Good, Bad, Silly, and Interesting

The G1 is pretty pleasing to me so far. The interface is smoother than I had hoped, and once I got the data service set up, I've been pleased with how quickly things load even in the absence of 3G networks. The keyboard is easy to use, and the screen looks great and is nice and responsive to touch. The GPS location is pretty bad, putting my location about 4 blocks up and 7 blocks over from where I actually am. We'll see if this improves when I'm outside, though. I was expecting this, though, so that doesn't disconcert me.

One thing that does seem to be bad that I had put a lot of hope into is the voice dialing. Perhaps I need to configure it correctly, but right now with my Bluetooth headset, I can't activate voice dialing without messing with the phone. Then, if it can't understand my command, it provides a list of options on screen, and provides no audio interface, so I would have to further fiddle with the phone. This pretty much defeats the purpose of having voice dialing. With my old phone, the voice dialing was pretty good. I pressed the button on my headset, which activated the voice dialing. I could speak my command and the phone would ask me through my headset for clarification and tell me what it was doing. I could then provide voice input to tell it whether it had gotten it right. The only time I needed to physically interact with something, was to push the button on my headset, which is safer when driving than trying to get a button on a phone. So that's a bit of a disappointment. Hopefully Brian can provide some insight on this when I see him.

One silly thing about the phone is that the headphone jack is a (proprietary) mini-USB jack. I can understand some of the reasons they did this. This jack doubles as the power port for the phone as well as the data jack, so there are fewer jacks on the phone. However, this also means that you can't use headphones to listen to music while charging your phone. This is rather silly.

The interesting thing I have found with this, is that when setting up contacts, you can opt to have calls from a contact go straight to voicemail. Hehe. It's an interesting feature, though one I don't imagine I will use very often, as generally I only have people in my contacts that I want to talk to.

I have some other quibbles about the phone, but don't let that fool you. I like the phone quite a bit. I've downloaded some cool apps already, including a list tool (Quicklist) that allows me to use my finger as a stylus to quickly jot notes without having to open the keypad. It's a cool phone. However, it becomes annoying that I have to press the menu button every time my phone goes to sleep (which is every time the screen goes dark, which happens after every two minutes of idleness) in order to unlock the screen. I'm also having some difficulty getting audio notifications, or perhaps it is just that I don't hear them, as I just tested my email notification and it worked just fine. The notifications are great, and my phone tells me about my emails before my GTalk application does.

Well, my upcoming trip will put the phone to the test (as well as give me some 3G access), so we'll see how me and my G1 get along.

The G1

The G1 made its debut in my life today. In fact, two did. During the ordering process, the site had crashed after submitting the order. The staff checked to see if the order had gone through, but it appeared that it had not. They had me put in the order again. Well, last night I got two shipping confirmations, followed three hours later by two order confirmations. It was an odd choice of order for the emails to come ... Sorry, Elsa. I'm sending the other one back.

So far the phone has been good to me. Unfortunately in the ordering process something went awry and my data plan didn't get hooked up, so I'm waiting to be able to use the data features of my phone. Somehow the Gmail is still coming through though, and I'm impressed at its speed. The phone has good heft, which I like while I'm browsing, but I could imagine it getting a bit heavy for long phone conversations. I need to see if I can hook up my Bluetooth headset to it. I need to take advantage of that voice dialing.

Okay, back to entering in my phone numbers. The keyboard is good, but the thumbs were starting to cramp a little so I took a break to let you all know about the phone. I'm sure you were all breathless in anticipation. ;-)

The End is Near

I called another T-Mobile store today, and they confirmed what the first store had told me, which makes me feel better. I'm excited and experiencing pre-purchase buyer's remorse. We'll see how I feel on Thursday night.

Also, I should note that I finished Mega Man 9 on Sunday night. This probably doesn't mean much to most of you, but if you've ever played Mega Man, especially numbers 2 and 3 in the series, you should know that this is a great return to that fine 8-bit world of childhood. Play and be challenged.

