Phoneless - No More

I promised some people that I'd put a "celebratory" post up once my phone came home. Well, this will have to do (see below). I'm busy putting all the pieces back together on my mostly new phone. New MAC address, new memory and processor chips. It was a good feeling to see the imperfections in my own screen protector. Also, Sammy gave me back all the accessories I "accidentally" sent them (case, battery cover). So, Samsung, thank you for sending me my little guy home just as I remember him. Minus the broken bits, of course.

Without further adieu, the scene I have been thinking about since I got the first UPS tracking number:

Phoneless - Day 7

Today at about 5:30pm marked the one week anniversary of my phone's death. A moment of silence, please.

Thank you.

I spent the entire night mourning my loss. I remember the feeling I had as I googled "vibrant won't power on" and discovered that I had probably hard bricked my phone's bootloader. I had a hard time sleeping that night, but thanks to Samsung's 24/7 support I had a ticket number and shipping label all ready for the morning. That was the only feeling of hope I felt concerning my phone for a full 7 days which lasted until tonight.

One week later, in the very hour I thought I had experienced the last of my phone's exceptional user experience (despite being a year and a half old) I received the following update on my support ticket:

• 12/8/2011 7:01 PM-JK: The unit has left the technician. SOLUTION: Replaced PBA
• 12/9/2011 4:22 PM:
  SOFTWARE DOWNLOAD
  PASSED RADIATION TEST
  PASSED FINAL TEST
• 12/9/2011 5:06 PM-Graciela: No hold amount
• 12/9/2011 5:06 PM-Graciela: The unit is shipped. UPS tracking number attached.

BOOM! And Sammy delivers! The only thing left to do is wait until UPS does.

Yes, my friends, It has been a week of cringing and crying, worrying and waiting. The wait isn't completely over yet, and I have a feeling the "2nd day air" UPS shipping will make me wait until next week, but there is certainly reason to celebrate. Join me, won't you?

UPDATE:
Just after I posted this story, I took this video. Luckily I had my point-and-shoot beside me.

Phoneless - Day 6

Erin, my wife, told me that I should include more of the positive things going on during this whole experience. She's right, as wives often are. Following are feelings that I have had and may not reflect actual events as perceived by others. That doesn't  make them any less valid.

I feel quicker to respond when called. I'm not talking about the input lag on all Android phones when a call comes in. If someone in another room calls for me, I don't check to see if I have my phone first then go searching for it if I can't find it. This is actually kind of funny because just now I had to go find the phone I'm borrowing because I haven't been paying attention to whether it's in my pocket or not. The ability to be contacted anywhere, anytime, by anyone had become such a given that if I put myself in an unreachable state I felt like I might be letting someone down. So far, even without my smartphone to show me my friends' Latitude locations, no one has died waiting for me to pick up the phone I left at the dinner table.

On a similar note, I used to feel like I had to have all information available to me at all times. I needed my IMDB app, a Google search bar, or Wikipedia at my side in every moment. What if someone wanted to know the definition of a word or the population of Brazil? Experiencing such moments these past few days shows me just how important a dictionary or encyclopedia is (or rather isn't) in the course of regular conversation. Previously, many times a discussion has turned into an argument due to a disagreement that was solved by instant pocket research. Now that I cannot "prove" my point with a search engine's results, I am more agreeable and understanding of others opinions. It's almost as if I misunderstood that I was having a conversation and was not in a factual debate.

And so I could go on, but this isn't intended to be a diary. And I'm surprised you, reader, have even made it this far. So for those of you who have endured I'll let you know that, although the previous posts are actually based on fact and occurrences, they are dramatized for entertainment. Shocker, I know. I hope you have been enjoying the show so far. It's not over yet!

Phoneless - Day 5

The good news is Samsung has received my phone and I am now in possession of a Repair Self Tracking number. I also have an estimated repair date! The bad news is that date is Saturday, which means I won't get my phone back until sometime next week. The novelty of missing my phone has worn off, and I am less impressed with the nuances of life without a constant connection to everything. To be blunt: it's starting to stink.

