Priorities

Hey y'all. Long time no blog. This post is the first in a series I'll be making over the next few months, highlighting my experiences as I move across the country on a new adventure.

Yep, that's right. I'm moving. To Washington state.

I've been "trapped" here in Maryland for a little over six years now. Originally, I moved here for what I thought would be a long term career move. That didn't work out. Then I found another potential long term career move, right here again. And well, that didn't work out either. Since then, I've been doing my own thing and enjoying it. But that thing is not tied to any specific geography, and laziness, intertia, ennui, and absolute HATRED of moving has kept me from going anywhere other than here. I'm in an overpriced apartment and most of my nice furniture is still, six years later, in storage in Georgia. Other than one dear friend, the only things I really like about the region are the crabcakes and the new Wegman's. Is that enough reason to stay in a state you don't really care for? No, didn't think so. And even though The Wire was filmed here, I also love Buffy and Star Trek, but I'm not moving to Sunnydale or Space anytime soon. (Although I'd probably move to Risa, if it existed).

So, why Washington? That's a post for another day, but suffice to day, it's a new adventure. My choices were between going back to Georgia and moving out to Washington, and after sampling the Pacific Northwest during the holidays, I thought it would be a place I could really love. I made pro/con lists. I got moving estimates. I scoured real estate sites. I looked at tax implications. I considered the ramifications for my UGA season tickets (that's also another story, but I will definitely be going back for at least six of the seven 2014 home games). After all the analysis, I went with more of the "why the fuck not?" and less of the "been there, done that."

Once the decision was made, my first priority was to look through my "TV Spreadsheet." (Of course my first priority was TV). I originally made this spreadsheet way back when I upgraded from an SD DVR to a new HD DVR. I couldn't "move" or "transfer" my season passes to a new box, so I made a spreadsheet to help me keep track of them. There were also two other reasons to keep things so tightly documented: Even with a two-tuner box, there were countless conflicts that had to be managed, especially on high volume of good show nights like Thursdays or Sundays. What should you set a season pass for? What should you seek out on Hulu? What could you find on a later airing or west coast feed? Second, DirecTV's DVRs had a limit of 50 on the number of season passes you could set. That may seem like a lot, but when you have (at last count) twenty shows to season pass on Sunday alone, well, you run out of space fast. So I had to delete some season passes in the off season and add the new ones in, and manage those precious spots like a post-season pitching rotation. A spreadsheet made this easy to track.

I've since upgraded to the Genie, and this splendid motherfucker with 5 tuners and an abundance of storage space has eliminated many of these problems. But now that I'm moving, I'm glad I kept the spreadsheet because once I get out to the land of coffee and hippies, I'll have to reprogram (at least) all my season passes for new west coast network feeds.

Yeah, yeah. I'll get a new drivers license and health insurance and a place to live. BUT I CAN'T MISS MY STORIES, Y'ALL. PRIORITIES.

Ghost in the Machine

By now, almost anyone with twitter has probably played around with That Can Be My Next Tweet. I know I did, and it's sorcery, I tell ya! What it lacks in syntax and correct grammar, it more than makes up for in accuracy and humor. Here are a few from my twitter feed (with comments):

I'm game! OMG, y'all. the landing. They're all makes sense now. I'm worried about Firefly.

Excitement, southern twang and concern about Firefly. It's as if twitter existed in September of 2002.

Just watched that Nationals game in their databases. Happy Birthday Richard Dawkins.

Being where I am, I watch a lot of MASN/Nationals games in order to actually watch the Braves. Apparently, I'm Neo and can jack into the Matrix to see them now. Can I use my godlike powers to move Jason Heyward up in the batting order? Oh, and of course, happy birthday to one of the few beacons of reason in our increasingly deluded culture.

That's the Buffster, but I'll get home can't remember fretting about REM Don't got back and very!

I'm worried again, but at least I can't recall it. And suddenly, I'm hearing my favorite band sing "Don't Go Back To Sunnydale."

Fringe was thoughtful, honest response. That word irks me at the beginning.

Another geek show reference. I'm sensing a pattern. Irked, I am!

EST? Or CST? You HAVE seen all been a TARDIS on tonight. Featuring Mr. Blue Sky, my largest knowledge.

Does an Eastern or Central time zone really matter if you have a TARDIS? Didn't think so. And apparently, I am the world's foremost authority on ELO songs.

Just finished participating in her to be a dream? Hmmmm. If camping, I'm worried about Angel S3 last.

Again, I'm WORRIED about my geeky genre television! I hope it doesn't get canceled, dammit! (And if I'm "participating in her," I wonder if she knows? Or maybe she's just like Mal in Inception. I can say with authority that my dreamscape wouldn't include camping).

Truly laid the title. No spell-check at work, and then again, he's awesome in another state.

Evidently, I'm prone to typos in the office. And I was kinda awesome in another state.

Bill collectors looking for TOS shows. Sketchier rumors/urban legend for Hamlet.

Dammit, Jim, I'm a doctor, not an accountant! And did the Danish Prince say "bloody Mary" three times into a mirror?

Exceptions? Maybe the Pink Floyd. I understand current plots. Did an acid trip.

Okay, an acid trip certainly helps you understand Pink Floyd. Howdy, Sid!

Kinda like Caprica though I do we Yanks treated the only Holly Holiday. A new Showtime series with?

Perhaps Showtime is starting a new show in England, with Gwyneth Paltrow as a killer robot intent on destroying humanity. Talk about typecasting.

In which I talk about, surprise, television

I recently guested on the "Confessions of An Internet Addict" podcast with the charming and welcoming Stephanie. You can find my particular episode here. Or, if you want it in iTunes, I believe it should be here.


I virtually met Steph on the twitter, and we seem to share a love for all things TV. So naturally, we talked a lot about the tube - likes, dislikes and upcoming shows we're eagerly anticipating. No major spoilers for anything (unless you were catching up on The X-Files and hoping the mythology all made perfect sense at the end. In which case, uh, enjoy the standalones. They're really good).

She was a gracious host, and this was my first podcast. I had a great time, and didn't sound too much like an idiot. This was also the most prolonged exposure to my own voice I've ever had. And while I'm not Janice from Friends or The Nanny, I do have to wonder....where the hell am I from? What exactly is that accent, other than marinated in whiskey and Marlboros? (Although, either through careful editing, or my game of "quiet mouse" while recording, you didn't hear the ice in my glass or my zippo like you always did with Ron Moore podcasts).

Anyhoo, give it a listen and let me know what you think.

Little Things

Sometimes, the little things can make you happy. Sure, taxes are high, the politicians are all pandering nutjobs, the economy is in the shitter, we just bombed another country, gas prices are unspeakable, cancer still exists and real driving, spawning, voting human beings actually watch Jersey Shore. But my new glasses fit perfectly, so I guess it's all okay now.

