It’s confirmed, my QNAP NAS died a horrible death last night after an attempted firmware upgrade. Searching on Reddit it seems I wasn’t the only one who had an issue:

Luckily I recently backed up the data from the QNAP so I think I’m in good shape. I don’t think I want to shell out $$$ for another NAS, though. I may go back to simple hard drive enclosures.

Buying tickets has been problematic for a very long time. Back in my record store employee days, people needed to line up to get tickets. This old method seems fairer than purchasing tickets online now. We weren’t one of the lucky ones to get a presale code to join in the fun. We’ll need to see if “reasonably” priced tickets become available later on.

Where do you begin on a new blog?

I imagine this blog will be similar to my last attempt at blogging. The previous effort lasted for some time. The writing slowed when we started a family. The family plus work pushed blogging, even in a minimal way, to a full stop.

There were times when I wanted to post a few words, share a few links, or even write a simple review of a movie. But I didn’t put much effort into getting any of it done. If I had been able to do so, I believe doing just a little blogging would have helped me more than what I’ve been doing instead, which was browsing endless YouTube videos or reading Reddit posts.

On this go around, I may post less about my family, especially the kids. They deserve to carve out what their online identity should become if they have an online presence and understand what it means. I may post about them or what parenting challenges we’re facing. But I plan on sharing photos of them on this new site.

Let us see where this takes this new blog.

I have been here blogging on and off since 2001.

Lately, I’ve been in the off mode. Life has been busy for the last six years. Raising kids, changing jobs, and dealing with the general curveballs life throws. Times for carefree thought is rare. When an opportunity presents itself, it is almost always limited to what you can do on your iPhone. So posting an Instagram photo, sharing my status on Facebook, or reblogging on Tumblr is almost only what can be done.

There is an opportunity here.

I have often been depressed looking at this space, where my blog would reside, and seeing it going unused. I still go to my Tumblr. I go to my Instagram. My Facebook. I use the web of services and tools that pervade my daily life.

This page will now be the launching pad, the hub, the Grand Central Terminal of my interweb life. A small snippet of a post or a photo that leads to other photos will be placed here. To access the main content, simply click the link after the posting.

I had a similar conversation with Comcast when I was simply trying to find out how many Filipino stations they offered. DirecTV offers eleven Filipino stations. Comcast only offers five. I simply asked if they would be offering more, but the representative avoided the question and started talking about their other channels and how much better they are than DirecTV.

The one-sided conversation took off from there. The Comcast person started talking about pricing, channels, and other features that I was not interested in. When I pushed back he would ask, “Why?” “Why aren’t you interested in this great deal?” “Why do you need more Filipino channels?”  Perhaps because those channels are being watched by someone in my house?!?!?

It took some time with me becoming more agitated to be able to pry myself off the phone. I think I finally hung up on them as I simply said, “You are not listening to what I am wanting and asking about, so this conversation is over.”

I understand the person was trying to make a sale, and I was the one who called Comcast. But to turn around and try to thrust their services on me was very off-putting.

Listen to the below call. But be warned: you might get a little agitated after listening to it all.

This is a simple story of a bad customer experience turning into a worse one by the day.

My truck battery was on its last legs. I managed to get it charged so I drove it to the closest Sears Auto in Cupertino. I was able to be checked in fairly quickly about 11 am, and told my car would be done a little after noon - or within the hour.  This sounded great.

The mall in Cupertino isn’t that great, so I called Farrah who, with the kids, picked me up at Sears. We decided to have lunch at the local park and let the kids play. This provided a couple of hours of fun, more than enough time to get the battery changed in the truck. It was strange, though, no one called from Sears Auto during the time we were at the park. As we started driving back I began to wonder if they even started work on my truck.

