Palms and Thumbs, Fighting

Turns out, I don't want a Palm Treo 680 after all.

I think.

We stopped at a Cingular store the other day because I wanted to try out a Treo 680 (and four other smartphones) because I've now read enough to know that ease of use is a big factor. (And I have less-than-dainty thumbs, which plays a role.) (Thinking about that last sentence I'm forced to ask: Can one have dainty thumbs? Or are thumbs by definition not dainty?)

Anyway, the only reason I'm not entirely ruling out the Treo 680 is because the store only had a dummy model, and I'm not sure the typing experience is the same on a dummy model. If it is, the 680 is 86ed.

Also tried the Samsung Blackjack (also a dummy model), the Nokia E62 and a Cingular 8525. Didn't like any of them.

The Blackberry 8700, however, is a bird of a different color. (Which works better than a horse of a different feather...)

If I was to get a smartphone/pda/geekthing, it'd be this one. Nice keyboard. Nice screen. Lower monthly cost than the others. But there is still a monthly cost and it's more than I can justify right now. When the business requires it, I'll take the plunge. But for now, Diane needs new Christmas gift ideas!

First Flakes

I know, some people would say we've been flakes for a long time, but we don't listen to those people!

Rained last night and this morning, and right around 8 a.m. the rain started getting fat. And white. It snowed on and off for just a little while and didn't stick. Arnold got a few inches and the hardware store parking lot was slushy.

Next time, I'll take pictures.

When is a Christmas Tree like Wedding Shoes?

When it comes to shopping, I diverge with my gender. I actually enjoy shopping with Diane, and make occassionally helpful suggestions when it comes to clothes, shoes and the like. In a weak moment, Diane might even admit I have good taste.

Then there are wedding shoes. Before our wedding (which seems the most appropriate time to shop for wedding shoes) we were looking and looking. And looking. And I eventaully realized that we weren't actually shopping for wedding shoes, we were just looking at wedding shoes.

After that, Diane was on her own with the shoes. (And she eventually found lovely ones.)

So yesterday, because Frankie's still home, we went looking for a giant cut-it-yerself tree. I know we don't need a giant tree, but we do have tall ceilings and a nine-foot tree would look damn cool. (We have friends in New Jersey who have one of those let's-stay-married side agreements where Dick gets to buy any sized tree he wants -- like 15 feet -- and Marilyn doesn't try to talk sense to him any more.)

So we drive to Twain Hart, which is an hour away, and walk around both sections of this very nice tree farm. And, I will admit, some of their trees were of the mutant variety. (The Forest of Lost Trees, Frankie called it, although we did not see Herbie the Elf...) Some, however, were quite lovely -- at least from two sides.

Anyway, we did not purchase a tree. Frankie was bummed.

Zero Down, 38 to Go

Since Diane began writing her column, we've had camera issues. The small Fuji digital we have is OK but finicky, and in the wrong lighting or at the wrong settings doesn't take great pictures. This is a problem because Diane gets paid for the pictures she takes that run in the paper.

The alternative is that she sometimes gets to use the Nikon D70 school newspaper camera, when I have it checked out. Nice SLR Nikon digital that takes great pictures. But during the semester, I don't have it checked out.

A couple of weeks ago after a particularly frustrating Fuji experience, we decided (OK, she complained and I decided) it was time to get a new camera. Tried to get the D70s, but at the price I wanted to spend could only order it from a place who later told me they didn't have it and I could wait weeks for their backorders to be filled. I passed.

Ended up getting a Nikon D50 instead. Came out after the D70 and has many of its features with a slightly simplier interface. Should serve our purposes for many, many years. Only have an 18-55 lens right now (and an old, broken 300mm lens that works but doesn't autofocus), but Diane's column pictures should be better.

She only has to publish 38 more to pay for the camera!

A Damn Lot to be Thankful For

It's been a good year, and I know it.

Listing everything I'm thankful for would take more time and typing than anyone wants to read, so I'll mention just a few highlights.

I'm thankful for my family, Diane and the kids. My life has never been better, richer or more fun.

I'm thankful for my sisters and brothers-in-law. I know you don't get to pick your siblings, but if you did, I'd pick you. (Weird is somehow intreguing...)

I'm thankful that our health is all good and that Stanford did it's job for mom.

I'm thankful that mom's remaining work career can now be counted in mere days. Yea!

I'm thankful that our business got off to a good start and looks promising.

I'm thankful that Dave Richards told me to buy this house -- and I listened!

Have a great Thanksgiving.

The authors in this category are all women. How would he stand out?

Publishers baffle me.

My book, The Girly Girls Survival Guide, has been submitted to several publishers and my agent forwards me their responses periodically. And the responses have been pretty uniform -- they like the idea, the writing and the approach. They wish they had had this book when they went off to college or moved into their first apartments. But they don't know if they can sell it, or how to sell it, so they pass.

Frustrating.

Here are some of the comments I've gotten:

• I actually got a big kick out of this -- and I learned a lot about my car! That said, I don't think I can move forward with it. It's not that it's not right for our list -- actually, this kind of thing is perfect for me. The issue is with this particular category. It's not very robust... I know this book would differentiate itself because it also covers car care, computer care, and bicycle care, but that actually might make it more difficult to shelve in the store -- where does it go?

• As I mentioned, I loved this proposal, but after looking into the competition for this category, there was some hesitation as to whether we'd be able to compete with similar titles already on the shelf. Also, since so many fix-it books for women are backed by strong female personalities, there was some concern that the author's lack of a platform in this area would make it a bit difficult for us to help him stand out from the crowd. I loved Steve's approach to this subject, however, and do agree that his advice would be incredibly useful to any girl moving into her first apartment.... I really regret having to pass on this since the content is so great, but we just can't see how we'd be able to break it out on a large enough scale to make it work for our list.

