Life Goes On...

Big G with the fam

...after tragedy strikes. As you may know, my grandmother, Big G, died February 6th after battling uterine cancer and a brain tumor. She was my last grandparent. Back in 1998, my grandfather (her husband) died of a brain tumor. Then in 1999, only 10 months later, my mom's mom died of ovarian cancer. I was only 12 at the time and while I understood the sadness and importance of what happened, I feel that my memory wasn't quite as cognoscente as it is now. I was sad, but it didn't really affect me as much as Big G's passing has. I suppose it's helped having 11 years to cultivate a deeper relationship with Big G. Especially as I'm now an adult, interpretations of life are different.

Carol Jeanne Loveridge (Big G) was born September 6th, 1930. She was the youngest child be many years. She was also an "accident" child. Her mother was a good woman, but as far as I understand, Big G was never really wanted. I suppose the fact that she was born during the Depression, made finances tight all around with an extra mouth to feed. She had a lot of hardships in her childhood due to that fact. She lived her entire life in Springville, Utah, and married her high school sweetheart, Clyde LaMar Clark, when they were both just 19 years old. I had the opportunity to come across some old yearbooks from when the two of them were in high school. The "autographs" they wrote to each other were absolutely precious. Those two were the very definition of "soul mates". Together they had 7 children, 18 grand-children and (so far) 16 great-grand children. While her early years were somewhat love-less, she made sure that no one else felt unloved when they were with her. She made everyone feel like she was their best friend. In fact, after her funeral, my mom was at the local floral shop. She was chatting with the florist, when the subject of Big G came up. The florist said that all the customers who came in to buy flowers for Big G had said things like "She was my best friend" or "I could always tell her anything and she never judged me". I really admire the legacy she left behind. I hope that by the time I'm about to kick the bucket, I have the same thing. Even a fraction of what Big G had, and I'll be happy.

When I first heard she was seriously sick, I was so sad. I didn't cry until I got on the phone with her, and she started singing one of her silly songs. She always had this thing to sing some old song which was relevant to the situation. For example, when waking you up in the morning, she'd sing a song about Mary Sunshine who woke up too soon and scared away the moon and stars. After expressing my sadness over her illness, she got firm and told me "no tears" and that she wasn't afraid or sad to be dying, and that was a huge comfort to me. From my religious standpoint, I knew that she would be ok and that she would be reunited with her husband, something I knew she wanted badly. And the fact that she wasn't afraid, helped me make peace. After all, something I realized is that I wasn't saying "goodbye" to her. I was saying "see you later". I was lucky to be able to fly out to see her a week before she died and then again for the funeral. While I know she's gone, there's a part of me that hasn't fully absorbed that she just isn't alive anymore. When I saw her for the first time in her casket, I almost expected her to just wake up. She looked like she was sleeping. It was difficult watching them close the casket. I didn't want her to be alone in there even though I knew her spirit was long gone. It's funny how hard it is to say goodbye to the body of a deceased person. We know they're gone, but since the body is the last thing we have really to hold on to, it becomes the symbol of them.

I feel like I've been dealing ok with her death. I think right now, I'm in a state of irritability. I'm not sure why. I don't resent God for taking her. I'm not angry, I guess I'm just more intensely sad than normal. Life without her is going to take a lot of adjustments. But like I said, life goes on after tragedy. You can't fight the forces and unavoidable occurrences that happen. You must adapt and be flexible to be truly happy....

You Know You're a Bus Driver When...

This is what I drive, except newer....

So as I've mentioned previously, I'm working as a bus driver for Fairfax City CUE Bus. It's just a small public transportation company run by the City of Fairfax. So far it's been a pretty good place to work. The supervisors are all nice. My co-workers are all really nice to work with. Some of the drivers have been working there for 20+ years!! I'm easily the youngest person by probably 20 years. I guess I'm officially done with training now, the last few days have consisted of me driving with an experienced driver riding with me for support. My next day in the driver seat is Monday in which I guess I'll be driving alone for the first time! I'm a little nervous they're cutting the apron strings! I guess I need to get myself to REI and buy a knife to carry with me...you never know what can happen with those crazy passengers, right? It's never been a dull moment at the CUE bus!