I think I have covered the smelly portions, so I'll give this experience one positive review. Although I am disconnected from the wireless world, I feel more connected with my immediate surroundings. I might not have any idea what @NathanFillion is up to all the time, but I sure noticed that guy brushing his teeth in the bathroom at work. Mind you I immediately returned to my workstation and posted my observance on Facebook. Waiting for my PC to start up in the morning typically grants me time enough to watch a couple YouTube videos on my phone. Without this convenience I have been catching up on "Cyber War: The Next Threat to National Security and What to Do About It" by Richard A. Clarke. While filling up with gas tonight instead of flicking through new items in TweetDeck I watched yet another feeble minded driver fail to yield to a pursuing emergency vehicle.

Unfortunately all of these "alternate universe"-style experiences (those I would not have had were I able to go back in time and stop myself from breaking my phone) have taught me that it's probably better that I not pay very close attention to my proximal environment - not any more than is necessary to be safe, anyway. Bathroom brusher, gross. Reality of cyber warfare, unnerving. Unyielding licensed vehicle operators, frustrating. Each of which is worthy of a separate post on its own.

I'd rather not see the gag-inducing, horror film inspiring downright retardation that thrives all around me. All my Facebook friends, Tweeps, and members of my Google+ circles are on the same level of genius: "homo sapien." Ultimately, however, I am forced to deal with the knuckle-draggers who actually live in my vicinity. Oh, the humanity.

Phoneless - Day 4

What's this? A post before the end of the day? Yes, it seems I am beginning to remember things all of my own brilliance. It's like evolution but backwards.

My package is in Kentucky, for whatever reason, and my "2nd Day Air" shipping label is finally starting to shine. I hope to know soon the fate of my bright friend. There may be light at the end of the tunnel, or it could just be headlights from the UPS truck returning my lifeless phone.

On a lighter note, I got a ridiculous amount of work done today. To be fair I probably accomplished as much as I normally would, but it was not nearly as entertaining. Without the shine of Pandora and Netflix the day dragged on. Each loading screen seemed to take twice as long. Every 100 lines of scripting code seemed to occupy the space of 1000. Still the feeling of accomplishment is as dazzling as ever.

Even though re-reading the "trouble ticket" e-mail from Samsung brought feelings of disdain, there still may be a glimmer of hope. Have you figured out the theme?

Phoneless - Day 3

By the end of the day, I had become tired of thinking about my options. Running through the various scenarios of "what if Samsung says I'm out of luck" or "how much money am I really willing to spend to replace my phone" was wearing on me. In fact, I had difficulty getting to sleep. I hate thinking that a simple act of trying to upgrade my phone's firmware could cost me so much money besides the headache. With the holiday season looming, we're tight already. And I had planned on asking my wife to spend very little on me this year so we could focus on the children. Now this.

The woes of a first world life, right? "How will I ever pass down the memories of early parenthood to my children without 720p video recordings? How will I check for the best prices on items while I'm shopping without a price checking app?" Hey, once my kids are clothed, fed, and sheltered it's time to kick things up a notch, right? Well, I can't do that without a smartphone. Or in my case a superphone.

My thought process may be flawed, but really I'm just trying to return to my version of "normal." It's normal to expect push notifications. It's normal to choose a different wallpaper every-other week. It's normal to have three different launchers so that when one crashes I can keep going on a similar (albeit less feature rich) application. It's normal to flash a new ROM on the weekend, especially when a new OS version is available. It's normal to choose from an array of options, variations and iterations so that I get an experience I have tailored myself. Or at least I think so.

Until I hear from Samsung, I'm afraid I must live abnormally wondering what is to become of all of the tweets, posts, status updates, checkins, youtubes, reddits, and lolcats I am missing in between the periods of time I sit in front of a tethered PC. When will the madness end?

Phoneless - Day 2

Well, I'll start off day 3 by writing day 2's post about how not having my phone makes me forget things - like writing day 2's post about being phoneless.

Yes, I used my phone to remind me of everything. It was my alarm clock and reminder-based todo list. Each day I had at least 3 different alarms to wake me up, wake the kids up from their afternoon nap, and remind me to do things. I used Astrid to remind me to write e-mails, follow up on online orders, tell Erin things that I wanted to tell her but couldn't because I was at work, and a host of other things. I find myself almost entirely brainless without it.

