Today was the first night of Passover. My family met at my brother-in-law’s dads apartment in the city. There were a lot of people there. Besides my sister, her husband, and her three kids, my brother-in-law’s sister, her husband and 3 kids, my brother-inlaw’s dad, his brother and some of his grandchildren. In total there were nine kids, and become adults. We did an extremely abridged children’s seder. It was good seeing everybody had a great time playing with the kids. I’ve also happy that I was able to get a ride home from my parents, but usually do when we go to Donnie.
scott
Suprise, Yes I bought An iPad
Air that most of my friends will not be surprised to find out when I bought the iPad. I pre-ordered it the first chance I got. It arrived this Saturday. I actually should have just gone to the store and pre-ordered it for pickup. Instead I ordered it and had it shipped so I didn’t have to deal with the store, but there was a lot of uncertainty on if the shipment would arrive on time.Next time I may just go to the store.
I wanted a tablet for some time, and I believe I written blog post about it. I was skeptical at first that the iPad would not suit my needs, however after reading more about it I think it will.
My first impressions are very positive. It seems nice and well built. The screen is fantastic. The dedicated iPad apps also pretty neat. I really do need a case that will allow me to stand up on angle but those won’t be available for later in the month. Other than that the lack of other accessories available now I can’t wait to give this a test drive. I opted for the 64 gig WiFi version. Since I have a Verizon MyFi I don’t need to wait for the 3G version.
Dinner With Far Away Friends
Tonight I was able to meet up with a bunch of friends near and far. Joe and Karen were in town so Jason, Gretchen, John, a bunch of Karen’s family, and myself all met up at city crab for dinner. We had a really good time. We all don’t get to see each other that often so was nice to get together, have a nice meal. John, Gretchen, and I on King crab. It was very yummy.
Afterward, we went down the street to the old town Tavern for a few drinks and to just hang out. We always have a good time we get together so it’s sad to see everyone ago. Overall was a fantastic night.
What I found really amusing was that everybody was asking why I had not brought my iPad to dinner. My answer was always why would I bring out to dinner with friends, but everybody still wants it. I find that funny sayings most people have been saying they wouldn’t get one themselves, but were eager to see mine.
Hey, I Can Talk To My Computer Now
So, this is interesting first post for me. I am writing this, well not really writing this, in fact I’m actually dictating this. For quite some time I have been eyeing the Mac when speech dictate software. This month I finally broke down and bought the software. It is not often that I spend $200 on a piece of software. This software however, peaked my interest enough for eagle on order it. So far, saying this paragraph hasn’t been the most seamless thing in the world, but it is the first one that I am trying. This is one of those things that I have to a try for a while to see if it really is worth using.
It is funny, this is one of those features are what computer that my dad has been asking for for 10 years. He can’t understand why after so long, and so much technical progress, you can’t just simply speak to a computer. I know if I show him this he will want to give it a try, but won’t like the side effects of using such a system.
Well, for a first go round it is taking longer to speak than it would have taken me to write this post, but it was interesting.
7 Years
In some ways it is very hard to believe that I have been blogging for 7 years, but my first post ever was March 23, 2003. So much has changed in my life since then. So much has changed period. I don't post as often as I would like but here I am 7 years later still writing.
Here is to another 7 years!
Rain Day
I had another horrible night of sleep last night. I am not so sure if this sleep CD (well MP3’s of a CD) that I just bought is working. Not the best $9.95 I have spent. I am going through a bought of restless sleeping. Every few months I get this, I just want it to be over.
Today was at least a work from home day. That meant I could sleep an extra hour before having to get ready for work. I was glad to be home today since the weather was horrible. I had a packed day from 10AM onwards. I didn’t finish up my last email until about 7PM.
I didn’t do much afterwork. Since it was nasty I stayed in. Ordered food in, and caught up on some personal emails and TV. Why is it that I live and die in email for work but can be horrible in contacting my friends via email!
Not much else to report, but as I was catching up on my posts this past week I told myself to take a few minutes each night and try to post something. As much as I dont miss my hour long commute from Bayside, I do miss the 20-30 minutes each direction on the railroad I could get writing in. Of course I will take my 15 minute commute over an hour any day.
Canceled Plans
So my plans to see my dad got canceled at the last minute. Apparently he got a cold this weekend. When I called he didn’t sound to hot and he didn’t want to get me sick. There was also the not wanting to drive to get me and the computer either. We decided it best to reschedule for next week.
My dilemma was it was 11AM and I was awake and fully dressed on a Sunday. For me that is an accomplishment if I am not planning on going anywhere. I ended up going into Manhattan to do some shopping for a bit and then I headed home in the mid afternoon. I cleaned up my apartment and decided to take a crack at my task list to do at home that I have been ignoring.
Overall a nice relaxing day. Hoping this week at work wont be too hectic, but I have to goto NJ in the middle of the week so I am not so sure.
Tech Support Day Tomorrow
I am in the process of setting my parents up with a new iMac. For years I have been trying to get them to switch to a Mac. They are on their 3rd computer in like 4 years and having problems. That number is a bit misleading. They had a 3 year old machine that finally went and we got them an HP desktop. The on board video went or was slowly dying on that and there was no expansion slot so about a year or so ago I ordered them a new Dell desktop. Unfortunately over the past few months they have been having huge issues with it. It is all software based, and I could probably wipe it and restore it and all will be good but the thing has Vista, and it would take a large amount of time for me to do that.
I was surprised that my dad asked about if it was time for a Mac. Way back when the Power PC Mini was out I gave them one to try. Unfortunately it was slow and it spoiled his views on the Mac. I think his work friends convinced him it is easy and fast. That on top of all the issues he was having made it the right time to get them to switch.
The new 21″ iMac arrived at my apartment on Wednesday. I am installing some basic programs now, and my dad will come pick it up tomorrow. I will go over to his place and move his files over and setup the machine for him. Hopefully that will be uneventful.
Friday Again
Nothing to out of the ordinary went on today. I did go into the office. Friday’s is typically a work from home day so that was a change of pace. I worked from home yesterday and I don’t normally do that on a Thursday so I decided to go in today. I didn’t have to but I figured why not.
I got to goto cold stone for some ice cream since it was so nice out. 3 of us took a break in the afternoon and walked to the one on 42nd st. That place has too much showy crap (less singing, more making my ice cream) but the ice cream is good.
I ended up staying at work till after 6 cleaning out my inbox. I was successful so i was happy for that. Now time to relax for the weekend.
eBay Items
I go through phases where I sell a bunch of stuff on eBay. I always say eBay is my enabler to buy more gadgets. It is kinda true. I sold 3 things this week and I boxed them up and they will ship out tomorrow.
I am parting with my G1 that I bought second hand in December. I was hoping to like Android and that T-Mobile would have worked by my apartment and at work. T-Mobile didn’t work well in either locations and I wasn’t such a fan of Android so far, so I am sticking with my iPhone and AT&T even if I have signal issues at work. Honestly I had this G1 sit around for a while since I only used it for about a week in December but was lazy to sell.
I am also selling my Archos 5 Internet Tablet. This was another Android experiment. I was hoping for something with a bigger screen than the iPhone to use as a tablet. Well I wasn’t a huge fan. It was a great device but, just not for me. I am going to wait for the much larger iPad instead.
I am also finally selling an extra magic mouse that I got by accident.
Next up on the to sell list is some larger stuff.