The Dark Side Isn't So Bad

Well, Kara and I are officially part of our generation. We finally took the risk of becoming smartphone owners. Alltel was having a Mothers Day deal where alot of their phones were b.o.g.o., which just so happened to be the exact day we became eligible for an upgrade, so we decided it was the right time.
But, it was still a hard decision due to the amount of pros and cons that came with it: we'd get unlimited texts, but it'd be significantly more money each month; we could go with Sprint to escape the price increase, but we'd lose the My Circle feature that gives us free calling to 10 numbers of our choosing; our nights and weekends minutes would kick in at 7pm instead of 9, but we'd have to sign a new 2-year contract with a company that is inevitably going to be swallowed up by Verizon - who, by the way, has notoriously high prices; and, smartphones give us unlimited internet access, but did we really need that?
You already know the decision we made. After two full days of research, we passed on the Moto Q9c (Windows Mobile crashes it), the Palm Treo Pro (the range is less, and it wasn't b.o.g.o.), and the Blackberry Pearl (that keyboard is a nightmare), and each picked up the Blackberry Curve.
Now, as much as I hate learning new things, this one is actually fun. I've joined the Nit-Twitter Nation, started using the built in calendar to schedule estimate and meetings for my business and for church, and I'll soon be snapping pictures of everyone I possibly can in order to put a picture on the number that shows up when they call. My email gets pushed as soon as it hits my gmail account, texting is tons easier with a full qwerty board, and I still haven't even started downloading ringtones yet!
Oh well, at least I didn't become another iClone. But now that I really think about it, I don't know that it'd be so bad. Too bad they're attached at the hip with AT&T... for now.

The Incredible Shrinking Backyard

So, the building is structurally finished. I still have to caulk most of the seams and put up the trim pieces that will cover up the caulking. Then, the fun task of building shelves, hanging peg board, wiring (and possibly plumbing), and moving stuff out of our Incredible Shrinking Guest Room and Office begins. After all that of the stuff is in, we'll sand down the doors a little and decide on a paint color. Then ALL my friends can come over and paint this thing! Er, I mean "help me paint," of course.

Oh, and yesterday, I "installed" the new iGarden app right next to the storage building. Right now, the only updates I've downloaded are two tomato plants. Soon, there'll (yes, it's a word) be extremely-late radishes, carrots, and onions towards the back. Maybe a pepper or three to keep the tomatoes company on their end of the garden. Whatever Kara wants, really. And it's organic!

256 Square Feet of Completion

Yep. The storage building is done. In under a week (and in reality, in three days' time). Maybe soon I'll get to feeling like posting the "after" pics.