I described this phenomenon to Erin as having lost my "crutch." I started to feel like without my phone to remind me to do things, I might actually lose my head. Erin was quick to remind me that "planners" of any kind are used by professionals all around the world and have been for generations upon generations. Man is a forgetful beast and, if it were not for friends, family, personal aides, or ribbons tied around a finger, things just wouldn't get done. So I guess I don't feel so bad about not having my little friend to remind me to do just about everything except breathe.

Except I do feel bad. I miss my friendly little pocket organizer. And as the days go by I find myself feeling more and more forlorn. I have been watching incessantly the tracking number of my phone containing package sent back to Samsung. So far, it appears to still be in Ogden. Boo. But I have also been searching the internet for cheap replacements. And by "cheap replacements" I mean another Vibrant or Galaxy S 4G in respectable condition.

As the thought of having to trash my old buddy and get a look-alike settles in I am starting to understand the feeling of a young child being told that the goldfish mommy and daddy got them to replace the one they had to flush down the toilet was "just as good." It's not. I took excellent care of my Vibrant. It had a case on it from day 1 (-ish) and an expensive, professionally installed screen protector from the start. I used microfiber cloths to rub away oily fingerprints and pocket lint. I even talked to it! Granted it was to do voice searches, but still, it listened as well as any old friend from childhood.

So the days tick on, and I am starting to see how impossible it would be to return to my old life of a "dumb phone" and a pad of paper. Honestly, I think the paper would only get turned into airplanes anyway. And the phone, being mostly useless since I use less than 100 minutes of voice each month and never text outside of Google Voice, would only get used when I attached it to the charger every 3 days or so. I have never missed my Vibrant's 4-8 hour battery life so much.

Phoneless - Day 1

Last night I used Samsung's Mini Kies software to update my phone to the latest firmware available. It subsequently stopped working entirely. So I packed up my little friend and sent it back to Samsung today to see if they can do anything to help. I'm thinking about keeping a brief record of how my days change because of the loss of my phone. This is day one.

Usually, I get up to my phone's alarm. This morning, I woke up to the boys playing drums in their room. It was about the same time I usually wake up, so no big deal. I'm used to checking my Twitter and Facebook first thing, which had to wait until I booted up my PC. Still not that bad. Danny (my brother-in-law) came by around noon to let me borrow his 10+ year-old Samsung something-something; so I will at least have an alarm. In fact, so far the only thing that I can think of that is going to change is not being able to take video or pictures of the kids when they do random fun things without having to go grab the point-and-shoot. But that hasn't even come up yet, so I'm not hurting terribly yet.

A couple of times today I reached for my pocket to play a game or check to see if I had any new e-mails only to find a hole in my heart. I miss being able to check my calendar to see my agenda or hear that friendly "Tweeter" noise whenever a load of new tweets or Facebook posts has come in. But other than that I had more time to pay attention to what my kids were doing, actually listen to my wife, remember I had a dog, and navigate in my car the old fashioned way: with my eyes.

Tonight I sat down to review my lesson plans for teaching the Deacons tomorrow. This is where I hit my first major roadblock. I'm used to pulling up a few windows on my PC (LDS.org for the Priesthood manual and scriptures, and Google Docs for my lesson plans), typing an outline, and then pulling up the Docs app on my phone for use during class on Sunday. It took me a while to remember I had a physical copy of the Priesthood manual and another few minutes to grab the stack of 3x5 notecards I bought back when I attended Weber state for lesson notes. These archaic tools combined, I was ready to do things "old school." We'll see how things turn out at lesson time tomorrow.

Well, Samsung, the ball is in your court. Please fix my phone so I can go back to Tweeting and capturing HD home movies. I'd rather not have to resort to, oh say, buying a replacement from HTC or LG. Day 2 tomorrow.

"Lots of vids!" Update

So we have a lot of videos we have been meaning to upload and we finally did it!

The oldest video is of our family riding the FrontRunner train to the Gateway mall in SLC. It was fun for the kids to experience and reminded me of my mission.



Then, Atticus, Haven and I went to the Father & Sons camp overnighter at Camp Woodland and played with cousins, launched rockets and told "spooky" stories. The next three videos are in order as described above.





Finally, we visited the Tracy Aviary today and watched a bird show. Erin, the kids and I all LOVED the owls. My favorite was the Great Horned Owl (I think we had a painting of one in our house when I was young), and Erin loved the Barn Owl. We saw all kinds of birds from the Amazon that were kept in a temperature and humidity controlled building. Very colorful and diverse. God has made some amazing creatures!

