To Love & Hate a Treo

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I have had a had a Treo phone since the Treo 270 came out for T-Mobile several years ago. Since then I have gone through several 270’s on and off for almost 2 years, then used a Treo 600 with T-Mobile for around a year. After that I upgraded to the 650, and then switched to a Verizon Treo 700P. I recently switched to the Cingular Treo 680. It is obvious by the number of devices I have had that I like the Treo. I like it because it is the best smart phone around. That doesn’t mean however that it is perfect. It is far from perfect. No one has made a better smart phone yet, but the Treo has huge issues. On some days I am ready to throw out my 680. It just freezes for no reason in any application. Then it starts up again and the UI goes somewhere I don’t want it to go since I was busy continuing to move the nav buttons around or type when it freezes. So annoying. The 680 also has a habit of just rebooting once a day or so. The 700P was allot better at not crashing or randomly rebooting, but the 650 did it almost every day.

Sometimes I don’t know why I put up with it? Then I remember the cool things I can do with it such as distinctive ringtones, wireless email, call recordings, etc. I just wish something came out that was stable, and consistently worked. As good as the 680 is, it isn’t that product yet. I got so frustrated recently that I thought that maybe the Windows Mobile 750 would be better. Then I came to my senses.

For now I will suffer live with what I have, but I am always keeping my eye on any device that will improve the situation. I am beginning to think nothing will come out since I have stuck with the Treo line for years. Maybe if I get a Blackberry at the new job I will just use that? it has allot less apps and functionality but my old Blackberry’s never crashed…

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Uncle Sam’s Money

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I got my tax’s done the other day. I originally had an appointment next week but since I am starting a new job I needed to reschedule. This is the first time in a while that I paid to have the tax’s done. I used to do them myself online, but after going to this place I am glad I went. I am extremely happy with my return. Now the only question is what toy can I buy with the refund and still have money to put away into savings?

Sort of Lazy Day

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Not much going on at work again today. I got in around noon. Then went to lunch with Rob and James. We hit the outback. It was good. Then I went back and cleaned up my office a bit. I then went out and had my Mac Mini’s memory upgraded. Since Jay and I upgraded my old one I could probably get through the upgrade myself but I read that the new Intel Mini’s are even harder to upgrade since you have to remove the drives to access the memory slot. For the $50 they charged to do the install it was worth it. Only took like 30 minutes for the whole thing.

After the upgrade I went back to the office and carried a bunch of my remaining stuff home. Man, you can accumulate allot of crap over 5+ years somewhere.

Google Maps Rocks

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I love the web based version of google maps. it is a fun tool to use. I can spend time just looking at locations satellite photos, or actually use the system to find locations. Since I live and work in Manhattan I don’t normally need directions to and from someplace. What I do need is to just see were some address is on a map. The satilite photos do that perfectly for me.

The really fantastic part about Google Maps is the new mobile version. I downloaded the Palm Version onto my Treo 680 (and previously my 700P). It is great when actually out and about and you are trying to find a location. Today it saved the day for me when I had some time to kill before lunch with friends. The only problem was it is freezing out and I am uptown on the west side no where near were I normally am. Out comes my Treo. I tell Google maps were I am and it shows me on the map. Then I say find a business, and tell it starbucks. I figured I could get a hot chocolate and maybe browse the web while I waited for my friends. Within seconds Google Maps told me there was a starbucks only a block away from my current location. I was out of the cold in no time. That is technology working for me!!!

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Half Day With The Family

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I took the afternoon and went out to my parents. I wanted to see them since I don’t normally spend enough time with them, and I had an other things I needed to do in their neighborhood. I needed to hit my safe deposit box and get my ID (Social Security Card) so I can have it for my W-2 paper work when I start my new job next week.

Since it was my sisters birthday yesterday we ended up going back towards her place for dinner. We picked up Morgan and Zack from the Nanny and meet my sister at the restaurant. We had a good dinner. Morgan was behaving most of the time and was being friendly. I like it when I get hugs and kisses without having to ask for them. Zack just doesn’t like to sit still. He is so funny and my mom is right he has such a personality.

