Family

My Parents Are Becoming So Tech Savy It Scares Me Sometimes

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We live in a very technical world now a days so I don’t know why it surprises me that my parents are slowly embracing modern tools. I am less surprised by my dad than my mom but it sometimes still takes getting used to.

My dad at least has a long history of having useful gadgets. He was the first person I remember to have a PDA. It was an old Sharp Wizard that I eventually inherited. I get my love of gadgets from him, but I think I take it to a whole new level. Of course there is alot cooler stuff out now.

My mom on the other hand is not tech savvy at all. I still get calls from my mom for help doing basic stuff on my dad’s GPS. Of course my sister who once programed for a living also calls me just as frequently about similar issues so I shouldn’t judge.

What is funny recently is that my dad had been dead against a smart phone for ages. At one point I got him a Treo 300 that he used for a year or so, but didn’t like the small keyboard. He ended up going back to a regular phone and an old style Palm handheld. He has had a palm handheld (minus the time with the Treo when it was Handspring) since they first came out in 1996. Recently, well actually over the past few years he has been asking about an all in one phone/PDA. The problem is he doesn’t like the little keyboards. Because of that he hasn’t switched his setup, but has really wanted to ditch his phone, PDA, and pager (yeah he still has one) for one device. His work was going to give him a Blackberry a while ago but he turned it down because again he didn’t want a keyboard. I showed him the iphone when I got it and we decided it wasn’t for him since he would have a problem with the lack of feedback on the virtual keyboard. Recently he has been wanting a new phone again, so he went to the Verizon Store (his carrier). I was surpassed when he came back and said he wanted a Blackberry Storm. He liked the feedback of the virtual keyboard, and the phone did everything else he needed. He even wanted to get the data plan to get work email. He spent about an hour with sales guy and ended up buying one. I now need to go over and migrate his palm data to the Blackberry. In some ways I am not surprised he got that phone and in others I am a bit surprised he has a phone as advanced (arguably) as the one I have!

My mom also surprised me with technology when she started asking me about the Amazon Kindle. Apparently Operah had a special about it and she was interested. My sisters mother in law gave my sister a Kindle and my sister lent it to my mom for a cruise she went on a few months ago. She really liked it since she didn’t have to pack a bunch of books. She took a while to get over some issues with it but apparently got the hang of it. For a while I was pondering upgrading to the Kindle 2 and she asked if she could have my old one if I did. At first I wasn’t going to upgrade. For me the price of the Kindle 2 was too much to be worth the upgrade from the first version. My mom’s birthday is coming up and I couldn’t figure out what to get her (and I still owe her a mothers day gift) so I asked if she wanted my Kindle for her birthday gift? She said yes, so I ordered a Kindle 2 for myself. The new one would be a waste for her, so I don’t feel so bad giving her the generation 1 version. I am excited for the new Kindle and hopeful my mom doesn’t run into any problems using the Kindle the next time she uses it.

In a later post I might write about part two of this post, about my progress at weaning both my mom and dad off AOL. They still use it for email. I setup a mail domain on Google Apps and created accounts for both of them. I just need to show them how to use the Gmail web interface and get them to tell people the new addresses.

Uncle x3

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Yesterday I became an uncle again. This is my sisters 3rd. Alexis Zoe. I love the name! My sister and baby are doing great. I am not sure when I will get to see either of them. It is always hard to get to South Jersey. I am aiming for sometime next week.

I didn’t get to write about the new baby yesterday since I spent last night at my parents house. I had to goto the eye doctor for a checkup. Besides my eyes being really dry I am in good shape. My prescription hasn’t changed. It is now like 5 or 6 years since the last time I have changed it. According to my doctor at my age that is a great sign.

My parents were at my sisters during the day to take care of the other two kids while my brother in law and sister were in the hospital. I ended up taking the LIRR to their place and took a cab from the train station. Since they weren’t going to be home for dinner I walked to the outback down the block. I had lobster tails! They were yummy. I then went and got the customary present I have gotten for Morgan & Zachary. Thats a long story for another time. I now need to find the other present I get the kids, but unfortunately FAO does not sell the size stuffed dog I want to buy. They only have the small one, and the super big one that I don’t know who buys. The middle sized one that is actually really big is not for sale anymore. I am upset. I got Morgan that sized elephant, and Zachary the boy dog of the same size. I need to spend some time over the weekend finding something else. Gretchen is having a kid at the end of the week (or anytime at this point) so I need to find something for that little guy as well.

Alexis Zoe

Update: photo now added of the new little one resting.

