Bringing the Drama

Now that I have an iPhone, I had to retire the most awesome phone in the world. Unfortunately, this means all my texts are now locked to that phone, and I won’t be able to pull them up on my new phone. It’s kind of sad, because I have texts that are almost two years old. I have texts from friends after the Saints won the Super Bowl, or right after I let them know I got engaged. I have texts announcing the birth of a kid, a friend launching into “the journey” speech, and friends who were at a music movie viewing with beer. I will be able to save the pictures people have sent me though, so pictures of my friend Bill being suffocated by Darth Vader, or my friend Jacob meeting Pierre Thomas will be preserved.

:aiaiai: – Brandi, 8:30 pm, 2/7/2010 (Right after Tracy Porter’s Pick 6)

“A neutron walks into a bar and asks the barkeep ‘how much for a beer?’ The barkeep looks at him and says ‘for you…no charge’” – Trey, 11:28 am, 8/30/2010 (this has nothing to do with a moment to remember, it just makes me laugh)

I haven’t saved many outgoing messages. However, samplings are below:

“Three effing Neal effing Casal songs”, 10:41 pm, 3/19/2009 (on the way back from the Ryan Adams show in Mobile to my friend David)

“I ran a HALF MARATHON! I am alive!” 9:50 am, 10/31/2009 (after running the HALF MARATHON to twitter and FB)

“Hey, I got engaged last night. This is real.” 10/6/2010 (I sent the same text announcement to everyone I did not have time to call)

So I finally got my Verizon iPhone last week and have just about fallen in love. I love being able to check email with a touch of a button. I love being able to play Words with Friends. I love the sound effects from Angry Birds. I love auto-tuning my voice. I also love voice command on it, even though it has misunderstood me a couple of times. I installed a Google app for voice searching things, and figured out how to show the results on a map. I used that feature to find the Subway on Friday where I ate lunch with my future FIL. I’m sure all of these things are applicable for any smartphone, but I happen to have the iPhone, so there you go.

I can send texts so much faster now! The downside of having a full keyboard is that there’s no way I can text without looking at it. I’ve tried and failed. I miss that ability. I did however download a speech to text app that works like a champ, but getting what it outputs to a text needs to be done looking at the phone.

Also of course, PHONE CALLS! For some reason I think the iPhone sounds much better than my 6 year old flip phone. Go figure. I thought it’d be weird holding it up to my ear, but it’s not bad at all. I’m still learning how to end calls faster and all that, but I’m getting there.

One thing I’ve noticed is that I don’t use my PC as much at home anymore, because I can check email and all with my phone. A quick few clicks on my phone and I’m ready for bed. Right on.

I’ve been addicted to checking network speeds on it. I check the network speed wherever I am multiple times a day. Last week I was checking 5 or 6 times a day. Lately I’ve cut back to 2 times a day. I’m getting on average about 1 Mbps, which seems to jive with the speeds I was seeing in articles comparing Verizon and AT&T. I have not noticed any effects of the slower speed on my phone. I’ve watched Netflix on 3G. AWESOME! Incidentally, I have had two instances where I could have used the ability to use voice and data at the same time, but neither time was it a major deal. So far so good.

The last company I worked for is a pretty big deal in the world. You would think someone like that would have suites at the Dome or the Arena, but no, they don’t. In fact, I don’t think they have a local presence AT ALL outside of the work location. My new company has a suite at the Arena though, because they are awesome.

During the Hornets’ mini slump, we got an email asking if we wanted tickets to the suite for the Spurs game in January. It was a week or two after I had gone to the first home game against the Spurs, and the Hornets blew a big lead in the 2nd half and lost by double digits. However, I like free tickets to things, and I like suite tickets, so I requested tickets. I had never been in a suite before, all I knew about going to Hornets games was sitting in the upper deck or being lucky enough to sit in the lower bowl on occasion. Suites were for people other than me. I was excited.

Then disaster struck. A wedding shower was scheduled for that night. At the time I did not realize it, but then two weeks before the game we got an email reminder at work. Awful. I emailed and said I had to give up my tickets because of the shower. I get home that evening and find out the shower has been postponed for a 3 year old’s birthday party. They scheduled then rescheduled the shower without talking to the guests of honor. Not that they knew I had tickets to the company suite at a Hornets game, but still. Luckily I was able to get the tickets back since the guest list had not really changed, so things were back to normal.