Intentions

While I was waiting for my car to be fixed, I did some research on how to get my hands on a G1. The website for T-Mobile says that if I were to preorder one now, I would get it by November 10th. Well, that's a non-starter. I want to have my phone when I go on my trip to the Northwest. I called up a T-Mobile store here in Denver and asked if they would have the phone in on Wednesday, its release date. They said no, but that they could order it and I would get it next day. "Really?" I asked, "One day?" "Well," came the reply, "up to two days." "Really?" I asked. "Two days?" They said yes. I told them of my impending trip and asked again if I could really get my phone before I left. They assured me I could. So the plan is to go on Wednesday to get my order in and have my phone on Thursday. If I don't, I will have to find something sharp and jaggedy and painful and introduce it to them, possibly repeatedly. Needless to say, the next few days are exciting for me ... and for them, though they may not know it.

I was also pondering the vote I'm going to be making in the next week or so. The announcement yesterday that Colin Powell was endorsing Barack Obama was of very high interest to me. I respect Secretary Powell quite a bit, and I wish that he had run for president, especially back in 1996 (or 2000 for that matter). The fact that he endorsed Obama puts me asymptotically close to voting for Obama. It is especially significant since Powell has (loosely) worked with McCain for many years and they consider each other friends.

The only thing separating me from a firm decision is that I guiltily realized today that I had not prayed about my vote. I have prayed for God's guidance of the election in general, but I hadn't prayed specifically about how I should vote. This is a step I need to take. 

If I were a single issue voter, this would be an easy vote for McCain, because my single biggest issue is abortion, and although Obama thinks abortion is bad, he doesn't think letting people get abortions is bad. But I'm not a single issue voter. As my political science professor Howard Leichter put it, there are two general ways people vote for elected officials. Some vote for the person as a delegate: they expect them to vote in office exactly as the voter themselves would vote. Others vote for the person as a representative: they may not agree with every decision the person makes, but trusts them to do a wise job of representing them. I may have fouled up the terms, but anyway, I tend to be a representative voter. I have more respect for people with whom I disagree, but who came to their conclusions in a well-reasoned and intelligent than I have for  people I agree with, but who came to their conclusions by a unsatisfactory route.

Contrary to that thought, I voted for Bush in 2000, because he seemed to share a lot of my opinions and beliefs. However, the manner in which he acted on those beliefs and conducted himself in his decision making has been dismaying to say the least. I was elated when he named Colin Powell as Secretary of State, and then watched in dismay as he ignored most of Powell's advice. It's the same with McCain. I voted for McCain in the primaries and have respected him for his independence in the past. However, the way he is making decisions now, acting now, and communicating now fills me with dread that he would conduct himself along the lines that Bush has, with a black and white, categorical perspective and less regard for nuance.

So, the decision for me lies between someone whom I believe would be a better leader, but I disagree with on the issue most important to me, or someone who I think would be so-so leader, but agrees with me on many issues including that most important issue. And when Democrats balance budgets, reform welfare, and randomly launch missile strikes (Clinton) and Republicans raise taxes (Bush Sr.), enlarge government, deficit spend like it's going out of style, and have one of the most diverse cabinets in history (Bush Jr.), all bets are off for how someone is going to actually act while in office based on their party affiliation.

So, I return to the idea that I need to pray about my decision. I suppose I could vote for McCain to assuage my conscience, since it looks like Obama will win anyway. That however, strikes me as self-deceiving and disingenuous. So, back to prayer it is.

Moving Pictures!

When Jen and I went down to Florida, I got a few series of pictures that just had to be seen in sequence. I whipped up a way for you to see them in all their faux animated glory. It's a little slideshow widget that animates a series of images. It is configurable to play different series at different speeds. Anyway, you can see these image series on my website.

Food! Restore Unto Me Food!

