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Apple Watch II: The more reviewy review

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Most useful watch-face So, I guess this is the "real" review. Brad complained that I needed more details in that last post. Fine. The squeaky wheel gets the something, something... 18 Days in. This isn't meant to be exhaustive. These are things that stand out for one reason or another. In a nutshell? I love this watch. I missed having a watch and this is so much more. I would probably be quite happy with almost any of the smart watches on the market. I considered buying quite a few of them. I waited and waited for this one and I think it was a good decision. I use my phone a lot less now. A lot less. I have been keeping track and instead of going to my phone every few minutes it is now often an hour or more between times when I unlock it. I love that. On the watch face to the right, I can touch any of items on the screen to get more information and I can (and do) sometimes change those fields for different sorts of info... Works (for me) Time . There seem...

Apple Watch: It's About F-ing Time

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I'm writing this to you from the future and reliving the past This was my first tech love. Well... if you don't count Meccano, or the Colecovision... I don't remember the exact year. I was 11 or 12 and this was one of my Christmas presents. A digital watch with AM radio and headphone jack. The reception wasn't perfect, but if I held my arm just right while I was delivering the PA Daily Herald to my customers on 4th St E, I could listen to Billy Jean by MJ and Maneater by Hall and Oates. It was heaven. Sadly, it was chewed into submission by our family dog after, what I remember as, all too short a season :( There have been many gadgets between then and now. My first MP3 player was in 1998, the year Leo was born. It allowed me to travel with music of not much better sound quality than my beloved radio watch--only now I could choose the songs and the order. By '98, I was far more mature in my musical stylings. I listened to Surprise You're Dead and Zo...

Mike's World

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It seems that we haven't spoken since February. Typical. There is a lot going on in this post. don't try to understand it or put it in order. Let it wash over you. The bad writing and glaring inconsistencies in the "narrative" will be less obvious this way. Naturally, the first thing I did upon arriving home from New York was to turn my travels into a great storytime for the preschool kids and parents that I get to read to every other Tuesday. There was some reading, a lot of jumping and falling as well as a cautionary tale regarding 5-year-old children flying planes. The kids loved it. Celebrating winning free coffee at a Huskie Basketball game Watching the Huskie women play basketball has become a tradition for us, ever since Anwyn has been playing for their Jr. developmental team. We began watching the women play as support for Anwyn and to allow her to see her coaches excel. Typical parenting move. Strong women... leadership roles... blah, blah, blah....

New York (Days 4, 5, 6)

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Our Room... "Bright but Messy" Just like Me ;) Many of you know the reason Leora and I are in New York. But, for the benefit of those I don't talk to regularly, Let me 'splain…No, there is too much. Let me sum up. Buttercup is marry' Humperdinck in a little less-- Sorry, got carried away there... Wendy and I take our job of parenting very seriously and have always done everything we can to make sure the girls are prepared for life (as much as possible). I think we have covered the basics, but one of the things we decided we could do a few years back was to give them a sense of the world they are in. We want them to make informed decisions about who, where and what they will be and it seems like that would be more easily achieved with context. So, we promised each of the girls a high school trip anywhere in the world with their dad. There is garbage and scaffolding everywhere. Both seem permanent Whether such a scheme is up to the job of providing con...

New York, 2015 (Day 3)

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One World Trade Center and Friends Day 3 We are sleeping in. Yesterday was crazy and unsustainable. We had a great time, but were both exhausted. We lounged around in bed and ate a late breakfast. Headed out into the city about 11:30am The plan is to walk to Central Park and explore a bit. No mean feat. Google maps tells me it will take 2.5 hrs to walk there, but we are nothing if not determined. It's still cool here, but it is the first legitimately sunny day since we arrived. Leora loves to walk through the crowed fish/spice/junk market that is China Town. We spend an hour just looking at the various shops and testing her skill at deciphering some of the signs. The best she can really do is tell if the word "food" or "eyes" is featured. It's a good distinction to make, when you think about it. On the long stroll North, we switch between walking on Park, Madison, and 5th Ave. These are some of the most prominent streets that exist in the modern ...

New York, 2015 (Day 2)

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This is a long one, so buckle up, Dorothy... I always said she was a Demon-Child We ate breakfast around 8am (granola, yogurt, fruit salad, coffee) and were revved up for our first full day in the city. Our plan was to walk to the High Line Park. Walk along the High Line Park. Then, do some exploring in Hell's Kitchen. Even the plans of wise wizards go astray... Here is what happened. Last night I stayed up late editing photos, and making a blog entry for you to read. Leora was really keen about the walking we did on Monday, so we decided to walk into Manhattan again. I did a Google search and came up with this Frommer's article on the 5 best walks in NYC . 3 of them happened to work with our route on the way to the High Line Park , so there was our morning. The best parts of the Manhattan Bridge look like this. The Manhattan Bridge is less attractive than the Brooklyn Bridge, which we crossed yesterday. It isn't apparent from a distance, but up close it is obvi...

New York, 2015 (Day 1)

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I'm so excited to be here. At the moment, 'here' is 257 Gold Ave, Brooklyn, New York City. Leora and I arrived yesterday, mid-afternoon. We took a cab from LaGuardia Airport around to Brooklyn. We are staying at a small apartment we booked through AirBnb. It was much cheaper staying here rather than Manhattan, and so far I am very pleased. Our host, Kimiko, is very relaxed and friendly. Her two cats make us feel right at home. She is in and out doing things with her friends, but has been quite solicitous. ****EDIT 2015-Feb-11**** Here is what the Airbnb listing looks like: Guest bed w/terrace and sep bath in Brooklyn Apartment in Brooklyn, United States. This one bedroom in a two bedroom apartment comes with all of the amenities - - a private bathroom, terrace, great kitchen and two awesome cats. The location is fantastic, walking distance to the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges and the A, C, F, Q... View all listings in Brooklyn It's worth noting that I paid ...