The video below is of the family looking at ducks and PINK FLAMINGOS! I think it's the first time I've seen real ones in person (maybe not, dunno). Anyway, ENJOY!

Look Who's Dancing Now!

Scarlett had her first dance recital yesterday! She is the cute little one in the middle with dark hair, if you can't tell - she just got a major hair cut; first by herself, then by a professional. Farrah is also in the video, and they love getting to dance together. We have uploaded the first part already and as soon as the second part is uploaded, we'll link that one, too. Enjoy!

UPDATE: Second video is available!

View full screen for best results!

Easter 2011

For FHE we dyed eggs. The kids loved their monster Easter eggs. I think Easter is one of the best holidays!

Dinosaur Park

Just a quick video of us at the Dinosaur Park today. Enjoy!

Scarlett’s 5th Birthday

Well, Stephen was in Virginia for work this week and he had to miss Scarlett’s birthday. But that doesn’t mean that we didn’t have a blast! Before he left we celebrated with our family. On her actual birthday, Tuesday, we invited Farrah over for dinner. We made homemade pizzas and had a fashion show – which we neglected to take pictures of . That night Scarlett and I had a sleepover in my room which she loved. We stayed up painting our nails . All in all she got spoiled this year!

I can’t believe she is 5 already! It feels like just yesterday she was an infant in my arms! She went to the doctor today to get her shots so she could register for kindergarten. She is soooo excited to start school. Me, on the other hand, not so much. I will miss her being a big help – and friend – at home during the day. So here are a few pictures for you guys to enjoy.

Bruce’s First Days Home

I know we’ve been bad at posting lately, we’ve been really busy. Bruce was born 12 weeks early on May 12 at 2 pounds 13 ounces. Bruce spent 7 full weeks at the hospital (Davis Hospital NICU). On June 29, Stephen and I spent the night at the hospital doing a test run with our new baby on his monitors. It was a very long hard night, but in the end we got to bring him home on June 30, still a month before his due date. He came home at 5 pounds 3 ounces and has been doing great! We still have to give him caffeine, and he has to be on monitors 24/7 to make sure he breathes and that his heart doesn’t stop. It’s a pain lugging it around since it’s cord is only about 8 feet long. We’re all exhausted, but our children love having him home since they never got to see him in those first 7 weeks. Just wanted to thank everyone who kept us in their prayers and helped us out. It meant so much to us. We’ll be forever grateful.

Here are some recent pictures of him at home.

           

Update on Bruce

The picture is from yesterday when Erin got to bring Bruce to the window for Scarlett, Atticus, Haven and April to see.

Anyway, Erin got back from visiting Bruce this morning and we have excellent news.

When she first got there, she noticed that he was wearing a onesie! Clothing! That is a big step. Then she saw that he was up to 4 lbs. Boom. Up to 16 ½ inches. All amazing. Then the nurse mentioned that they started bottle feeding last night! So when Erin got to hold him while feeding this time, she actually fed him from a bottle! He only drank ¾ of the 35ml, but he drank, breathed, and swallowed without any problems. The nurses say they never see that on the first time for a baby his size. And he’s only 1 month old tomorrow. Still a month and a half before his due date. He only gets to bottle feed once a day, but Erin will get to every time. He is also sucking on a bigger binky (when he does, usually during feedings). And the last big of BIG news is: he isn’t in the Giraffe bed anymore! He is in an open bed regulating his own heat! This means he probably won’t keep gaining 2 oz. a day, since he will have to burn calories to keep his body heat regulated. But still, an open bed. Awesome.

We know we have been blessed by the Lord. We know he has heard our prayers. We are so grateful for the priesthood and its true power to heal. We are so thankful for friends and family who have helped us during this time. We love you all!

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Easter 2010

We had a great Easter this year. Conference was a nice touch to a perfect Easter Sunday. Here are some pictures of the kids dying eggs and in their Sunday best.

Our Little Eternity

Our Little Eternity

 

The Earth had become an inhospitable place. Not because of war, famine, or disease, but because earthquakes were literally breaking the planet into pieces. It seemed as though the Earth had finally given up. Cities were sunk into the oceans, and the masses were evacuated onto space stations to move the populous to Mars. My family was one of the lucky ones to make it onto a ship before the planet's surface had completely rolled over itself killing the billions that remained behind.