It was a little after 1:30 when I got back to Sears Auto. I saw my truck in the same spot which concerned me a little. But then I thought, well all they need to do is pop the hood, disconnect the old battery and put in the new one. They shouldn’t need to move it far. In any event, I stood in line to talk to one of the customer representatives. I stood in line for about 30 minutes, a line only 3 people deep, before I got to talk to what apparently was the one working representative. This was strange because earlier in the day, just a few hours ago, there were at least three representatives working. The representative told me that they hadn’t gotten to my truck just yet but it should be done soon. He would make sure.

I was a bit peeved but was able to occupy my time with Farrah and the kids by going across the street to do some grocery shopping. This ate about an hour of time. I asked Farrah to drop me off and just head home with the kids, thinking the truck would be done. Boy was I wrong.

All I could do was vent through Twitter:

then

<a href=““https://twitter.com/al3xgiron/status/485915995437928448">

then

Unfortunately, according to Sears, I was sending my tweets to the wrong account. Instead of @Sears I should be sending tweets to @SearsAuto. Silly me. I thought that a service with the name Sears would be concerned about the bad customer experience several people were experiencing.

Hoping to get some resolution, I sent tweets to @SearsAuto. They responded the next day:

But they have been silent ever since.

I don’t believe I will be hearing from them. Even if  I did I suppose I would only get some half-hearted apology with no rational explanation for the problems experienced by the many people that day.

Thinking back on what could have been done differently by anyone at Sears Auto that day I could only come to this conclusion: they should have set expectations appropriately. If they couldn’t do the work in a timely manner, then they shouldn’t have promised it could be done. They should have stopped taking new work in. Continually building up the workload for a number of workers had only frustrated the customers.

I am guessing this trend will continue at Sears, uh I mean, Sears Auto. In any event, Sears, as a whole entity has lost me as a customer.

General admission. Standing room only. A combination I do not look forward to in a concert. But if the artist and venue are right, I will endure. And Farrah and I did endure this combination, at The Fillmore, to see Lorde.

I was lucky enough to snag two tickets back when they went on sale a few months ago, before  Royals was getting regular mainstream radio play. I don’t know if I’d be lucky to get tickets now seeing how big Lorde has become.  Funny thing was when they went on sale, they seemingly sold out immediately. But I persisted for a few minutes and was able to grab two tickets. 

We arrived a few minutes late to The Fillmore. Friday night traffic going up to San Francisco was ugly as usual. We caught a few songs from the opening act, Until the Ribbon Breaks. They sounded great on stage, so I immediately added a few tracks to a Spotify playlist. After their set people milled around, as usual, waiting for Lorde to take the stage.

The crowd started to fill up as Lorde’s set time was getting closer. The crowd was a good mix of ages, as The Fillmore can be depending on the performer. We were situated in a good spot, center and further back on the floor. Unfortunately, to Farrah’s left, a group of unruly 20-somethings decided to talk and bump around people through the whole performance. One couple just wanted to make out all night.  In front of us was an older couple, probably in their early to mid 50’s. Made me wonder how many concerts do they attend?

Getting back to Lorde -  she performed well for someone who hasn’t performed often on tour. She sounded well, though the bass was on the heavy side, making her voice sound muddled. From another review of the concert, it seems it was her idea to crank up the bass. She had energy, working the stage very easily. She talked between a few songs, using   Thank you, San Francisco, often, which elicited approval from the crowd.

Her set was short, about 12 songs or so, lasting a little over an hour. No encore performed with the lights coming up after her last song. I thought she could have done a few more songs, as her album came out that day in some places.

The annoyances of the general admission crowd are worth it sometimes, especially when seeing an up-and-coming artist. It is always nice to see an artist on the rise, seeing them before they get too big, in an intimate place like The Fillmore.

Other reviews of the show are at SF Gate and San Jose Mercury News and SF Station.

I knew how I was going to purchase a new iPhone on launch day. I was going to do it online, not stand in line at an Apple Store. I had heard the best way to purchase online would be through the Apple Store iPhone app. Something about using APIs versus the storefront would be faster. I don’t recall where I heard this from, but I assumed it couldn’t be worse than watching a browser try to load.