We went to the game and parked. We walked to the Arena and entered. We got to go behind some velvet rope to an elevator that brought us to the suite level. The suite had closets for our coats, a private bathroom, and was catered. It was like a mini apartment, with a giant opening to the court. I was able to look down on the non suite people and revel in my good fortune. We even had plastic cups with the company name on them. Take that old company! Then the game was awesome because the Hornets destroyed the Spurs. My favorite part was when Okafor blocked 3 shots on one possession, or at least it felt like 3. I have been amazed by his play this year after watching him all last year. Anyway, the suite, they had hamburgers, chili, stuff to make super nachos, salad, and fruit. Unfortunately the alcohol did not include bloody marys, which is like a thing for CZ and I at Hornets games. Crown and Diet Rite worked for me though. It was definitely the best way I’ve seen a game, similar to seeing Jazz Fest from the Shell Tent.

So the data plans and all that for Verizon came out, and I decided to get one. I woke up Thursday morning at 1:55 am to pre order my iPhone. As late as the night before, I was still hesitant about paying for a data plan. I realized though that I would use it a lot, and I have been waiting YEARS, so I took the plunge.

I thought the Verizon website would be slow, because Ticketmaster’s site crawls when thousands of people are trying to buy tickets. I was not sure how Verizon’s would handle hundreds of thousands, but I was pleasantly surprised with a smooth experience. The little button on my profile appeared right after 2 am, ‘Order iPhone’. The past couple of weeks it’s said ‘Order Droid X’, but I knew better. I tried getting everything filled out as soon as possible just in case of a server overload, but that never came. I doublechecked everything I typed before I hit submit. I was shocked at how easy everything was. I was also surprised that I did not have to change my calling plan, all I had to add was the data plan. I thought from the FAQ that people would have to upgrade to a new voice plan. Not for me, not last night, so I’m still rolling with a plan that was phased out 3 years ago. I waited for a confirmation email, which did not come by 2:20, so I went to bed. I checked my email before I left for work at 5:30 and the confirmation email had arrived.

I got home Thursday night and saw I received a shipping confirmation email! OMG! Unfortunately, the tracking number has not been found in UPS’ system, so I have no idea if it’s going to be sent out. The wait and anticipation is reaching an exciting conclusion.

(another old story seeing the light of day)

Back in September, I had the great luck of having my friend Ryan call me and invite me to the Saints-Falcons game. I did not hesitate to accept. He even comp’d my ticket when I told him I was unemployed at the time. We left right after I finished up with SS, and went down to the game. We had a parking pass, so we had to wait in a bunch of traffic, but we made it inside in plenty of time. We got to take part in the new WHO DAT chant, which was AWESOME! Then the game started. Ugh.

The Saints did not have one of their best games, but somehow found a way to actually have a chance to win in regulation. After the defense let ATL keep the ball 90% of the game, and Tony Gonzalez to catch 30 passes, the Saints were in a position to steal a win. ATL called timeout to ice the Saints kicker, and over the PA the BEP song “I Gotta Feeling”, or whatever they call it, starts playing. The kicker was warming up on the sideline, they had not kicked yet. When I heard that song, I thought to myself “if he misses, it’s because of this song, it’s a jinx!” I even told my friend Ryan that as we waited for the timeout to conclude. The kick was a short FG, so what could go wrong, right? From where we were sitting, it looked like he made it. Then we realized he missed the kick, and I shook my fist in disgust screaming “it was that song, THAT SONG! I hate the BEP!” The Saints then went on to lose in OT. It wasn’t just that they lost, but how they lost. My buddy Sean called a timeout right before the ball was snapped for the ATL kicker in OT, but the kick went off anyway, and the guy missed. They waved it off for the timeout, and then the guy drilled it on his 2nd try. Of course he did.

Maybe the universe is getting payback for me having gone to the Dome re-opening game.

