Month: October 2012

The Case for Two Tablets

by

On last Wednesday Apple announced several product refreshes as well as a new iPad mini. It was very funny that a company as secretive as Apple had this product announcement predicted so perfectly weeks before. I for one was hoping the rumors were true since I really wanted a smaller iPad even though I love my third-generation iPad.

The dilemma for me has been I want a tablet to use in multiple situations. MC and I use my iPad around the apartment, usually on the couch to do all sorts of things. We will order take-out, fresh direct, browse the web, or just look up where we know some actor that were seen on TV using the IMDB app. We use it when we travel as a map, research tool, email checker, reading a book, watch a movie, and probably lots of other things I’m not remembering. At work it’s what I take to go to a meeting. I have a notebook and a pen but I barely ever use it. With the iPad I can take notes with Evernote, jot down a task with remember the milk, or quickly pull up a story on our Jira system via the web browser.

For all those situations the iPad is fantastic! The screen size is beneficial and it’s either sitting on a desk or not being held long enough for the weight to matter that much. If there were no other use cases for me one device would be perfect. Problem is I also want something that I can use on my 45 minute commute each direction to work. I could use my smartphone but the screen is still pretty small and sometimes it’s difficult to read for long periods of time. If I’d better vision maybe that would be in, since plenty of people just use that. A Kindle is a great idea, but the regular ones you can only read books on. I would love to catch up on just by reading but during the commute time I want to be able to get up to date on all the overnight email at work (I get up to 100 overnight). I also want to review my tasks for the day, read news stories, books, and watch movies or podcasts. I don’t do that every day but each day in the mood to do something different. Using my full-size iPad is difficult since it’s hard to hold in one hand while standing on the subway. If I get a seat it’s usable but still not the best option. Let’s face it I don’t always get a seat anyway.

When Google announced the Nexus 7 I was excited because I thought that form factor would be perfect for my commute to work. I was right. Reading on it perfectly fine with one hand for less than an hour at a time. The screen size was okay. I would’ve liked bigger but I understand the need to be aware holding one hand was more important. The problem is it’s low and kind of buggy. This is an about the Nexus 7, so not going to all the details. Let’s just say I got what I paid for but the experience is still lacking. So much so that I do not always take it with me each morning.

I am hopeful that the iPad mini will be as well built as the larger iPad. There’s no reason to believe otherwise. With the smaller device I’ll be able to use it on my commute to and from work, possibly in meetings, when empowered about in the city for the day, and as a second device when MC and I both want to use it at the same time. That last one has happened several times when we traveled even though she’s not wanted to get her own.

I will admit that it’s an expensive device for specific purpose, however that aside I see need just by looking at how much I’ve tried to use the Google tablet. I opted to spend the extra $130 to get the LTE model. I’m not sure if I will activate it but I have seen the limitations of just Wi-Fi only in both the original iPad and the Nexus 7 slut want the option. Now all I have to do is wait three or so more weeks and give it a testdrive. Worst-case scenario is it gets eBayed. The unlikely but possible best case scenario is I eBay my iPad three.  More likely is I end up keeping both, but we shall see.

I will end this post by saying that no one really “needs” a tablet computer.  There are people out there who can’t afford food so having one or two niche devices that didn’t really exist before 2010 is not necessary   Whats necessary and what people want or makes their lives easier is a totally different story.

Thanks to Quicken 2013 I am Now Using iBank

by

I would like to thank Intuit for releasing Quicken 2013.  It was what I finally needed to ditch Quicken (hopefully for good) and try a native Mac application.

I have been using personal-finance software since my first year of college. I remember getting a free copy of Bank Street writer Pro. From there I moved to a copy of Quicken. I’ve been using various versions of Quicken since.  Things were easy for almost a decade. That all started to change after I bought my first Mac in July 2002. At that time I still had a Windows machine and didn’t switch to a Mac as my primary computer until late 2002 or early 2003. Back then I still had several machines so there was always a Windows box to run Quicken. At that point I’m using that software for so long there was no way I was going to stop. Microsoft Money didn’t appeal to me. By then the ability to download transaction data from banks and credit cards locked me in.

The problem turned out to be was using Windows less often as the Mac dominated my computer use. As I transitioned from Windows to Macintosh try to identify all the pieces of software that I used on Windows so I could find the equivalent Mac software. This is where I ran into a problem. Quicken for Windows is great. On the Mac not as much so.

