Random v.12.2

• 2 Random blogs in the first month of the year?  Must be a lot going on in my life.  ugh, there is.  I usually blog at work, work has been NUTS... work has been miserable.  I hate my life right now.  Well, not my whole life, but certain aspects of it.
  
• I've been getting a lot of blogs hits on this post, via web searches... wtf are people looking for?!
  
  Also... to the person in Michigan finding my blog by searching for stupid words, I know it's the same person each time, don't try to get mention on here by searching for dumb shit like that.  Being that it's you each time, you'll never get mentioned for the keywords you search, stop trying.  Also, man up, if you're going to stalk me, at least leave a comment saying hello.
  
• I feel like I'm crabby a lot lately.
  
• I booked another trip yesterday.  Steve and I are going to Chicago... I blame this idea mostly on Ang, because she's been posting pics of her trip there over NYE.  She made me realize how much I miss that city; for a stint, it was like a second home to me.  I love Chicago.
  We are going to drive down on July 4th and stay 3 nights.  Got a good "Name Your Price" deal on Priceline.com.
  So now we're up to 2 short trips for the year... one in May, one in July.  We still have first class tickets to use as well... hopefully those don't expire.
  
• We're going to Monster Trucks this weekend!
  
• I'm going to dinner with Kristi, Dana, and Heather tonight - for Dana's January Birthday!
  
• I have to get back to work now.

Meet...

the newest freshest love of my life

{via}

I went out yesterday and bought myself a new Android phone, which means is runs Google's Operating System (AT&T's Samsung Captivate).  I spent way too much time geeking out on it last night... and take a guess at how much work I've gotten done today.  None.  Very little.  I'm a dork.  I'm in love.  I'm so fucking organized it's amazing!

Sadly, I now do apps.  Which I'm pretty much over.  I always thought apps were lame until I met this beauty :)

So... jealous?  You should be!

My God, I'm so happy right now.

What shall I name her?

Oh Android...

... how you haunt me!


I currently reside with AT&T Wireless as a cell phone service provider.  I currently own a Blackberry Pearl.  I've owned a Blackberry for several years, always the Pearl because of it's size.  The current Pearl is a 'hand-me-down', I was given this smart phone for free by an acquaintance, who never used it and was willing to part with it.  It was a downgrade (by way of model number and software) from the Pearl I had, but that Pearl wasn't operating as it should, so in a sense, it was an upgrade (because it operated, period).   
My Pearl is noticeably slower, my applications (the few I have and use, like Google Maps) run at the speed of a turtle, which.. when using Maps, I can generally find my way where I'm going before the map loads it, either that or end up lost.
Now I'm starting to notice it failing, period.  I have reports of somewheres around 3-7 text messages lost in cyberspace.  The other day, it refused to hang up the many times I pressed the 'end call' button (Good thing I wasn't trying to hang up on someone to make a point!).  A reminder failed to remind me, lucky for me, I didn't need to be reminded of this particular event.  Plus a few other things I don't remember... and I'm sure the next thing to go is my alarm clock, which I use daily.


So now... I'm starting (well, I'm past 'starting', at this point) to think about a new phone.  My history on phones is quick and simple; I always had the free (or cheapest) Nokia phone offered, I knew how to use it, I mastered the SOB.  Then upon deciding I wanted a smart phone, I went Blackberry, and I've had the Pearl ever since.  I know how to use it.. I have mastered the SOB.  
New phones, ones out of my comfort zone, have me a bit stressed.  I hear about this Android operating system, how it's Google's OS, and I'm instantly interested.  For those new to my blog, I fancy any and all Google products.... like hardcore, okay... super hardcore.


Thus begins my research.  Upon beginning I find that AT&T does not offer any Android powered phones... LAME.  However, they have one coming soon... along with several others.  I then find out that AT&T is changing the Google powered phone (the first one offered) to use a Yahoo! powered search feature.  WTF?!  Really?!  Why?!  I don't understand this and assume that they will follow suit with all other phones - so I start researching other options.  Unlocked phones; phones that I have control over.  I find myself extremely confused and overwhelmed with options.  I have this friend, Dawn, who is also all about Google things and she has an Android phone... so she starts blowing up my Facebook with links and information to read.  Now I'm even more overwhelmed with facts.  UGH. 