• Well, I pitched the book today in pub board, and we are going to take a pass. We felt the material split audience by covering everything from computers to cars to lawn to home interior. Then we considered whether we could follow the model of the successful Dare to Repair, which does focus on home, then came out with a car manual, and most recently a plumbing guide. The home improvement shelf, however, is a very tough one to crack, and we weren’t confident we’d get the sell in. I wish I had better news. He’s a great writer, and it’s a book I’d wished I’d had when I was his daughter’s age.

So that's where it stands.

Holding up my end

I want to hold up my end of this electronic conversation, but I have little to say. Lately my posts have read like a Veruca Salt diary page "I want this, and I want this, and I want this..."

Nothing wrong with that, I suppose, but it's starting to feel a little shallow.

Been busy with work, which is good, and Diane has been swamped with work, which is also good. It's a production day at school tomorrow, so we'll try to put together the final issue of the semester. I have a bunch of stories to edit tonight, and we'll see how it goes tomorrow.

Friday, I suspect I have a Bond movie on my agenda...

Ouch!

Enough said.

Giant Invisible Birds

CHRRRP!

Idgie is deathly afraid of giant invisible birds, and I don't know why. (Besides the obvious, I guess.)

One might ask, "How often does Idgie encounter giant invisible birds?" and that's not a bad question. If Idgie could type, she'd probably write: TOO DOGGAM OFTEN!!!!!

I guess there's a story. When the batteries get low in the smoke detectors in our house, they CHRRRRP!

Once. Then silence for about 40 seconds.

Then CHRRRRP!

Freaks Idgie out. The last time it happened, I changed the battery but pressed the test button, which sets off the whole screaming alarm for about three seconds. Idgie got out and took off. I found her an hour later sitting in front of someone's house two blocks away. (She was, I will note, VERY happy to see me.)

This morning, about 6:30, one of the alarms started in. CHRRRRP!

CHRRRRP!

I know better, now. Let Idgie out and changed out all the as-of-yet unchanged batteries (except the one I need my big-ass ladder for and that will happen this weekend) so our dog wouldn't be scared of the big invisible birds.

CHRRRRP!

I hear they go north for the winter.

CHRRRRP!

To Oregon.

Column Fodder

One of the downsides to being married to a newspaper columnist, as I am discovering, is that occassionally you become a character in the column. Our blogs had that honor yesterday. I would link to the story, but The Union Democrat website hasn't figured out how to include its local columnists' work on-line, so I just mention it in passing and will show you the column when I next see you.

Other than the whole rooster in the mall bit, it wasn't too damning. Oh, she did call us geeks, but sometimes it's hard to argue...

How about this one?

Well BMWs appeal to this crowd -- how about this one? It's the new 328i coupe.

I was in Modesto today for some client meetings and just happened to pass by the BMW dealer and took a look in person. Have to admit that the car looks rich -- maybe too rich for my taste. (Maybe my taste is evolving, though...) The blue I had up yesterday is nice, but they had a light metallic silver on the lot. The picture does nothing for it. I'm not enamored of silver cars necessarily (although Mom's Yaris is nice!) But this car was made for this color. It looks like a shark, it truly does. A live four-wheeled shark.

I am happy to report that the interior lives up to the exterior. For Dave's sake, I'm just going to start rooting for the Phillies now.

To Infiniti -- and Beyond

Because it's fun to window shop, especially in upscale windows we don't normally shop at, we've been window shopping for a car.

Not that we'll be buying a car in the near future. But what we have now is functional; a 4-wheel drive SUV for the winter (and space and because we used to run a bike touring company) and a near-full-sized pickup for hauling whatever needs to be hauled wherever it needs to be hauled.

What we want is fun. A two-door sports coupe that drives. We've got the roads for it, and given the 50,000 miles we put on our cars each year, apparently a semi-legit justification. In terms of money-is-no-object sports cars, I really like the Nissan 350Z, and Diane went through a Lexis SC430 moment. Then she decided that was too pretentious, and we blended our exterior preferences and discovered the Infiniti G35 coupe. A truly pretty car -- the luxury cousin of the 350Z with a backseat.

Then yesterday we were killing time before meeting the family in Berkeley and saw an Infiniti dealership and took a closer look. And couldn't believe that a company who got the exterior styling of a car so right could have screwed up the interior so badly. Cheesy plastic-pebble dash, old-lady analog clock (I guess that's a luxury styling cue), CalTrans orange gauges. Completely spastic cheap-ass materials with pretentious styling.

The funny thing was we later took a look at a Scion TC, which costs about half when the G35 costs, and liked the interior a whole lot more. So now we're without a favorite.

Any suggestions?

Sweaty Palms

I confess. I covet a Palm Treo.

I know this is just the Geek Gene run amok, because I don't even much like my cell phone. See, but a Treo is more than just an unreliable phone with crappy reception. It's a complete communications device (with crappy reception)

I was convinced that the Treo 700p was going to be my plunge into the smartphone arena, but it would have required changing cell carriers, which I'm not opposed to, but with the kids still on our plan (and bill -- ain't we swell...) that gets complicated. But today I read about the new Treo 680. All the features of the 700p, including the so-much-better-than-Windows operating system, but on Cingular's much slower network. And half the price.

I see an upgrade in my future. Call it a hunch.