After a time I made the decision to export my data from my Windows Quicken import into the Mac version. That was a generally painful process but I did succeed. I happily used the Mac version of Quicken for a year or so, maybe longer. The limitations became pretty painful. I am not going to go into the limitations of Quicken for Mac. They are well-documented all over the Internet. Let’s just say I wasn’t pleased. The only viable option I had which was to bring all my data back into Windows Quicken. That process was equally painful than the previous conversion. After moving back to a Windows version for a time (somewhere in the area of a year or more) I had a laptop or desktop basically for the sole purpose of running one or two pieces of Windows software. One of those was Quicken.

By the time Apple came out with Intel-based Macs most of my personal computing was all Mac except for some pieces software like a mentioned that didn’t have a Mac equivalent. For work however I was very dependent Windows centric software. Parallels and then later VMware fusion allowed me to consolidate down to one computer. I was able to use a Mac running a VM of Windows. That was a huge win for me and probably millions of other people. To this day I have a Windows VM on my MacBook Air. The reason I bring all this up is after the Intel Macs came out I was able to transition pretty much every application I use to a native Mac Application or to a web-based application. At my current job they have a bring your own device policy which allows me to bring my Mac and use it on company networks. I stopped needing a VM for work a little over a year ago when the exchange server was on got upgraded and outlook for the Mac work perfectly with it.

By this point the only reason I need a Windows VM regularly was to allow me to use Quicken. It is the last piece of software that I rely on Windows for. The problem was I really liked it and I hadn’t been able to find a replacement for it that was a native Mac app. I had used mint, the web service ironically owned now by Intuit but without the ability from you import almost 2 decades worth of data I was never going use it full-time. No other Web service allowed me the ability to import either. That got me looking at Mac programs that did personal finance. Surprisingly there were several I tried a few of them but none of them have the features that would equal Quicken. I probably went back and forth trying out applications on all for the past year or two with no success. During this time I had a growing desire to be able to use my smart phone to sync with my desktop bank software. It bothered me that years ago I could do this with my Treo and Quicken yet I couldn’t with a modern smartphone.

In late June hyper down and force myself to try iBank. It had the smart phone thinking that I wanted and the major features I was looking from Quicken. It wasn’t perfect but I thought it was a better choice than Moneywell or Money Dance.  I spent several hours exporting my data from Quicken importing it and cleaning it up in iBank. I was all set to cut the cord from Quicken when I ran into some reconciliation issues using iBank. Turns out if you have transactions in your register with iBank that are from the same payee and for the same dollar value as a new transaction being downloaded the software will sometimes get confused and think you’ve already downloaded it and not suggest that it’s a new transaction even know the date may be different. I’ve never really had a problem with Quicken doing anything like that. The first time it happened with iBank it took me about 45 minutes to figure out what happened and fix it. It spooked me to the point where I didn’t really trust the software and fell back to Quicken.

That brings us to this month. By now I accepted the fact that I would be stuck with my one holdout piece of Windows software. I figured I have been using our virtual machine for years and it wasn’t such a huge deal to continue using one. It bothered me to do it but it was something that worked even if it was not very elegant of an option. I also figured at some point into it had to offer a smartphone app.

I got excited when I read about Quicken 2013 and the option for using your iPhone just as I had wanted.  I went out and purchased a copy, and downloaded it right away.  I didn’t do too much research online because they offered a 60 money back guarantee. I should’ve looked at reviews and forum posts before I bought it. Downloading and installing the new version was trivial. The problem was you it wouldn’t sync to the iPhone, or technically to their cloud service at all.  I wasn’t a fan of the fact that they needed to sync my data to their systems before it could goto my smartphone in the first place, so it totally aggravated me to find out that because of that the data wouldn’t sync at all. At that point I went online to check out the forums and noticed lots of people with similar problems. There didn’t seem to be a solution other than Intuit was hard at work fixing the bugs. I deal with software development and if a major function of the software doesn’t work you don’t release it.  I personally wouldn’t have purchased the upgrade without that function.

I was really pissed off. First I thought I should just downgrade. Then I decided enough was enough and it didn’t seem like there ever really was going to be a stable solution from Intuit so I decided to sync up my iBank file again with my current Quicken data and give it another try knowing the limitations that I learned in June. I also immediately requested a refund from Intuit.  The only positive out of this experience was intuit was true to their word and I got a refund without any hassle. Now they might fix their bugs but at this point their lack of an up-to-date Mac version of their software that isn’t crippled and the fact that their new Windows software is still so buggy they convinced me to use to finally go all Mac and use iBank.

