HannahBerry

Nothing can truly take the place of a human voice when communicating with another individual. In this day and age, we have so many ways to communicate with those around us but nothing can take the place of face to face or voice to voice communication.

If you’re like me, email is a big part of how I stay in touch with family, friends, even strangers. I go online to keep in touch with friends on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. I communicate via email to sell items on Lejeune Yard Sales and eBay. I get email right on my BlackBerry so it makes it super easy for me to get what I need done, done. The hard part comes when I misunderstand email. You cannot hear a person’s tone of voice through email and therefore it can become difficult to know what the person really wants or needs from me.
Today, like many other days, I received several emails regarding the firewood I am selling on Lejeune Yard Sales. One of the buyers was very nice and ended up coming to my house within a few hours to purchase a truckload of wood. Two other email inquiries I received disturbed me.
My ad says, “Do you need good quality firewood? You found it. For just $60 per truck load, you can heat your home this winter. We have plenty. Hardwood, not pine. We are located off *leftblank* Rd. For an extra $20, we can deliver to your home.”
The emails I received said this, “is it cut and can i have #”
That’s it.
No punctuation…heck, it’s not even a complete sentence.
So I tell the person, “I have a load of unsplit wood that is in managable size logs for $60.
I also have a load of split wood for $120.
Which would you like??”
And she says, “unsplit number and address”
Strike two.
Her inability to form a complete sentence doesn’t make me want to readily give my phone number and home address to her. Come on, would you give your address to a person who typed, much less TALKED like that? I didn’t think so. I think even if I did give her my information, she probably wouldn’t have shown up to purchase the wood anyway!
People are crazy! There ought to be a class on how to communicate online. I know there are plenty of pages explaining the basics of online etiquette, like how THIS IS SCREAMING and that yoU sHouLd neVeR, unDer AnY cIrcuMstAncES tyPe LiKe ThIs beCauSe it MAkes yOU sEeM lIkE a 12 YeAr oLd. The problem is, no one reads those pages. And even if they did, they don’t type like it. I guess poor online communication skills are just a pet peeve of mine. If you can’t speak well online, you probably can’t speak well in real life and I don’t care for that.
Just my two cents.

Friday, November 14, 2008. I purchased the BlackBerry Bold 9000 from an AT&T store in North Carolina. It’s what I’ve been waiting for all these months! I finally had 3G speed in the palm of my hand. I could view and edit MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents, record video, be on the internet and talk on the phone at the same time (take that Verizon!)…in short, I was ecstatic. I sent my husband a picture of me holding it up showing it off like a new baby.

The Bold is everything I’ve been dreaming about and more. First off, the screen is to die for. If that doesn’t catch your attention right away, you need to have your eyes checked. It’s a half VGA, which means pretty much nothing to me. I just think it looks like an HD plasma TV. Yes my friends, it’s that good. Then there’s the housing and keyboard. It’s attractively packaged in smooth black plastic with a leatherette backing. It feels great in your hands. Solid and smooth. RIM did a great job with the packaging.

I immediatly downloaded the iBerry 2.0 theme from bPlay.com because I adore the iPhone icons. They are easy to read and colorful. I didn’t care too much for the two themes that came standard. The gray icons were difficult to tell apart.

Using the BlackBerry Desktop Manager, I did the Switch Device wizard to transfer my information from my 8310 to the new Bold. That process was a little disappointing to me. It didn’t transfer the information I needed it to! I only got 35 of my 400+ contacts and my profile settings and sounds did not transfer. I’m sure there is a reasonable explanation for this but when I have to spend 15 minutes redoing my message sounds, it’s frustrating. I have a different sound for everything. One for SMS and MMS, a different one for email, Facebook, BB Messenger and GoogleTalk. That way I know what kind of message I am receiving when I hear my BlackBerry go off.

Everything was going great until that evening before bed. I don’t know what caused it but I had a series of Uncaught Exception errors. My Bold crashed. When a battery pull and clearing of the event log did not work, I did a wipe handheld. As I watched the little black bar go across the screen wiping…wiping…I thought for sure I’d made a mistake in purchasing this sexy device. I was devastated and disappointed in myself. How could I have spent this much money and not even 24 hours later my device is broken? After the wipe, I restored it with the information backed up on my computer. It’s never been better! I haven’t had any errors or mishaps since. I am not worried about this slip up. Technology isn’t perfect after all.

All in all, I am VERY happy with my Bold. This smartphone has everything. Although I do wish it could remote start my car. That would be nice.

In other news…the long anticipated MySpace application for BlackBerry smartphones has been released. If you’re like me, you were super excited to see its release. Having it on my BlackBerry means less time sitting in front of the computer at home to check my messages and comments. I can take MySpace with me on the go. Very useful. I downloaded it on my 8310 at first and then on my Bold. Both times, the app failed to perform.

