Onion Slices

So many of the posts I put up are informational in that I found out something that I want to be able to find if it happens again. This post isn’t much different.

Here at 3Sharp, we use the blogging platform Subtext. It’s not my favorite platform in the world, but I understand the reasons why we use it. That being said, I’m going to get to the meat of this post. First up, posting using applications other than the web console. To post to Subtext, you have to make sure to use the right provider. With Subtext, that’s MetaWebBlog.

Once you’ve set that, the URL that has to be entered to post is:

http://<blog URL>/<User Name>/services/MetaBlogAPI.aspx

This wasn’t exactly hard to find; it seems lots of people want to try to connect to it using blog clients. I just want to make sure that I have the information handy when co-workers ask, “how do I use this thingy again?”

So, it’s happening once again. I’m in a pretty stable financial place and my car is acting like it’s going to give up the ghost at any moment. For a while I’ve been dealing with the bits and pieces as they come along and saying to myself, “it still runs, I can make it last!” With the leak in the trunk, it is unusable. I’ve tried sealing it up with silicon goop, but there is still water getting in there, somehow. I need to take out the 2 or 3 things that are back there and throw them away. The mold is uncontainable. In the cab of the car, there has been a leak from around the front and rear windshields, but I’ve been able to just mop up that water when I’m riding around. In the cold weather, I’ve just had to wait a little longer for the ice on the inside of the windows to melt. I love the radio that I installed, but now it’s not playing music out of all the speakers, and I don’t know if it’s the wiring, the speakers, or the radio itself. I just turn up the music and pretend that I can hear it all.

This has been kind of annoying, but nothing that would require the new expense of a car payment. Lately, though, I’ve been having some other issues that I can’t ignore. One of them is that in May, I’m going to have to renew my license plates, and part of that is getting the county mandated emissions test. I’m pretty sure that Julie’s car will pass with no problems, but I’m certain that mine won’t (at least not without a bunch of expensive work). The other thing that has been weighing on my mind is the fact that now my car is trying to stall out on me quite frequently. It’s not so bad yet that I have let it stall, but several times in the past week, I’ve had to pop it in neutral at a stop light so I can keep the idle up. This only started since the heavy snow that we had, so I’m going to blame that.

Mentally, I’ve made the decision that I’m going to get a new car. I am not looking forward to another bill, but I need to have a reliable car, and I think that after 220,8xx miles, it’s time to retire the old buggy. What I’m trying to figure out is what kind of car I should get. I really want to get a new Honda Accord, but I’m not really sure we can afford it. I wouldn’t mind getting a used one, but I have some fears about trusting a dealership with a “Certified Pre-Owned” car. The other way lies some fun thought. I would love to get a VW! I wouldn’t get a new beetle, but a Rabbit or something would be a fun drive. This isn’t going to be the “family car” once we get to that point, so I’m really interested in finding something that _I_ want to drive (I love my wife, but I do like having some things that remain just MINE).

I’m going to continue looking, but I think it might be time to go and test drive some cars. I know the things I like and don’t like, so that is much better than perusing prices and stats online. *sigh* Where is my jetpack???

I went out shopping today. I made a mistake, and that was going out shopping. There were people EVERYWHERE, and none of them had any sense of personal space OR interest in anything outside their own bodies. So in response to them all, I give you a picture of my happy face.

This IS my happy face.

Yes, Gracie jumped up onto my shoulders to sniff out this new thing in the house, and yes, I’m still wearing my hat as I type this!

Last week, I made some delicious banana bread. At the same time, I was installing a new spice rack! Multitasking!

NOW WITH MORE “X”!!!!

I know that this is kind of a short post, and a bit off-topic, but I really hate the idea of buying anything for a business that is called “Xtreme.”

This is what I’m talking about.

Supposedly just because we are small, we don’t want to use anything that costs over, say, $50. I will confess that my suggestion of this was expensive (about $450), but I KNOW it will work, and it is a product aimed at businesses.

That’s enough ire for now.

Today started off late today, so I’ve been working late to compensate, but we all need little breaks throughout the day! Part of this break will be talking about my new iPhone! I’m really excited to have one. About 4 months ago, I made the decision to move away from my Verizon service. It was more expensive than I wanted to be paying and I was really unhappy with the performance of both my phone and the network as a whole. I thought that this might be a good time to get an iPhone, so I broached the subject with Julie. She wasn’t all that hot about spending a bunch of money, both for the new service and to cancel the old. After thinking about it, I had to agree and we decided to put off the move until after the new year. Now, 4 months later, it’s the new year!

Julie’s been complaining about her phone for a while. The way it’s designed, it is really hard to put on your shoulder while you talk without pressing on the touchscreen or the buttons. We’d been to a couple of stores to look at phones, but I knew that we were putting off actually getting anything new for a little while. Well, last Monday, Julie had had it with her phone. She told me that she was tired of hanging up on people! We couldn’t go for several days, due to busy schedules and her back, but on the 1st of January, 2009, we walked into an AT&T store and came out heeled with new phones!

I really love my phone, so I’ve put together some “Cheers and Jeers” for it:

Cheers:

• It’s an iPhone. I’m sorry, but it’s just cool!
• It’s really easy to install apps from the App Store and there are a lot of free applications to test
• The camera is about as good as my dedicated little Casio
• The OS is SLICK! The transitions are clear, there is very little lag or delay that isn’t designed into it under heavy use
• Everything I have done has been well planned
  • Setting up my e-mail was simple
  • Joining wireless networks is easier than on my laptop or any other device I’ve ever used
• All the applications I’ve downloaded have been just as well thought out and planned as the OS (I do have some favorites and complaints about some apps, but that’s not the phone’s fault)

Jeers:

• No MMS messaging. This is just kind of dumb, but not really a show-stopper since both the web browser and e-mail client work really well
• I keep killing the battery. Then again, I’ve been using it pretty much non-stop since I got it. I just have to learn to have it plugged in when I’m not using it
• I can’t use any of my old iPod accessories with it. I keep getting the message that “Charging is not supported with this accessory.” I am going to hate to have to replace all the durn cords and cables I have
• The screen rotation doesn’t work in every application. I have seen that I can type MUCH faster in the “landscape” mode. I just wish I could use that in the text messaging!
• Applications can’t run in the background

One thing I have to stress is that NOTHING that I’ve complained about has been a surprise. I knew all about the phone before I ever walked into the store. I wasn’t going to buy something just for the coolness factor, but it helps (:

I just want to post a couple pictures of my cats. I loves them bunches… my precious…

George has become more snuggly lately. He normally curls up on my lap/chest whenever I sit on the couch.

The tree is down and most of the Christmas-fu is put away, but while it was up, it was Gracie’s play-time with EVERYTHING…

More of my little kitten! I loves him so much!

Lucky is a natural at hiding!

George thought that the roasting pan was a great place to hang out. In the background you can see the iMac that I was prepping to send to my mom as a Christmas gift. I’m so pumped about getting her on a Mac! We’ve always been an apple family. Speaking of which, I’m an iPhone user now! More on that later!

Me playing with my iPhone while Julie was playing with Gracie!

Some people don’t know how to park!

My first picture with the iPhone. Julie was ready to be done by that point!

Denny’s had free Wi-Fi! Who knew that Moons over MyHammy could be even better with more Internetz!

Julie thinks I keep it too cold in the apartment and that I stay up too late….