Technology — Comments
04
Jun 10

Blah, blah EVO 4G, blah…ooh pictures!

In case you missed my World Wide Web orgasm, I got an EVO 4G.  Go me. Yay. Anyway…this isn’t a post on my thoughts of the phone because if you’re following me on FriendFeed or Twitter, you’ve already read them and just want me to shut it already.

This post is about my (our) evolution of gadgets starting 2002. The years 1999 – 2002 are not represented because we can’t find the phones. This is a photographic comparison of what we had to this EVO 4G.

A plethora of hardware

A plethora of hardware

The iPaq and G1 are my husband’s property. We both had PPC-6700s. I think we carried those from ’04 – ’08. The piece of shit Instinct is what I just replaced with the EVO 4G. It’s a big jump size-wise.

Some side-by-side comparison:

Something old, something new

Something old, something new

I really liked the iPaq. It had such promise. We knew it was just a matter of time before we found something that reach what we needed. That something was the PPC-6700. The only thing that was bad about that phone, was the tiny screen size and the thickness of it.

Big brother, little brother

Big brother, little brother

All together now…AWWWWWWWW.  HTC seems to release a new phone every three weeks. At the end of June, when the EVO is obsolete, all he’ll have to do is look at my husband’s G1 and be inspired. It’s lasted almost 2 WHOLE years. Almost.

Time for an upgrade

Time for an upgrade

It’s clear from the scratches all over the screen, that it was time to let teh Samsung Instinct go. Not that I was broken up over it, since I’ve been wanting to get rid of this phone since December 2008. Even in the middle of March, I was ready to leave Sprint forever and go by a Nexus One. In just the few hours of messing around with the EVO 4G, I’m amazed at my feelings of ecstasy, “I have a real phone again!” I was so ready to go back to the PPC, just so I could do enjoy web-browsing on my phone again. As much as I’ve bitched about the Instinct, I’ve praised it too. There are a lot of features the Instinct had that on other phones, you’d have to download an app or jailbreak the phone to get. But it’s gone now. Sayonara!

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Uncategorized — Comments
02
Jun 10

UPDATED: Is it that hard to pay attention?

I received another email from this person again, update below.

******

I often get press releases and invites to events for things that are outside my frame of reference or interests. Somehow, there are people out there that think that my blog is the perfect place for me to write about cleaning supplies for pets I don’t have or I care about meeting singles in Texas, never mind that I’m married and in LA. People just don’t pay attention.

Today, I checked my email and found a press release from a guy who clearly Does Not Pay Attention.

Good Afternoon Anika!

First of all, nice to make your acquaintance!

Secondly, I wanted to invite you to our client’s VIP Media Exclusive Party. I think this would be perfect for “Faboo Mama”. [SNIP] We are especially interested in the new “Mommy Blogger” demographic, which is why we thought of you!

(Emphasis mine)

First off, it was for an event for some cosmetic thing. Who in their right mind would consider me for such an event? Secondly, anyone who knows me is aware that I don’t give a flipping flapjack about celebrities. But it’s that last line in the email is where he stepped in it. Why? A quick look at any page on my site, has the same part in the sidebar:

about_meNow, what does the last line say? Yep.

You may be willing to offer up a myriad of excuses for the guy, but considering I spent almost 15 years sending out press releases and invites like this, I cut him no slack. I made sure my lists were relevant and up-to-date. I managed not to send the Science Editor of a paper in Houston things about an accounting even in Washington. If I knew that a writer wasn’t interested in New Jack Swing groups, I didn’t send him/her a press release. It’s that simple. It’s called doing your job.

******

UPDATE: The follow-up email received is especially laughable considering the above:

Anika! How are you!

