He Blogs on a Friday Night (@MellanK)

But not just any Friday night: the day after Thanksgiving. I live near a mall. There was no traffic backed up preventing me from entering my apartment complex after work, which was fortunate. Still I don't want to press my luck by venturing out. Perhaps it's a stay in with Pixar DVDs night?

Tonight's topic is a shout out to my Twitter BFF @MellanK. We've discussed her before. Today she helped me with fashion advice. She's always got my back:

Kristen Mellan (@mellank) 11/26/10 12:49 PM
OPI's Lincoln Park After-Dark is def my go-to nail polish. If you like wicked dark purples, check it out!

Bob Thompson (@el_Bobbo) 11/26/10 3:18 PM
@mellank thanks for the tip

Kristen Mellan (@mellank) 11/26/10 3:23 PM
@el_Bobbo knew you were dying to know☺ hope you had a great holiday!!

Bob Thompson (@el_Bobbo) 11/26/10 3:24 PM
@mellank I did! You?

Kristen Mellan (@mellank) 11/26/10 3:34 PM
@el_Bobbo nice relaxing holiday so I can't complain! Hope to see ya soon! We need another tweet-up!

And she's right. We definitely need another tweet up soon, before we're competing with Christmas parties. In the meantime, please, visit @MellanK's Tumblr and sample some of the music that rattles around in her head all day.

Update Sunday

I've been putting off updating my phone, because to do so I need to update my computer, and the two together take three to six hours. Not my idea of a good time. C'est la vie.

Today I decide to do it, mostly because if I'm doing this very important thing, I can continue ignoring the ridiculous pile of laundry in my bed room.

So, I hook up the WiFi (easy). I turn on my... crap, did I leave that in the car? Yes, of course I did. [Sigh] Well, if I'm going out to get it, I might as well take the trash out, and bring in the boxes which have been sitting in my car for two weeks.

[Half hour later] Please, tell me I did not leave it in the car again?! Well, I was going to take a spin around the mall, anyway. I'll just bring it up when I get back.

[Three hours later] Seriously?! Can I have still left it in the... for the love... [grumble]

Finally. Man, I'm hungry now. I guess I'll reheat lunch quick.

[Half hour later] OK, waiting for it to boot up. I'll flip on the XBox and finish that movie I was watching... What do you mean the XBox needs an update? Fine, fine, better get that out of the way so I can do the other thing.

Bah, that's taking a long time. Oh, that reminds me I wanted to figure out how to stream my iTunes to my XBox. I'm pretty sure there's a way. Oh, and there was that blog article I wanted to post. [Two hours later] How long is this going to take? This is not the update I was looking for.

It's still going. I could be gazing mindlessly at a movie right now. Bah.

Fairwell, Pasta Factory

I used to call this my "poverty diet." From now on it will be known as "eating responsibly;" that is, fiscally responsible.

Buying a new car six months ahead of schedule forced me to finance it. The terms of the loan are fantastic, but it's still an unwanted debt. Careful planning will enable me to pay it off quickly. There is no room in "careful planning" for dining out three times daily. Once weekly would be a lot.

Eating at home forced me to review the list of dishes I make well enough to keep me from sneaking to the drive thru afterward. As I pondered the issue, I nibbled on an easy-mac and watched "Hancock." There's a recurring theme in the movie called "spaghetti madness," which is supposed to be something "normal people" do.

I was raised by Italians. I love spaghetti and make it well. I had noodles and sauce in the cupboard, so I drove to my local supermarket for some ground beef, which I balled and browned and simmered in sauce for 15 minutes or so while the water boiled and pasta cooked. I call it spaghetti and meatlumps.

As I enjoyed my home cooked meal, I realized how much it resembled what I order at The Pasta Factory, except that it is much cheaper, tastes better, and I know for certain what the ingredients are. There really is no need to eat at The Pasta Factory, unless I'm away from home. Au revoir, mon cher.

My Phone, the Universe, and Everything

This is a blog about the interconnectedness of all things. Today, I left my phone at home. I was already running late, or I would have returned home to get it. Here's how the day unfolded.

Some background: I had several essential pieces of equipment break on my car the month it needs to be inspected. My options were empty my bank account for repairs and still have an old car, or buy a newer car. I picked up my new car Wednesday night.

When I arrived at work and caught up on messages, I realized that I needed to make an appointment for photos for my new auto insurance. The web site revealed a location very near to my apartment, so I called and set the appointment for 1pm.

Traffic was on my side, so I had time to run in and grab my phone. Uncharacteristically, I parked near the back door, because it's a shorter distance between my car and my apartment. While I was starting my car to leave, I looked up and noticed a maintenance truck approaching my old car, no longer registered or insured, which was parked around back. He was slapping some type of bright orange sticker on it.

Had I not left my phone I would have scheduled my photos for Saturday, and would never have seen the man. My brief and fleeting opportunity to speak to him about how long I have to dispose of the vehicle (and collect my belongings from inside it) would never have occurred. Call it what you want.

Peace

Dear Blogger-spot

I blog from my mobile device. It is evident from your design decisions that you never expected I would. Blogger/Blogspot is difficult to read on mobile devices. Posting and commenting do not work properly. Your talent at all things web are evident. The blogs are beautiful and easy to set up. Posting by email is handy, and is the means I normally use from my mobile, however it is incomplete: meant as a convenience or for use in case of emergency. Thank you for that. What would be a great help to us is a mobile-friendly site. I expect that's a small matter adding mobile templates for us to use and correcting some slight errors in code that have gone unnoticed on your three 24" widescreen monitored development rigs. With your talent, I expect that to be trivial. Alternately, a blogger app that allowed us to post, review and add comments, moderate and edit posts, upload pictures, or anything else we would normally do with the dashboard. That's less trivial, but you could get a student to do it during your Summer of Code, or something. Thank you so much.

Much love,
Bob

Blogging with Style(-us)

One of my obstacles to frequent blogging, aside from having little to say, and as I've mentioned previously, is that I'm rarely in front of a computer outside of my job. I do almost everything I need in a month with my phone. As I've also mentioned, I hate typing on it. I have large hands. My fingers don't fit, and I can't see the magnified letters through the back of my hand.

My sister was in town. Well, not my town. I went to my parents' to visit them all, and noticed my mom had a capacitive stylus she was using to draw on her iPad. Mom is very hip. Anyway, I picked it up and tried it out with my phone.

Much. Better.

Typing wasn't faster, exactly, but was much less frustrating. Sold. I went to Apple and bought one on my way home. I'm still adapting. It's a different feel, and it's a little touchy. I feel like I have to swipe at some things like a check mark. Others I seem to have to poke, like I'm tossing a dart.

So here is the big test. I'm typing a post with it. How did I do? And I also drew this picture.