I returned from the store bearing all sorts of groceries. I had gotten my car fixed over near Wadsworth and Colfax, and then drove all the way over to the Target on Colorado, because I couldn't ask anyone if there was a Target nearby. I just couldn't ask. I don't know why, but I couldn't. Turns out I was about 3 blocks from one. But I went over to Glendale instead. Errr. Anyway, my car is better, not that it was evident that it was ailing. The check engine light is off now, and the mechanics just shrugged. They changed the oil and it never came on again. Yeaaaaah. I also got an update for my car's operating system or brain or whatever, so that's exciting. I hope it is better tested than the Windows' updates.

Anyway, as I was saying, I brought my purchases home and was putting them away. I opened the freezer door with two bags of bagels in my left hand and the bottle of rum on top of the fridge leapt at me. For a couple of seconds I was playing a frantic one-handed game of hackysack with the bottle until I was able to bat it into the freezer where it safely came to rest. I guess I'll have to be a little more careful when I put that bottle back up there.

One of my purchases was a pint of Haagen-Daz's Peppermint Bark ice cream. Holy smokes, that is some amazingly good ice cream: chocolate, peppermint, creamy ice cream, and the perfect crunchy texture. I will now have to stay out of the freezer section, lest I launch myself into the freezer and start chugging pints of the stuff.

All this follows a great morning spent with Jen. I made us walnut pancakes for breakfast and then we went on a short walk over to Cheesman Park. We grabbed some good Daz Bog coffee and went over and laid under the colorful fall foliage and talked. Lovely times and lovely leaves and a lovely lady to share them with.

Riparian Life

I saw the night heron for the first time in a long time today. He was huddled on a log permanently afloat in the Platte at Confluence Park. I would have thought he'd have headed south by now. Other life was very much in abundance. Unfortunately it came in the form of a hatch of little gnats. I went through cloud after cloud of them on my bike. Fortunately, I had my glasses tight to my skull. A run-in between a gnat and my eyeball a couple days previous had me rubbing my eye and half-blinded for a good ways on my commute home.

Heat has also returned to my bedroom. That's literal heat, mind you. When Tony and Risa had been here, we turned on the heater and it popped and died. The repairman made his visit today and restored things to working order. He even put in the peephole I had requested long, long ago. Someone had evidently pried out the peephole in my door many moons ago. I had made a request to have it replaced about the same time. Just now it has been. Sheesh. Better late than never, I suppose.

In completely unrelated news, I have decided on the G1 over the iPhone. A recent unrestricted hands-on by Engadget sealed the deal for me. The G1 is good at the things I really want it to do, with the exception of web browsing, and its primary weaknesses they point out (camera and GPS) are not so important to me. The phone and its plan are cheaper than the iPhone and I'd rather go with T-Mobile than AT&T. It also has some very important things that the iPhone doesn't, namely a physical keyboard, an open platform, voice dialing, and a removeable battery. Now I just have to figure out how to get my hands on one...

Double Moons

The windows in the gym in the Tower of Odd Smells are made of this wavy glass. I don't know if it's old and recycled or just poor quality. Regardless, it distorts a lot of what you see through it. As I bob around on the elliptical machine, Mount Evans stretches and squishes like a piece of hyperactive taffy. Depending on what I focus on, it can be really distracting and visually irritating. Sometimes it's mildly fun.

A couple days ago, I was sitting on the floor trying to convince my back that it was ready to do some lifting. I looked up and there was the moon, slightly distorted. It was in beautiful color contrast to the awakening blue sky that lies on the edge of dawn, and the distorted shape made it slightly Impressionist.  I got up and did some lifting and then walked to the windows on the other side of the gym and saw the moon there on that side of the building. I did a double take. Surely the moon didn't move that fast.

I finally figured out that the angles of the windows were such that from my vantage point on the floor, the moon was shining with such intensity through the windows on one side that it was essentially being projected on the other windows. The distortion covered up any flaws in the projection by having me blame it on the glass. Tricksy reflections!

