Keeping Life Interesting

Things that make life more interesting:

1. Jordan has learned how to go up & down the ladder to the top bunk where Caleb sleeps. Reuben learned this skill at about the same age. We just didn’t remember the joy / fear. Perhaps we’ve blocked it out.

2. On Saturday we were privileged to have a screening of the newest VeggieTales video, Abe and the Amazing Promise, at our church. As we prepared we planned to be excited if 100 people attended. We were overwhelmed by 175! Fantastic!

3. Mocha, our lab / terrier cross puppy, has grown and learned to jump the baby gates we’ve used to keep her in & out of the kitchen.

Grumpy Reubenism

Yesterday we were doing some errands as a family and Reuben was whining really loudly about his hat.  This was about the millionth whining moment of the day for him and Sharalyn and I were being driven nuts.  In my frustration I resorted to sarcasm – which I know most 3 year olds do not comprehend.  Here’s the conversation:

Reuben: [Whining / crying about his hat]

Me: Reuben why don’t you whine about it, cry some, throw your hat on the ground and stomp on it!  Maybe that will help.

Reuben: [Crys & whines some more] I can’t! My seat belt is on so I don’t know how!

Sharalyn and I started laughing.  It made for a lighter moment in a the midst of frustration.  Sarcasm wasn’t a helpful parenting technique in the moment [is it ever?]. Sometimes 3 year olds are exasperating.

Fireproof

Tonight Sharalyn and I took a break from the norm [you know - laundry, computer editing, cleaning] to watch the movie Fireproof.  It’s the third film [second to garner a larger audience] by Sherwood Baptist Church, the same folks who created Facing the Giants a couple years ago.  

It was really well done.  Fireproof is a film that takes a hard look at marriage and challenges people to fight for the marriage.  I was really impressed.  The Love Dare book [watch the movie, it will make sense] is now available in stores and is bound to have an impact, along with the move, on many marriages.  

This is a movie not to be missed my married couples or singles who desire to become married.

2008 Technology | Phone

Phone [Windows Mobile] | I started the year with a Bell HTC PPC6800 and in the spring switched to an HTC Touch [6900].  The reason for my change [In some ways, I still actually like the 6800 better] is that at that time Bell/Aliant offers $7/month unlimited internet access for the 6900 because it is not a “business phone” but charged $25 for 4mb of data use on the 6800 because “it has a slide out keyboard and is therefore a business phone.” Odd.

Oggsync | In late 2007 I made a significant shift in how I manage my life.  I’ve been a calendar person for quite a while, but have always disliked MS Outlook.  I made the shift to go all Google, and my ability to do so was largely because Oggsync allows me to keep my google calendars [I have 12] in sync with my phone.  In 2008 Oggsync added contacts sync, which I now also use.  Oggsync does have a freeware version which is limited to one calendar and a limited sync range; I purchased a subscription and regularily sync up to 12 calendars with a range of 2 months in the past and 2 years in the future.  To be honest, as much as a rely on Oggsync, I’ve been disappointed with the software for about 6 months because its creators have not updated it to fix several small problems.  However, it is still, in my mind, the best option for sync to Windows Mobile until Google themselves create a real usable method for this.

Windows Mobile 6.1 | In 2008 Microsoft released an update to its Windows Mobile software which added several needed changes like threaded SMS and better GPS integration.  For my part, I updgraded both my phones [the 6800 and then when I switched to the 6900 that as well].  The main reason for my upgrade [other then just being a geek] was to gain GPS through Google Maps.

Google Maps | On my phone, one of the freeware programs I use less frequency, but apreciate the most is Google Maps. For example, on thanksgiving weekend in Canada we were travelling to join Sharalyn’s clan at her sister Karilyn’s new home near Fredericton.  The problem travel-wise is that I had been told in general terms that they lived in Fredericton, NB.  They live near Fredericton in a place called New Maryland.  Its one of those times when you tell people you live in the nearest big area because they likely had never heard of the place you live in.  So, as we were driving I was sucessful in getting horibly lost.  Using Gmaps on my phone, I was able to figure out where we were, where they lived, and then use GPS to drive through much of Fredericton to arrive at their home sucessfully.  Thanks, Google.

Email Scheduler | Really, this freeware program is something that should be natively a part of Windows Mobile.  With active sync its possible to schedule the times of day when you allow your phone to connect to a remote server.  In other words, you can set the times of day that you want your phone allowing push email / calendar / etc. to arrive.  However, with email [pop or imap] this isn’t possible.  Enter Email Scheduler. Essentially, you can set the time that your phone stops checking at night and starts in the morning.  Perfect for those of us who leave their phones on at night as an alarm clock.  

PIM Backup | Again, something else that really should have been a part of Windows Mobile.  Just like its name says, PIM Backup is freeware that will backup your data [email, calendar, contacts, files, etc] either manually or by a schedule you determine.  The backups can be saved to your microSD card, and can be restored from there.  The only way this could be better would be for the backup to be automatically over the air to a server rather than on the microSD card.  Several services exist for that idea [Drop Box, Dash Wire, etc] but I’ve not taken the time to explore them yet.  

Facebook | Lets face it, if you don’t have a Facebook profile and are not checking the site at least once a day, you were missing a large part of the social world in 2008.  I’ll write more about Facebook in the web applications post, but I’ll say here, that Facebook Mobile [not a true program on my phone, but a web ap for my phone] has made communication with people and learning about their lives better for me in 2008 than ever before.

Google Reader | Another web application, GReader has become a regular part of my life.  I’ll explain more in the web applications post, but I’ll say here that the mobile version allows me to put the spare 3-10 minutes I often have waiting in different places to good use.  

Pocket Uno | What can I say, everyone needs one game.

2008 Technology

Many of the blogs that I read have created “best of 2008″ posts.  In some ways this is one, but in other ways its just my way of saying thanks to the companies who have created the software that I use most often.  I’m going to write three posts, one for programs for softare on my phone, and a second for software on my laptop, and the third for web applications. Many of these are new to me during 2008.