1 – finally saw Tron Legacy
2 – using SS free time to play Texas Hold Em with a few of the kids (we used markers to bet)
3 – getting oh so close to new omelet technique
4 – surprisingly great spinach salad for dinner
5 – discovering how good fajitas can be when you don’t eat the shells
6 – bonding with new co-workers
7 – seeing and talking with my Best Man for 10 minutes
8 – seared tuna at Outback
9 – seeing my uncle; Five Guys with old friends
10 – dinner with my parents
11 – Les Miles announced he’s staying at LSU
12 – yogurt was 3 for $1 at the store
13 – unexpected hang out time with my sister
14 – Subway was open at 9:25
15 – a pre-marriage seminar went a lot better than people were telling me
16 – great SS with the new format
17 – unexpectedly saving money on a textbook
18 – first grad school class did not seem too bad
19 – good gym time
20 – afternoon email exchange with friends
21 – making it to Honda place in time before service dept closed
22 – watching Hornets game from company suite
23 – brunch with family at MS River plantation
24 – safe drive home in the rain
25 – tuxes reserved
26 – upping the weights at the gym
27 – good talk with an old friend
28 – good work day
29 – old friends, new family, together, interacting, presents
30 – good SS class, post class soccer discussion
31 – new running shoes!

(this is one of those stories that happened during my blog absence)

Here’s the setup: I am not one to have a strong opinion about different cities, but I love NOLA and HATE Houston. The hate started when I went to Houston to see Coldplay in 2007. I ate dinner with friends in SE Houston, then drove back to my friend Andy’s house in NW Houston and the trip was more than 70 miles. If I drive 70 miles, I want to be in another city. I drove 70 miles and I was still in Houston. It was like the Twilight Zone.

Last summer when I went to Denver despite Bono throwing out his back, I flew from NOLA to Houston and had a connecting flight to Denver. My connection time was probably between 30 and 45 minutes. We landed in Houston and I found out the connecting flight was a train and a bus away on the OTHER SIDE of the airport. THANKS CONTINENTAL! I have now learned that IAH is laid out so it is impossible to make a connection if you have less than an hour. The train moved very slowly. It is nothing like ATL’s train that whisks you from terminal to terminal with ease. I could have run faster than this train at IAH moved. After the train, I had to take a bus to the outpost where my connecting flight was, which apparently was an older terminal. The bus driver drove like he had nowhere to go, ie SLOW. The terminal had two sides, and my flight was on the 2nd side. We pretty much wasted a stop because no one got off at the first one. At the 2nd one, I hurriedly exited to try to make my flight. As my fellow Denver passengers and I walked up, the plane was backing away. We had missed our connection to Denver. We were trapped in Houston! I shook my fist in the air with fury!

The lady at the desk was able to book us later flights, but the damage had been done. We all had to ride the bus and train back to the bigger terminal to wait for the flights later in the afternoon. For those who enjoy diagrams, this is how my time at IAH went:

Arrive –> Train –> Bus –> Missed Connection –> Bus –> Train –> Depart

Instead of arriving around lunch, I would be arriving around dinner. I walked around and found a place to eat, and later a Clyde Drexler handprint that I compared my hand to. Finally, I boarded the flight to Denver and met up with my friend Adriene in the middle of a severe thunderstorm. Of course I did. Thanks again Continental and IAH for the ridiculous travel adventure.

I’ve had a cell phone for almost ten years. My first phone was light blue, because the other color was black and I did not want a phone like everyone else’s. When I went to renew my contract the first time, I got one of the first camera phones. The second time I renewed my contract, I ended up getting a phone that would be the best phone ever. One of the last normal things before Katrina was receiving my E815 in the mail and playing with it on the way to my sister’s birthday dinner. My phone has been so awesome, I kept it despite smaller phones coming out. It’s a big phone compared to other flip phones, and I am one of the only people I know who still has a phone with an antenna. I would read about new phones and see how they did not have the same great reception as my phone, and I did not want to feel like I was settling. It was so bad that when my phone died a couple of years ago, I bought a replacement of the exact model off eBay. I’ve been eligible for an upgrade since the summer of 2007.

When the iPhone came out, I thought it was awesome. It was only on AT&T though, and I was not leaving Verizon. That and I could not get my head around paying $30 a month for data. When the Droids came out they were cool, I still didn’t want to pay for a data plan. I like my cheap cell phone bill. I know I WANT a smartphone, but I don’t NEED a smartphone. I don’t need a smartphone to post on Twitter and I call people to go into the map for me when I’m lost. I can even text without looking at the phone!