Since the iPhone 5c was already available to order before Friday, I went through a few test runs on the app to see how the purchasing process would be. I noticed that the app is phone specific when purchasing the iPhone, meaning you are choosing to replace the iPhone you are using the app on with a new iPhone. I then asked Farrah to load the Apple Store app on her iPhone, since I was upgrading her phone as well. I would be doing simultaneous purchases using both phones.

I watched as midnight rolled around on our phones. I launched the Apple Store app. I chose the colors and GB size of the iPhones. I confirmed our current voice plan. I also reconfirmed our Unlimited Data plan (sneaking AT&T trying to make me choose otherwise). I then chose AppleCare for each phone. I clicked submit. Within 30 seconds I was done! It wasn’t even one-minute past midnight and I was successful in ordering both iPhones!

Now comes the hard part, waiting for the phone to ship.

Confident before the run.

This past weekend, Farrah, Fina, Kristel, Kay, Chantel, and Marisa took part in the 5K Color Me Rad run. It was held at the Santa Clara Fairgrounds in San Jose. This particular run benefited the

Pacific Autism Center for Education (PACE). I was able to take a few photos at the event. It was a bit difficult to avoid the color powder that is used at the event. I saw several DSLR users have plastic bags over their cameras, similar to a rain bag I used on my Nikon D70 when we went to England. If they do this run again, I will need to make sure to bring a plastic bag with me.

Celebrating after the run!

Photos for this event are located under the Color Me Rad folder.

I feel I don’t have enough time during any given day. At least not enough to do what I want, when I want to do it. This is why my blogging efforts have fallen by the wayside.

Wife. Kids. Work. Eat. Commute. Sleep. These are the priorities in order. Wife. Kids. Work. Eat. Commute. Sleep.

Sleep is nice if it can be had. When it is possible, it doesn’t come in consecutive hours, not since the kids were born. I’ve learned to function with chunks of sleep here and there, sneaking in a few extra minutes on the commute to and from work.

Commuting and working are dedicated blocks of time. The commute is not fixed in its length. It can take up to 2 1/2 hours a day. And if there is an incident on Caltrain, add another 90 minutes to that time. I try not to take my work home with me, but my job is easily accessible through any device. This makes it easy to read and answer work issues.

That leaves the time spent with the wife and kids. They are the center of my world, the reason I do what I do. During the week I don’t have the opportunity to spend much time with them. An hour or two in the morning while getting ready to leave for the day. A few hours at night at dinner time than bedtime. At least we have the weekends together.

Eating is done between all of these times.

Setting aside time to write has been tough. I can steal a moment away here and there to jot down a thought I want to explore. Finding the time to think that thought through and writing it down can be difficult. But I believe I need that time, the time to use my brain and stretch my fingers. My writing may not be revelatory but it is mine. It is seething I wish to express, even if it is a trivial matter.

And so I’m making an effort to post more, to write more in this space. It may be a simple comment on a link or a long bitch fest about a day gone sideways. But it’ll be something I want to share. Whether you want to read it is up to you.

I hope you do.

I wanted to take a photo of Graecyn yesterday with my iPhone 4S. I launched the camera app from the lock screen. The familiar shutter image appeared but didn’t proceed any further through the process. I tried again and again, quitting a relaunching, but nothing happened.

I did a hard reset and tried booting into different camera apps I have on my iPhone, but each resulted in no joy.

I did a web search and found that this a problem experienced by some users. I went through the necessary restore steps, even wiping my phone completely without restoring from a backup. The problem did not go away.

I’m guessing it is a hardware issue since it affects all the photo-taking apps I had. We’ll see what the Genius Bar says tomorrow.