It has been only three weeks or so and I am still getting used to the new software.  There are things I liked much better in Quicken but now that I have a handle on the transaction download issue I am pretty happy.  Some of the bulk edit and change functions of Quicken I miss but I don’t use them that often to have that really be a reason not to switch.  Am I at the point of no return?  I hope so but don’t know.  After 3 months you can’t retrieve your data from banks online anymore (typically so wanting to switch back after that will be problematic   For now and hopefully for good I running all Mac.

If The 12 Year Old Version of Me Could See Me Now

by

I know that I’ve been very lax with the writing on this blog when I open this draft and realized I started to write this post about an evening I had with M on August 31, 2011. The title of this blog entry is something I mentioned to a few people and I’m personally amused by how true it is. I am not sure if I’ve written about how much of a picky eater I am. I have been since I was a little boy. My mom will tell stories about how my pediatrician would try to help my mom to get me to eat things I didn’t like such as vegetables and fruit. The story would always end with the five-year-old version of me outwitting my mom or just being that stubborn. The problem for my mom was I would be really hungry yet I could be satisfied with a glass of milk.

That’s the background of my poor eating habits. I am in no way blame my parents. I was a very stubborn little boy and those old habits generally die hard. Over the years as an adult I’ve made some effort to expand and try new things.  I still generally and pretty picky. I don’t normally eat any fruits or vegetables. I do take a multivitamin now. That’s partly to make my mom happy, but it’s generally a good idea anyway.

The main reason why I thought of writing this post is about some of the foods I’ve recently started eating. There have been 3 notable additions. When I started dating M she liked going for sushi. I’ve never been a fan but it was a good trade-off to Tai. She loved the Tai, and I could find more options Japanese restaurant then at a Tai place. When we first started going to Japanese places I tried sashimi. I like to fish so high quality raw fish did not seem like a big deal. I really liked it and would continue to have it when we go back.  M gas great and never really forced me to try anything else but would suggest it every once in a while.

This all leads up to August 31, 2011. That night I decided to try a sushi roll instead of just sashimi. My big turnoff to sushi rolls was the rice but I figured I would give it a try. It wasn’t too bad but I didn’t go “wow this is awesome”. A few weeks later after going to the Russian and Turkish baths (a blog entry I should actually make but it’s been over a year since then) we went to a sushi restaurant in the city. This time instead of just trying one of M’s roles I ordered them myself. It was this time or the third time I had sushi when it came to me that this was really good stuff.  I have been eating sushi ever since.

It was after the sushi incident when it dawned on me what the 12-year-old version of me would’ve thought of that. I just randomly pick the age but really any childhood version of me will probably react the same way and not believe it.

It wasn’t just sushi that I’ve tried recently and liked. Believe it or not I never ate eggs. I would eat things with eggs in it but never just eggs or an omelette. In December 2010 on my first cruise with M I tried my first omelette. Shocker, it was great. Breakfast for me has been different ever since!

The funniest food that I never ate before has to be fresh lox. Growing up as a child I had every opportunity to try it and never wanted to. My mom and dad both would eat it. When my dad would get bagels they were readily available yet I would not have it. It wasn’t until sometime after I started dating M when I tried it. She loved it since she loves salmon in general so I give it a try. The funny part of the story is that my mom said she pretty much had a similar story. Growing up the Jewish household her father would always bring home bagels and lox on Sundays and she never had any. It wasn’t until she met my dad when she started eating it

The list of food items that I’m willing to eat continues to grow. Probably not fast enough, and probably I will always be a generally picky eater but I’m glad that over time I’m trying to expand my horizons. My sister jokes that my child will be just like me for poetic justice. My nephew is pretty picky but my nieces aren’t. My current theory is it’s a male gene thing in my family. There’s really no proof especially since my father will eat anything but I am clinging to that theory until I can prove that Teagan will be a normal eater.

Why an I a Sucker For Time Travel Stories?

by

I don’t know what it is about time travel stories.  I am a science fiction fan in general but there is something about adding a twist of time travel to a story to make things more interesting.  Since I was a kid I have been fascinated by them.  I think I started thinking about this earlier this week after the new season of Doctor Who came on.  I also have thought about what things I like that I can introduce to the baby once she arrives and is old enough.