I trust you received my invitation on Tuesday — I think it is perfect for you and your readership at FabooMama! We are exploring the ‘mommy blogger’ sphere of influence, and your site just keeps popping up. So please won’t you join Los Angeles blogging elite for a night of champagne, hors d’oeuvres, and freebies all night long!
Geez. Kinda laying on the GimmeGimme. Not that kinda girl.
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Travel — Comments
01
Jun 10

A Different View of the Bay Area

We took advantage of the 4-day weekend and Adrian’s upcoming birthday (tomorrow!) to go visit friends in the Bay Area. This time around we didn’t do what we usually do, which is spend too much time and money in The City. Instead, we poked around Oakland and even wound up spending a day in Antioch.

I think that was a good choice, as it gave me a better perspective on general Bay Area-ness.  Here are some things I gleaned from this trip:

  • It’s not always cold and foggy up there.
  • People in Oakland had a Midwest sort of nice about them. Everyone kept saying “Hello” to us.  For a moment there, we felt like celebrities.
  • Oakland is confusing to drive. Wackadoodle lights and stop signs.
  • I kinda want to spend a summer just taking in all the events at Jack London Square.
  • Lake Merritt is impressive. It’s like a flatter Griffith Park. So much to do and see.
  • Downtown Oakland is beautiful. I could spend a day or two just shooting the architecture.
  • Driving through parts of San Francisco on our way out, I realized that one could get the impression that San Franciscans are all fitness freaks. I know watching them made me want to go run or bike.
  • Antioch is hotter than Hades. My friends likened it to Santa Clarita or parts of the IE. Yep. Exactly.
  • The only place in Oakland you can legally smoke besides your house is pretty much in the middle of the street.
  • The males in Oakland are very fashion-conscious.  Even the security guards were looking fly in their uniforms.
  • I also declare Oakland Home of the Sexiest Black Men. Brothas in LA need to step up their game. For serious.
  • I don’t understand how it’s so relatively clean up there, when there are practically no trashcans on the street. Meanwhile, we have trashcans at the ends of almost every block here and it’s filthy.

I’m sure there’s more, but this is just the stuff that stuck with me.

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Media / Music — Comments
30
Apr 10

Things I learned about SiriusXM Radio

We had a Ford Focus for 4 days and it came with SiriusXM Radio. It was an interesting time, but I’m still not sure that service is worth $10 – $20 a month. Here’s a handful of things I’ve discovered about the service and myself:

  1. There really is no need for a Grateful Dead station or a Bruce Springsteen station for that matter.
  2. Chris Matthews sounds even more insane when you’re listening to him and not watching him.
  3. Soul Town is possibly the best radio station ever created.
  4. The comedy stations are truly not funny.
  5. There are too many commericials, considering you’re paying for the service.
  6. Classical music while driving is dangerous for me.
  7. The Jazz station would be better if it was KJZZ.
  8. Countdown with Keith Olbermann is not made for radio.
  9. Nina Blackwood and  Swedish Egil are still alive.
  10. 80s Music > 90s Music.
  11. I am so over Pearl Jam, U2 and R.E.M.
  12. Traffic in Phoenix, Detroit and Las Vegas sounds worse than LA traffic.
  13. The Coffee House station increased my roadrage.
  14. The reggae station, The Joint, is nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be, but they do need to kick back on the Marley.
  15. The Latin stations are infinitely better than what’s played on broadcast.

That’s about it…for my listening choices. I thought it pretty neat there was a station that played Showtunes, but the ones I listened to I own already. I wonder though, what others get out of the service.

Uncategorized — Comments
27
Apr 10

MINI DEATHWATCH: $2200 for a 4th transmission

The MINI was towed yesterday and the mechanic said it wasn’t the clutch, it was the transmission. Again. This will make it the 4th transmission in the 8 years we’ve had the car. Luckily, the first one was replaced under warranty. I believe the 2nd, we only paid half the price and the dealership covered the other half because it had been less than a year.

There comes a time when it’s not just worth it and I think we’ve come to it. The transmission issues, at least for manual cars (2002 – 2006), are known problems that BMW/MINI USA will not recognize. It’s something about metal bits rubbing off and winding up inside.

