Phone Geekery 2

Despite my best efforts, sometimes hardware just needs to be given up on.

If you’ll remember, my last phone geekery post focused on my search for a good Android tweak for my phone, the Motorola Cliq XT. Unfortunately, my search brought me right up to the limitations of the hardware. I found nothing out there that would fix the auto-mute when switching from the current call to an incoming call, so I was left chalking it up to being a hardware-related problem. At work, during an emergency, I am likely to get several calls at once to my mobile phone, so this was an inconvenience.

That left two problems: slow interface response and a random delay when answering calls before I could hear the person on the other end. I found that if one version fixed one problem, it did not fix the other. I picked slow response, as Nikki found my repeated “Hello, hello?” to be pretty irritating over time.

With two of the three problems unresolvable, and our tax return in our bank account, we decided to get me a new phone. I have to admit that I’d been doing quite a bit of looking, so I knew exactly what I wanted.

As an aside, cell phone forums are as negative and soul sucking as YouTube comments. Sheesh.

I purchased an HTC Sensation, and have been gleeful with its performance since. It fits my needs now, and will likely continue to do so for the next couple of years. If and when it comes time to abandon the stock software on the phone, I’ll be more armed to find a good mod thanks to my wrestling with the Cliq XT. And whatever performance it ends up giving me, I’ll post both the positive and the negative when I review the phone on T-Mobile and HTC’s forums.

Swinging

It’s been a hell of a weekend. There have been some seriously stressful points, and some seriously amazing moments. I’ll recap the top in each category, and leave the rest for a later time.

Major awesomeness of awesome. Also awesome. Riverdance. Live. At MSU‘s Wharton Center. Nikki was gifted two tickets to Saturday night’s show by the amazing Peter and Becky as a thank you for watching their kids. I went, expecting to have to suppress grumbling and complaining, as a favor to Nikki. What I got was an experience that filled my eyeballs and ear holes with symbolism, story, talent, and inspiration. Holy balls, was that an amazing thing to partake in. I was drawn in from the moment that I realized that those clicks weren’t time delayed because of distance, he was clacking his shoes together in precise time WHILE IN THE AIR. Also, that drummer was better than the fiddler because, c’mon, eighties hair.

On the other end of the spectrum, there’s lice. Our five year old’s Dad’s family discovered these little jerk faces minutes before Nikki was due to pick Aidan up for our weekend with him. (No judgement here, please. Clean and dirty people alike get afflicted with these bugs.) As previously mentioned, we sit for other kids, so we missed out on another weekend with him. On top of that, because the aforementioned kids were at our house on Tuesday, we spent the weekend turning the house upside down, piling everything that could be washed into the laundry, and everything else into plastic bags. We shampooed, we got haircuts (Nikki is becoming a pro with those clippers), and we sprayed furniture and carpets. All signs point to us being in the clear, and I’ve got my fingers crossed that that’s the case.

My hair needed to be cut, anyway.  The stylist at Walmart really screwed it up.

3 years old

Cian is three years old.  It’s been three years since that morning in Ingham Regional Medical Center (now McLaren Lansing) when he came into the world, weighing a whopping 9 pounds.

He’s suffered through what we thought was a dairy allergy (and are now thinking is a mild case of FPIES), two collisions between his head and concrete steps (I had no idea a tooth could get pushed up into your gum, let alone pop back into place – but seriously, stop running on the stairs!), and the terrible twos.  He’s come through it all with a vibrancy that has shocked me, and made me once again believe that anything is possible.

If you ask him how old he is, he will proudly tell you “Fwee!”

Happy Birthday, Cian.  I love you.

But, seriously, use the railing when you’re on the stairs.

New to me

From this picture, I’m pretty sure that two things jump right out at you.

We’ll not talk about the first one, which is the size of my nostrils.  I really need to avoid that camera angle.  Heh.

The second is the new-to-me car in the background!  While my ideals sob at moving away from the Pontiac Sunfire, it’s pretty difficult to cram a family of six in that little, aging, teal car.  So, I’ve taken a hit in fuel efficiency, and received upgrades in space and luxury.  I have to admit, I never expected to fall in car-love with a Chrysler Pacifica.

I tell you what, though.  I’m hoping to have this one for the long haul.

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