The concept of the MySpace app is much like the Facebook for BlackBerry app. It’s set up much the same on the screen. I have found one difference however. No push notifications! Common sense told me to have email notifications going to an email account I have set up on my BlackBerry. I thought maybe they would bypass my inbox, and go straight to the MySpace app (this is how the Facebook app works) but I was very wrong! I had a friend comment on my page just as a test. I got the email notifying me that the said friend had left me a comment but no notification from my MySpace app. I checked the settings, made sure I was logged in, etc. No luck. So I researched it on Google. No luck. What’s the point of having a MySpace app if there are no push notifications?? RIM, you have failed me on this one. Step it up.

Living in the middle of nowhere has its advantages…and disadvantages. One one hand, you’re away from the city life which is perfect if you crave solitude and peace. But on the other hand, it’s usually not as “developed” as properties within the city limits. By that I mean you have to get your hands dirty to actually have a decent looking yard. As is the case with my house. When we first put an offer in on the house, there were trees and brush all the way up to the back of the house. There was one particular tree that we could touch if we just opened the dining room window and stuck our hand out. By the time we moved in however, about 30 feet behind the house was clear. It was a huge change but not good enough for two large dogs to run in. So, my husband began the project of clearing our near acre and a half lot to make room for a fence for our two Great Danes.
Front yard before:
Back yard before: ” alt=”Back yard before” />

See how close the trees were to the house? I’m not a good judge of distance but that thick brush like ground cover continued back quite far. We intended to clear out our entire property only leaving the large, healthy trees for shade. After clearing enough to make it through on foot, we decided not to continue clearing our entire lot. For one, a fence of that size would be extremely expensive and two, it would take too long to clear. Before we knew it, it would be time for my husband to deploy and the fence still wouldn’t be up. We couldn’t have that so we just decided to clear a substantial amount of land, enough for the dogs to run and be happy, and fence that portion in.

After the majority of clearing was done: ” alt=”after” />

The backyard with a fence half completed: ” alt=”After” />

Since the last photo, we have completed the fence, put up the lattice you see against the deck, brought in some fill dirt to make the ground more level and laid sod near the deck so that the dogs could “wipe their feet” before coming inside. Our backyard is now a great place to be!

Now if only I could find some patio furniture I like…

Just for good measure, here’s a photo of my front yard after I did some landscaping last week. I have never landscaped before so I’m a little proud of my work
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As a full supporter of Dave Ramsey, Christian financial counselor and best selling author on budget and finance, I would like to show my support of his plan to help our country in this economic crisis. His plan is titled “The Common Sense Fix“. I have pasted it below.

I emailed this plan to my state senators and if you support it, I think you should as well.

Years of bad decisions and stupid mistakes have created an economic nightmare in this country, but $700 billion in new debt is not the answer. As a tax-paying American citizen, I will not support any congressperson who votes to implement such a policy. Instead, I submit the following three steps:

Common Sense Plan.

I. INSURANCE

A. Insure the subprime bonds/mortgages with an underlying FHA-type insurance. Government-insured and backed loans would have an instant market all over the world, creating immediate and needed liquidity.

B. In order for a company to accept the government-backed insurance, they must do two things:

1. Rewrite any mortgage that is more than three months delinquent to a 6% fixed-rate mortgage.
a. Roll all back payments with no late fees or legal costs into the balance. This brings homeowners current and allows them a chance to keep their homes.
b. Cancel all prepayment penalties to encourage refinancing or the sale of the property to pay off the bad loan. In the event of foreclosure or short sale, the borrower will not be held liable for any deficit balance. FHA does this now, and that encourages mortgage companies to go the extra mile while
working with the borrower�again limiting foreclosures and ruined lives.

2. Cancel ALL golden parachutes of EXISTING and FUTURE CEOs and executive team members as long as the company holds these government-insured bonds/mortgages. This keeps underperforming executives from being paid when they don�t do their jobs.

C. This backstop will cost less than $50 billion�a small fraction of the current proposal.

II. MARK TO MARKET

A. Remove mark to market accounting rules for two years on only subprime Tier III bonds/mortgages. This keeps companies from being forced to artificially mark down bonds/mortgages below the value of the underlying mortgages and real estate.

B. This move creates patience in the market and has an immediate stabilizing effect on failing and ailing banks�and it costs the taxpayer nothing.

III. CAPITAL GAINS TAX

A. Remove the capital gains tax completely. Investors will flood the real estate and stock market in search of tax-free profits, creating tremendous�and immediate�liquidity in the markets. Again, this costs the taxpayer nothing.