Unfortunately, it’s no longer 2002. Being carless is not an option. We have two small children now and don’t live in Hollywood any more. Cracking down on finding a car for our family. I am very sad over this. I like driving the MINI. I had no problem with the idea of getting a larger automobile, knowing that we still had the MINI to drive. I just assumed the larger car would be parked most of the time.

Time to be flexible. Everything else seems so big though! My driving habits will have to change. Driving a big car for a few days is one thing, but getting one to drive “forever” is different. We’ll figure out something.

Auto — Comments
25
Apr 10

What a difference a week makes

Last Sunday, panic ensued because it sounded like the MIL was ready to buy us a car of her choosing. I felt we didn’t need a car because our 8 year old MINI was running just fine, gets good gas mileage, is fun to drive and is perfect for city driving. To be sure, it was fun looking at new cars, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that an extra car would sit unused in most cases.

Thursday, we got an oil change on our car. Bonus to that, is that the oil change wound up being free because they couldn’t change the filter. Extra-extra bonus is that the power streering came back. I guess they refilled the fluid…I don’t know.

Friday, Adrian hopped into the car to go grocery shopping. The car died in the driveway. There’s something wrong with the gear shift. It won’t move. We can push the clutch in, but we can’t shift.

Now, this is unsurprising because as I’ve mentioned before, our MINI is a piece of crap on wheels. But to have it happen now, is just our kind of luck. If it’s the gear box, this will be the 3rd time it’s happened. I doubt it’s the gear box, because usually, we can move the clutch around. But that’s an $1100 fix. If it’s the transmission, that will mean, it’s the 3rd transmission to fail in the 8 years we’ve had the car. The price tag on that repair is about $2800. Either way, we don’t have the money. And considering the MIL does not like the MINI and wants us to get a new car anyway, we don’t see her help forthcoming.

A week later: We’ve missed the Festival of Books due to the broken car. Today we were supposed to go visit the MIL to celebrate our daughter’s birthday. And now we’re totally okay with the MIL getting us a new car.

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Auto / Shopping — Comments
20
Apr 10

The comforts of a car

We’ve been offered a “gift” of a new car.  The string attached, is that the car must seat 5, comfortably.  You know, unlike our MINI Cooper. The last 3 cars we’ve bought were months and months of research and test driving. I think normal people do it much quicker. This “gift” is a race against time. We’re worried that if we don’t find a car we like, one that we don’t like will be purchased for us. Considering our lifestyle and the thing we want to do, but can’t due to our current car, we’ve been considering wagons. He wants an WRX. I looked at the Mitsubishi Outlander and the Nissan Rogue, but neither have manual transmissions. Other options are the Jetta Wagon or a used Audi A3. I’ll look into options from Hyundai since many of my friends drive them and like them.

Our MINI is 8 years old and falling apart; the glove box is broken, reading light buttons are broken, CD changer is broken, chairs are broken, sunroof is broken, windshield is cracked…and then there’s the small issue of the damaged panel.

stupid_pos_mini

I’ve written several times over the years on why our MINI is a piece of crap car. Oddly, it took just looking at websites of other automakers to fully appreciate what we do have in MINI.  I had assumed that 8 years later, many items that we have in our MINI would be considered standard in cars nowadays. Well, that’s not the case.

We’ve been spoiled by our MINI Cooper.

We have the sunroof/moonroof on our car and that has a built-in deflector and screening. There are audio controls in the steering wheel, which I love just as a safety feature. The car came with a 6 CD changer in the boot and a valet key. We have 4 carpeted floormats, 2 cargo nets and a cargo cover.

Needless to say, I love these features and thought that for certain cars, wagons to be exact, that some of these items would be standard. I was shocked to see that a sunroof or moonroof package on a car, was a separate fee from installing a wind deflector on the car.  Some cars we’ve looked at don’t even have screening for the sunroof.