Update: Just got back from the Apple Store. The problem was the hardware - the front camera was no longer working. This is one of the things I like about an iPhone, the ability to go to the Apple Store to get it fixed. Where would I go to get my Android phone fixed if I had a problem? The carrier is most likely. I’m not sure their level of service would be the same.

The plan today is to induce labor since Farrah isn’t showing any signs of giving birth as of yet.

They asked Farrah to call in at 7 AM to see when she could come in. We expected to go to the hospital after dropping off Mia at daycare. But the result of the 7 AM call was to call back at 9 AM, so we took our time getting Mia ready and off to daycare. She arrived there at 8:30, an hour after her normal arrival time.

Mia’s daycare is only a few blocks from the hospital. So we decided to find a close Starbucks to grab a coffee. Farrah then called in at 9 AM. They said now to call in at 2 PM - when people have checked out. Wow, were we ever going to be able to check in?

We made our way to Target to buy a few supplies. Then off to Palo Alto to have lunch at the La Boulange and check out the new Apple store (it’s gorgeous). Oh, and we grab some Philz’s Coffee.

Farrah calls in at 2 PM. Finally, the answer comes into the hospital at 3 PM. Check-in was smooth. We got settled in OK.

Now it’s just a waiting game.

On Friday morning Farrah and I went to the hospital for the version procedure. We went as prepared as could be.

It was odd, walking to Labor and Delivery with Farrah. The last time we had been there was when Mia was born. I asked Farrah is she remembered this and that, but most of it was unrecognizable to her. Most likely her mind was elsewhere the last time we were there.

There was a lot of paperwork to fill out before the procedure. I suppose they needed all the paperwork just in case we needed to go into surgery. No one wants to be filling out forms when it comes down to crunch time. The receptionist then took us to a room to wait for the doctor.

A nurse came in to hook up Farrah to a fetal monitor, to listen to the baby’s heartbeat. We had to wait for about twenty minutes' worth of pulse readings before the doctor would come in to see us. The nurse also pressed on Farrah’s belly, acknowledging, “Yup, I think that’s a head” as she pushed on the top of her stomach.

The doctor came in with another doctor in training. She introduced herself and started up the ultrasound just to double-check the baby’s position. She began her scan toward the bottom of Farrah’s belly.

“She’s vertex,” the doctor proclaimed. “You can go home.”

Wow, she turned on her own! Farrah and I were so relieved. We didn’t get to go home right away though. They wanted to scan the baby more and try to determine its size and weight (a little over six pounds). Then we had to wait to be discharged. All the time doing paperwork and waiting to be released was actually longer than the time the doctor saw us!

It’s great to know the baby turned on her own. I wonder what that says about her, turning so late in the pregnancy?

About two weeks ago Farrah had an ultrasound to check the baby’s size. The ultrasound showed that the baby is a healthy-sized baby girl. But she’s also breech.

It’s late in the pregnancy for the baby to turn on her own. The doctors say it could still happen, but most likely the baby will need to be helped. Tomorrow we’re going in for that help. It’s called version.

It seems like a straightforward procedure - so says the man not going through the procedure. We’re reading what we can, looking at videos, basically arming ourselves with as much information as possible. But it will still be a new anxiety-filled experience.

228. 44.

Two numbers. Just numbers.

The first number is the highest it has been in my life. It has increased by leaps and bounds over the years. At the end of high school, it was 118. At the end of basic training, it topped out at 130. After a time overseas it climbed to 155. This was only a period of about six years! And now it is what it is.

I need to stop it from getting any larger.

The other number has been steadily climbing over the years. It’s a good thing, considering the alternative.

I know you’ve guessed right. The numbers are my current weight and age.

The weight thing has been a problem for a while, something I’ve grown into (insert laugh). It not only affects my ability to fit into clothes, but it is messing with my blood sugar. I took a glucose test today to see how bad it is. We’ll see what the results are.

I’m not surprised. I’m a bit concerned. I only have myself to blame. I need to get back into shape, and soon.