One of my favorite movies of all time is one that I remember watching as a kid was The Final Countdown.  What little boy could resist it?  It had aircraft carriers, fighter jets, and time travel.  Even today I still think it is a pretty neat plot and I will watch the DVD every now and again.

I started watching Doctor Who in middle school, around 1983 or so.  I think I just stumbled upon it changing channels.  I started off at the end of Tom Baker.  I think I saw bits and pieces of episodes and then the first one I can completely remember was the Warriors Gate.  I didn’t understand why soon after the main character changed.  i would figure that out later, but to this day I was hooked.  Recently David Tennant’s portrail as the Doctor is probably one of my favorites  but Peter Davison is also still a favorite.  That is most likely because he is the one I remember most growing up since he was what was on the air.

Other shows with a bit of a time travel twist that I couldn’t get enough of were Lost, Journeyman (it got canceled way too soon), and Life on Mars,  I am also a sucker for the genre getting drawn into watching stuff that is really bad.  I wanted to watch Terra Nova for the premise alone and I haven’t been able to watch more than a handful of episodes.  Just because you have good effects does not mean I or anyone else will like something if it doesn’t have a good plot.

The Long Road to Naming T…

by

One of the hardest things about having a baby was picking the perfect name. For my wife and I picking a name was a multi-month process. Personally I thought it was amusing enough of the story to want to blog about it.  We didn’t really begin to discuss means that all until we knew we were having a girl. That wasn’t until late March. We both decided we didn’t want to know the sex of the baby. I always said it’s a surprise when you find out, see you don’t need to wait until the baby is born to be surprised. One of the added bonuses of knowing the sex is making it easier to pick a name. I cannot imagine going through that process having to have two choices, a boy and a girl name.

Once it was a girl who started out in earnest to come up with a list of names we like. That didn’t last very long when my wife was questioning my list. Instead of both of us coming up with a list of names we liked a friend or two of mine suggested that I simply retain veto power over names that MC comes up with and likes. I agreed to that and MC began collating a list of name she liked. To start with she had three general criteria she was looking for.  She wanted to find a name that wasn’t super popular, we generally traditional (aka not some oddball new name), and if possible be an Irish name. I did not mind popular names but if we found a non-popular name network I was cool with it. I agreed with her about not having some oddball name, so traditional was okay with me. I also thought it was a great idea to look for an Irish name especially since the baby would have a very Jewish last name. I thought it was a good idea to have the heritage of both parents represented in her name if possible.  What was funny to me about her initial list of names was the generally did meet her own criteria. Most of the names were very popular ones that were in the top 10 or top 25 popular lists of the past decade. I think we had three of the top five most popular names on our list at one point. All of them were at least classic names but most of them were not Irish in origin.

At this point I already dropped hints and suggested the top names I liked. My two favorites (Zoe & Teagan) were rejected. I had always liked the name Zoe. I think one of my father’s friends had a child that he named that I always thought it was an awesome name. It was always in the back of my head to the possibility if I ever had a girl.  Unfortunately Zoe was the name of one of MC’s college friends daughter, as well as being the middle name of my youngest niece.  Teagan is a name that I got from another Scott that I work with whose oldest daughter is named that. His wife is Irish so he named all of his kids very Irish names. I always liked the name and suggested it when the time came for us to pick girls names. MC rejected it out of hand. I think she just thought it was to non-standard or something like that.

Since my top two picks were discounted we went through the process of whittling down the list of names MC came up with. Over a month or so we were able to narrow down the list to three or four contenders. There were one or two that I really liked and wanted to use, and MC also agreed on those pics.  As we were narrowing it down MC decided to buy a huge book of baby names even know we’ve been looking extensively online. MC then proceeded to read every girl name out of the book. It took a while. I was surprised when nearing the end of the book MC asked me “How about the name Teagan?”.   My immediate reaction was “are you %^*$^ kidding me?” Her response to that was is that yes or no? I proceeded to remind her that I propose that name weeks before and was shot down immediately. At first she didn’t remember but then got a laugh out of it. I guess she just needed some time to become cool with it on her own. I wasn’t complaining. I totally discounted it and now through her own process of elimination had thought of using it herself.

