Me!]

Facebook. TFLN. Pinterest. Blogspot [tee hee].  

Q: What do they all have in common?
A: They are all quite capable of and accomplished at thwarting my time in multiple hour increments.

Well kids, meet your newest addition: Words With Friends.



[obviously] i am not missbiscuit, but
thanks google for the screenshot!



I first met this smart phone app on the cross-country road trip with Kalyn & Sam, but never had it installed on my Pre. Howeeever, now that I’m on the Android wagon, I’ve got that puppy up and rolling, and have quickly realized what an impact that’s going to have on my time management. Ha.

As it stands now, I think I’ve currently engaged against the literary prowess of 9 people, and it’s proven to be both a learning experience [i.e., zi, ti, ci, and ni are not acceptable words, but QI will get you mega points], and a colossal time thief.

Oh, and if you’re on there and we’ve not yet had the chance to beat me at this addictive version of e-Scrabble, my name on there is cmdills.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a few vowels I need to play… J

xo | cmd

Space Phone Illiterate

Okay, so 'member when Isaid I was getting a new phone, and the store had to order it since there were none in stock? Right. So that puppy came in today, and they called me at work to notify me. Ex.Cite.Ed.


downloaded an app! i'm movin' up!



Fast forward to when I get to the store to pick it up, double fast forward past the near hour it took to transfer all the pictures and contacts from the Pre to the new phone, and I was on my home with fingertips burning to customize and explore the new gadget.

Operating my phone is similiar to what I'd expect it to be like operating a space shuttle, sans the awkward seating arrangement and bubble helmet. Basically, it's nice and complicated. I thought I was a few steps ahead of the rest of the just-upgraded class, but apparently I need to drop back to the remedial course on using this thing.

So here I am with this new space gadget, complete with a full-functioning brain of its own. I'm pretty sure that if I speak out loud, this thing will just as likely read my next thought...or something. Here I am now: Attempting to send a simple text message to my mom without having the week's weather narrated back to me while my facebook automatically updates itself.

I'll keep you posted... I think. :)

xo | cmd

Über Connected

The beauty of living in the 21st century is that we are afforded endless avenues of connectivity to anyone, anywhere, practically anytime. It alternatively can be a curse if you let it attach replace your innate ability to function; I've had plenty of conversations with friends and respected elders on how technology as a whole with its promised instant access may actually succeed in completely de-socializing us as a breed.

... But I digress. That discussion is for another time. 


connected.... x3



I found myself at work this morning with my personal cell phone, the company cell phone, and one of the phones for an assignment on which I'm working for one of the local law firms. One dinosaur cell phone, two smart phones, a computer, and a landline all within arms reach of me made me stop and think about how people had handled the day-to-day transpiring activity before all of this techno gear was available. I myself grew up tailing the recent development of cell phones; I clearly remember that Nokia brick that I called my first cell phone. I also remember the first flip cell phone that had colored blinking lights. We thought that was pretty slick. And then came the Motorola Razr: that skinny thing that, at the time, re-defined the parameters of portable telephonic body shape. Granted that I'm still a few years shy of 30, I can yet say that there was a time in my growing-up that computers all around functioned off of dial-up internet. I did not have a cell phone when I was 12, let alone one that could also serve as a laptop, GPS, stereo, weather forecast, and tracker of everything from my daily caloric intake to how many days are left until the cataclysmic event known as the end of earth. It's ridiculous. 

I'm being a hypocrite, I know. There is very little I would be able to accomplish on my job without the continuous, instant access to technology and an ability to stay connected to colleagues, clients, and employees. I find dinner recipes online to make for my family. I get directions from the TomTom in my car. My cell phone does in fact tell me what the weather looks like for the week if I were to consult it. Yadda, yadda, yadda.

I know that Joe and I aren't alone among the mass of parents in our generational bracket. We now have Sydni, and she'll grow up in a world that soon won't know what a landline even is. If we're not careful, she won't know how to socialize face to face because Twitter and Facebook will eliminate the need to do so. My prayer is that we can show her the value of technology and being connected to family and friends but that she'll realize that it's an aide, not a crutch.

Guess I should get to bed. Long day tomorrow....

xo | cmd