The company picnic was last week. We broke up into several teams for soccer, a sport I enjoyed very much in my younger days. I played hard for three games, huffing and puffing up-and-down the field. I almost scored a few times. I also blocked a few scoring attempts. All I have to show for my efforts is my screwed-up left knee and big toe on my right foot. Both are a bit strained from the sudden need to be extremely mobile, this a week-and-a-half after the picnic.

I’m not getting any younger. But next year, if I go to a picnic again, I would like to not be in such bad shape.

I’m writing about this just to write, to know where I am at and where I need to go.

228. 44. I can’t do anything about the last number. But I sure as hell have control of the first. I need to get my act together.

I just sold a somewhat old gadget to Gazelle.com. It is the first time I’ve tried selling back an old electronic device - that still had considerable value - to an online service. I’ve heard good words about Gazelle.com. I am hoping I won’t be disappointed.

It was easy enough to find the item I was selling to them on their website. They previously would take almost any electronic item, but they now have narrowed the selection down to mostly Apple products. Trying to find the configuration of my product was moderately smooth. I put in the condition I thought it was in, the additional components that came with it, and bam! popped up the price they were willing to pay me. It seemed reasonable (comparing it to Amazon.com’s trade-in service). So I pressed on.

I got an email shortly after, giving me instructions and a shipping label. About an hour after that email, I received another email from Gazelle saying my shipment option has been updated. Instead of me packing my item to ship back, I could go to a FedEx to have them pack it for me free of charge. Way cool!

I have to say my FedEx experience was a bit unnerving. I went to the shipping counter. They took my item to the back where I could not see the pack it. They then brought it back up to label in front of me.

I had to ask, “Was [the item I was selling] in this box”? After all, I didn’t see them place it in the box.

“Yes it is,” she replied. How could I continue to doubt her without sounding like a douche?

And then a co-worker of the girl who packed my item proceeded to put a label on the box. The wrong label! Luckily she caught her co-worker’s mistake. I eyed that the correct label was applied to the package. The item is now out of my hands. The waiting game starts.

One Week Later

I was able to track my package through a link from Gazelle’s website - which leads to FedEx of course. Once my package was received, Gazelle emailed me. Once they examined my item, they emailed me again saying, “Hey guess what? Your item is in better shape than you thought it was. We’re giving you more money!” Seriously? I chose my payout option to be an Amazon gift certificate which provides you with a 5% bump. Since my item was in much better condition than I thought it was, they simply increased the gift certificate amount.

It’s nice to know they were honest about the assessment. They could have easily gone with my assessment but did not. This “honesty” makes me want to use their service again - if I ever have anything else to sell.

I have always been surrounded by women. I grew up with two older sisters who tormented me through childhood. Most of the managers I’ve worked for have been women. When I was a manager at a record store, most of the people who worked for me were women. Girls. Women. Always.

So it comes as no surprise that we are having another girl!

Yes, another bundle of joy is on the way. She will arrive in late October or early November. From these early scans, she looks like she’ll have plump lips like Mia. Can’t you see them in the ultrasound? I know I can.

My mom was convinced it would be a boy, especially when I told her the due date was the day my father was born. But I knew better.

Girls. Women. Always in my life. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Prometheus

The tagline for the movie is: They went looking for our beginning. What they found could be our end.

Synopsis: Ridley Scott does science fiction again. I remember watching Alien at the Old Mill 6 Theaters in Mountain View. My sister took me. I don’t recall if I knew what the movie was about before watching it. I think all I knew was that it took place in outer space. Star Wars took place in outer space, so this movie should be cool, right? Well, after the infamous chest buster scene, I knew this was a different film.

I heard this started out as a prequel to Alien but changed to a movie that takes place in the same universe as Alien. Whatever. The film is about going into space to find the answer to the origins of man. Oh, and there are scary aliens in space.