So, as we talk, we find that features we have in our craptastic MINI are the ones that make driving enjoyable or safer. We each have items that we want/need in a car, but I’m afraid that under $25K, that car doesn’t exist…unless we get another MINI, which is out of the question.

Today, we test drove a Mazdaspeed 3. It’s interior was insanely ugly and boring at the same time. I asked the salesman if you could open the trunk with the key. I have that ability on the MINI and it’s great when carrying many things or heavy items. He said the feature is only available in the sedans. I was surprised at his answer.

My husband’s focus on a car is that it has power, AWD with a manual transmission and matches his personality. My focus is that it gets good gas mileage, the chairs don’t hurt my back and arms, and that the suspension isn’t too bouncy. I drive a lot for work purposes, often logging over 200 miles in day. We want a car that will make us happy.

The MINI is a joy to ride, especially when I have to log 200+ miles one way. The psychological joy we both get from our oversized sunroof can not be minimized. Most cars without a sunroof feel claustrophobic to us. I feel so much safer driving down the freeway, using my steering wheel to control the volume or mode of music, than I do jabbing at buttons while trying to watch out for other drivers.

Obviously, there are things about the MINI that I detest or that don’t make sense now that there’s 4 of us.  I can’t wait to have a car where I can put almost any sized cup in the cupholder. I crave sun visors that actually block out the sun and don’t block out the traffic lights. We do need more space, since all the gear we keep in the trunk takes up too much room. We now often have to pile grocery bags on top of the kids and the passenger. I can’t wait to be able to go to Ikea with the whole family without worrying about if we’ll need to have our items delivered or if a second trip back solo is in order.

Education — Comments
15
Apr 10

Is this who LAUSD wants representing them?

Today, I had the most bizarre experience with a completely unprofessional teacher representing the Los Angeles Unified School District’s (LAUSD) School Readiness Language Development Program (SRLDP). This mandatory program began this week and runs until June 8th. Parents of Pre-K students must attend the classes or risk having their child removed from Pre-K.

SRLDP_flyer

As you can see, the flyer we received gave us 3 days of the week that classes are offered with 4 different 2.5 hours blocks of time to take these classes. I chose today since it was the one day I knew I would be able to come.

Once I arrived at the school, I learned that the class had been moved to another room. Other parents and an interpreter all showed up to Room 1 for the class, I walked them over to the correct room. When we got there, there was one other parent inside the classroom with the instructor.  The instructor looked up, looked at the interpreter and said, “I don’t need you today. I needed you yesterday. Wednesday.”

“They told me to come today”, he replied as taken aback as I was by her tone of voice and lack of niceties.

She snapped back, “They told me I wasn’t even going to have an interpreter. Sit over there for 5 minutes, maybe some random person would need Cantonese today.”

My eyebrows were in my hairline, but I thought that maybe they had a history. I was soon to learn that she was just a bitch.

She turned to me, “What is he doing here? Why isn’t he in class?” indicating my son.

*blink*

I’m thinking this woman has clearly lost her mind because nobody speaks to me like that.  I explained that he is in the afternoon classes that start at 11:15, fifteen minutes after the time the SRLDP is supposed to end. She said, “I’m trying to teach a class here. You couldn’t leave him at home?”

“Well, yes, I could hav e left him at home, but he would still need to be at school by 11:15. So…I…brought…him.” While I’m saying this, I’m taking my netbook out of my bag, so that I could set up a game for him to play while the class is going.

The instructor had turned away while I was talking and said something to another parent. Then turned back to me. “What is that?! Why are you taking that out?” I looked at my netbook, baffled.

“It’s a computer. I going to let him use it so that he’s quiet during the class. If that’s a problem, please let me know”, I told her, looking directly in her eye.

She sighed, rolled her eyes and said, “I’m trying to teach a class here. Today’s class is in Spanish.”

