New toys

Have I whined about my cell phone in a while? I don’t think I’m allowed to do that any more.

 

Gone are the days of the phone-that-does-nothing-but-call.  Really, nothing. No camera. No Bluetooth headsets. No web browsing.  Not even a chintzy game.  It placed and received phone calls.  And performed its duties honorably for over 5 years. Yes, 5.  My cell phone is an antique.  Not quite a car phone, though (remember those?)

 

It kind of like my car:  I didn’t want to replace it until I had to.  My car’s 7 years old, now, btw. With last week’s cell phone purchase, I have now owned more cell phones than cars.  This one is phone #3 (I’m still driving car #2).

 

I actually didn’t have to replace my cell phone (*gasp*).  My husband had to replace his.  After spending an entire weekend “updating” itself (and running out of battery half-way through the update, then re-starting), it quit behaving at all like a proper little phone.  Some days it would not respond at all to any buttons (even the power button).  Some days it would buzz at him and then shut itself down. 

 

He needed a new phone, so I got one too.  After all, I’m the one who’s been drooling over friends’ web-browsing, calendar apps, texting, cameras, etc.  Hubby really just wanted a phone that made calls, but he refused the offer of my old-but-functional one, LOL.  Funny, but we had the same discussion when his old car needed help.  I wanted the big fancy kid-hauler, and he wanted something less soccer-mom-ish. But he declined the offer of my Accord, so he’s driving the new Highlander and I’m still in my car.  Hmmm…

 

We both got the new HTC Evo’s.  I’m going to have to buy a pink case for mine to help me tell them apart :). They were both activated last night, and I got Facebook and Twitter and my google account all hooked up and running.  I think he may have been downloading games or possibly an Android SDK.  Not really sure.

 

Ok, so I do get one last cell-phone whine.  There is no way to transfer the phone numbers from my old phone to the new one automatically.  Really, none.  No, the old phone doesn’t have a data cable of any sort, and No, the Sprint folks can’t do it for me either, even for a fee. So I have an hour or so of manual text entry to do so I don’t lose people.  Guess that’s the end of that little rant, huh.

 

 

 

Twilight

I finally did it. I’d been avoiding it for a year (or more? I’ve lost track). I watched Twilight.

 

Lets’ just say that while I enjoy sci fi/urban fantasy/paranormal romance and also YA (hello, Harry Potter), that I have never gotten into vampires.  Sure, I saw Interview with a Vampire years ago, and it wasn’t bad.  But it never inspired any Bite-Me type fantasies (no matter how sexy the leading actors were…too bad they were bloodsucking dead people). A recent Harlequin Blaze (whose title escapes me) about cowboy vampires didn’t really help matters.  At some point all that scary-evil-biting-erotic(?) stuff just looks silly to me. Still, when so many people are so awe-struck by a book series or film, I figure I should at least see it once.  Know what the hype is about.

 

And maybe, had I read the book first, I might have enjoyed it more. Maybe. I usually get a better feeling for characters when I read them then when I watch them. I may have skimmed the first page or two in a bookstore. But it didn’t draw me in. 

 

After two and a half hours of ten angst and blue-washed shady scenery, I still don’t get it.  The end wasn’t bad.  From about the point that James(?), the evil hunter vampire, showed up on the scene the pace really picked up.  But that was what, 45 minutes, tops?  And I’m still shocked that Bella’s parents didn’t suspect Edward of physically abusing her and try to separate the two (or at least send her to counseling).  Come on, falling down stairs? How does that account for teethmarks on her wrist? I’m still shaking my head over that.

 

So, I saw the movie.  And am still not tempted to pick up the books. Never say never, of course. But I won’t be eating my words any time soon.

 

 

Our Garden in June

Our garden is growing beautifully, so far, and I think it looks very pretty. So I took pictures and made a quick and amateurish video slideshow of them. And you're the lucky audience. (Well, you and my future self, since I write this stuff for my own amusement). BTW, this is my first attempt at throwing pictures into a movie for the web, so please forgive the rough edges.

So far, most things are growing great. One tomato plant and one cucumber are attempting to take over the rest, and the watermelon plant at the other end has crept into the rock bed. By count, we have more pepper plants than anything else (combination of jalapeno, banana, and bell peppers), but they're slow to take off. I wonder if its not quite sunny enough for them, or if they're just later growers.

The rain barrel is working pretty well so far, but it has really low water pressure (just gravity). I recently removed the fancy irrigation system made from a kit and replaced it with a really long soaker hose looped around all the plants. The word "fancy" was a bit sarcastic. The kit was a nice idea, but it had some issues (like leaky connections that may have been the fault of the, ahem, installer). The soaker hose seems to be working, even with the low flow from the barrel. Its on a timer set for an hour a day, which seems to be working for now.

And we've been enjoying mini-harvests of beans, green onions, and lettuce (in the flower pots) for about two weeks now. Charlotte eats the peas right off the stalk. And this is the first year we've had ripe tomatoes before the 4th of July. Only a couple so far, and Charlotte has claimed most of those also.