ThunderBolt

Ok - so it is a bit of a stretch to say I needed this for the move, but my BlackBerry was accidentally washed (wasn't entirely my fault) and we were on the verge of getting an iPad 2 just for connectivity and GPS as we crossed the marginally charted wasteland of the central plains. This is sooo much cheaper, and it acts as a mobile hotspot, and my 2 year contract was up and it think it may have been destiny or karma.

Anyway, I'm the proud new owner of a HTC ThunderBolt on Verizon's new LTE 4G network. It is blindingly fast and very beautiful. 2 cameras (front & back) a camcorder and syncs with gmail. It has a cute little kick stand to sit up to my desk (if I am willing to plug it in cause the display drains the battery).

Unfortunately, it comes with lots of malware / adware that I cannot remove without rooting and running the risk of bricking it. Think I'll wait till after the road trip when the phone is not so necessary. Why oh why would anyone go to so much trouble to make a nice phone like this then load it down with crap software that you can't remove? Blockbuster, City ID, and an add for a golf game, to name a few. If I had more choices, I'd take it back, but I don't. So I'll eventually root it and clean it up.

Oh, and it does have a few bugs. Today, I tried sending text messages. If I include a subject line in the text message (why is there an option for a subject line is a text message?) it attached the text messase in a slide show????? If I don't specify a subject, the recipient gets my  a strange 15 digit number for the reply, even though my call back number is set correctly. Turns out it is my SIM card #. I was able to fix this by powering off (hold down button on top for a few seconds to get option), then removing and replacing battery and sim card. The back case is very hard to open. I used a credit card wrapped in a paper towel to wedge it open.

Moving boxes

The moving boxes have arrived today! I couldn't help singing the 'little boxes' song as I dragged them into the house.

I spent a little while looking on Craigslist for free boxes over the last 2 weekends, but did not hear back from any of the listings and I'm not ready to go driving around the city hoping to grab the few that I could fit into my mini.

For the move out, I ordered most of the boxes online from Box Bundles, Inc which is now listed under MoveOut.com. I spent several hours price shopping, comparing prices and reviews for Uhaul, ULINE and UBOXES, as well as one place that sold used boxes. I settled on MoveOut.com boxes again as the best value and ordered a kit with 40 medium and 20 large boxes on Saturday. They arrived on Tuesday at my front door. Now all we have to do is pack.

If we pack 2 boxes every evening, we will be done in time to move. I hope.

After opening and counting the boxes, I went back to the website where I bought the box kit, and that kit is gone, to be replaced by a kit that has small, medium and large boxes. This is really what I wanted, but I guess they ran short of small boxes and rather than saying the small boxes were back ordered, just removed them from the site. I used a lot of small boxes last time - especially for books.

Moving with Cats - part 1 of many

We are embarking on a Great Adventure, moving from the very trendy life of San Francisco to the slightly crunchy life of Boone - in the mountains of NC. I will not go into the virtues of either life style since there is a time and a place for everything. It is now my time to return to the roots I wish I had.

I intend to chronicle this move to share with friends and family, to help me remember how painful moving really is (since I tend to move every few years) and to share with those that are facing a move.

We moved to San Francisco in October of 2004, about 6 1/2 years ago. We down-sized significantly from a sprawling house in Chapel Hill to fit into about a much smaller space in San Fran. The kids were grown so it was just us and the pets; Pebbles, an elderly but ferocious Yorkshire Terrier and 2 cats. R and I took the cats out first by airplane in the cabin. We gave them tranquilizers from the vet and they were quiet in their little Sherpa bags under the seats. I thought things were OK, but they were REALLY traumatized. It took about 3 weeks before they would eat and drink and use the litter box. I thought they were going to die. I went back and finished packing and loading the truck, and brought Pebbles out in one of the Sherpa bags. Although the trip was stressful for her, she was much calmer. I don't think I tranquilized her.

Pebbles past away after a long and well-loved life and now we are faced with moving back with 2 somewhat mature cats. Janet is 17 and is a very dignified, but intolerant cat. Pinky is 15, has always been insane and is becoming more unstable as she gets older. Neither one really wants to move I think.

I've been trying to picture putting them on airplanes and moving them back, but just can't see it having a good ending, so we have decided to opt for the ...

Romantic Cross-Country Drive with Cats.

Janet

Pinky

Pillar Point Hike

We hiked the bluffs from just north of Moss Beach to Pillar Point. Ww went at high tide, so we didn't do much walking on the beach, but plan to come back at low tide. The tide pools are supposed to be quite special.

Take me out to the ball game

We went to see the Giants play the Mets on Thursday night. i'm not a baseball fan, but I really enjoyed the game. The weather was beautiful and they've added a lot of entertainment to the ballgames since I went last. The singer (Jenny?) had a beautiful voice, the night was relatively warm and clear and we had great seats (thanks Sharp!) between 3rd base and home plate. Guinness & almonds for dinner, people watching and practicing my whistling - which I can't do much now that I live in a high-density city.

How do I feel about my MINI?

I'm not a car person. I used to feel that anything would do to get you from point A to point B fairly reliably was just fine. Then I got a truck. I loved my truck, but mostly because it let you get from point A to point B and carry big things. And you can ride in the back with the wind in your hair (my Southern roots).

Then I got my MINI. As you can see below, even a mundane ride home from work after a long and dreary day becomes a beautiful thing. I love my MINI.



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Tequlia Sunset

We have a room with a view of Sutrotower. This was the sunset we watched at dinner tonight. The weather has been nasty yesterday and today, but the cold, wet day had a nice ending.