I was hoping to use the Wordpress iPhone app while somewhere fun or boring but instead I find myself in an animal ER while my beautiful girl Triscuit is getting looked at.

A few days ago T started having problems with walking and today I had to carry her everywhere. We are not sure what is going on but it looks like a spine issue. T is only 8, but with that said, just lost her best friend Wish (a fellow grey) last week.

Please send positive thoughts…she is such a sweet girl.

Yesterday while I was at a certain repair shop (not the dealership) I overheard a conversation that blew me away. I was waiting to get my tire fixed (flat) and at the parts desk, I heard the following:

Guy 1: “Did you watch the rebate last night?”
Guy 2: “You mean the debate? I watched it and man John…(pausing because he cannot think of his last name)….”
Guy 1: “McCain”
Guy 2: Yes - man, I do not trust him…he lies so much. I think I even trust the other guy Osama more.

At that point - I decided to go into the waiting area instead of looking at floor mats so I could play some Scrabble on my iPhone.

The Wii is by far one of the coolest if not the coolest console I have ever owned. The one thing I do miss from my PS 2 days is the voice interaction I had while playing games. I just read about something really cool that will perhaps take care of my want for voice interaction:

This from the Nintendo news site:

The new Wii Speak Channel arrives on Nov. 16 and uses the Wii Speak, a microphone that sits on top of your television. This accessory is sold separately at an MSRP of $29.99. People who buy the microphone are given a code that allows them to download the Wii Speak Channel from the Wii Shop Channel at no charge. The Wii Speak lets people in up to four locations who have traded Friend Codes chat with one another at no extra cost. When you use Wii Speak in real time, your Mii appears on your TV screen and mimics your chat. You also can leave audio messages for your friends and family members or use Wii Speak to narrate captions for your photos.

As a history major - I tend to look at everything and find trends, think about what historians will write about our time, and all kinds of fun things that drive Amy crazy. The other day while I was thinking about playing Super Mario 3 on my Wii, I thought about the definition of being social (”interactions between people”) and then thought that my son Evan’s generation will most likely view our generation as very unsocial. We wrote letters that took days to deliver, interacted with people very limitedly, played games by ourselves, and worked independently.

Our definition of communication has completely changed. When I thought about it, I went to college before cell phones were really popular. If you wanted to get in touch with someone it was by phone, email, or by the chance of meeting someone. No one had digital cameras so most of our college pictures are tucked away in a shoebox somewhere in one of our friend’s closets. We had the beginning of networked games, but our interaction there was limited to typing in “hi” or “Don’t go in the dungeon without me Ken!”.

Now - we have instant access to other people’s statuses and whereabouts by the second. SMS, email, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, cell phones, etc - people share what they are doing that moment, while other people can comment, look at your whereabouts, get notified the second any change has been made (RSS, etc), read about what you are doing/what you have done all in a community setting. People take photos and videos now and within seconds share the photos and video with family and friends…and even “strangers”. If you want to get ahold of someone - you can do so electronically and it is a good chance I will be talking to whomever I want within a matter of moments, not minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months.

The definition of face to face communication has also changed. The majority of us have high speed connections which allow us to chat via video so we can see our friends and family at any time, any place within seconds. No more waiting to see cousin x until our yearly trip to Germany. Same goes with business. Why have your office fly to somewhere to sit in a room with others while you could save money and time by doing business via video? Of course it is still nice to meet in person on occasion, but it is not always needed or the best solution.

Even gaming - all of my favorite games are highly interactive with my friends online. I cannot even tell you how many times I had to explain that I was a girl and not a 10 year old kid playing So Com II because we planned our attacks and defense using voice. I have friends online that I know I can play games with at almost any time…from scrabble to planning a sniper attack on the enemy.

On trips, I take photos with my iPhone and send them instantly to family members so they can see their grandson in his latest cute pose. Sharing no longer waits.

I look forward to talking to Evan about how he perceives me and my generation compared to what he knows and understands about the world. I am sure he will one day comment on how crazy it was to not have instant or almost instant access to everyone and everything.

What is worse than debugging your web application for IE 6? Debugging your web application on IE 6 when you have a Mac and have to launch Windows…or wait, do you? If you do not want to run Parallels or something similar - check out ies4osx. It is dependent on Darwine so make sure you have that installed too. Ah…now I can debug a little more easily.

I have had an Apple high a few times in my life (the day my PowerBook 520, PowerMac 6500, B&W G3, G4 Cube, 2 Mac Minis, and a MacBook Pro arrived at my door) and I remember each one of them very vividly. Today - I had an unexpected Apple high…I had been having problems with my iPhone (bottom part of the screen was dead) for about a week and finally decided to make an appointment with the Apple Store Genius. I showed up, showed them the problem (with my out of warranty iPhone) - and just like that, I got a new iPhone at no cost. I fully expected to pay for a new one when I showed up and was more than thrilled when I walked away from the store with a brand new iPhone. Great customer service Apple!

I spent the weekend relaxing up in the North Woods of Wisconsin in St. Germain where the pace of life is much different than here in Chicago. We enjoyed time with some of our friends who went with us, the Beef-a-rama, and some very scenic drives. I wish I had my phone with me while checking into the hotel because there was a great sign behind the registration desk “Check-in is at 3pm. Don’t Even ask” (with a picture of a revolver before “Don’t even ask”. I loved it. I also learned the locals are not huge Illinois loves. They refer to us as “FIBs” (F***ing Illinois Bastards)…that was pleasant. But - for the most part we had a great time. I am kicking myself for not going fishing while I was there, but I will definitely be ready to spend some serious time on the lake next year. If you are looking for a great time - check out St. Germain. This is a great spot to relax and enjoy the simpler things in life.