I got some sweet new frames, and updated my prescription. When the lenses came back, they were a bit off, so we got them recut, and they worked just fine. However, during all the adjustments, one of the temple frames had been lowered by a fraction of an inch, so one side sat on my face slightly higher. I wore them this way for a week, constantly pushing the right side up so they would be "even." No one but me could have noticed, but it drove me fucking crazy. I finally found time to go back and get them adjusted, and now all is right and balanced in the world. This sates my OCD and makes me immeasurably happy.

Also on the list of silly little things that spackle the holes in my black, cynical heart:

The vet where I put Mulder to sleep sent me a little clay paperweight with an impression of his paw. It's an odd color, almost like a Carolina blue, but it has a proud spot on my desk.

I just bought a new laptop for home. Ordered additional RAM, too, to self-install. And a nifty USB docking station. And a wireless printer. Upgraded to Office 2010 and Win 7 Pro. Installed a virtual machine running XP, to use legacy software. Moved all my documents and files and everything went swimmingly and without a hitch, except, of course, for iTunes. Good god do I hate Apple and their software. The clunkiness, lack of flexibility and walled-in bullshit surrounding their products is why I will never EVER use an iPhone. (And I say this as someone who had Macs for his first three computers). Finally, though, I was able to fight through the nonsense and get my library restored and synched, playlists, lyrics and ratings intact.

I also installed a new, spiffier wireless router. If you're looking for an inexpensive, superior-performing router for home, I highly recommend this one. They don't sell in big box stores, but all the glowing reviews on amazon are right. It's fantastic. (Plus, I contacted customer service via email to get copies of the manual and set up guide prior to its arrival and they responded rapidly. Very friendly and efficient). Reconnecting all the various devices (laptops, printer, blu-ray, BlackBerry) was a snap. Even better, I named my home network "TARDIS."

I can't sing the praises of Peapod enough. Click a few things, keep your regular shopping list online, and magically (okay, for eight bucks) groceries just show up at your door when you want, with no parking, no buggies, no cramped checkouts, no kids screaming for candy, no lugging bags from the car to the kitchen. Even some of the items I wouldn't have thought to be suitable for home delivery, like deli cut sandwich meat and butcher cut and trimmed steaks, have been absolutely top shelf. Heaven.

Baseball season started, filling the post-football void. Welcome back, Braves. (Also nice: listening to the Braves game with hometown announcers at work - where streaming is blocked - via the MLB At Bat app on my CrackBerry. Well worth the $14 price tag).

Geeky t-shirts, like this one, that just arrived at my door:

Good Night, Little Fella

Last night, I had to say goodbye.

In the two weeks since Mulder was diagnosed was kidney failure, I'd given him daily IV treatments, antibiotics, a special diet and a whole lotta love. And in the end, that just wasn't enough.

During that time, he seemed to revert to form and personality, for the most part. He was chatty and affectionate. He was lively and frisky (as frisky as a 15 year cat can get). He was playful, both with me and his adopted sister Willow. He slept on my shoulder, tried to drink my whiskey, wanted to eat my pizza, sat on my laptop and was generally the charming little rogue he's been for a decade and a half.

When I came home from work on Friday, however, I could tell something was wrong. He was sad, lethargic, not very talkative and clearly couldn't get comfortable, no matter where he was. I tried some at home treatments, to no avail. After a trip to the emergency vet yesterday, it was clear we were facing more serious problems. Fate, it seems, had dealt the resilient little fella yet another blow: he had a urinary tract blockage. With his stage four renal failure, all those toxins were building up in his system, and he had no way to get them out of his body. The only solution was surgery to remove the blockage, and we couldn't be sure that he would survive the surgery, or that another blockage wouldn't occur after that and put us in the same, painful situation again. Plus, the blood tests indicated that even if we removed the blockage, his condition simply couldn't improve beyond what it was, and his quality of life wasn't going to get any better. Faced with him spending potentially his last days at the vet, undergoing and recovering from surgery in a cage in a strange place, or the possibility of his maladies worsening when I couldn't be there with him 24/7 to take care of him, I made the heartbreaking decision to let go.

He passed quickly, quietly and peacefully, purring all the while, in my arms. I'll miss him terribly. Goodbye, little fella.

Sometimes, birthdays aren't all they're cracked up to be

Monday, the adorable little fellow you see above celebrated a birthday. His name is Mulder, and he turned 15.

Today, he was diagnosed with kidney failure.

He showed no signs whatsoever of being sick until Monday, when I noticed that he wasn't quite as spry as usual while I was getting ready to go to work. Monday night, he didn't come running up to see me when I got home, and he was moving lethargically around the living room. And Monday night, he didn't come with me when I went to bed (where he usually curls up beside me as we watch TV and go to sleep). At first, I was hoping it was just the sniffles, or he had eaten a spider or something that didn't agree with him. This morning, I dropped him off at the vet. They did all the requisite tests and bloodwork, and the news is decidedly not good. His little kidneys are failing, and there's really not a lot we can do about it.

We gave him an IV bag of fluids and some antibiotics. I'm going to take him in tomorrow, and they're going to run two more bags of fluids through him while I'm at work, with the hope of hydrating his system. And I'll probably bring some more bags home this weekend, to continue to the process over four or five days. I've got some "kidney special" food for him to nibble on, but the realistic outlook, especially for a kitty his age, isn't very good.

In the decade and a half he's been with me, I've lived in two states and three houses. I've been divorced, engaged and had friends, girlfriends, dogs and even kids (!) live with me. I've had four different cars and worked for four different companies. I've traveled to six different countries. I've lost my father (my mother, who passed on her love of cats to me, died even before I adopted Mulder). The one constant through all of this has been Mulder, and I couldn't have had a more steadfast, true, affectionate and sweet-natured friend.

Intellectually, I can come to grips with the way things may unfold over the next few days, or weeks or months. Emotionally, I'm not quite ready to deal with it. There are still some tests and treatments to come, and who knows, the prognosis could change. But I'm not prepared to say goodbye just yet.

If you have a pet, go give 'em a hug. Tell 'em that you love 'em, no matter how many times they try to drink your coffee, eat your pizza, leave hair all over your black clothes or chew up the toilet paper roll. Soon, you'll really, really miss those things.

All I know is I'm gonna sit down on the couch tonight and do some serious cuddling.

In which groceries appear by magic

I'm ridiculously excited about getting my first delivery from Peapod this morning. For those of you who don't recognize the name, Peapod is a grocery delivery service. They bring your order, which is placed online, right to your door for a fee. Depending on the size of the order, and your location, the delivery fee is around eight to ten bucks. The groceries themselves come from a local retailer, and typically tie into whatever regular frequent shopper program you have with that store (offering you accrual of gas card points or other bennies).

I've never really enjoyed going to the grocery store. I like the outcome, since I'm a notorious list-maker and organization nut, and value having backups of everything so there's never I time I run out of any staples. But the process of going there, shopping, carrying all the bags in and putting away the groceries? Not that fun. It's better when the weather is warm (which it decidedly is not in Maryland right now). And discovering the joys of listening to podcasts on the iPod while shopping certainly makes it more tolerable (with the added bonus of the earbuds serving as a visible "please don't talk to me" sign). But I saw a Peapod truck dropping off a delivery in my complex a week ago, and decided to give it try, no matter what it cost.

Shopping here is just awful. The stores, with rare exceptions, are all smaller than they were back in Georgia. And I mean smaller in just about every way. The parking lots are smaller, and you have to drive around forever to find a space. The spaces themselves are smaller, which is aggravating for a rotund man with an SUV. No one wheels your groceries out for you like they did at Publix, and the cart returns are few and far between. The inside of the stores are smaller, too. Fewer selections, fewer checkout aisles. And the regular shopping aisles themselves! If there's just one other shopper in the aisle -- gods forbid they have a buggy -- you have to make like Indiana Jones in the beginning of Raiders just to make it by without knocking product off the shelves or getting intimate with a stranger.

Getting back home with the groceries is almost as bad as the in-store atmosphere. Back home, I just pulled up into the garage, and that inside door connected right to the kitchen. Now, while I have covered parking a covered walkway to the door of my unit, it's still more than the 5 feet I used to previously traverse, and I'm still exposed to the elements (which lately, have been wind, snow, rain and cold). Making multiple trips to carry bags in is fine when you're inside and the trek is 8 feet. When the jaunt is 50 yards with snow coming at you sideways? Fuck that noise. So, I wind up doing one of two things: Either I regulate my shopping to make sure that I only purchase items that can be carried in one load from the car to the kitchen in one trip (with my briefcase, since I usually go after work), therefore limiting the amount of supplies I can purchase on any given trip and subsequently consigning me to make even more visits to the hellish retail establishment from whence they came, OR I try to load myself up like a tortured and abused pack mule to get a trunk full of groceries moved in one trip, probably doing irreversible damage to my spine.

At the end of the day, ten bucks seems like a worthwhile tradeoff to me. (Plus, there's a special now that offers 60 days worth of free deliveries after your first order, so the per trip cost may average out to be less than that on an annual basis).

Maybe I'll change my tune after the first delivery. One of the potential downsides is how the groceries are packaged. I loves me some plastic bags. The pictures on the website make the bags look like they do in every single movie and TV show in history - a paper bag with a delightful baguette sticking out the top. I hate paper bags. They're bulky and pretty much useless after they've served their purpose. The plastic bags, however, I use with great regularity. For disposing of cat litter. For taking my lunch to work. To separate dissimilar items in a suitcase when I travel. For running errands or making visits when you're taking a group of objects and don't want to hassle with bringing a bag back. I've got a pantry full of plastic bags right now, but if this new grocery shopping endeavor doesn't supply me with them on a regular basis, what will I do? I guess I could just purchase a case of them wholesale to deal with my personal uses, or make a rare trip into the maw of retail torment, use the self-checkout and bag each and every item down to the chewing gum individually to replenish my supply, but it does add another variable to the equation.

Anyhoo, the first delivery should be here in the next hour, so we'll see how it goes. At least there won't be any screaming kids, dinged car doors or cashiers that don't say "honey" and "y'all."

One or Two?

I just read this rant on Slate, and my head almost exploded.

You see, it's about the old "one space or two at the end of a sentence" debate. The author doesn't feel it's much of a debate, really, and that the "rule" was established long ago by typography professionals (in favor of one space).

I thought about this for a good while. Being my age, and having learned to type on a typewriter before the dawning of the age of computers, I was taught and always practiced the "two space" method. When PCs and Macs became part of the fabric of everyday life, I still continued the way I was originally taught, with the two spaces. However, I recall getting in a debate with some of my compatriots at the ad agency where I worked, and we researched this thoroughly. Even though this was pre-google, and you couldn't find over THIRTEEN MILLION RESULTS on the topic, we did reach a consensus (for many of the reasons outlined in the Slate article) that we should all be putting only one space after a period. That became our standard, and I'm fairly sure I retrained myself to comply for all my typing.

However, as I was reading the article, I started to wonder if I was a one space person, or a two space person. I honestly couldn't remember. I opened up Word, and started to type random sentences. I put one space at the end of a sentence. It felt wrong. I put two spaces at the end of a sentence. That felt wrong. Well, fuck, I know it's not three. I kept typing, and just couldn't determine what was normal for me, and my brain scrambled.

That reminds me of a trick we used to play when I played a lot of golf. Somewhere, mid-round when there was a bet on the line, you would casually ask your competitor if he exhaled or inhaled during his backswing. 99% of golfers never actively think about this, but once the thought is in your head, it eats you alive like a starving piranha at an aquatic Golden Corral. Golf is so delicate and mental anyway, it's usually good for 2 or 3 strokes in your favor.

I think part of my issue trying to figure it out is that I KNOW I do the double-space on my BlackBerry. Double-space there, and it automatically puts a period in to end the sentence and capitalizes the next letter you type to start the next sentence. However, it really only inserts ONE space; the two gestures tell the system what to do with the punctuation and capitalization. Once I figured this out, and started typing this blog post, it dawned on me that with "real" keyboards, I've adapted to the modern world and become a "one space after period" person.

Still, it was frightening to spend ten minutes typing endlessly away not having any idea of what the holy hell to do when I reached the end of the sentence.

What about you? One space, or two?

Partial Holiday To Do List

One of the joys of the holiday season, and indulging in the "use it or lose it" vacation days, is the complete absence of a formal agenda. No work schedule. No family obligations. No place to be. Hell, no need to shave or even get out of your jammies. Plus, no one looks at you funny for quaffing bloody marys and watching Doctor Who reruns at 7 AM. Well, the cats do, but that's just because I won't share any of my vodka with them.

Still, there are a few things I want to accomplish during this extended break, including (but not limited to):

• Go through Garmin's convoluted and confusing process for updating all the maps on my GPS.
• Program all my favorite XM stations into the new receiver in my car.
• Avoid all sappy xmas music and specials.
• Catch up on all the shows on my DVR (for the first time in forever, it's up to 90% free right now).
• Knock out a chunk of the book - Game of Thrones - that's been burning up my Kindle recently.
• Read the comic collections of Planetary. The first volume was terrific.
• Doctor Who xmas special!
• Hit the theatres for a few things I've missed lately, like True Grit, Tron Legacy and Black Swan, preferably at times inconvenient for....people.
• Go through the special features and commentaries on the Dollhouse season 2 bluray.
• Crown a winner in the 2010 TNRLM Favorite TV Character Contest.
• Catch up on a ton of podcasts I've been stockpiling.
• And of course, watch the Dawgs close out a disappointing season with a bowl victory.

What about y'all? What's on your holiday to do list?

Speaking of to do lists, this has to be my favorite:

Thoughts on the BlackBerry Torch 9800

After a week of living with the new BlackBerry Torch 9800, I thought I'd check in with a quick review. In short, it's best BlackBerry RIM has ever produced.


Now, if you read a lot of tech review sites, you'll get mixed impressions. Some people love it. Some people think it's a swing and miss. Some people think it spells doom and gloom for RIM because it's not an iPhone or Android "killer" that will send the masses running to switch devices. I'm not going to get caught up in the positioning and business strategy for the product, except to say that if you already love your iPhone or Droid, it's probably not the phone for you. If you're a BlackBerry user, you'll adore this device. If you're somewhere in the middle, then it will depend on what you want a smartphone to do.

Me? The most important things my phone can do for me are (obviously) handle calls, easily take care of multiple messaging platforms (email accounts, BBM, texts), and flawlessly synchronize data with all the components (calendar, contacts, notes, tasks) of Outlook across multiple desktop installations (XP/2003 and Win 7/2007). Beyond those basic needs, I want a functional camera, an easy to use RSS reader, twitter capabilities, synchronization with password/information management (I use Splash ID), capable web browsing, and a "real" keyboard. I don't use it for gaming, or nonsense fart apps, and it doesn't have to be my primary audio device, though it would be nice if there was some functionality there. If your needs are in the same ballpark, then you'll find the Torch stone cold awesome.

A few thoughts:

Hardware

• Size-wise, it's right between the Bold 9700 and Bold 9000 (my old phone). It's hefty and rock solid, and I haven't experienced any "wiggle" in daily use. The size and vertical orientation allows for easy one-handed operation, which has always been a hallmark of a RIM device.
• The keyboard is great, as are all RIM keyboards. Personally, I would have preferred a slightly bigger device and keyboard, since the Bold 9000 is about as perfect as you can get. The Torch's keyboard is a wee bit smaller, and while I can still crank out emails and texts, my accuracy isn't quite what it was with the Bold. If you don't have fat thumbs, you may like this even better.
• The slider is terrific. It moves up and down solidly, and feels locked into place wherever you put it.
• The touchpad is a huge improvement over the trackball. The great thing is that you can use the touchscreen for anything you want, but the touchpad is always there, too, and equally as convenient.
• It comes with a slot for a microSD card (and includes a 4GB card). I've already upgraded to a 16GB card, and it offers plenty of space.
• The screen looks great. There's been a lot of grousing in the press about the quality of the screen, and how it doesn't match up to the resolution of the iPhone or Droid. I can't argue with the general point - those screens are impressive and very, very sharp. However, the Torch provides enough detail to do anything I want it to do, and when I watched hi-res videos, I was suitably pleased. I didn't have any problems making out text in messages, on web pages or word documents handled via DocsToGo. It's bright, crisp and completely usable for any and all day to day functions.
• The ear jack will accommodate all your previous ear phones and accessories. However, the USB port is now a micro USB port - so all your previous mini USB cables won't fit. That's a bummer, since I like to have charging cables everywhere (office, home, briefcase, car, etc.) and I've had to replenish my stock.
• Speaking of accessories, the Torch is the first BlackBerry I've purchased that didn't come with a belt case. This pissed me off, as I'm a big belt clip holster devotee. I know there's a school of thought that holsters are square and dorky, and that too cool for school hipsters should keep the phone in your pants pocket. I just don't understand that. I have change, and keys, and lighters and other things in my pocket, and I don't A) want the phone - especially a large touchscreen - to get scratched, and B) I don't want to lock and unlock the phone all the damned time so the keys and screen won't get activated by accident in your pocket. A belt holster protects the phone, and even better, puts it into sleep mode to conserve the battery. There's not a wide assortment of cases made especially for the Torch yet, but after some trial and experimentation, I've found that the case for the 8300 Curve series works perfectly. Snug fit, and most importantly, the magnets line up so that the phone does go into sleep mode when it should. You can find them most anywhere, like at Radio Shack.
• This accessory, a charging pod, is spectacular. I bought one for home and one for the office, and it's terrific.
  
• Also, crackberry users come to love their side convenience keys, and alas, the Torch only has one. But after a week of use, and organization of the apps on the home screen, I don't miss the second one as much as I thought I would.

Software

• Wow. OS6 is a huge evolutionary leap from the previous BB operating systems. It's flashier, and different, yet comfortable and familiar, and critically, offers all the functionality a BlackBerry user wants and needs. The menus have been reorganized, and though it takes a bit of getting used to, I have to say that it makes much more sense now. After an orientation period, I now find I know exactly where to go for every setting, and as always with a BB, there are a plethora of customization options. Some users have experienced a bit of screen "lag," but I have to say that I haven't.
• It comes with some AT&T bloatware preinstalled, but all those apps are easily deleted. Or, you can put them into a folder and hide it, too.
• The touchscreen works wonderfully. Quick, fluid and responsive. And I'm still discovering shortcuts (like "swiping" through emails in the message list).
• Device switching was a breeze. I used the new BB Desktop Manager (6.0) to move from the Bold to the Torch, and it didn't lose a thing. All my settings, customizations, data and files moved from one to the other perfectly. And I quickly and easily set it up to synch with my two different PCs and Outlooks. Brilliant.
• You'll hear and read a lot about the browsing experience. Let's face it, the browser on the old BB OS was complete and utter shit. However, there was a lot to be said for the old method of having the web pages stripped of all the blinky, extraneous crap (pop ups, facebook integrations, ads, etc.) and reduced down the bare content. Personally, I appreciated that. The new BB browser is a huge improvement, and offers a wonderful functionality and "text-wrapping" capability that makes reading most "normal" web pages easy to read and navigate.
• Along those lines, I get 90% of my web content via RSS anyway, so the pure browsing experience really isn't a dealbreaker for me. OS6 comes with a couple of built in features for getting those, along with all your social media feeds, in one convenient place. I haven't tested it that much, since I could care less about Facebook and the like, and I prefer single app functionality for Twitter and RSS reading. Ubertwitter works like a charm on the new OS, and the best app I've ever used for RSS feeds is BeReader. It synchs PERFECTLY with your desktop/PC Google Reader, and is well worth the $10 you'll spend on it if you're a hardcore RSS junkie.
• There's a new, "universal search" built into the OS that is fantastic. Just hit the spyglass icon, start typing, and you'll search every single onboard app (music, calendar, documents, contacts, etc.) on the device, plus the web. Very handy.
• Speaking of typing, the onscreen keyboard is okay, I guess. I hate capacitive touch onscreen keyboards, but I've played with a Droid and an iPhone, and the BB one works just as well. It's fine for basic searches and typing a few words, but give me a REAL keyboard for banging out text any day.
• The memory management in the OS is amazing. As BB users know, after a few days of hardcore use, a battery pull (or QuickPull) was almost mandatory to keep the device running smoothly. On my Bold, I would often get down to 10 - 15 MB of memory at the end of the day, and a pull would gin it back up to 35 - 40. Now, running functions full-throttle all day, the Torch hardly moves or experiences any memory leak whatsoever, hanging in around 290 - 300 MB free all the time.
• App compatibility was a mixed bag. Google Mobile was buggy, but since I used it mostly for the Reader synch, and BeReader blows it out of the water and the Universal Search gives me the option to search with Google online, it doesn't really matter. Google Maps works perfectly. As mentioned, the new Ubertwitter is a dream on the Torch. Splash ID works like a charm. AP News works. Documents To Go works well, and the larger screen makes it even more useful. Two key apps I'm still waiting on are Evernote (which just came out with a new, more native version of the app for BB, but hasn't yet made it compatible with OS6) and Kindle (which claims to work with OS6, but I can't figure out how to download and install yet).
• One of the major new enhancements to the new OS is the media experience. Videos look and play great, and the media interface is much improved. But the big news here is the ability to synch -- via USB or via WiFi -- your music library. Mine is in iTunes, and setting it up was intuitive and simple. Using checkboxes, you can set up exactly what you want to synch between device and PC: songs, artists, playlists, albums...you name it. Music and artwork (like album covers) transfer seamlessly. (I've synched thousands of audio files, and they barely take up half of the 16GB card). I even experimented with synching podcasts, which DO move back and forth as they are added and deleted from the library, but my only disappointment is that it doesn't track and remember playback position. I've briefly tried PodTrapper as a separate app, but you have to add the feeds directly in the app itself, rather than synching with what's happening in iTunes. Surely someone will come up with a way to make this happen eventually.

So, that's it in a nutshell. The BlackBerry Torch 9800 is a fantastic device. I don't know that it will convert any fervent Apple or Android cultists, but it's certainly the most functional, fun, capable and well-rounded device ever put out by RIM. I love it.

Digital Decorating

Got the new BlackBerry Torch 9800, and I'm LOVING it. (Review coming later next week). But one issue was that all the wallpapers from my Bold 9000 were rendered useless, because the screen sizes are different. Occasionally, I'll put some abstract patterns up, or a gorgeous photograph that speaks to me, but usually, I just let my geek flag fly and select a wallpaper that makes me smile. I spent a few minutes this afternoon downloading a few that will get me through the first few weeks of a new phone:


With new football and TV seasons coming up, I need to add a few more, but that's a good start, no?

Suggestions and artwork are appreciated, as always.

Torch Me

I had this lengthy blog post composed, where I was going to do some crowdsourcing, asking the blog faithful their opinions on the latest smartphones. I've long been a BlackBerry devotee, back to the days of black and white screens. My contract with AT&T ran out a while ago, and I was basically a "free agent," ready to go to whatever provider offered me the device that best met my needs. I was waiting on the release of the new crackberry, the Torch 9800, so I could compare it with the latest iPhone and Droid.

Well, the Torch was announced to the world this week, and will be released into the wild next week. It met with mixed reviews, which basically boiled down to "underwhelming screen compared to the competition, great and solid hardware like you'd expect, not as many apps available as the competition, and it does all the things you love about a BlackBerry, and does them even better."

I wrote up my criteria for a new device, and in the process of drafting that blog post and doing some basic research about the competitors, I think my decision was made for me. Basically, it came down to this:

• I'm really happy with my Bold 9000.
• I know the BlackBerry inside and out, and I'm comfortable with how it works.
• I don't mind a touchscreen for some functions, but I want and need a REAL keyboard. Nobody makes keyboards like BlackBerry.
• I know a lot of people, particularly iPhone users, bitch about AT&T. But I've never had a single dropped call nor any problems with them.
• I don't need 60,000 apps. My phone already does most everything I need it to do.
• The iPhone just isn't functional or flexible enough to serve my day to day business needs, and the Droid is too tied into the Google cloud to make synchronization a smooth and calming event.
• The crackberry is the only platform that seamlessly synchronizes with my two different PCs and their desktop Outlook installations, which is of critical importance to me so I can have all my information up to date and at hand, no matter where I am.
• The Torch offers more of everything I already love, ups the capabilities of the hardware across the board (camera, memory, touchscreen, etc.), adds wireless iTunes sync, and significantly improves the only downside of the BlackBerry - the browsing experience.
• Plus, I already have the most useful apps (Docs To Go and Splash ID) installed across multiple platforms, and all the requisite accessories (headphones, bluetooths, cords, holsters, etc.). Why switch?

So, instead of publicly wrangling with a decision, I'm just making one. Torch Me.

I'll report back later with a full review, once I get the thing in my hot little hands and take it for a full test drive.

10 Things That Make Me Happy

Tag! I'm it!

Yesterday, one of my "virtual friends" that I know from twitter (@LaJollaJennifer) and blogdom (The World According to Jennifer) tagged me with a list meme. The list to be generated was "10 Things That Make Me Happy." (You can see Jennifer's list here).

This is probably not an opportune time to try to conjure such a list, as I just came off of 4 days of soul-crushing moving, mass chaos, uncooperative vendors, backbreaking labor, technical snafus, automotive failure and staggering bills related to all the former. Not to mention complicated work "opportunities" piling up like horny moms outside a midnight showing of a Twilight movie. Plus, even without an avalanche of clusterfucks rolling downhill, and given my caustic, cynical nature, I really don't know that there are 10 total things that make me happy. (Can I just list all the episodes of Firefly and call it a day?)

Still, I can hardly resist a chance to make a list, so here's my take:

1. The Kids. No, not the mewling, squawling, shitting, writing-on-the-walls-in-crayon, bank-draining burdens that haunt you for two-plus decades. These kids:

2. Whiskey. Need I say more?

3. Coffee. And cigarettes. Honest to Thor, the best single part of every day, no matter my location, situation or emotional state, is waking up to a big-ass pot of freshly brewed coffee and enjoying a smoky treat while firing up google reader and catching up on the news and ephemera of the day.

4. Television. When I was a kid, I looked forward to TV Guide's Fall Preview Issue like other kids looked forward to the Sears Wishbook. I've always loved TV. One of my true regrets in life is that I didn't take my degree in Journalism (with a double minor in English and Drama) from one of the finest purveyors of such teachings in the country (and home of the Peabody) and turn it into a career in TV writing behind the camera, as a screenwriter, or on the other side of the tube, as a television critic. Songs are short bursts of emotion. Movies are a two hour story, over almost before they begin. Books are leisurely narratives that can be picked up and put down. At its best, TV is a medium that totally envelops you in a rich tapestry of a world, filled with interesting and ever changing characters, has a driving and evolving narrative, enriches most of the senses (with moving scores, provocative images, crisp dialogue, etc) and keeps you there for hours and hours upon end. TV is my deity, and I am its disciple.

5. HD. Given my #4, I can't believe I waited as long as I did to make the switch. Partly, it was my brand loyalty to TiVo, but once you get it, you can't fathom that you ever lived without it.

6. My BlackBerry. Although I'm eagerly anticipating getting a new model (I watched a 16 minute Japanese language sneak peek of the 9800 this weekend on some Asian YouTube equivalent, like it was illicit porn), the thought of being without my Berry for even a few minutes gives me the shakes. Everything I need to know, and everything I could want to know, is right there in the palm of my hand. Real keys to type on and perfect synchronization with multiple computers across multiple platforms and in the cloud, it's really the perfect device for me. How the fuck did we live before them?

7. My DVR. Also related to #4 and #5, this is probably the most life-changing and fulfilling device ever invented (short of the computer and the internet. And the wheel. And maybe fire). Watch what you want, when you want, and never miss a thing (unless you have a Comcast version, and it consistently jackhammers you like a prison rapist with its incompetence).

8. French Fries. Short. Long. Thin. Thick. Crinkle. Wedge. Waffle. Steak. Drizzled with cheese. Dipped in ketchup. Covered in salt. Topped with chili and bacon. I have yet to meet a fry I don't love.

9. Organization. Both my parents were OCD, and it must be both genetic and learned, because I always remembered the parental mantra "everything has a place, and everything in its place." Though this past few days was filled with unspeakable chaos and horror, there was no better feeling than settling down Sunday night knowing that every single item in my home had found its way to a logical resting place, properly identified, organized and labeled. I never would have survived this long without having a nervous breakdown if I wasn't a compulsive list-maker and organizer, and almost nothing makes me happier than knowing where everything is, what's going on, and that it's all under control. I've had some people wonder if this type of personality disorder is confining, and I couldn't disagree more. Once you commit to it, it's actually freeing and liberating, because you never have to worry about the little things - you can free your mind up for flights of fancy and bouts of intellectual spontaneity. I've never missed a bill. I've never lost a wallet or keys (or really, anything). I've never looked for something that I couldn't find. I've never run out of any household staples, nor had to make unscheduled trips to the store. Never wanted to wear something that wasn't washed and hung in its place or not yet picked up from the dry cleaner. File folders, labels, sharpies, color coding, spreadsheets, lists, containers, notes, plastic containers....these are the brushes with which I create OCD art.

10. The Dawgs. Hey, we're less than 90 days away. What else would I say?

Jeez, reading back over this list, you would think I'm some kind of neurotic whackjob, sitting around alone with his cats all the time drinking, smoking, list-making, surfing the intertubes and watching TV. Oh....wait.

John Yossarian probably had Comcast

I'm moving next month. Not really a big deal, since I'm only moving from one apartment in this complex to another (to facilitate satellite dish reception - which is another story entirely). Being the OCD type that I am, I have checklists upon checklists to make sure everything goes off without a hitch, people show up when they should, and all the incoming deliveries and missives go to the proper place at the proper time. (You know you're probably too focused on the details when you have action items on your list revolving around notifying all the pizza joints of your new address. Either that, or you're just lazy, sad and addicted to fast food. I'd like to think I appreciate the details).

Anyway, I spent the weekend working through items on my list, updating online forms and placing calls to various utilities to make sure things are set up for an event that won't take place for at least another 30 days. Everyone was great, and appreciated the heads up. Everyone, that is, except for motherfucking Comcast.

Now, I don't even have cable service with them. I pray to my lord and god DirecTV. (I did suffer though Comcast's cable service, and their almost comically inept and user-humping "DVR," for a few months during a temp living stint a couple of years ago). I use them for telephone service (which I don't even use, really) and most importantly, for my internet connection. My lifeline to the world, and to you, dear readers. I have no problems with the throughput and uptime of the pipeline. It's been as reliable as other providers I've used in my past. No, my problem is with their customer service and facepalm-inducing procedural circuities.

Moving to a new place, in the same building, should be easy, right? I mean, it's an apartment complex. Everything is already wired. I've got the modem. Shouldn't I be able to just set up the new address/account, walk to the new place, plug the modem into the existing jack, and have them turn on the juice from their magical Master Control Program? Seems simple, right?

Oh no.

You have to schedule a service call, so someone can come do this for you. So I want to call well in advance of the move date, in order to get this appointment set up at the most convenient time for me. When I will be there, dealing with unpacking and getting the DirecTV set up, and then in one fell swoop, have everything exactly as it was in the previous place with a minimum of downtime and disruption. Since the two most important things in life are satellite TV and internet service, I called them first with plenty of lead time (well, the movers are important too, but without TV and webby goodness, I might as well carry items 100 yards one at a fucking time, ya know?). DirecTV? One call. All set. Comcast? Well, 3 calls and 2 internet chats later, it turns out there is someone living in my destination apartment that already has Comcast service. No shit. They're moving out, I'm moving in. Can I just schedule the visit from the technician for my "install," so I can make sure it happens when it's most convenient for me, THE PAYING CUSTOMER? Er, no. They have to verify that the person in the destination unit is actually turning off their service and moving. Which actually, is kinda logical on the surface, but when you think about it, how many nefarious schemers with a current account actually call Comcast more than a month in advance, and plan to have a technican come out to install a modem in a currently occupied apartment? Like I'm going to burst into some dude's apartment, gun in one hand, Comcast technician in tow, tell him that his internet is now mine, and I'll be squatting there surfing the web (and paying for it) until further notice? If they schedule the visit for my turn on -- just fucking schedule it - put it on a goddamned calendar -- they automatically disconnect the current occupant's internet service. What the fuck kind of procedure is that?

"Hey, I'd to set everything up in advance to make it easier for everyone, so can you please make sure to ass fuck BOTH of your paying customers? And make it as inconvenient and filled with hassles as possible? Thankyouverymuch."

So they, the oblivious corporate dildos, have to call the current occupant, confirm his move out and service disconnection date, then call me back and tell ME to call THEM back once his service is turned off, and only THEN can I actually schedule the appointment to have my service turned on, because that scheduling will actually result in his service being terminated.

What. The Fuck.

If you read about a killing spree in the area, just assume it's me. I would blog about it, but I doubt I'll have an internet connection from which to do so.

TV Shelf Appeal

"Shelf Appeal" is different than "Shelf Life." Shelf Life, as it relates to television, is how well a show produced in days gone by holds up when viewed by a modern audience. (Think M*A*S*H or Twilight Zone or Star Trek, which despite reflecting the sensibilities and production values of their times, still make for good quality entertainment today). Shelf Appeal is a marketing term, which describes how interesting a packaged product looks sitting on the shelf in your local retailer. (Kind of a product-oriented spin on "judging a book by its cover").

When it comes to television shows, there are definitely things that do and do not have Shelf Appeal for me. You know what I'm talking about. When you see a 30 second promo for a new show, or read news about a concept or casting, and you make a note to add that to the DVR. Or conversely, you hear about a new show, and say to yourself "there's no way I'm ever watching that."

The great thing about Shelf Appeal, and the personal preconceptions built into it, is that it can frequently be wrong, and you'll find yourself surprised. For example, I want nothing to do with shows about families, kids and teens. Yet somehow, I got exposed to Gilmore Girls, and it became one of my favorite programs because the quality of the performances (Lauren Graham's in particular) and the quality of the writing overcame my initial objections. Or I really didn't think I wanted to spend 60 hours being aggressively lectured about the plight of urban, inner-city decay, yet The Wire is a towering achievement that might have no peer. Similarly, folks who have no interest in football might be astonished how involved they become with Friday Night Lights. Or just try getting someone to overcome the Shelf Appeal (or lack thereof) of a show called "Battlestar Galactica." It's about killer robots? And it's in space? And based on a failed 70s show with a cheese content that would make Wisconsin proud? Silly sounding titles can seriously hamper the Shelf Appeal of a show for many viewers. Try to say "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" with a straight face.

So what are my Shelf Appeal hot buttons? Glad you asked.

Things that DO have Shelf Appeal for me:

• Genre shows. Set in space. Focused on the supernatural. Steeped in mythology. Featuring robots, laser guns, time travel, ghosts, swords, magic, vampires, werewolves, clones, monsters, virtual reality and the like.
• Detectives. Maybe this is why so many USA shows work for me. I grew up watching the heydey of detective shows in the 70s (Columbo, Macmillian and Wife, Rockford Files, etc.), so give me a quirky or acerbic lead character solving crimes, and I'll give it a shot.
• Created by Joss Whedon.
• Created or produced by someone who was on a Joss Whedon staff. Like Jane Espenson (Caprica, Andy Barker PI), Ben Edlund (Supernatural), Steven S. DeKnight (Spartacus: Blood & Sand), Tim Minear (The Inside, Drive).
• Anti-Heroes. I love shows about the less "heroic" and abrasive lead characters. Think Sopranos, House, Dexter, Rescue Me, Archer, Sons of Anarchy.

Things that DO NOT have Shelf Appeal for me:

• Teens & Kids. Particularly young kids. Especially babies. They're awful enough in real life, why on earth would anyone want to spend their television time with them? And I always dread when shows I'm currently watching feel the need to add one.
• Doctors and Diseases. (Unless you count Doctor Who). Looking though my voluminous season pass list, I think I only have one "medical drama" there, House. However, I'm inclined to like shows with psychologists or psychiatrists as opposed to medical doctors. Also, I have no interest in watching characters struggling with or overcoming physical diseases. (For example, Showtime has a show coming up with one of my favorite actresses, Laura Linney, called The C-Word. It's about cancer. As much as I love Linney, I won't be tuning in).
• Religion and politics. Annoying, judgmental, and requires greater suspension of disbelief than vampires and androids. If I want news and opinions, I'll get them myself. If I wanted a lecture, I'd go back to college.
  
• Starring Eric Balfour.
• Families. Unless they solve crimes. Or are robots. Or are undead.
• "Reality" television. There aren't enough words in my vocabulary to describe how much I fucking hate this classification of programming. (There are some "unscripted" programs I watch regularly, like Mythbusters or Sci-Fi Science, but they're not focused on the "lives" of vapid, brain-dead, shallow douchebags desperately clinging to their 5 minutes of "fame").

What's fun is working through the Dos and Do Nots to make a decision on a new show. The Sopranos is the name of a family. They have kids. But they're mobsters. Glee is about teens in high school, but they sing and deliver snarky one-liners and ramp up the camp to 11. Breaking Bad is about a dude with cancer, but he's a meth dealer. House is a medical drama, but the main character is an unrepentant asshole. Big Love is about families and kids and religion, but all the characters are deluded whackjobs and magnificently acted. And so on.

Those are just a few of mine. What things do or do not have Shelf Appeal for you?

Spectacles Update: The world isn't ending. Film at 11.

Remember just one week ago when I found myself on the verge of hysterical blindness? Well, I've lived with the new specs for a week now, and as many commenters assured me, everything is FINE. Crystal clear, perfect vision, no going back FINE.

Oh, there was a significant adjustment period. And an upgrade of the lenses. And travails with sunglasses. But 7 days later, I'm so happy I went through this, and would actually recommend it to anyone. Weird, huh?

The first few days were pure hell. I didn't know where to "look" to get things in focus. I realized how much I used my peripheral vision to absorb a lot of things around me without even bothering to move my head at all. (Can I now classify this as exercise? I think so!). Things drifted in and out of focus at virtually every distance. Then slowly but surely, I started to get the hang of it. And then I noticed how fucking clear everything became. My prescription is certainly not Mister Magoo (or "Time Enough at Last") strength, but it is so wonderful when there's a clarity present you don't remember having previously. The tiny text on my CrackBerry has never looked sharper. The computer screen is vivid. And HD TV just rocks. And while all these things were revelatory, and appreciated, I did have some frustrations.

If you know anything about progressive lenses, you know the term "channel." The "channel" is the part of the lens where the prescription(s) really is, and "progressively" blends from one strength to another. Outside the channel, there is no prescription all all. Where I went, there were three quality tiers of progressive lenses, each more expensive than the next. The primary difference is the width of the channel. I (originally) opted for the middle tier. After a few days, once I started to get the hang of it, I realized it was probably worth it to upgrade to the top tier. So I called the fine folks at Pearle back and ordered the lens upgrade, and they came in last night. Damn, what a difference. There are still the outer edges with no RX, but the channel is huge. (that's what he said). Now, with a minimum of effort and eyeball flitting, most everything I look at is perfectly in focus at all times. Part of it is training your eyes, of course, but for anyone going through this, I would highly recommend saying damn the cost, and just starting out with the top tier, and widest channel, right from the start. Believe me, it makes a huge difference.