B. This move will be seen as a lightning rod politically because many will say it is helping the rich. The truth is the rich will benefit, but it will be their money that stimulates the economy. This will enable all Americans to have more stable jobs and retirement investments that go up instead of down. This is not a time for envy, and it�s not a time for politics. It�s time for all of us, as Americans, to
stand up, speak out, and fix this mess.

Growing older. It’s part of life. I don’t mind aging, in fact I think I’m starting to enter the best years of my life, but I do miss some of the things of old. For example…

I miss the times when I walked to work. When my husband was in boot camp, I lived with 5 other young women in a mid sized city in Michigan. It was seconds from the daycare where I worked. Being that it was downtown, it was pointless to drive to work, only to have to search for a parking spot that could possibly be a paid parking spot. So, I walked. It was summer and downright gorgeous weather. I saved a lot of gas that summer, AND got into shape.

I miss creek stomping with my buddies at summer camp. Every summer a bunch of us would take off to the creek to explore. We’d go as far as “the tunnel” and turn around. There were parts of the creek that were 4 or 5 feet deep and could easily be used as a swimming hole. We spared no expense and dove right in, even in our clothes. It was a lot of fun to search for turtles and other creek creatures.

I miss being able to read a novel in a day or two. When I was younger, I was an avid reader. I’d spend days in my room reading. Back then, I didn’t have any chores (or very little) so wasting the day away with a book was perfectly acceptable. I usually borrowed books from the local library. I’d spend hours in there as well, picking out the perfect novel to lose myself in. The library was not far from my house so I would often ride my bike with a backpack on my back to carry home my treasured reading.

I miss living in the city. Recently my husband and I sold our home in Northwoods and purchased a larger home in the country, about 20 minutes drive from Jacksonville. I absolutely love my house and love the setting but I miss the city life in the respect that I kept up with what was going on. If a new cafe or shop opened up, you can bet I was there to check it out. Now that I live in the country, driving to town is pretty much reserved for work and church. I don’t just go into town because the price of gas is sickeningly high. Today was my day off so I went to the air station for the commissary and thrift store then on my way home, I took a detour to Henderson Drive where a new second hand store opened up called ReRuns. It is a small shop located near The Fish Cave. The lady who was working there today said that most of the proceeds go towards Jacksonville’s Social Work Department. That made me happy. I found a couple of good items there, spent $14 and told her I’d send my friends. Its these things I miss! The only reason I knew this was open is because I traded the owner a box of my old clothing for a filing cabinet (which I found on Lejeune Yard Sales) before they opened for business. If I hadn’t done that, I might have missed out on this great store!

Cliche as it may sound, you never know how one moment can change the rest of your life.  I had no idea what the United States was in for when a passenger plan struck the World Trade Center and Pentagon in 2001.  To be honest, I didn’t know what the World Trade Center was.

I was sitting in 2nd period Business Law when it happened.  The English teacher from next door came into our classroom and I heard him whisper to my teacher, “They’re blowing up the f-ing World Trade Center.”  From my seat, I could see into his classroom.  The television showed a tall building with smoke coming out of it.  My teacher turned on the tv in our room and asked us all to watch.  I remember being in shock.  Though I didn’t know what the World Trade Center did, I knew that this was big.  People were obviously in that plane and also in the building.  People were dying.

The rest of the day passed by in a blur, as did the rest of the year.  Things were happening around me that I didn’t fully understand.

If light battled darkness, darkness would have an unfair advantage. 

Darkness has a bigger team.  Darkness makes the rules that light must follow or else consequenses occur.  Darkness plays dirty.

Light has a smaller team but they are tough.  They may not win today but they will overcome darkness in the end.

Shhhh don’t tell darkness.  It will only make them mad.

I’d like you to meet my furry friends Coral and Cohen.

This is Coral. She is a six year old Great Dane, fawn in color. She likes long walks on the beach and full body massages. She enjoys a good game of tug-of-war with her partner in crime, Cohen. Scared of loud noises, she hides from the hair dryer and the vacuum cleaner. She moved in with us at the tender age of two and a half, when I found a posting for her on PetFinder.com. She was living with a lady who rescued her from a horrible environment. This lady had a soft spot in her heart for Great Danes but could not keep her because Coral did not get along with her other three dogs.

I had never seen a Great Dane in person. I barely knew what this breed looked like but when I saw Coral, I fell in love. She was tall and beautiful. Just perfect for a tall person like me; I don’t have to bend down to put my dog. Coral came home with us from Wilmington, NC that evening.

Move over Coral, it’s Cohen’s turn.