Right around the time Teagan was back on the table of an option I was continuing to push to consider Zoe as a name. It was in that neither of us didn’t like it, that was far from it. We like it but others were using it. She spoke to her friend who has the little girl named Zoe and she was completely okay with us using if we wanted to. The only other stumbling block was that it was my niece’s middle name, but did not think that should be a factor in our decision since it was a middle name only. I brought it up to my sister and she wasn’t thrilled but was cool if we decided to use the name. She actually liked the name a lot (obviously since she used it as a middle name) and we’ve used it as a first name if she didn’t already have a son named Zachary. Side note I would’ve thought it would be awesome to have Zach and Zoe, but she didn’t think it would work with the oldest named Morgan. After that conversation Zoe we went back on the table as an option.

The next month or so we went back and forth between Teagan & Zoe. Pretty much the entire time I thought Zoe was the front-runner between the two. We asked friends and family who we trusted for their vote and it was basically split down the middle. I would champion one option than the other. And then for a while I just pushed for us to use Teagan. It was just different enough and it met all of MC’s requirements. I don’t know why it did that since I love both names. After realizing that it doesn’t matter between the two of them since I did like them both I stopped pushing one over the other thinking Zoe would win out. My wife surprised me after about a week of me being neutral on the situation saying she wanted to go with Teagan. That was pretty much it. We went through two or three weeks of we were pretty sure we really use that name but not definite, to this is what we are doing.

Being a tech junkie that I am I researched the name of bit more. We already knew of its Irish heritage and that it meant little poet. I looked deeper into his popularity and were surprised to find that over the past 10 years it had risen from somewhere in the neighborhood of 900 on the list of popular names in the US to be in the low 200s in popularity in the US in 2010. That is not by any means super popular but it showed a very positive trend. I also learned the reason it’s becoming more popular is because it’s an alternative to Meagan, and Reagan.

For full disclosure for all my sci-fi friends and I do acknowledge the fact that Teagan is a Doctor Who companion name. I rediscovered that when doing research on the name.  I had actually forgotten that. I was surprised since the fifth Doctor was one of my favorites.  I pointed it out to MC and she didn’t mind since it was a different spelling. It was Tegan, vs the Teagan we are using.  My friend Amanda pointed that out as we were pulling people for their opinions of names.   MC was more concerned about the fact that one of the only notable people with the name Teagan was some foreign porn star or something. What I realized later forgot to mention to Amanda was that neither of us remembered that so we happen to also be a doctor who companion name. The show was on the air for 50 years silver band overlap some names used.

For a middle name we wanted to see if we can use the middle name to name the baby after someone we loved who is no longer with us. We kicked around options using the K and the E as well as some of the more popular names from our final list.  The K would’ve been for MC’s friend Kim who died very young. That E was for my grandmother Ethel and MC’s brother Edward. We ended up picking Emma.

And that’s the story of how we named Teagan Emma. I have been surprised how many people who are very vocal about how much they love the name. I think the reason is the same reason why we love it. It has the right balance between being different enough in mainstream enough to be just cool. Hopefully Teagan thinks so when she gets older. The only other Teagan I know was her name, at least according to her father. Searches online have done similar feedback from people with the name.

Fussy T

by

Before I write this post will preface it by saying that T has been a fantastic little person. She lets you know what you want to eat or needs to be changed. Otherwise she is not a very loud. This past week however she has decided not to nap a lot. For someone who’s not yet five weeks old that’s not a great idea since she should be sleeping 80% of the time. I’m not sure if it has anything to do with her getting more formula now than she did as recently as last week, worth it’s just a phase.

Were not sure why the sudden change. Her doctorate knowledges that between two and six or eight weeks babies just cry and are generally uncomfortable.  T doesn’t really cry for no reason but has been crying when she gets fussy and doesn’t want to sleep. It’s been hard on M since she bears the brunt of it while I go to work. The solution has been to put her in a wrap that you wear. It supposed to mimic the way or something where the baby is next to your body and you cover her up so it’s dark. It’s been working it’s uncomfortable to wear for long periods of time. Your back starts to hurt and it gets very hot. On the plus side T generally fall asleep in 5 to 10 minutes in that getup. We are hoping she gets out of this phase soon, but we also know how lucky we have been because she’s been overall a fantastic little baby.