Now that the iPhone will be available on Verizon though, I have been swayed. The phone I have been waiting years for is now going to be a reality. I’ve been googling almost daily for updates and watched a live blog of the Verizon announcement. To say I’m excited may be an understatement. I saw this commercial late last week, and was stoked. I am one of those customers who never stopped believing.

So while I was on my 6 month vacation, I started to watch Top Gear. I had seen clips of it before, but had never really watched an episode. My fiancée has Netflix, and we have it streamed through my Wii. They have four seasons for streaming, and I am pretty sure I watched each episode. I watched the videos on YouTube and started following them on Twitter. I heard about the American version starting in the fall, and thought “this could be really good!” Then I saw the first trailer. I hated it. I thought it looked stupid and childish. The UK version is so refined and cool, and I thought the American version was trying to be stupid on purpose. Americans can be refined too! Anyway, with much trepidation I watched the first episode. It was awful. I watched the 2nd episode, which was a little better. The third episode was where the trailer was taken from, and I thought it would suck. It was awesome. I quickly realized the trailer clip was completely out of context on its own. Watching the full episode had me laughing several times in a good way. The fifth episode came and had me hysterically laughing at the tests they were putting their out of production GM examples through. The Vacation/Family Truckster jokes did not hurt either.

They still have some kinks to work out like the famous people interviews, and one of the hosts needs to learn to get comfortable in front of the camera, but it has definitely been improving since the first episode. I look forward to the day where they don’t say “on this show you won’t see (fill in objective of lame reality show), but if you like cars this is the place for you” at the beginning of each episode. I guess they have to say that because people are still learning what Top Gear is about, but it seems awkward. I’m just glad the USA version is at least on the right track. (har har)

So during the summer, I was talking with my mom after church when the youth director walked up and asked me if I wanted to teach Jr High Boys Sunday School. At the time I was thinking of becoming a teacher eventually. I did not even think about it, I just accepted. The way it works is we get emailed a curriculum each week that’s usually some current event and how it ties into some Bible verses. For Jr High kids though, the current event topic does not always apply. One week was about having a job. One week was about TRON though, which was cool because I got to give a background on what TRON was about. A lot of times though the topic would be something lame or very loosely related to some verses. I started to use it as a baseline for about a 5 minute discussion, then move on.

At first I was thinking I’d find some kind of way to get through to these kids and talk about God and Jesus and everything would be awesome. It did not really turn out that way. The first few weeks I would read the curriculum and then look up all the verses. Then I’d ask the questions to go along with the verses and try to get a discussion going. The discussion did not really happen. I would read the verses and ask the corresponding question and get silence, either that or the same kids would answer. It seemed very awkward. I felt inadequate. I did feel accomplished when we’d stay on topic and talk about the Bible for the whole hour, but those weeks were few and far between. I could talk to the kids about football or school, but I kept thinking I should be keeping on topic all the time. Then one day I went and both Jr High classes were combined, so I got to talk to the girls’ teacher. I told her about how I did not feel good enough, and she shared my sympathies. It was good to talk to a fellow teacher about stuff and realize I was not alone.

Over the past couple of months, we’ve had more combined classes, and the other teachers have noticed I have a good rapport with the kids. I had no idea I was one of the only teachers not going to the youth leader exasperated about teaching. I just figured all of that came with the territory. I like the combined classes, because other people are usually doing most of the leading and I get to goof off with some of the boys. For example, a couple of weeks ago the class broke into groups to play games, and I ended up playing Texas Hold Em with three boys using markers to bet with. One of the things I don’t like about the classes is the boys that usually share in the separate class don’t always share in the combined class. I’m not sure if we’ll go back to having separate classes. There’s a rule where we’re supposed to have two teachers for every class, something about having a witness to say you did not mess with a kid or something. My second teacher hardly ever shows up. When he does come, he leaves halfway through the class to go practice with the praise band. I can’t remember the last time he showed up, but I think it’s at least two months.

Wednesday night we got a book for a new study we’ll be going through this spring. From the looks of it I think it’ll be alright. There’s a video and then discussion after that, so I think it should be easy to keep on topic. Lately the topic has been the Saints and LSU football after the initial talk about that week’s curriculum, so it probably will help to talk more about God.