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Parker-In-A-Box
Today Parker Came to work with me. He starts PDO (Parent’s Day Out) on Friday, but Kayce and I both thought it was today… So he stayed home with me. We met his teachers and saw his classroom, which he was none to excited about. Parker can be very shy in new situations. But at least this gives him a head start on Friday, so he won’t be completely surprised about everything.Â
He’s just been hanging out in my office, entertaining everyone. Right now he is watching Super Why on the slingbox here at church. We received a video switcher back this morning that we had sent off for repair. It was a very timely delivery. The box was huge and filled with styrofoam peanuts (Please don’t e-mail me about the choking hazzards of styrofoam peanuts! I certain you can choke on just about anything if you try hard enough.). He spent at least an hour just sitting in that box playing. I sure this will be one of those days he’ll remember for a long time.Â
Adam’s Technology Rules #1 & #2
I’m opened up an interesting topic at the end of my last post. Technology Rules. I’m sure most of you are wondering what are my personal rules when it comes to techonology. Maybe not… Probably not… But I’m going to tell you anyway. I was actually wrong about Rule #1, see what it is below.
Rule #1: Always Restart!Â
I have found that 99.99% of all problems can be fixed, even if just temporarily, by restarting or rebooting. My favorite example of this is actually with a TV that had no audio. It would change channels, and some channels even had what sounded like radio stations playing underneath them, but no TV audio. I actually forgot this rule, and proceeded to go through all the menus trying to find the setting that was wrong. I never found it, and eventually decided to unplug the TV and plug it back it. That did it. Came back on and worked beautifully. So as you can see this rule can apply to anything from a Microwave to an iPhone… Restart! Then call me.
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Rule #2: Never Buy First Generation
This rule can be hard to follow… Case and point the iPhone, Microsoft Windows (any version…), or the Motorolla DVR box that CDE uses for TV service (Clarksville Thing). When dealing with operating systems its best to wait for the first service pack. That usually patches the large majority of holes, and fixes the major problems. I realize it isn’t always possible to do this, but if it is, you will save yourself alot of headaches. In the case of the iPhone, and most other consumer electronics, if you can wait a generation you can save MONEY! Pay $500 for a 1st generation iPhone, or pay $200 for the iPhone 3G, which is smaller, faster, and overall better. You’ll patience will be rewarded.
Stay Tuned for Rules #3 & #4!
Windows 7 quick review
Windows 7 Running Shelby DataBase
Most of you might remember a little operating system known as Microsoft Windows Vista… Well, thankfully, its replacement is currently in Beta testing, and should be released by the end of the year. Windows 7 has all the bells and whistles of Vista, but seems very fast and fairly light weight. Despite the fact that the install folder is about twice the size of XP, it will run on a surprising range of hardware. I installed it on an older laptop we had in the office. This computer had a 1Ghz Processor and 512MB of RAM. A pretty bare system by most standards. I was surprised that it ran Windows 7 at all, much less ran it well. It was fast, very stable, and did everything I asked of it. It also detected all the hardware correctly, and I didn’t have to installed any additional drivers. Pretty amazing.Â
I would describe Windows 7 as looking alot like Vista, but running alot like XP Pro. For those of you who are stuck on Vista, I suggest upgrading later this year when 7 is released. For those who are on XP Pro, I suggest you wait until the first service pack is released. Rule #1 in Technology: Never Buy First Generation!
Working on the blog…
I’m taking some time during lunch check out new wordpress plugins and see what I’ve been missing while I’ve not been updating my blog. If you have any good ideas for topics, please pass them along.
Alittle Behind…
I just realized I hadn’t uploaded our Christmas pictures. Well, there up now. Enjoy!
Life without a TV Bill, Part 3
It has been just about a month now since we canceled our TV service. I’m happy to say its going alright. Not that I haven’t thought of signing up everytime I get a DirectTV “special welcome back” deal in the mail. Why they can offer those crazy $29/month prices after you leave, but not while you are with them, I’ll never understand.Â
We have been surviving well on our Netflix account and free Redbox movies on Mondays. Like I said previously, we hookup our laptops to our LCD TV and watch movies and TV shows online either at Netflix, which we pay $9/month for, or at the network websites (i.e. www.usanetwork.com – Psych, and Monk). We recently discovered www.hulu.com, and www.fancast.com. Which are operated in joint venture by the major broadcast networks, Fox, CBS, ABC, NBC. They have a ton of content for free. Of all the online options for watching video, Netflix by far has the best quality and reliability. Hulu and Fancast (which share content with each other) have “iffy” quality. They seem to take awhile to start playing smoothly, if they ever do. Considering the fact that I have a very stable 10Mbps internet connection, I can only assume that the problem is on their end, or that CDE is somehow throttling my connection.Â
Aside from all the online video options, (and I forgot to mention Sling.com, which is still in beta testing) we really have found that we watch less and seem to be getting more done when we are home. We eat more meals at the kitchen table, and have been cooking at home more as well. All in all, I have to say that canceling our TV service is one of the best things we have done for our family. The real test is going to be when Kayce is home all day with two boys over the summer. We’ll see what happens then.
Randomness…
Kayce has taken on some blogging duties so I expect the site will be much more up-to-date now… Here are some random pictures I just found on my phone. The picture of my deformed tooth being prepped for a crown after it fell apart. I was just getting a filling repaired… I took this while the dentist was out of the room. The second is of a drum set that someone gave us for parker. And now… Back to Kayce.
First Timer
Hello everyone,
I’m excited to hijack Adam’s blog for the day and fill you in on the latest Susong happenings. We had our first small group meeting tonight and it was fun! I’m excited to see where God takes us in the months to come. One of the ladies in our group got onto Adam for not updating his blog and now he has delegated this task to me…at least for tonight. So here goes…
Parker is starting Parents’ Day Out this week and he is very glad to be going back to school. He has missed the socialization that he got from his school last year. He still wants to be in Ms. Jodi’s classroom, so hopefully he won’t have a hard time getting used to the fact that he will have a new teacher and a new school. We’ll keep you posted on how he does later this week.
 We had a special treat this week when Matt stopped by for an overnight visit. Parker stayed up as late as his little body would let him so that he could talk to “Mack”. It was cracking me up that he kept calling him the wrong name and he even knew it!! On the way out the door Friday morning he said “I called Matt, Mack” and then he laughed. That boy’s a mess.
I’m still cooking food and that is an amazing thing. It’s been going pretty well with the exception of the really nasty chicken noodle soup I made a week ago. Nobody told me you needed egg noodles for a soup recipe. Oh well, you cook, you learn. I’m also reading One Tuesday Morning by Karen Kingsbury this week. It is a very good book, although it is sad. I haven’t finished it yet but I know it will be worth the read. Kristina, this would be a good one for you I think 🙂
Have a happy week everyone.  See you soon~ Kayce
Life without a TV Bill, Part 2
After one full week without TV, I have to say… Not too bad. I’ll probably be enjoying it more, when I see the bill, or lack thereof in a few weeks. We are using our unlimited Netflix.com account, and the Redbox, and haven’t really missed anything. We have been catching our favorite show via their network website and watching them online with our computer hooked to our TV. Parker has discovered a love of the Pink Panther Cartoons, which are surprisingly violent, and even had some drunk people in them. Didn’t know that. Also, I found Sling.com, which is a beta website, that Sling Media has created to stream video content. They don’t have anywhere near the choices that Netflix has, but still just another source to add to the list. Well, that’s the update for this week. Keep checking back, and see if we make it.