Moving Day (Again)

by

Today is moving day at work. They are doing a very large reshuffle of all the desks on the floor I work on. The goal is to align all the teams to be sitting near each other. In theory this is great, and my wider team will be very close by. The problem for me if you consider the problem is the majority of my team is still not in that office. We thought we would get them moved during this shuffle but it doesn’t seem like that can happen. On the plus side I’m hoping my new desk is an upgrade to where I am now. It is definitely more space than I have now. I also get a window, but that may be a downside and not the positive I think. To put it in perspective I work in Times Square on seventh Avenue. The side of the building I am on looks out onto seventh Avenue, and all the flashing signs. The guy that currently sits there says it really is in a huge deal, but I will know Monday if I will be annoyed or happy by the move.

Since removing the entire floor got evicted at noon today so they can do the work. I’ll be working from home in the afternoon. This we the first time I’ve done that since the baby was born. I’m not sure how that will go over. MC did say she was going to be going to a mommy up with Teagan so they might not even be around.

Besides all of the move excitement today has been a typical day, with no major surprises. Knock on wood, since it’s Friday. Calm Fridays are always a plus.

Groundhog Day

by

Having a baby is sort of like living the movie Groundhog Day, but doing it every 3 hours.  T has been fantastic, but after a few weeks of the grind of change, feed, try to get to sleep, sleep and repeat after 3 hours it does feel like deja vu. M agrees with that assessment and she is dealing with it 10x more than I am since I at least goto work 5 days a week and am only home for 2 cycles before i have to goto bed for wrok.

Thankfully we have been lucky that T hasn’t been too bad.  She has recently been fussy and not wanted to nap but she isn’t screaming all the time like horror stories we have heard so neither M or I am complaining.  Lets just hope she gets out of this phase and we are able to get her to sleep through the night consistently   She has been doing it every once in a while.  Tonight she slept for like 7 hours i think, but normally she does get up after 4 or 5 hours.  Lets hope for the same kind of luck again tonight!

Ordering an iPhone 5 Drama

by

I think I’ve said this before, I’m a fan of Apple but I don’t just blindly buy their stuff. I’ve actually tried android phones for over two years or so and keep coming back to my iPhones. I mentioned that now because I’ve gone out immediately ordered every iPhone that’s been out. I’m not sure if the original counts in that statement since I returned it the next day. I’ve written about that in the past, that just goes to show me the product inferior even know it’s Apple product I’ll send it back. With the iPhone 5 it was the first device that I was not 100% sure I wanted it since the original.  I ordered one as a knee jerk reaction to the fact that there was one.  I did want the bigger screen and LTE but I really wasn’t sure it was enough to upgrade.

I went online at 6AM the day you could pre-order only to find that even though i was online 2 hours after you could start ordering my order wouldn’t show up for 2 weeks after the launch date.  I had second thoughts about my order after reading that even though the Verizon iPhone was LTE it would still not be able to do voice and data at the same time unless you are on wifi.  I was not pleased since that was one of the reasons i didn’t go with the CDMA Verizon iPhone. 4.  My initial reaction was that I wasn’t sure if i wanted this new phone with that limitation so I went and canceled my order.

I went back and forth on what I wanted for almost 2 weeks.  I know its just a phone but lets face it I use this thing all the time so making the right decision is important to me.  That and I like technology that works, and wont stand for using something every day that just doesn’t work right.  Note to self that means my microwave needs to go soon!  In the end I realized that I do want a bigger screen, and having a phone that be used with one hand is important especially with a new baby being held sometimes in the other hand.  The final straw was that yes voice and data wont work at the same time but at least i will get both voice and data to work period.  Lets face it AT&T just does not work at my office, and that is right in the middle of Times Square.  Everyone with Verizon doesn’t claim any issues.

So here I am ready to order my phone now.  Well Apple didn’t want my order.  For some reason by caneling my last order they didn’t like me anymore.  it had something to do with the credit authorization for a new verizon account.  Whatever the reason i wasn’t happy.  I ended up placing an order with Verizon directly.  I went with the black model, again.  I kept telling myself i wanted a white one but concerns over it getting dirty looking got me to go with black again.  The only issue was Verizon told me I wouldnt get my new phone until October 19th.  I was not pleased but at least i could use IOS 6 on my 4S in the interim   I was suprised to get a note in late Sept telling me that my order had shipped.  In the end I got my new phone from Verizon around the same time that Apple said I would have gotten my phone if I ordered it from them on the first day of pre-orders.  Go figure.  So after a bit of drama I now am sporting a new iPhone 5.  The best part is I can now make and receive calls at work.  Something I havent been able to do since 2009, but more on that in another post, maybe…