This is Cohen. He is a feisty little (read: big) bugger. He is a one and a half year old Great Dane, blue merle in color. He likes butt sniffing, running a million miles an hour and making messes. He has a bright personality which always makes me smile. He sits on the stairs like a human, with his paws out front and his butt on the step above. He is a seriously messy eater but when I point to the spilled food and say, “Clean it up!” He eats the pieces on the floor. He enjoys tormenting Coral to no end.

Cohen came to live with us several weeks ago when his parents decided to give him up. We were happy to take him in. After dog sitting him a few times while his former parents were out of town, we knew that Coral and Cohen were a good fit for one another.

I cannot imagine my life without these dogs. They bring me laughter, love and comfort. When my husband leaves for Iraq soon I will not be as lonely because I have these two by my side. They are my alarm system, warning me when there is someone outside. They are my inspiration to exercise with a brisk walk everyday.

August 23, 2008.  The time is 7:00 and I am off work.  My good friend Megan and I decide to go to a new restaurant in town called Tony’s Oyster Bar.   It used to be a buffet called Fire Mountain.

The way they’ve remodeled this restaurant on the inside is amazing.  They have two bars, an oyster bar in the middle and a real [drinking] bar on one side.  It’s lit with low lighting, painted in an interesting color scheme and decorated with fish and other sea life on the walls.

7:20 I am sitting with my husband, Megan’s husband, and Megan’s husband’s friend  looking over the menu.  Megan is still at work but will arrive shortly.  Everything on the menu looks scrumptious.  They have a decent array of things to eat.  Menu choices include from Fried Seafood, Steamed Seafood, Surf and Turf.  I decide on the You Pick 3 Combo with clams, flounder and shrimp plus grilled vegetables and green beans.

7:27 Megan arrives after she gets off work and we all put in our order.  Hush puppies arrive at our table.  In the end I think we ate three baskets.

8:03 I get my green beans delivered to the table by a tall guy with tattoos and gagued out ears.  He asks if we’ve gotten our food yet.  We tell him we haven’t, that we’ve been waiting quite awhile and he says he’ll take care of it.

8:37 I twitter that it’s been an hour since ordering and still no food.  By this time, we are all very hungry.  We aren’t angry or anything because we know the restaurant is only three days old.  They must be just getting used to everything, we reason.

At some point the waitress tells us that her last table “Didn’t give me a dime because of the kitchen.  It’s all the kitchen’s fault”, she says.  They are running slow and she apparently is very annoyed at that fact.  Who wouldn’t be though? Waitresses rely on their tips for income.

Rewind to 8:35.  I twitter what I just saw because I couldn’t believe my eyes.  The waitress, OUR WAITRESS, refuses to serve an elderly couple.  Here’s how it went down.  Couple comes in, hostess escorts them to a table.  Before they can get to the table, waitress runs ahead of them and tells the hostess, “Don’t give them to me!!”  I couldn’t believe my ears.  “What if the customers had heard her?” I thought.  That was incredibly rude.  Nevertheless, the hostess seats the couple in another section not far from us.  Note: this couple came in after us.

8:59 Megan and I head to Target (which is behind the restaurant) because we are tired of waiting for our food.

9:08 Remember the couple that got refused service by our waitress?….they got their food.  BEFORE us.

9:10 Megan and I get a BlackBerry message from the boys saying our food has arrived so we head back to the restaurant and eat.  Off topic: By that time, my husband has had 5 [free] beers and is acting silly.  I want to crawl into a hole.

9:23 We are informed our meal tonight is on the house.

10:39 My husband and I arrive home.

Ok, you can just say it. I am a slacker. No bones about it. I told you all I was going to start the fitness program P90X early this week but I haven’t. Would you like to hear my excuse? Didn’t think so. I really just need to start it. P90X is just a series of fitness DVD’s that take your through several different workouts. I believe all the equipment you are required to use is a chin up bar (which I have yet to purchase) and dumbbells. I have those in 5 and 15 pounds. I thought maybe I’d have accountability to work out by blogging about it but it seems that hasn’t worked. I am a pretty motivated person once I get started on something and since I don’t have to work until 1:00 today, I might as well get started huh?

Tomorrow is our 4 year wedding anniversary. It’s hard believe it’s been that long. For the first year or so we were married the husband was in Iraq with the Marine Corps. We have made our anniversary special every since to make up for it. Both the husband and I have off work tomorrow to celebrate. I am not certain what we will be doing during the day but in the evening we’re going to the next town over to go on a riverboat cruise! It’s a two and a half hour ride around the bay with dinner and dancing. I hate dancing. Public dancing that is. I have no problem getting down to a good song in the privacy of my own home but dancing in public…where people can see me? No thanks, I’m just too shy. I purchased a really nice camera from someone on LYS last night so I plan to take lots of photos. This downtown area is so beautiful.