Oh, hells yes…
Next car has been decided upon (I think – for now.) Behold, the BMW 1 Series! On sale in Spring 2008 here in the States, I’ll be buying a 128i if I have my way. 🙂
Next car has been decided upon (I think – for now.) Behold, the BMW 1 Series! On sale in Spring 2008 here in the States, I’ll be buying a 128i if I have my way. 🙂
Or: “This is what it sounds like when Nicks cry?”
What I’m trying to say is that I’ve been ridiculously busy of late so if it seems like I’m ignoring you, it’s just that: it seems like I’m ignoring you. Sorry, dear readers!
I just realized how incredibly enjoyable vacation was. It was while trying to clean the floors in my apartment (and failing) that the wonderfulness of being away from the mundane really hit me. Backing up a bit…
Vacation was mostly spent doing nothing. Walking on the beach, lounging in the waves, playing board games, watching movies, shopping, and visiting with my family. These things were all extremely pleasant and well-needed, but I went to bed most days feeling lazy and woke up most mornings with a sinking feeling of being unproductive. So, I’m glad to be back and ready to get some things accomplished at work with the perspective that a week away can provide.
I’m also itching for a city vacation with Kate. Even if it’s just a weekend, I’d like to spend time somewhere that has a ton of stuff to do and see. Really, I just don’t want to go on vacation without her again, I think.
Now, I’m home and feeling homesick. Exposure to 13 members of my family was overwhelming but I’m completely acclimated to it now and am getting a little panicky when I think too much about not seeing them on a regular basis. Sort of a “first day of school” feeling right now…but I’m sure it will pass.
I’ve been doing chores, chores and more chores but now I should probably hit the grocery store for a few essentials. The joys of a week away. Haha. 🙂
I’ve touched an iPhone. As Kate, Alex and I walked past the aluminum clad Annapolis Apple store, we were beckoned in with the salespeople’s call of “we have them…you know you want to play with them…there are three right here.” The thing is gorgeous. I’m glad Apple went with real glass and brushed aluminum instead of polycarbonate and chrome like an iPod. The screen wiped clean with extreme ease and looked gorgeous doing just about everything on it. Some notes:
Otherwise, this weekend was a whole lot of fun. I’m driving a box brown Ford Re-tardus all over the Eastern and near Western Shore, it seems, as Klaus is in the shop for his beer bottle injury. Alex had a pretty good time being lazy yesterday and learned how to shop like a fiend from the masters of H&M today. Many films were watched, all out of my collection but we probably fell short of getting him up to speed with pop culture. It makes a good case for a return visit, though.
Oh, and we didn’t fall off of the Bay Bridge, much to Kate’s surprise. 😛
Vacation: five days
It’s just not fair. While all men and most women see colors because of three color receptors in our eyes, some very special ladies have a fourth color receptor. A tetrachromat can see the world in more shades than I’ll ever experience. I think this is something that should be an add-on for any interested human. I would certainly have tetrachromatism installed in my eyes immediately. Think of the design possibilities! And how much easier choosing things would be! Oh, if only… (Read the article.)
Dusty had a birthday and at some point he may blog about it?
I spent yesterday evening having all manner of fun while celebrating Tessa’s 25th birthday. I met what felt like all of the coaching staff at WAC and, with Sarah in tow as well, we all loaded into the biggest car I’ve ever been in: Kyle’s Jeep Commander. It’s massive. Trust me. Dinner and much beer was had at The Granary in Galena which is like 20 miles from ye olde Chestertown-e. There is photographic evidence on Facebook, should you care to see.
Things to do yet this week:
All of you probably realize that I have a bit of a Nokia phone fetish. What you may not realize is that I’m currently testing a new Nokia for work! Hooray for fun jobs!
The phone that’s in my hot little mitts right now is the Nokia 5700 Xpress Music. This is a wonderful Series 60 3rd Edition smartphone that doubles as a music player and 2.0 Megapixel still and video camera. Now, I know most mobile phones offer those features, but the 5700 is different. Instead of just dedicating software to the three specific functions, Nokia decided to use industrial design to impart the device with three distinct arrangements. By rotating the bottom half of the phone, I can instantly “call up” the camera, music player and, well, phone. It’s really rather enjoyable and makes for a much less muddled smartphone experience.
Plus, since the 5700 uses it’s own Texas Instruments music chip, you can use the phone with no bogging-down of performance while the music player operates in the background…or even the camera, for that matter. It eats through MPEG-4 video with no problems, even clips converted from much higher data rate QuickTime files, too. And by “eats through,” I mean it creates and plays back these videos.
I’ve upgraded my AT&T account to unlimited data and I’m glad I did so because this little monster has devoured 55 MB of digital “stuff” in two days time. I’ve been accumulating podcasts from Moscow to Mexico City, video clips from the British Rocketboom, indie music tracks, etc, etc, etc. With stereo speakers (that are actually REALLY good) and a 2.2,” 16 million colour display, the phone proves to be a multipurpose entertainment device that I actually want to use.
And, if we only lived in Europe, the 5700 offers a final surprise functionality. Rotate the camera towards yourself and you are placed in video call mode. Seeing as we use the wrong flavour of UMTS in the States (where we use it at all) this is rather useless. However, it does make for a nice position to prop the phone up for media viewing.
I couldn’t be happier with the way the Nokia 5700 Xpress Music functions, looks and performs. This is a really solid phone and not a bad deal at $350 unlocked. I may even pick up my own when Nancy or Brian decide that I’ve had enough fun with the new work gadget. 😛
P.S. All of the cat madness that follows was captured with the 5700. Thought you should know…
…I know. A post. In a blog. On the internet. About kittens. How tired is this?
In any case, Kate brought home two three week-old kittens that she will be raising this week until her parents come to pick them up this coming weekend. How freaking adorable, right? In any case, here are some links to kittens being, well, cute. Enjoy!
Kitten Meal Time!
Kitten Bathtime!
Andromeda & Narcissa (on Flickr)
The other red glasses were both too purple (read: magenta) and far too red. The green glasses were a nasty sort of teal and swamp green. These were the perfect color and the shape worked well. So, now I wait for a week…
Thanks for your votes and comments!
…and I didn’t kill the mean receptionist. That being said, I can’t see a freaking thing because of they dilation drops. Compound this problem by making it a painfully sunny day and you have the recipe for a really fascinating drive back to work. Remember Mr. Magoo? I suspect it was an awful lot like he was behind the wheel.
In more pressing matters: