Archive for » June, 2009 «

Help me, I’m falling for the iPhone!

iphone I’ve been pretty adamant that, while I think the iPhone is a gorgeous and extremely versatile phone, it’s not for me.

I want multi-tasking application capability.

I want seamless Office editing and reading capability without having to pay for an "app for that."

I don’t want AT&T to restrict my ability to use my Slingplayer app ONLY when I’m on a WiFi network. 

I want bluetooth tethering, without restrictions.

Yeah, I have some "I wants", don’t I?

I brought The Bob’s iPhone with me to the office today, while I catch up on some work.  (I really shouldn’t be blogging this, but if I don’t do it now, who knows when you’ll hear from me again?  Besides, I’m typing this while my other computer is busy compiling code.) 

I wanted to find out if his phone gets better reception than my nearly 3 year old Samsung Blackjack I does. I can’t take or make calls on my BJ in the office (which is an interior closet) because I seldom get any bars of reception.  I can get texts, and if the phone rings I have to grab it and run out the door, and down the hall to the outside door.

The iPhone has four full bars.  The BJ has one or two, sometimes.  Sometimes it goes up to three, until you pick it up.  It reminds me of that one commercial where the guy had to crouch on top of a filing cabinet in order to get a signal.  All I know is that The Bob called me four times and we never managed to have a conversation with the BJ.  The iPhone performed very well.  Call quality was clear, easy to have a two-way conversation, although a wee bit soft in volume for my tastes.  Oh man, I’m falling…

I can stream music through my BJ, and often do, from various internet radio stations, XM Sirius, and so on.  Pandora doesn’t make an app for my phone yet.  The problem is, when I stream music my battery dies in about three or four hours.  Even when I have it plugged in to an AC source.  Not sure why that is, but it is.

Today I’m streaming Pandora from the iPhone as it is docked in a iPod-compatible clock radio on my desk that is flashing 12:00 (which it’s done since sometime last week when we lost power).  It’s strong and clear.  There are plenty of apps for internet radio and even the XM Sirius app for the iPhone.  I’m falling…

I’ve been thinking to buy the HTC Touch Pro 2 when it comes out later this summer.  It’s been on my radar for a few months now, and even stopped me from upgrading the BJ last fall when we bought the iPhone, because it has all the features I want.  Well, one I don’t.  HTC uses a proprietary charging/headphone jack, just like my BJ does.  It’s annoying that I can’t just plug any handy 3.5mm headphone/speaker into the BJ without digging to find the adapter first.  Of course, you-know-what uses the standard headphone jack.  I’m falling…

And the eReader application works better for e-books on the iPhone then the BJ…

Movies are bigger.  (But the Touch Pro will have an absolutely GORGEOUS screen…)

I want a QWERTY keyboard…

So I’m taking a good hard look at how I use my phone and what I need it to do.  Then at what I want it to do.  To be honest, calling on my phone is not the number one priority.  I get two calls a month and most of the time, they’re both wrong numbers.

Should I get the iPhone and live without multi-tasking and Slingplayer except on WiFi?  I can get “an app for that” for almost everything else.  And I don’t really do that much Office-compatible work on the phone, even though I have good intentions.

Time for a decision list.  Oh, the agony…

Nothing Going on…

Life is boring and I’m not finding anything blog-worthy at the moment. Maybe it’s summer?

Anything on your mind?

Helping The Hamburger Helper

Last night I was fixing a supper standby – the Potato Stroganoff version of Hamburger Helper.  I admit it – I LIKE HH.  Once in awhile.  But I never just make the Hamburger Helper like the box tells me to, I look around for more stuff to throw into the pan.  Like browning some onion and celery with the hamburger, adding a can of peas, corn, or mixed veggies to the pot, stirring in some sour cream or topping with shredded cheese.  Sprinkling some chopped parsley or cilantro on for some color.

Which got me to thinking that somewhere out on the big world wide internet I would probably find some recipes using Hamburger Helper.  Sure ‘nuff, I did.

Here’s one that I embellished and “made my own”:

HAMBURGER HELPER SOUP

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 c. chopped onion
1/2 c. chopped celery
1/2 c. chopped carrots
5 c. water ** (see Note Below)
1 (16 oz.) can fire roasted diced tomatoes, with or without liquid – your choice
1 box Hamburger Helper, any flavor
1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen mixed vegetables

Brown ground beef, onion, carrot and celery until meat is cooked through and vegetables are tender.  Add water, tomatoes, sauce mix and noodles, rice or potatoes from Hamburger Helper and frozen mixed vegetables. Heat to boiling. Turn heat down; cover and simmer until frozen vegetables are done, about 20 minutes.

Top with shredded cheese, if you want to.

** If using a creamy sauce based Hamburger Helper, use the amount of milk called for on the back of the box and reduce the water by an equal amount.  Heat carefully to almost boiling when using milk to prevent spillover. **

Here’s a link to a Betty Crocker recipe for Minestrone Soup using Hamburger Helper.

And here’s one for a quick Chicken Curry casserole!

For those of you who indulge in cheap, boxed meal starters like Hamburger Helper – what do you do to make them your own?  Or do you start from scratch, butchering the cow and growing the potatoes?

Category: Recipes  Leave a Comment
Mindless Wanderings

I’m thinking about campaigning to have those DVD players in mommy vans disabled after dark.  Do you know how hard it is to drive 65mph and try to figure out what’s playing in the car ahead of you on the freeway?  Shudder…

We’ve been hit by a lot of storms this week.  WebDoggie Kenya is not a fan of thunderstorms but she’s getting better about them.  Apparently prednisone works well as a general purpose calming drugs as well as all the other things it does.  She only tried to sit in my lap a couple of times during the worst of the storms.

Speaking of storms, what is it about people going out to stand on their front porches to look when the tornado siren sounds?  I firmly believe in the adage “if you see it coming, it’s too late!”

Wonder how I can get Microsoft to pay for my new computer?  Have you seen those “real people” ads where a person is outside Best Buy and they’re going to go shopping for a new laptop, so the camera follows them around as they reject the Macs for various reasons, finally leaving the story with perfect PC?  Yeah, I think a free computer is perfect too.

I camped out on the computer with one of my favorite tech blogs – engadget.com – and watched their live update of Apple’s WWDC on Wednesday.  Props to them for doing such a great job of keeping me entertained with all the pertinent goings-on.  Thankfully, I’m still not tempted by the new iPhone 3Gs.  Especially after last night when the last of multi-tasking capability hurt. During the storms last night I was trying to reach The Bob to tell him that a nasty storm was right where he was going to be driving in a bit.  But he was listening to an app, and his phone never rang.  Good thing I didn’t have anything IMPORTANT to tell him!

That’s all I’ve got.  What’s on your mind?