As for shades, I've always had light sensitive eyes, and always worn sunglasses. When I first started wearing glasses, I realized I didn't want to carry around two pair at all times - regular specs and RX sunglasses. Where do you put them when you go inside or it gets dark? At one point, I didn't give a damn what I looked like, I seriously sought out a "Dwayne Wayne" solution with the flip ups for convenience. (I think they stopped making those sometime in the early 90s). So I've always worn the glasses that came with a fitted, polarized clip on. Much easier to stick in your pocket. However, this go round, almost every store I went to was getting out of the clip on business. And what few pairs they did have weren't very stylish or a good fit for my round, furry face. So I figured to squint a lot, or eventually break down and go to the effort and expense of a separate pair of RX sunglasses.

Then I found these guys.

I thought it seemed a little too good to be true, but figured hell, $50 and a money back guarantee? Why not give it a go?

Well, I got my custom pair of clips on Monday, and they fit like a glove. Unless you look really close, it appears I'm wearing Wayfarers. Because my frames are thicker, it's not quite as easy as it looks on the videos to put them on and take them off, but it's still pretty damned easy. Initially, I thought things were perfect - better than my (made to match and sold with the glasses) previous clips and almost 90% of the way to a separate pair. However, once I got out on a really sunny day, I noticed that there appeared to be big "clouds" in the vision on my right side, and that reflective surfaces (windshield glare, other cars, etc.) produced a weird effect. I had no idea what was causing this. Was it some strange reaction caused by the combination of progressive lenses and polarized clips? And if so, why were things getting all psychedelic on one side only? When I went to get the new, upgraded regular lenses popped in last night, I explained this strange phenomenon to the extraordinarily helpful folks at Pearle. It took about 30 seconds for them to figure it out. Polarization occurs on an axis, and my custom clips had been "cut" improperly. The left eye was horizontal, like it should be, but the right eye was vertical. This was causing all the bizarre distortion to my right side. I called the Clip On Guys this morning, and they apologized profusely, and told me that this happens probably "once in a million" times. (And yes, of fucking course, I'm the one millionth customer. Great luck, Schleprock). They're recutting them and sending me a new pair ASAP.

So, one week. One vision exam. One pair of frames. One hysterical freak out. Two pairs of progressive lenses. Two pairs of custom cut clip ons. But now I'm set, and I've never been happier. And it's like I'm seeing things in a whole new way.

Many thanks to those that commented, tweeted, texted and emailed with their own war stories and encouragement to "hang in there, it gets better!" There is light at the end of the tunnel, and it has been properly and perfectly refracted.

I just got progressive lenses and it's like a free and constant acid trip

Last week, I went to the optometrist to get my eyes checked and pick out some new frames for my specs. I have astigmatism, and it's fairly mild. Without glasses, I can still read a good portion of text at any distance, and there is only a slight "fuzz" or "distortion" around objects.

My last RX, about 5 years ago, was pretty straightforward:

In technical terms, Sphere: (L) plano (R) plano, Cylinder (L) -2.00 (R) 1.50, Axis (L) 095 (R) 090, Add: (nothing in either).

My new prescription:

Sphere: (L) plano (R) -0.25, Cylinder (L) -2.75 (R) 1.75, Axis (L) 090 (R) 099, Add: +1.75 (both)

The big difference is that my old lenses were single vision. Just one "view" and everything looked the same, no matter which way I tilted my head or pointed my eyes. Everything through the glasses, even when viewed with peripheral vision, looked the same. It was pretty clear, and I wasn't sure I even needed that big of an adjustment on the RX. (I went mostly for the regular check up, and for the frames). If you look at the numbers, really, the major difference is that my left eye had gotten worse, and the addition of the "add" enhancement for near reading in the new RX.

So I go pick up my new specs today, and they look fabulous. Different style of frame for me, more comfortable, and I really like them.

Then I put them on.

Holy shit.

I felt like I just came off a weekend in Vegas with Hunter S. Thompson and went straight into a 5 day bender with the characters from Trainspotting. I've had acid trips that were more lucid and focused.

Yes, when I position my head properly, and look through the "proper" part of the lens, things seem clear and focused. More than with my previous lens and RX? Debatable. However, look the wrong way, or try to use my peripheral vision and things become muddled and disorienting. My first reaction is DO. NOT. WANT.

The folks at the vision center (and much of the online reading I've been doing about progressive lenses) say that it takes a good 3 or 4 days to completely adjust, and once you do, you will absolutely love the progressive lenses and wonder how you ever lived without them. Right now? I'm tempted to gouge my eyes out with a steak skewer and develop my other senses like Matt Murdock.

Whatever limitations there might have been with my previous RX and lenses, I didn't notice a lack of clarity and I was certainly used to -- and now massively appreciative of -- a consistency of image, no matter what my eyes or head might be doing.

I think I'll give them until Monday before deciding to go back and see what else can be done. (Different progressive lenses? Check the RX again? Pick a "best overall case" for single vision lens? Don't know).

Has anyone else who wears glasses been through this transition? Anyone else wear progressives? Is there light at the end of the tunnel? Am I overreacting? Should I just enjoy the hangover free trip, dude?

Greatest Hits

Howdy!

Playing around with Google Analytics, I've noticed a big traffic spike and influx of new readers over the past couple of months. Those of you checking out TNRLM for the first time probably haven't dug around in the archives that much. And for a variety of reasons, the posting lately hasn't been as prolific as it was in days past. So to save you the hassle of wandering around through over 1,000 posts, here's a quick list of the blog's "greatest hits." These are pulled from Analytics (for the most part), and as you might imagine, posts with the highest traffic are generally those that have been linked elsewhere (probably on UGA or TV focused sites). I don't know that these are necessarily the most interesting or well-composed pieces per se, but there are a wide range of subjects covered, so enjoy:

Just how bad was the 2009 UGA defense historically, when compared to D units from years past?

Hurley from Lost wearing a Dawgs sweatshirt.

Plot developments on V and FlashForward in handy chart form.

My ratings for every episode and season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Here's another post on the same subject, with a link to the entire spreadsheet of episode detail.

Thoughts on the series finale of Battlestar Galactica, "Daybreak." (Spoilers, of course, if you haven't seen it).

From the end of last year, my contest asking you to identify my favorite TV characters of 2009.

Tully on the short-lived TV show Drive had the same car that I did as a teenager!

My Emmy Wishlist for last year in the major categories. (Notes: that link is to a master page that will take you to the individual category analysis. Also, when I reformatted the blog recently, some of the historic pages now look like crap).

My rant about the fake baby on Glee. (Whew. So glad we're past that one now).

Link to a roundup of posts with the label "The Canon." (That's were I list and rank things. Who doesn't love lists?)

My take on VH-1's Greatest Songs of the 90s.

In honor Valentine's Day, I put together a list of my Top 10 Childhood Crushes.

My favorite REM songs.

A rare political post.

OCD DVD organization.

Memories of the UGA / Auburn "Hose Bowl"

43 Random Things About Me

Thoughts on Time's 100 Best TV Shows of All Time