The Lost iTouch

About a month and a half ago, on a Tuesday afternoon, Brian admitted that he couldn't find his [2 month old] iTouch. Before getting frantic, I calmly stated - "Oh, don't worry, Brian, I'm sure it will turn up - we just need to look for it harder".

That evening, we searched every little nook and cranny in the family room. I moved couches, stuck my hand into the deep recesses of both couches (not a pleasant activity I'll tell you), and even searched the trash (worse than the couch, by far). Over the next days and weeks, we recounted the days leading up to that Tuesday - where the iTouch had been, who had played with it, etc.

I finally relinquished that it was lost, that maybe I had thrown it away with the papers on the desk. [Because, once upon a time, I accidentally threw away Erica's cell phone along with the Sunday paper - you know, those devices are SO small and light! A total accident! One I am still reminded of from time to time...]. I started to admit to co-workers and friends that buying an expensive electronic device to an 11 year old maybe wasn't such a great idea. I started to think about the impending cell phone purchase and how to mitigate the risks associated that.

[Truth be told, we have very responsible kids - we had never experienced any major issues with belongings and they treat their stuff well. I started to hear all sorts of stories from other parents and realized that we weren't alone!]

Fast forward to Tuesday. Brian's best friend, George, is over. Brian has been spending a lot of time at George's house because George has been grounded from electronics use, and things are "too tempting" over here. Today is the last day of his ban and the two of them are in the basement getting out the board games when Brian discovers his missing iTouch, sandwiched between the board games. Excitement ensues. We laud the discovery. We charge it up a little bit and the two boys start to play with it. I take pictures of the boys, filled with such joy.


Oops - George is still banned from electronics....



The irony of it all - the only reason why they found the iTouch was because of George's electronics ban. And now he'll be banned for another day. Sorry about that!

But Thank You! We'll make sure you get to play with the iTouch in a couple of days...

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354/365 - New Addiction - Angry Birds

Oh why did I purchase this App? I had heard bits and pieces about this game and hey, it is the number one App on iTunes. And it's only 99 cents. But it's addictive, too.



The object of the game is simple - launch the birds out of the slingshot and kill the pigs. Sounds easy, right? Heck, the pigs are even stationary! The key is to get the right trajectory, which can tricky.

The game reminds me of my C+ programming class back in college, where we built a golf game using trajectories (factoring in force applied to the ball and wind speed / direction). Of course, our game graphics didn't really exist (well, I think they consisted of keyboard dashes, dots and slashes - really high tech - NOT!).

The game is a hoot and the best 99 cents you can buy. Now, if only I could get past Level 1-21.

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353/365 - Was Lost, Now Found

The long story short - Brian's lost iTouch has been found. I had resigned myself to its demise, afterall it went missing almost two months ago.



The whole story deserves a separate blog post - and I'll have time to pull it together over the next couple days, so stay tuned.

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333/365 - In With the New

After almost six years, we finally upgraded the home computer. Use of the old ancient computer elicited numerous complaints. I wanted to wait longer, but then again, I don't normally use the old ancient computer. We were starting to have issues with Erica's on-line homework, too.

I spec'd out the replacement tower over Thanksgiving and it arrived today. One of the accessories I added on was a "data transfer cable", that you hook up to both computers. With the supplied software, all of your data from the old computer is transferred to the new one. Wow, this made the over all process fairly painless - all of the digital music and pictures are in their proper spots on the new computer. Totally worth the extra $25.



Still, there's lots of stuff to re-install and clean up. The kids are happy that they can surf the internet quickly, with out the application locking up. I'm happy because we've got a terabyte hard drive. I'm hoping it won't fill up too quickly!

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186/365 - Road Entertainment

On the road again, and the days of reading in the car, playing card games, or "I Spy" games are over. The electronic gadgets we can't do without (me included).



Brian is playing pac-man on my iPhone. I had to pry it out of his hands so I could continue reading my e-book. Which was a favorable experience (reading the e-book, not prying the phone out of my son's hands...).

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166/365 - Gotta Love Technology

Since visiting Michele, Andrew and little Felix, I've been missing my little baby fix. It's one thing to view still pictures (which I do enjoy), or talk on the phone, but video conferencing takes things to a new level!

I had installed Skype on my laptop a few weeks back because I knew Michele had it installed on hers. I had no idea how to "call" anyone, but I managed to link up with Michele this afternoon. I saw her online and pushed that "call" button.

Voila! She and Felix were there! It was like something out of the Jetsons or Star Trek. Of course, I had to take a picture.



I'm looking forward to more frequent contact with Michele, and hope the kids will enjoy this new mode of communication. Michele plans to get Mom and Dad set up, too. Then we can hold virtual get togethers! Who knows what we'll be able to do in a couple more years. "Beam Me Up Scotty" anyone?

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