Not only are these unlocked phones extremely expensive, they are hard to find... and I don't really have a chance to play with them to know if I'll like them.  So I'm basing my decisions on looks, stats (to assure it's compatible with my network), and user reviews (which, on phones, is so hard because everyone has different features they like/dislike).  I find one, at a reasonable price, send Dawn the link and she says "HELL NO", for many reasons.  So I decide fuck it, I'm going to wait, find patience, and hold out until AT&T releases something different, then reassess.  Patience is NOT one of my strong suits.  So I begin to wait... and then Dawn sends me this link, for the Google Nexus One; a phone Google makes and sells on their site and not in stores.  They also offer this phone on T-mobile and if you sign a 2 year contract you can get the phone at a very reasonable price.  I get excited and rush to the site, thinking Hells yeah, my patience paid off, now I can get a bomb phone for cheap and know AT&T can't put their grubby hands on it!  WRONG.  Google is offering the phone, compatible with AT&T's 3G Network, unlocked.. but it's not available through AT&T, so there is no deal if you sign a contract.  Whatever really... until you see the price; $529.00! 


I now have 2 phones available to me; a Motorola that has been tapped by AT&T and isn't really a Google powered phone (and who wants a Motorola anyways?  Not me), or an actual Google phone, for almost as much as I plan to pay for my flight to Hawaii next winter.  
My plan is to go back to waiting, find the patience I had almost successfully found before, and see what AT&T ruins next time around.  All the rumors point to these 'droids coming out within the next couple months... so it shouldn't be that hard to wait, and hopefully my little Pearl can hold out that long (that really is the bigger issue).  I'll continue to check AT&T Wireless daily until I see that another phone is coming soon or has been released... at that point, I will spend the next 4 days reading about that phone and deciding if I want it or not.  


So, sorry about this super long post about my childish needs, I really just wanted to say that I want and Android!  I can get pretty carried away.

Random v10.5

• So I read a sign yesterday that said "If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?"  It made me laugh... oh so true!
  
• HaHa!  Since my blog title has the word sushi in it, you might expect that I blog about sushi often, right?  Not even close, I usually eat it before I have a chance to take a picture to blog with.  It'd be boring to read that I went to sushi without seeing what it looked like, right?  Well, since I rarely blog about it... let me post this link for you, because I think it's such a cute idea... Even if you've never tried sushi; everyone loves PB&J!
  
• For those who love Google or for those who love personalized things... or both; do you have a Google Homepage?  Go to this link and check it out.  You can personalize a Google page just for you and then make it your home page.  For example, I have a box on there with my gmail, I have a box with People.com (as in the magazine) so I can keep up with all the celebrity deaths, I have my Google reader (bloggers this would be super neat and handy for you) which feeds all the blogs I follow, so I know when there is a new post.  I also keep local news and weather on there in addition to sports news.  It's like a one stop shop for everything I need to feed my day!  I highly (highly) recommend you at least look into it, if you don't already have one.
  
• Wanna hear how bad I dropped the ball last week?  Do ya?!  Remember, in this post, how I told you that if ya don't already, ya need to start following Conan O'Brien on Twitter?  Well, round about the time I posted that, I went to his Twitter and found out that he is doing this national comedy tour thing... so I checked the schedule and, sure as shit, he is coming to Minneapolis!  So I go on and check into ticket prices, email the boyfriend, and we decide we want to go, but let's save a few bucks and go to the box office to get tickets (ticketmaster rapes you with fees, it was $20 more than face value after taxes/fees)... so I didn't have to work on Friday, I figured I'd run down to the box office and pick them up.  WELL... by the end of the night, the show was SOLD OUT.  How f'n lame is that?  I had tickets on my screen that I could have purchased... dropped. the. ball. ugh.
  
• Ok, last but not least.. because I'm so f'n awesome.. I've received an award, from Krystal.
  
  
  The rules for accepting this award are:
  - Put the logo on your blog or within your post
  - Pass the award onto 12 bloggers
  - Link to the nominees within your post
  - Let them know they received this award by commenting on their blog
  - Share the love & link to the person from whom you received this award
  
  I don't get many awards, because I don't have a huge following, so it's fun to play along when I do.  However, I also don't follow that many blogs, so I don't think I'm gonna be able to come up with 12 bloggers to pass this on to :(
  All these bloggers bring something sunny into my life, so, without further ado:
  JerseySjov @ A Bit Unaware
  Krysten @ After 'I Do'
  Magpie @ Dazzled By Life
  Gringa @ Gringation's Blog
  Kellie @ Kelleidoscope
  Dana @ My Everyday Life
  Amy @ My LaLa Land
  Kristi @ Mi Vida Ocupada
  
  Thats all I have for you today folks - check out the blogs I just linked to.. they are pretty neat!

People are strange

I've posted a couple of blogs in my day talking about the silly things people search and end up at my blog - one of the funniest things was "Vagina Vagina I want to have sex with your vagina" - I still can't get over that.  I found a blog today of someone who has several posts listing her best search phrases - PinkNic's Planet is the name of her blog - Click HERE to be directed to her lastest blog of keywords (and PLEASE follow the links within that post to her other keyword posts).  She gets hits on some of the craziest things!  I've never read her blog (other than these few posts), but you'd think she was a porn blog or that she was running some sort of super nasty dating service through the blogging community, which she assures she is not!  Keywords like guy jacks off in car, freak dating sites, sit on bucket to steam vagina, really lonely, I want a one night stand.... amongst sooo many others!  Seriously check it out, they are short and hilarious posts!

