On Top of the World

I feel pretty on top of the world right now.

1. I just took my nightly walk outside, which is a wonderful thing in itself. I much prefer exercising outside versus indoors in a basement.
2. I made it further than I did two nights ago, which wasn't far. Prior to Saturday, it had been since the previous Friday when I had taken a walk, and I was starting to feel it. So I insisted it had been too long on Saturday, and tried to take a walk with Jarrod. We didn't get very far, because I started out at the pace I had been able to do. Big mistake, I barely made it halfway and had a coughing fit. So we turned around and headed back home instead of completing the route.
3. However, tonight is a different story. After skipping a day, I was able to take my usual walk tonight, and on top of that...
4. I ran 0.1 MILES! I ran from the corner where you turn in to our subdivision, all the way to our house. So out of my half-mile walking routine (I just mapped all this on Google Earth) I ran for 20% of it, which sounds even better. I was pretty winded when I made it through the front door, but boy do I feel good now! I'm kind of on cloud nine with my accomplishment. This is the farthest I've run lately and it's good to know I can push myself and do it! Next stop: running 0.2 miles (aka, starting at an earlier point than the corner.)

Have You Ever Seen the Rain?

We woke up to a rare sight this morning: rain!

I started waking up to some thunder, so I hoped that would mean there were actually some raindrops accompanying it. Once I did get up, I went out the front door to look, and yes! It was raining! I stood out there for a while just to enjoy it; the smell, the gentle sounds, the cool air, the peacefulness of it all. I've always loved the rain smell, and this was such a wonderful sight to wake up to.

I can't even tell you the last time we had rain. I've been getting so excited each time there would be rain coming across the state, only to have my hopes dashed by watching it dry up on the radar when it got closer. The air here is so dry that hardly any rain clouds could make it. It would always be so close, so close!

Today is finally an answer to everyone's prayers. I was beginning to think we needed to call for a state-wide rain dance or something, haha. Is it enough rain to make up for weeks without? No, but it's great to see it nonetheless.

Why I Will Never Buy an Android Phone Again

I hate my phone. Everything seemed all dandy and sweet in the beginning, as I moved up into the world of smart phones. My first cue should have been the fact that, when I started out, I had an HTC Inspire. I had it for a week, and after numerous crashes and freezing, the final straw was when I had to take the entire phone apart and take out the memory card because the phone would not turn off or restart. Jarrod was not having any problems with his Samsung, so I switched and got the same as his, a Samsung Infuse.

I realize (or at least, sure as hell, hope) the issues I am about to complain about may have been resolved by more recent OS updates, but I don't have those... so I'm only writing what I know.

Here are the reasons I will never again buy an Android phone:

1. The lack of OS updates—I realize I have Samsung to blame for this one. See, when Google releases a new OS, it is then up to the phone makers to provide a kernel of that for their specific phones. Some phones may get it, others may not. The only people who don't have to worry about this issue are Nexus phones, they always get the updates (similar to Apple's way of doing things.) If your phone is over 6 months old, there's a good chance you won't get it. I am stuck forever on Android 2.2, aka Froyo. Android has a fun/cutesy naming system with sweet treats, in alphabetical order. Currently, the up-to-date Androids are on Ice Cream Sandwich, soon to become Jellybeans. F, G, H, I, J... I'm five versions back. And will always be that way because, like I said, Samsung has deemed my phone, the Infuse, unimportant or incompatible to upgrade the operating system. Yes, this is Samsung's fault, but that's the problem. With Apple, the OS is from Apple, and the phone is from Apple. At a point, your device will become obsolete, but that probably won't happen as quickly as Android. Is this outlook a bit walled? Yes, but it makes for a fluidity that Android doesn't have for probably 90+ percent of it's devices.
2. Delay or Lack of Apps—Something I've started to notice, because everyone I work with has an iPhone, is the enormous lack of apps on Android. There have been more times than I can count where I've been reading about this great new app, only to get to the end of the article where it says it's for iOS only. Furthermore, updates seem to come to the land of Apple sooner, too. It took AP over two months before they updated their app, versus when their iPhone app updated. And I'm still waiting on Twitter to update theirs with their new logo/icon. It's ridiculous. Wanna do Pinterest? You'll need an iPhone for that. Want to manage a Facebook Page with Facebook's new Page app? You'll need an iPhone for that too.
3. The unpleasant-ness of the App store—Or "Google Play" as it is known these days. The process for approval, to get your app to market, is much more loose on Android than with Apple. I think I heard once that there are 2 stages, where with Apple there are 6? Anyways, the lack of development shows. Furthermore, the abundance of, how do I say, "adult" apps is appalling. No joke, in almost any category you browse through, you are bound to find an app relating to pictures of girls, sex position 'dictionaries', or something like that. It's been a while since I've perused the Apple App Store for my iPod Touch, but I never, EVER came across one of those in there. I guess that goes back to the stricter approval process.
4. Stupid bug issues—Again, I hope these have been resolved since my OS version. But there are so many little issues, like how the phone operates, how the screen goes off randomly when trying to hang up a call, to how I can't see what I've written in a comment on something because the text box won't expand more than two lines. And the list goes on and on.
5. Gmail sucks—Come on Google! This is your baby here! Wouldn't you make your native mail client work better? Gmail on mobile is pretty much useless when you have a forwarded message. I asked a coworker one time how iPhones display forwarded messages, and it shows the history of a message in a neat, nice menu format. Not Gmail. Gmail tabs over each previously responded message, but doesn't expand the text field so if you have more than 4 replies in the conversation, the message shows up one letter on top of another.

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like that. It's impossible!

Android, I expected better of you. I don't care if I have to sign my life away to Apple and only buy everything Apple for my next phone, because my daily experience will be worth it. Androids are selling like hot cakes these days, but I just don't believe they'll be able to retain their audience. I realize every phone will have problems, including an iPhone, but I can't imagine things will be more clumsy than the stupid Android phone I have right now.

Embracing the Mayberry

As I'm sure you heard, Andy Griffith died this week. The majority of the discussion about the legacy he left behind in American pop culture has focused on the Andy Griffith Show and the fictional town of Mayberry. He was also not shy about the fact that Mayberry was a lie. It wasn't based on a particular town, they just made it up.

To me, Mayberry was a place where people were kind and good, neighborly, watched out for one another, and good family values prevailed. In our current world, things like this seem harder and harder to find.

I grew up in a town called Washington. It was smaller than it is today, didn't have multiple large department stores like it does now, and it's a place where everybody knows mostly everybody. Obviously this brings with it some local town gossip, and the running joke is that you always want to be careful what you say because there is a good chance they (who you're talking to) might know the person you're talking about, or even more likely, be related to them.

When I was a teen, the quaintness and small-towny feel got annoying. I was tired of knowing everyone's family tree — 'This kid is the son of Debbie, and she was this and that... oh and her grandfather owned this place...' on and on. It was folksy, and it seemed to me that the people of Washington don't get out much. I wondered how they could be so content to see so little of the world, and just stick to their hometown.

But now that I'm in my mid-twenties (still not that old, I realize) I find myself wanting to move back. As you know, we are planning to move back to Washington for a variety of reasons. But I have to admit that I feel myself longing for the Mayberry-ness of Washington; the neighborly aspect, the goodness, the familiarity. When I was in the hospital most recently, the outpouring of support and, well, love that I received from the people I know in Washington was very touching.

If we stayed here longer, I'm sure we would get to know more people and that sort of neighborly feeling would show itself. But the fact of the matter is, I'm not exactly the most social person and we've lived here for a year, and I still have never met one of my neighbors. Whether that's my fault or theirs is moot.

Yes, every place you look you will find good people, even in big cities. And yes, every place you look you will find problems, even in small towns. But you just don't get that community sort of feeling from a large city, that sense that people are looking out for you or living their lives in a certain way because it's the right thing to do.

Now I want to be a part of that community, and it's something we're going to do.