Baby Watch 2009

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As odd luck would have it my sister and one of my best friends are both expecting new babies this week. My sister is off tomorrow morning to have the baby (its planned), and my friends wife is going to be induced by the end of the week if theirs doesn't show up. Hopefully if all goes well I will be an uncle again tomorrow by lunch time. All I had to do was not drive my sister crazy!

The big dilemma for me is what to get as a baby gift. The stuffed animal collection I liked to get from FAO apparently discontinued the middle sized option that I got for my Niece & Nephew. I don't want to risk going with the really huge one, but the small one is kinda small. What is an uncle to be to do? I will buy the customary bottle of liquor. Yes a baby needs a nice bottle of scotch. Well, the plan for that is to get one the day they are born and give it to them when they turn 21. I got the idea from my dad when the toast at my Bar Mitzvah was using the same bottle that my great uncle gave to my parents and they toasted at my Bris. Since that gift is not really functional for a two decades I need something more current. I am going to have to scour the internet tomorrow for something suitable. I am not sure when I can get out to see the new little one. Apparently most if not all family is banned for the first week so they can all settle in, but after that I am not sure.

As for my friend, I also await word when the time comes. As of this morning it the little guy can't come fast enough but he is taking his time.

Monday June 21, 2009

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Today was a work from home day for me. It was packed with meetings and going through my backlog of tasks. I ended up working late and am still stopping my relaxing this evening to kick out an email or two to clear up my backlog. At least today felt productive. I had a huge email backlog from traveling and being in meetings all day Friday.

I ran out after I wrapped up most of my work to grab a fillet to cook for dinner at the grocery store. It was good. Now I just need to wait for the George Forman to cool to clean it.

I need to order groceries, but I won’t be home tomorrow so I will wait till I am home on Wednesday. I am spending the night at my parents since I have a doctors appointment out on Long Island early in the morning. It is easier to go from their house than from mine. Also my mom giving me a ride really helps. My parents are at my sisters tonight and tomorrow to take care of the kids while she and Michael are off having another one, but will be back tomorrow night. Since I am going into the office, I need to pack a bag. That reminds me. I need to go and do that before I forget.

Baby Watch 2009

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As odd luck would have it my sister and one of my best friends are both expecting new babies this week. My sister is off tomorrow morning to have the baby (its planned), and my friends wife is going to be induced by the end of the week if theirs doesn’t show up. Hopefully if all goes well I will be an uncle again tomorrow by lunch time. All I had to do was not drive my sister crazy!

The big dilemma for me is what to get as a baby gift. The stuffed animal collection I liked to get from FAO apparently discontinued the middle sized option that I got for my Niece & Nephew. I don’t want to risk going with the really huge one, but the small one is kinda small. What is an uncle to be to do? I will buy the customary bottle of liquor. Yes a baby needs a nice bottle of scotch. Well, the plan for that is to get one the day they are born and give it to them when they turn 21. I got the idea from my dad when the toast at my Bar Mitzvah was using the same bottle that my great uncle gave to my parents and they toasted at my Bris. Since that gift is not really functional for a two decades I need something more current. I am going to have to scour the internet tomorrow for something suitable. I am not sure when I can get out to see the new little one. Apparently most if not all family is banned for the first week so they can all settle in, but after that I am not sure.

As for my friend, I also await word when the time comes. As of this morning it the little guy can’t come fast enough but he is taking his time.

Fathers Day With The Family

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Yesterday evening my parents picked me up and we all drove to my sisters. We stayed over Saturday night and then spent Fathers day with her, my brother in law, his sisters, family and his brother in laws family and all the kids. It was the usual suspects together. As usual it was fun with all the kids.

Saturday night my folks and I stopped for some quick dinner on the road. And then I treated myself to some nice roadside ice cream. We got to the house just in time to see everyone get back from dinner of their own. As odd luck would have it if we stopped at the first place we thought of to eat we would have ran into my sister and brother in law having dinner. Small world. The kids went to bed and we got to relax a little bit.

Today I got up early. Partly due to the noise my nephew makes in the morning. Partly due to the cold in the basement I was sleeping in. I didn’t really mind it since i would rather be cold than really hot. Their basement is freezing compared to the rest of the house. It was the first time I slept down there since they just renovated it.

We went to brunch at my brother in law’s, brother in law’s sisters house. Yes I am not making this stuff up. Everyone is really close so when asked how I know people it is these long descriptions, but anyway… The food was great. My sister made a french toast casserole. Only my sister would make two of them at 10PM last night while 9 months pregnant. There was lots of other great stuff. I can’t even describe this cheese thing someone made. So simple and so tasty.