Westcliffe Weekend

I had a nice weekend visit with my parents. I went down to Westcliffe where they are working on a Laborers for Christ project and spent some time with them. I drove down in freeway spray, but once I veered off towards Westcliffe from the Springs, the weather got better and I was treated to a beautiful, if moist, drive. 

Once I got to Westcliffe, the clouds were low and ominous, making the Sangre de Cristo Mountains seem both beautiful and foreboding. It also made for good weather to eat, relax, and read. I finished reading Tony Horwitz's A Voyage Long and Strange, and although I liked it, mainly I was depressed and irritated by the actions of most of America's early explorers. With only a few exceptions the explorers were jerks, to put it mildly.

That night, the wind was blowing fiercely, rocking the trailer back and forth, rattling the antenna on top of the rig, and in general making it impossible to sleep. I was a bit bleary when it was time to go to church the next morning. We saw lots of things blown over, including a port-a-potty. At church we learned from a volunteer fireman that there were several telephone and power poles they were propping up due to them being snapped or bent by the wind. We even saw an example of this when we went to lunch later that day up at the Alpine Lodge restaurant. An emergency vehicle was parked out in the middle of a field with a pole tethered to it and upright only because of the rig's weight.

The brunch at Alpine Lodge was great. There was some great biscuits and gravy and turkey with cranberry dressing. The cheesecake they served was among some of the best I've had, and the coffee there was great, especially in comparision to the evidently penance coffee served at the church.

This morning we braved the cold and went shopping in Westcliffe's downtown. We picked up a few things in the stores that were open, including some good fudge from the combo bookstore/ice cream parlor/cafe. I forget how in small towns many people have to wear a lot of hats. One of the owners of the RV park my parents were in was also a teacher at the school (K-12) and drove a paper route. Back in Gold Beach, the florist was also the only record store in town and the outdoor store was the place to rent tuxedos.

I left in the afternoon and was enjoying the good driving weather as I came down into Colorado Springs. Unfortunately I drove over something that looked like tarpaper, but was much more crunchy and angry, and shortly thereafter my check engine light came on. I checked under Daria to see if anything was obviously wrong, but there wasn't anything apparent and she was running just fine. I hopped on I-25 and everything was copacetic. I even had a good talk with my sister Jodi that lasted the rest of the trip. I had tried calling her on her birthday, but was getting weird busy signals and "all circuits busy" messages. I found out this weekend I had the wrong number. That'll do it.

Ok, so I'm feeling a bit refreshed and relaxed ... now for the rest of the week.

Gold in Them There Hills

Straight from the mountains, uh, to my camera, uh, through Photoshop and then to you (through the Internet and Flash), I give you pictures from the hike up Chief Mountain with Jen and my friends Tony and Risa. You can click on the panorama above to see a larger version of the view, but to see the rest of the pictures, go to my gallery.

Elation! Exuberance! Excitement! And ROOT BEER!

Omigosh, omigosh, omigosh! I can't believe I forgot to tell you about this last night! It is something that brings me immense glee. Last night when shopping and forgetting appointments, I saw something on the shelf of my local grocer that I hadn't seen in a very long time: Henry Weinhard's root beer! And their orange cream soda! Holy cow!

This stuff was a staple of my life in the Northwest. It's not the best root beer I've ever had, but it's the best mass-produced stuff. Until the Mt. Angel Brewery gets really popular or the Crane River Brewery reforms and starts bottling, Henry Weinhard is more than welcome to Denver. 

Momentous

So many things to talk about! First though, I should reiterate that Jen is still the awesomest and greatest girl there is. She's amazing and lovely. Just wanted to make sure you all knew that.