Overall a good day. My only problem is that even without having to get up early for work I still couldn’t sleep. This is now 3 weeks and counting were I am having sleeping issues. With all the stress related to work, the job search, and now waiting to start a new job I am not surprised. I just thought after I gave my notice and I had a job lined up I would be able to sleep a bit better. I haven’t been. I think I am just anxious to get to my last day, and then actually start my new position. There are lots of unknowns around starting a new job, so I guess I am still stressing about that. Only 7 more days to go and hopefully I can sleep well.

And The Band Played On

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That is what they said of the band on the titanic as the ship sank. I cannot fathom why. I understand the logic that people use when trying to explain it, but it still doesn’t make sense to me. I bring that up because I get the same feeling when I think about my current employer. It seems like people are delusional about how things are. Moral is fine I heard someone in a key position say. I guess he was in the band, because 5 people giving notice in less than two weeks time out of an office of 60 doesn’t give the air of great moral.

I wish them luck. Maybe I am over reacting, but all my friends and people I trust don’t seem to think so.

Yesterday

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My exit interview was interesting. I spoke my mind, and HR took it all in. Surprisingly (or not) I hear that my feelings are not only my own. I know the guys in my group feel the same way, but it appears that others that have left may have eluded to similar issues.

Yesterday afternoon turned out pretty much like I thought it would. Jayson ended up coming with me to see Jeff. I ended up seeing Jeff, David, Nick, Jeffery, and others. It was weird to see so many people who used to work at Jeff’s company return to it. I think Lefty and I are the only ones that haven’t returned. David, Jeff, Jay and I went to Pete’s Tavern for lunch. It was nice to catch up with them.

Plan for the Day

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My exit interview is in a little while. I am not leaving for over a week, but I was hoping to get some time off next week so I am doing it now. After that I am off to lunch with an old friend (and old boss) Jeff. I am going to meet him down by his office. It is usually too long between when we get together so I am looking forward to lunch.

Other than those plans, I am not sure what the day has in store for me yet.

The Brewery

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After work yesterday a few of us headed over to the brewery in Union Square for some drinks and food. We meet up with John, Mickey, and Tom and had an overall good evening. John is trying to convince most of us to goto a poker tournament on super bowl sunday out on the island. I am still skeptical about the trip. Originally the buy in was high and I am not a fan of traveling way out onto the island if I can avoid it. I am waiting to see what the buy in will be for real before I make a decision.

Even-though I only had 2 drinks (in my defense they were rather large mixed drinks, but I know I am a light weight when it comes to drinking) I was pretty buzzed last night. I had my typical after drinking restless sleeping last night. I set my alarm for later than normal but still got up around my regular time since I was not able to sleep well most of the night.

Work Ethic

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Here I am sitting at work with 7 more business days until I leave for my new job. I am winding down everything I have been doing, and answering questions from everyone who asks about this or that. Since others in my group are leaving soon we are all in the same boat. You would think that we would be the last to show up to work each day and the first to leave in the evening. Scary thing is that we are not. Take yesterday for example. Monday night I asked myself why I was getting up so early to goto the office normal time (for me at least) when 3/4 of the development team staff get in after 10AM. So I set my alarm for an hour later than normal. I figured I would sleep in a bit and maybe get some stuff done at home before heading into work. I wasn’t that busy on Monday anyway. Well even with getting up an hour later and puttering around my apartment for a while I still only came to work at 10AM. The funny thing was I walked in with a developer who ALWAYS does that. When I got to work at 10AM at least half the dev staff still wasn’t in the office. I just don’t get it. Even if these people are working allot at home (tend to doubt it though) the perception this type of work ethic gives off is terrible to everyone else. Is it me? Others in my groups say the same thing, so I don’t think it is me being overly sensitive.

If you are asking, hey maybe these guys work late so they can come in late. That is what I told myself for a while. But when my team comes into work on time every day and over half of them stay much later than any of their development counterparts you get to wonder what are these people doing? I would like a 10:30 to 6PM (6:30 maybe) job with an hour lunch built in. That doesn’t account for the playing with remote control cars or other stuff people do to waste time throughout the day. No wonder why some departments keep needing to hire more staff.

On the plus side as I said at the beginning of this post I only have 7 more business days to go. My exit interview is tomorrow with HR. I will be honest when asked questions, so it will be interesting.

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