Surprised, I responded, “I didn’t know that, the flyer didn’t state that Thursdays was Spanish Day.”

“Your teacher should have told you”, she interrupted.

“But she didn’t and you’re assuming I don’t understand Spanish. Is this a problem? Do you need me to leave?”

She started stammering and sighing, “I just don’t know why you have him here and that is out.”

Fine. If I had to listen to this woman say one more thing, she might have to have my netbook surgically removed from her ass. So, I started packing it up.

“Where are you going?!” she yelled.

I looked at her like she was mad, “Clearly, you are aggravated by my presence, I’ll make it easy. I’m out.”

She said she wanted to talk to me. I told her that I don’t want to hear her. She said that she’ll follow me out and I shrugged and said, “Don’t bother. I don’t want to waste any more of my time with you.”

She followed me out anyway and started making noises. I interrupted her, “First of all, you don’t speak to me like that. You don’t know me. Secondly, if this only a Spanish class, then the flyer should have indicated that. And last, your attitude is rude. It’s crap that you expect me to listen to you.”

Her clever response? “What’s crap is your attitude!” Thumbs up. Way. To. Go.

I spoke to the School Coordinator and Principal about this woman. They said they’ve had complaints about her too and that she’s rude to them too. I just can not believe that anyone with that shitty attitude would even be allowed to speak to people, let alone get paid for it.

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12
Apr 10

School picture blackmail

Last month, we got notice that Spring photos would be taken the week before Spring Break. We got the form and tossed it because we were not interested in buying more photos. Imagine my surprise when I picked my child up from school and she had pictures.

unwantedphotos

What you’re seeing here is an 8×10, 5×7, 2 4×6, wallets, decorated wallets and a fun pack (bookmarks, ruler, door tag, key chain). I did not want this. I do not need this.

I am livid that this company, School Portraits by Kranz, Inc. and the school find it appropriate to not only take unwanted photos of my child, but print them and send them home with her so that we can look over them and pay for what we want to keep.

purchase_rules

Yep. You read that right. She’s to return the photos if we don’t want them. What they do with these prints, I have no idea.  I do know that little kids want everything. Six year olds, really don’t grasp the concept of cost or not needing useless stuff.

I also don’t get how this makes any business sense. Taking the time to photograph a person who never submitted an order form is one thing, but to print all of this and send it to the school seems like a great way to lose money. There are people who will keep the photos and not pay. There are people, like me, who will send the photos back and not pay for these already printed items.

I am also concerned about what happens to these photos once they are sent back. I want them destroyed. I do not want my daughter’s image used in this company’s marketing materials, if any. I really have no way to guarantee that both happen, beyond any promise the company may give me.

But beyond all of this, I am extremely upset that my little girl was in tears because I had to say ‘no’. She was so excited over the photos and in was in no state to listen to reason as to why I was saying ‘no’. To be sure, I’ll sit down with her tonight and explain again, but a 6 year old should never be put in this position.

What say you? Have you had this experience before? Do you think I’m over-reacting?

Internet — Comments
26
Mar 10

I’m part of the Taliban?!

Back in December, I wrote a post about a craigslist listing that sounded too good to be true and it was confirmed when I received what looked to be a phishing email. I got a couple of replies on it today (Whoops! I heard today is the 26th, so I just noticed them today), that just made no sense, grammatically speaking. I had to read it a few times before I realized this person was accusing me of being in on this nefarious plan to not really rent his/her house.

Check the stupid:

Really?

Really?

There’s a level of ignorance at play here that I’m not even going to waste my time responding to. It’s just amazing to me, that someone would actually type all this out, assume it makes sense and post.

Perhaps I’m different. If this was happening to me I would have contacted the blog author by email for more information before dealing my Bigot Card. Now? Not so inclined to help. Oh well.

******

Disclaimer: I deleted the comments and blocked the person. I have no intention of letting some stupid shit come to my blog and make baseless accusations with their bigotry.

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