The Good: The general idea of the film, trying to discover the origins of man, is a fresh thought. If our creators left signs of where we came from, and perhaps how to find them, wouldn’t any reasonable person go looking for them if they had the opportunity?

Science and design win the day for me in this film. The technology has a sense of realism to it. I can believe they are on the ship Prometheus, and that this ship actually exists.

The aliens (there is more than one type) are interesting without being too foreign. They are familiar yet new. I am not sure how much CGI was done for the aliens, but to me, it didn’t look like much.

As far as memorable scenes, I must say I enjoyed the operation scene is on par with the chest buster scene of Alien.

The acting was well done. I especially liked Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, and Idris Elba. Noomi Rapace is a great choice for the lead. The character she plays, Elizabeth Shaw, is a strong character in the same vein as Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley.

The Bad: Overall it was a predictable story. A keen film watcher can determine what is going to happen. You could t]see the hidden relationships between the characters. There are almost no surprises.

The exploration scenes were good, but I wish they were darker, and more tension-filled. They were too straightforward and light in comparison to Alien.

There are a few plot hole “huh” moments, like why does one person get affected this way while another is affected another way. The film leaves you with few answers and more questions. Will they be addressed in a sequel if there is one? Who knows.

Overall: The film is worth watching. I don’t think you should compare it to Alien. Take that movie out of the equation. You will probably enjoy this more if you do.

**My Rating: Matinée

I have been on a photo publishing streak lately. I have tried to be diligent to post new photos quickly, as well as going back to posting older photos.

Here are a few direct links to new albums:

At the Children’s Discovery Museum - Spending a few hours here with Mia. It is her first time visiting this museum.

Celebrating Kayla’s High School Graduation - Celebrating at the Crow’s Next

Mia and Her Car Seat - Mia graduates to facing forward status!

Photos from 1999 - I have managed to post all the digital photos I took in 1999. They are not a lot of photos, but I posted what I have.

If you need the password to the albums either email me or ping me on Facebook.

One of my favorite podcasts has unexpectedly moved podcast networks! It was previously on 5by5 but is now on the Mule Radio. I don’t know the reason for the change. But people are speculating here and there.

My guess? The 5by5 Network is growing. Gruber, the primary person on The Talk Show, probably couldn’t work around the scheduling constraints of the growing network. At least I hope it is that simple.

I’ll try to give the show a listen. But I’ll miss Dan and John talking on the same podcast.

Update 3: I woke up this morning, updated my Instacast and found a 5by5 special waiting for me to listen. Dan explains how it played out for him. Sounds like he was surprised about what happened. It was nice of him to at least put out a brief explanation.

Update 2: Seems the best coverage of this little drama can be found on the chandler blog. I wish a sense of finality could be brought to this subject. It appears from all the comments by those involved, or who are in the know that it is none of our business why it went down the way it did. Transparency doesn’t apply in this matter, I guess.

Update 1: According to a Quora post it seems to have come down to money. Of course, the comments are by a person listed as anonymous, so take it for what it’s worth.

I did manage to listen to the new Talk Show episode. It is not the same. I’ll give it a few more episodes. But I’m on the pessimistic side of it working out.

Farrah and I were able to actually watch another movie! Last week we finally saw The Hunger Games - which I would rate Matinee. This week we watched The Avengers.When filming The Avengers was first announced I was a bit nervous. How could a movie with so many characters do justice to the comic book? I mean, would we just see the team fighting the villains on screen and bits of dialog thrown in. Inevitably, character development - though never a priority in most movies - couldn’t happen in a superhero movie of this scale? But wait, Joss Whedon is at the helm. Can he pull it off?

I think he did. I’ve watched all the related films - Iron Man 1 and 2, Captain America, Thor, and all the versions of the Hulk movies. But I think The Avengers can work as a standalone film. A new viewer can get a sense of each character in this film. I know there isn’t deep character motivation exploration going on here, but these are no cardboard cut-outs either. They make some attempt at depth given the amount of screen time devoted to each character.