It made me go check my stats and see what people have been up to lately on my blog... not even close to as funny as hers, I still get hits all the time on the Vagina Videos, which you need to go watch if you haven't - I don't care who you are, that right there is funny!
I also get hits by people searching variations of wondering how to pronounce Ciroc.
Migraine + Sushi in different variations has been a popular search as of late
The other day I got a hit from why do I have to pay full price for no meat at McDonalds - I thought that was awesome!
Another funny one: Officer I wasn't speeding.. I was in pursuit... pursuit of happyness
I've had a lot of hits on donated hair searches as well - which makes me feel good!
hate beer from a can bottle is another recent search...

why don't you let us play games, current strange news, scale from 100 to A, sudden distaste for coffee, strange football rituals, sushi diploma - LOL, people are funny, that's my point.

Happy Wednesday again :)

Google Chrome Follow-Up/Review

I figured it was about time to get this post up... I've been taking notes while using Chrome; so far, here is what I've come up with.

I think they are making improvements daily, because the built in spell check didn't work for me at first and now it's working perfectly (knock on wood!)

All in all I think it's pretty dope.  The speed alone is worth any sacrifice you feel you are making.  For example; I was a huge user of the Google Toolbar (I have the hardest time saying that Google Toolbar- say it 5 times fast!) and Chrome doesn't allow for that to be installed yet; It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make for the speed!  So now I'm starting to wonder if the Google Toolbar is even necessary!?

Chrome, once you download it, imports all your favorites/bookmarks for you and it also will import all your saved passwords, from whatever default browser you are using!
I've noticed a few other things that I wouldn't call Cons, per se - but some things that might be frustrating to some.  First, if you use Hotmail, upon signing in it tells you that some features may not work and suggests you use FireFox, IE, or some other browser - you actually have to click to get past that, it's an extra step that would make me impatient if I were still a Hotmail user.

A few little things that aren't really a big deal, just take some getting used to:

• Some websites have small fonts - I've only noticed this on eBay thus far - but if you have bad eyes it would suck
• I have yet to find a pop-out for an easy organization of bookmarks - thought it can be done using the folder; I would say it's not the most 'user-friendly' process
• When using tabs (which I love and do often) it closes every tab if you close the window - Firefox had an option to be notified when you are closing more than one tab (I often forget that I have more than one open and it sucks when I close something I didn't want to).
  

I tried to post a blog on myspace and became very frustrated by the fact that I didn't have format (Font, size, etc.) options, and it didn't register my returns or hard returns when publishing.  I had to copy/paste and publish using a different browser.

The OmniBar (formally known to most as an Address Bar) in Chrome can be used as a place to enter your URL or used as a search bar (that eliminates the need for the search box on the Google Toolbar) - which I think is a pretty dope feature and I find myself using that quite a bit!  It obviously uses Google as the search engine :)
There also is no title bar, which provides a bit more room to view websites!

So, as I said, I think it's dope.  There are some things that I've had to adjust to (and I'm not big on change), but it's been pretty easy.  After only using it for a few weeks, I think I will continue to use it.
If anything I think the only downfall is that not all websites are fully functional in supporting Chrome (which is still in BETA form).  Most new things, be it software, electronics, etc., have bugs and need to make small adjustments as things are realized and they receive feedback from users.

This is just my opinion on Google Chrome.  Is there anyone out there using it?  I'm curious to hear what other people have to say :) Post a comment and let me know!

I found a couple of sites that I would like to share, if you are on the fence about Chrome these may provide you will some information to help you make the change:
The Power Users Guide To Google Chrome
There is even a FORUM!! (I'm beside myself with excitement over this!!)
Official Google Blog

Google Chrome

Google has launched their own Internet Browser- how exciting is that?!  Google Chrome; it's WICKED fast!
I'm planning a post once I use it for awhile so stay tuned for that.

Is anyone using it yet?  I'd be curious to know your thoughts so far, likes/dislikes, etc.

Incognito mode seems pretty dope if you are tracked at work!
The Google Toolbar is not yet available for Chrome (which is the biggest adjustment for me because I live off that thing!).

Stay Tuned... a review will be posted this month.

Oh yeah.. and I've added this widget to my blog (Followers er something like that) - I have no idea how it works and really what it is... but become a follower of my blog and lets test this bitch out!  There should be a box on the right side of the blog... find it.