With 6 kids ranging from 2 1/2 to 6 it is always noisy and interesting. Oh since it was fathers day I also got to spend some time with my dad. I gave up trying to figure out what to get him for a present last year. I am still waiting for him to say what he wants. I know he wants a printer but he has specific requirements. Any time I show him options i never get a confirmation on any of them so I haven’t gotten anything yet. But I digress.

Overall it was a good day. I got home early enough that i was able to throw a load of laundry in. I just finished folding and I am wrapping up this writing and I am off to bed.

My favorite photo from the day is below. Zachary in a spider man outfit and top hat dancing. Thankfully I have some video of it too!

2009-06-21_002

Birthday BBQ

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Today I went to my sisters for a birthday BBQ. It was primarily for my nephew who turned 3, but also celebrating was my dad, brother in law, his other brother in law, etc. There were allot of names on the cake. We had a good time.

2009-06-06 Zacks BBQ 041

My parents picked me up so i had a ride to the event. That is always good. My brother in laws parents gave me a ride back to the city. I gave his mom a tutorial on some stuff with her new blackberry. I was impressed she wanted to do stuff with one that I never tried.

I had fun seeing all the kids. In total there were 6 including my niece and nephew. I got to see the newly renovated basement. I also got to setup their Wii. They had it since Morgan’s birthday in March but haven’t used it.

For food as BBQ‘s go I was not happy. For the kids they had turkey hot dogs and turkey burgers. There was no beef anywhere to be found. The turkey dog’s were ok, but I don’t care what anyone says you can tell the difference from beef ones. It is just like eating diet soda, it is close in taste but just not quite.

Overall it was a great day with the family.

Dinner With Mom And Dad

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Tonight my parents came over to my neighborhood for dinner. They don’t do that often enough so I was happy to have them over. Well over in the figurative sense since we went out for dinner and they didn’t actually come up to my apartment. We went to Lounge 47 for dinner. I had been there a few times and liked it. The positive Yelp reviews sealed the deal. Overall had a good time.

I also got some chocolate and Scotch my mom brought back from her trip to Europe last week. I was very happy with my bottle of MaCallan 18 year old single malt. It was very smooth. I think I liked it better than the Johnny Walker Blue, and it is half the price!

May 5th

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Today I was an at the office day. Prashant wasn’t around so I ended up eating lunch by myself. It is odd that when I am in the office I don’t even get to socialize more than when I work from home. I know that is because the teams I work with are not in the office I am based out of but it is still a bit unusual. I had a busy day of meetings and getting tasks done. I had an issue later in the day so I ended up staying at the office till 6.

I was going to meet up with Kristen and possible some of her friends for drinks, but that fell through since she had some last minute things to take care of. I am glad the plans got canceled because i did have to stay late at work and I wasn’t sure if I would have had to stay later. I always hate canceling plans because of a work issue that comes up!

The rest of the evening was uneventful. My mom is off to Europe with a friend so I spoke to her on the phone at the airport for a while. I am her weather checker / temperature converter. I love that I can convert Celsius into Fahrenheit using Convertbot on my iPhone.

Dinner With The Family

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Yesterday I meet up with Jayson, John, Dave, Danny and others for lunch and drinks for John’s birthday. We went to the house of brews. It was fun, but I only stayed for less than 2 hours. From what I heard there was drinking for several hours after I left. Thankfully I only had one Jack and Coke.

I couldn’t stay later since I had to meet up with my Mom, Sister, Niece and Newphew in Time Square. They went to a show. I went with them back to my parents place. Zach enjoyed a subway performer on the way to the train. He is so funny. We hung out at my parents place in the afternoon. I tinkered a little on my dad’s computer to fix a few minor issues. I typically do that when I am over. I didn’t do much of anything else since I started getting a migraine. My dad gave me some pain meds. It helped for a while, but I will get to that in a minute. We cooked dinner at in. The leftover steak we had was good, but the fresh stuff my mom picked up wasn’t so hot, but it was nice to get to see my family twice in a week.

After my sister put the kids to bed we hung out and talked for a while. In retrospect I should have gone home earlier. The medication started wearing off before I got a ride home. My mom and sister drove me back to my place. I kinda had a migraine melt down in the car on the way home. Thankfully the trip home was uneventful and I went right to bed. I had a horrible night. I stomach and head hurt all night. Because of that I stayed in today and just tried to relax and rest a bit.