Jake’s Life

Thursday was rough. I’m not going to get into it, but my looming halfway-to-fifty birthday coming up, missing my mom, and being tired really affected me.

Friday Sandro came over and we went to the mall for lunch, then walked around looking at things. We stopped by the T-Mobile store so I can play with my new toy which is coming soon. We went grocery shopping and I’m not sure why, but when I can get a bunch of stuff for not a lot of money I love it. Adidas antiperspirant was two 2-packs for $5. I also picked up a pint of Arrogant Bastard to try, which was very good. Danielle, my new roommate cooked dinner consisting of steak, pasta salad, salad, green beans, and vegetable dips which hit the spot. And my other roommate’s cute hot younger brother spent the night.

Today I didn’t do much. I woke up after dreaming about my new Blackberry, and being the true knob that I am I’ve already downloaded a bunch of themes and programs for it. I may sell my Wing to my roommate, who is a complete texting whore. Sandro and I picked up my grandmother and drove her to my new place to show her how close I actually am…for some reason she thought that just because I moved to the next county that I was far enough away that it’s a helluva drive to see her. Then we took her grocery shopping. Sandro was very affectionate in the store today. Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t bother me at all, and I actually liked it. It just stood out to me. Once we got back to my place he left and I took a nap, then woke up and went to Aaron’s house to watch COPS. His boyfriend and I recently met and after a rough start but ended up hitting it off pretty good. I came home after dinking around there for a while and am now enjoying a pint of Young’s Double Chocolate Stout, with solid plans to work out tomorrow!

By the way, my roommate’s little brother is asleep on the floor in the living room right next to the sliding glass door, and he just kicked it which scared me.

I’ve been looking for a way to manage my Wordpress blog while away from my computer. Pocket Internet Explorer can only do so much and while Opera Mobile renders the Admin back end well, it’s too slow for my taste (and T-Mobile’s EDGE network). The WPhone plugin for Wordpress formats the admin interface of your blog originally for an iPhone, but works with most mobile browsers.

You can do everything from the mobile interface that you can from the original one, save for uploading files and a few other things.

[WPhone plugin for Wordpress 2.1 and up] via [Wordpress.org]

Thanks to Jay and Ste–and their online gay agenda–I have been a Google Reader convert for the past week now. I started using RSS Bandit but found it to be bloated, then moved to Snarfer where I was happy. My only gripe was that I read feeds from my home and from my T-Mobile Wing. I would read feeds when I am bored at work, then come home and have the same ones to sort through again from my laptop. I decided to try out Google Reader and found the mobile version to be awesome: It loads fast, since it’s Google you can tag anything, and it helps keep things fresh.

I opened a Box.net account months ago but never really used it. I always have my web hosting server to store files on so never really thought I needed a typical web storage service. I also have a 350 GB external firewire drive so that was even less of a reason for me. Well, with this recent failing of the hard drive fiasco I have learned my lesson. What’s nice is that Box.net has a great customizable widget for posting on your web site to share certain files as well as a great mobile version. Also a great way to transfer files between devices if you do not have the proper cables or Bluetooth connections.

Well after that whole car fiasco I needed something to make me feel better.

Okay, well I have a bit more self direction than that, but that’s just what I say.

I picked up the new T-Mobile Wing yesterday and decided that if I don’t like it or get that awful buyer’s remorse I would take it back. I do, after all, love my Dash. Before I got it I placed a Craigslist ad for my Dash to help pick up some of the cost of the Wing, and found an almost immediate buyer. I met with him in the early hours of the morning at a Shell station and we found his old Voicestream SIM card wasn’t working. He went and got a new one this morning, so that was sold, and now I paid about 60% of my Wing’s price off with my Dash. This doesn’t mean I had buyer’s remorse…it could have been letting-go-of-my-Dash remorse though.

So far I like the Pocket PC version of Windows Mobile 6 a lot. It’s more involved, obviously, and one thing I miss about the Dash is one handed messaging. The Wing has a set of keys on the left side, as well as the right. On the right (thumb area while holding it like a normal phone) is Voice Command and Messaging. Left side is the volume slider and camera app. The front has the usual keys: Send, End, left soft, right soft, and a navigation wheel with center key. It also has a Windows key and an OK key. It sounds crowded, but it doesn’t really feel like it.

So far I’ve installed the following:

Resco Explorer 2007: replacement for the file explorer and has several useful plugins such as registry editor, etc.

Spb Finance: financial tracking app which can sync with Money/Quicken/QFX files from your bank.

Spb Insight: RSS reader.

Spb Mobile Shell: This is a shell replacement which many PPC users preach about. Still trying it out.

Also, my car reached my birth year! I know, Sandro says I’m a geek too.

They both fly, I guess. Well, one does right now, and one doesn’t.

I looked at a T-Mobile Wing today at the mall, and it’s pretty effin’ sweet. I’ve read a lot about it lately in comparison to the MDA: same processor, enhanced features, and the rubberized exterior that I love about my Dash so much. T-Mobile can give it to me for $349 with 2 more years (which is no big deal, Tmo is great for me), but I’ve found it on Craigslist lately for $300 or less.

I have also been posting on Craigslist lately to get rid of my Thunderbird…which ran great when I parked it and started driving my new Scion. Today someone and their son came over, we started it, and it looks like the small tranny leak became larger, the oil gasket is toast, and there may be alternator issues. Well fuck. I am happy that I decided to get a new car when I could afford it as it probably would have died on me when I needed it, but I also won’t be getting my asking price of $1800 for it.

Jakeslife.net is now fully back up. For the past week it’s been either down or short of several entries. Once I got it back up Wordpress was having some issues finding everything due to an upgrade. Anyways, that’s all fixed now. I’ve restored all of my posts, although many have been protected now. If you need the password and aren’t a douche, let me know.

Sandro gets back from Peru next week, and I can’t wait to see him. We’ve been sending video messages back and forth from our phones via e-mail since text messages are about $4 per for Peru. Nasty. He’s also been taking pictures of some sights in Lima. I also switched up my schedule some to spend more time with him when he gets back.

Upgraded my Dash to Windows Mobile 6. Good stuff, even though WM6 leaves me wanting to ditch my Smartphone for a PDA, like the new T-Mobile Wing. The only real difference is touch screen and screen real estate, but my Dash works great for me right now.

Mint, a new free online personal finance manager is in “Elite Beta” right now ad I can’t wait until it opens. It looks like it’s going to blow most others out of the water. Well, right now there aren’t many others out there. Sure, I have online banking, but I am in the process of figuring out how to track everything I do on my laptop on my mobile device. So far, financial software is lacking for Windows Mobile aside from basic checkbook apps. A web solution would be great if it displays right on my device’s browser.

I’m almost done with this school term too. I finished my rough draft for my Effective Writing II final (148/150), which can be viewed along with the final draft at Scribd.

Well, off to another night in paradise.