I have an iPhone. It is a 2nd hand 16GB 3G iPhone. It is white. For those of you who know me, this comes as no shock to you. For those of you who don’t know me, I have an illness - gadgetorhea. It’s defined by the need to have every new gadget that comes onto the market.
I stayed out of the iPhone fray for the first what… two years? One year? 18 months? Something like that… because the iPhone would not successfully connect to our organization’s enterprise infrastructure (geek for “it doesn’t work with our e-mail system”). Now, the iPhone, surprisingly, works better with our e-mail system than my old BlackBerry did.
I got the phone for a substantial discount from a friend who gave it up because he couldn’t stand the fact that the phone has no keyboard. In essence, you type on the glass that is the screen. I find that I can type just fine on that. Also, my problem with the thinness of the device seems to have gone away since the iPhone is a good deal thicker than the iPod Touch I was using as a test model.
Having the iPhone also reduces my dependence on multiple electronic devices in order to listen to my iTunes podcasts of various NPR shows - Jazz Profiles, The Diane Rehm Show, Talk of the Nation, and Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me. It was getting a bit tiresome juggling between the iPod Touch to change the program and my BlackBerry to read my e-mail, and back to the Touch to play games, and back to the BlackBerry to jot out another e-mail that had just popped into my brain.
I like the iPhone just fine, thankyouverymuch.
If you have never been to Ikea, I highly recommend a trip. It’s like a Target, but supersized, and limited to furnishings. The boys liked Smålland, and dinner - Swedish meatballs for Tracy and I, and kids food for the kids - cost $25.
It’s a unique place.
I had lunch today with my cousin Andrea. I haven’t seen her in a Very Long Time, which is completely my fault. We had lunch today in the Faculty Club, a nice dining room on campus replete with appointments and accoutrements befitting the fine faculty of Florida International University.
We talked about our families, her business, my work, and some politics. She’s a fierce independent, but I tried to sway her to the left! 
I definitely need to work hard to keep in touch with my family a little better.
Donovan lost his first tooth yesterday. We were driving in the van, headed to Warrick’s Hobby Superstore, and, while on I-95, Tracy and I hear from the back of the van: “My tooth!!!” This was a far cry from earlier in the day when we heard him screaming in pain, not wanting to eat breakfast, because his front tooth was bending over (poor guy…)
It’s hard to believe he’s seven.
Life is (generally) good.
Today marks my fourth week of classes. It also marks the fourth week since I have been waiting for the disbursement of my financial aid. I generally wouldn’t care about the disbursement, but this time I actually need it in order to purchase a statistical modeling software that I need for one of my classes.
I despise this part of the week, because I put my kids to bed on Tuesday, and I basically don’t see them until I get home on Thursdsay from work. Why? Because I have both of my seminars on Wednesday night, and I’m usually gone before they wake up in the morning. Though last night I could tell that my kids had a great day – they were both truly relaxing in bed, something they don’t usually do willingly, but do do after they have had an active day full of fun and learning.
<sigh>
What’s new in your world?
I’m still waiting for my school to release my financial aid to me. I’m glad I’m no longer in the “Starving Student” class of individual, otherwise, I’d be beating down a door daily to Financial Aid’s office, asking them what takes so long to validate what I’ve put on two different forms (my 1040A and my FAFSA).
Other than that, school is great. This week, we’re reading a book in my Political Economy class called “To Run a Constitution.” Thus far, it’s presented a coherent argument for separation of powers in practice. Though I’m not quite sure I buy Rohr’s somewhat tautological argument that this can be justified by the language of the constitution itself.
Hmmmm…
Well, Ike finally made his presence felt today, after a couple days of merely blowing around Miami. We had some pretty strong downpours, wind, and thunder. I guess things should start easing up soon – like tonight and tomorrow, when it will return to just being hot and humid.
Of course, hurricane season is not over yet, but soon it will be.
We got 0 time off due to Ike… that’s good and bad. Good that we didn’t end up like Cuba and Haiti – with people dead due to the storm; bad that we didn’t get time off.
We just came in from burying my sons’ hamster, whom they affectionately named Climber. Climber was a Dalmatian hamster, so named for her spotted fur coat; and she was huge, for a hamster: 7″.
Of course, the kids being kids are already asking “Can we go to the PetSmart with the brown roof?” Tracy, on the other hand, used my shoulder quite liberally.
We’ll miss you Climber.
I had the fortune to get a new iPod touch for free. And I like it.
Today, on the ride in to work, I was listening to the podcast of Hour Two from The Diane Rehm Show of yesterday, on which she was interviewing P. M. Forni, on his book “The Civility Solution”. The gist of the book, and hence, of the interview, was Dr. Forni’s insight into why people are rude, and what we can do to confront those who might be rude.
I have to admit that since listening, I’ve been more aware of my actions toward others, and, perhaps more importantly, more attuned to how I am thinking about treating others.
I hope that I can improve how I deal with people… and to do so, I may pick up a copy of Dr. Forni’s book.
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