Okay, so here are some other things that have been going on:

My friends Tony and Risa were in town. They were here for a meeting and came early to spend some time with Jen and myself. My parents came up from where they're at in Westcliffe to see them too. Tony is a friend of mine from back in the 5th grade, so my parents know him well too. Tony, Risa, Jen and I went for a hike up near Mount Evans on a trail called Chief Mountain. We got to see the aspens at the height of their glorious color changes. The hike was good too, even though we got snowed on a little bit. I will have some pictures up sometime in the not too distant future. We grabbed some coffee in Idaho Springs on the way down and then came back for pizza and games with my parents as well. Jen handily won a game of Settlers with the Seafarers expansion.

Sunday, my folks, Tony and Risa and I went down to my church and got some lunch afterwards and walked along the Platte. Then Tony and Risa left for their meeting and my parents and I went up Jen's parents' house for dinner and a good evening. The drive back was scary though, because it was dark and rainy and my windshield wipers were not dealing well with the mixture of spray and pitch on my windshield.

Today, I rode in to work over mud and debris left by some weekend flooding. I even got to ride past a dead rat that was about 5 inches long or so. Fun stuff! This evening I rode over to REI and finally picked up some sandals; my first pair of Keens. They're quite comfortable and hopefully won't be the gravel magnet my current sandals have been. From there I went to the library and picked up Anathem by Neal Stephenson. I need to hurry up and finish A Voyage Long and Strange by Tony Horwitz so I can crack open this highly-anticipated 1,000+ page tome. 

I got home and had some left over pizza before heading to the store on my way to an interview for membership at my church. As I got out, my phone rang and it was the pastor wondering where I was. I thought my meeting was at 8, rather than the 7 o'clock appointment I had signed up for. D'oh!

Let's see. What else was I going to post about? Oh, yeah. Jen and I watched Vice Presidential debates on Thursday. I thought it went pretty well. Biden wasn't a jerk and Palin didn't melt down. I think Biden showed himself to be more knowledgeable and experienced and able to answer the question that was asked, though Palin was very personable and down home. So no definitive decisions yet.

Unfortunately, the more I see of her and read about her, the more she reminds me of our current president. Think about it: a young governor from a large oil-producing state with little experience and not the smartest candidate on the playing field, but a very personable, down-to-earth demeanor and a strong faith. Also, they both have good blue collar appeal and want to give the vice president more power than they should wield. 

And still no decision on a phone yet, either. With all this going on, you can see that I haven't had the time! So maybe I should stop writing this blog post and get on it!

I'm the Decider

I'm looking forward to the vice presidential debate tomorrow. I've been up in the air about this upcoming election, and I need more factors to make my decision on. Sigh. If I were a single issue voter, this would be much easier. The main thing I am keen to see is if Palin flubs this as badly as she did the Katie Couric interview. Joe Biden just needs to avoid being mean and patronizing, but Governor Palin has to prove herself, especially since the McCain campaign has largely limited her exposure to only important interviews that can be more easily prepped for. Normally a VP pick wouldn't be so important, but I don't think a vice presidential candidate has had such good odds of becoming president since William Henry Harrison's inauguration. 

Palin is starting to worry me, because she is giving me the same vibe I got from George W. Bush when he first was running for president. I may agree with a lot of their stances on certain issues, I may share their strong faith, I may like their spunkiness, but I don't like the way they seem to conduct themselves in office, I don't like the apparent lack of political skill and experience, and I don't like their anti-intellectual appeals. We've already had 8 years of that, thank you very much.

The other decision I need to make is the phone decision. My phone's secondary screen shattered the other day, so I'm feeling more and more pushed to a new phone. And today I heard the frightening news that T-Mobile will not be accepting any more pre-orders for the new G1. Sort of. Maybe. But you might get one in stores. Maybe. This is another factor to weigh, since I really want a new phone before I head out on a trip to the Pacific Northwest shortly after the phone is released. So do I lean back to the iPhone? How important is it to me to get the phone before the trip so I needn't bring along a laptop? How long can I hold out to see what bugs there are with the G1? Arrrrrgh.