We were given living quarters to reside in while making the 7 month trip. We had two rooms to sleep in and a bathroom. Each room had a window displaying the infinite nothingness that filled the space between the scarce stars. My daughter, Scarlett, and two sons, Atticus and Haven, shared one room and my pregnant wife, Erin, and I slept in the other. She was only 2 months along and our youngest child was just over a year old. The living conditions weren't comfortable, but we were alive together which was all that mattered. Haven liked to stand against the window and smack it. I would always get angry at him and tell him to stop. Scarlett and Atticus always sneaked out of our quarters and roamed the ship. I told them that if they didn't stop, the captain wouldn't let us go to Mars.

 

The governments of earth had the foresight to send colonizing teams to Mars about a year ago when the earthquakes started. We heard news that the colony on Mars had been a success, and by the time we would arrive it would just barely be ready for us to move into a modular home. Erin was scheduled to give birth just after our arrival on the planet. Everything seemed like it would turn out alright after looking so bleak.

 

As the journey neared it's end, the ship arrival area on Mars filled up, and the remaining ships had to stay in orbit until cleared for landing. Ours was one of those ships. The surface of Mars seemed so close as we looked out our bedroom window, but we would have to wait a little longer. Disappointed, my wife and I left our children in our quarters to go ask the captain how long it would be until we could land. I told Haven to stay away from the window and Scarlett and Atticus to stay put.

 

We started toward the captain's quarters and looked out the windows in the hallway at the mess of ships trying to get organized. Less than a minute passed when suddenly an alarm sounded and a voice came over the PA system warning of a collision with another ship. There was no time to react as the two ships smashed together. The hallway we had just come though was violently ripped open and emergency systems were engaged to preserve the lives of those in areas not affected by the collision. Airlock doors closed quickly behind us, cutting us off from our children who had certainly been killed in the crash. We cried as the realization of our children's deaths came upon us.

 

Air was running out and our ship began an uncontrollable decent to the planet's surface without any way to land. We would have to evacuate immediately using escape pods which would allow us to get to another ship. We boarded a pod with 10 other survivors. My wife was the only pregnant woman. The pod quickly released it's grip from the main ship and we began floating away from our previous lives. After making it so far, our children were dead which left us both barely alive. From the small port hole we could see the dying ship amongst the multitude of other ships trying frantically to dodge each other while awaiting landing orders. Our previous home was destroyed, now only a symbol of our broken lives. It floated only a hundred feet from our reach.

 

As we awaited rescue, we drifted by the hallway we had just come down not 10 minutes earlier. Among the scattered debris we saw Scarlett and Atticus's bodies. They had left our quarters to follow after us. My wife cried inconsolably. Next, we passed the window that used to be our bedroom. It appeared intact, the light was still on. Just before floating out of view, we looked in shock as Haven innocently stood up against the window and playfully patted the glass with his hand, patiently waiting for his mommy's return. His mouth moved, and we swear we could hear his sweet, happy voice softly saying "da da".

 

We both helplessly cried out, "Haven!" We begged to go back, but the pod could not be steered, only picked up by another ship. He slipped silently and peacefully out of our view just as another craft twice the size of ours careened into the ship where Haven was, sending him to join his loving siblings. My wife screamed and slammed her fist on the window. Then she turned and buried her head in my chest as she sobbed uncontrollably. We wept deeply, and I held my sweet wife for the remainder of our trip to the surface.

 

Arriving at our new home on Mars, we tried to make due with what was left of our existence. Erin gave birth 6 days later to our new baby girl. The first baby born on Mars. We named her Eternity. A symbol to everyone, but mostly to us, that life would go on.

 

THE END

 

Saddest. Dream. Ever.

 

I woke up almost in tears.

 

-Stephen

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measles

Haven had his 12 month well visit and got his chicken pox , measles and mumps vaccine. 11 days later he woke up with spots, and a low fever. They got worse as the day went on, so I took him to the doctor. Well he has the measles. Supposedly only 5% of kids will get the measles from the live but weakened virus vaccine. Anyway he has been pretty miserable scratching and just not feeling well. Luckily the doctor said he shouldn't be contagious. I took a few pictures to show everyone and to put in his scrapbook. My poor baby!