The story was simple enough to follow:

• Big bad guy steals magic cube that equals ultimate power.
• Heroes - who usually operate alone - must band together to stop the big bad guy.
• Heroes don’t get along at first but unite to fight the big bad guy and the aliens who are his allies.
• Heroes prevail for now.

The story movies along at a good pace, only slowing down just enough to catch your breath, digest the scene you’ve just watched, and then pick up steam to the next action sequence. The dialog is snappy, with humorous bits here and there to keep the mood light.

The part I disliked, and not by much, is the CGI-based ending battle sequences. They weren’t as confusing as a Transformers' film, but they were annoying enough. I’m not a fan of these massive computer-generated battles. But if anyone could pull it off, it would be in a Josh Whedon film.

The Avengers may just be a movie I would pay again to see on the big screen.

Rating: Full Admission 

Mia watching an iPad

It has been a while. Again. Life has just been busy. But I have a few moments right now to put down a few thoughts.

As I write this, it is Friday afternoon. I’m on the train heading home. I am typing on my new iPad. This new little machine is a joy to work on. It is much faster than the original iPad, which is now Mia’s full-time companion. She uses it as her “mini-tv,” but also has a few story apps she enjoys. Her iPad is protected with the iGuy cover which makes it easier to carry around.

I bought the new iPad with 4G - the Verizon version. I find the wicked machine fast on the Verizon network when I’m able to get a signal, which has been done most of the time. There has only been one problematic area when leaving SF on the train. But other than that the machine has been smokin'.

I recently had a birthday. My birthday. Another one. Well, it’s a good thing, right, consider the alternative? I’m not particularly reflective, at least not yet. I’m sure I will have a moment to contemplate the year that has passed. But that moment isn’t right now. Right now I’m wondering what’s for dinner.

I, again, hope to write more soon. I hope to post more photos, soon. I hope to do plenty of things - soon. We’ll see what I can accomplish.

We came back from our trip to Hawaii this past Thursday. I wanted to post a few photos I took during vacation. What’s interesting about these photos is that they were all taken with the iPhone 4S. Yup, I left my Canon 7D at home. We did, however, bring the Canon S90 with us, and I had a Sony NEX-5N at my disposal. Those photos should be up on the photos page sometime this week.

What I found interesting was that we (Farrah with her iPhone and I with mine) were able to capture moments effectively with our iPhones. There were a few missed opportunities, but none I regret in not having my Canon 7D with me. I’m sure if there were more nighttime or low-lit moments to capture, I would have failed with my iPhone. But most of our activities were in the daytime, making the iPhone a perfect vacation camera.

I also tried out the new version of the Path app. The app has been recently updated for the iPhone and Android. The updated version of Path makes it more intuitive than its previous incarnation, but there is still one thing lacking: people I know using Path.

I have a few co-workers using the app, but I would really like other family and friends to use it as well. Honestly, I don’t think many will do so, only having time for Facebook and, perhaps, Instagram. It’s understandable. I found myself posting more to Path (as a test) and Instagram than Facebook directly.

I’m thinking my time on Facebook will become more limited to pushing data from other sites/apps than direct interaction with Facebook (e.g. logging in and actively posting, commenting, etc.) There are only so many hours in the day. I’m finding that Facebook is taking a significant chunk of that free time I rarely have.

Today we visited Pearl Harbor to specifically see the USS Arizona. Unfortunately, Mia fell asleep during the short film that is watched before taking the short boat ride out to the memorial. She was also asleep all the time we were at the memorial. It wasn’t until we started to leave that she stirred from her slumber.

Next, we went to the zoo, where these photos are from. Mia loved to see the fish, monkeys, birds, and all the other animals at the zoo. To our surprise, there was so much to see. We’ll need to visit our local zoos to see what they offer.

All in all, it was another beautiful day.