This past week by far, has been the most eventful. I worked Monday through Thursday. Monday was pretty quiet considering it was a holiday, but after that it got all crazy! Tuesday I saw someone rear-end someone else. It wasn't bad, but the guy who was the rear-ended got his car hood all folded up. Then later on in the day, one of the drivers gets on the radio to ask for an ambulance at her location. We come to hear, that she hit someone with the bus!! Apparently, they think this lady who got hit, was trying to catch a bus on the other side of the street. She thought she could cross the street before the bus departed and dashed out in front of this driver. I didn't see it happen and I'm not sure of all the details, but it's definitely sad and scary!! It would be bad enough hitting someone with a car, but can you imagine hitting someone with a bus?! I'm not sure how the woman is doing who got hit. I think they said she's in the hospital (obviously) but I don't know much else. Then on Wednesday, I drove most of the day. During the morning, we got stuck in pretty bad traffic, and so we were running 15 minutes behind schedule. So the lady driver who was with me, took the wheel for a loop around the route to catch up time. Well she's a maniac driver as it is, plus add the fact that she was trying to catch up time, and it was kinda a scary ride. I didn't feel the need to sit and watch her since I knew the route, so since I was really tired I kinda just started snoozing. Awhile later, I open my eyes to see where we were, and she was just about to pull next to a bus stop sign. She swung in way too deep and ended up smacking the side mirror on the bus stop sign!! Glass shattered everywhere, including on the man who was waiting at the stop! He wasn't hurt, but obviously shaken. That definitely woke me up! After that happened, they brought us a new bus and she made me take the wheel again.

That experience with her driving all crazy though made me think...It would be advisable for commercial drivers to go through better training when they get CDLs. I'm not saying that all CDL holders are nuts. But I've experienced some pretty crappy bus driving. There are some drivers who accelerate really quick and then slam on their brakes to stop. There's drivers who just pull into bus stops too deep, and eventually shatter mirrors. It makes me grateful, and I think gives me an advantage, that Holland America gives their Driver Guides such good training. Or maybe it's the fact that one of the most important aspects of being a tour driver is always having the comfort of the passenger in mind. It's stressed to us that you should always Feather Brake, and to take turns slow and to not jar the people on the coach. Plus, you have to keep in mind that even though time is an issue, passenger safety is an even bigger concern. You shouldn't let your rush to keep time, endanger the passengers you're carrying. Even if you're running late, it's better to be late than dead.

Apparently, I'm also famous. I hate to say it but I'm kind of a big deal. People KNOW me. Haha. Seriously though, I guess being a cute, young, girl bus driver from Alaska gets people talking. I had a passenger the other day get off at the Metro (Washington DC's train system, not unlike the subway), turn around and say to me "Oh! You're the one from Alaska!". It was funny because I wondered who she heard it from, but I guess one of the other drivers mentioned something. Similar experience have happened to me before. People are always so impressed or intrigued that such a young girl drives buses. The more I have thought about it, the more appealing it is in some ways, to just drive a bus the rest of my life. The pay is really good (I'm starting at $16/hr, while the veteran drivers I'm sure make way more) and it's a good skill to have incase I need a fallback. The only thing though, is that I don't want to turn into those leathery, old bus drivers. I've seen the women who drive the buses and they all LOOK like bus drivers. Sun damaged skin, wrinkles everywhere, scraggly hair, frumpy oversized clothing, bus driver butt (you know what I'm talking about ;). If I do end up driving buses a lot, I REFUSE to turn into one of those creepy drivers. I will stay as fashionable as I can (for a bus driver) and will make sure I don't get fat or ruin my skin with sun damage and wrinkles.

So I came up with a short list of "You know you're a bus driver when...." things and I thought I would share. So without further ado... (this comes from both my experience in Alaska and here in Fairfax)


You Know You're a Bus Driver/Driver Guide When...

1) While it may not be the most direct way to go, you find yourself driving to places following your bus route when you're off duty.

2) You pass a historical site, and suddenly feel the urge to narrate and tell people about it.

3) As you drive through intersections (while off-duty), the booming "announcer man voice" plays in your head "Now approaching Fairfax Circle" or wherever you happen to be at the time (this happens to me, and makes me sad, lol)

4) After driving in the bus and getting into your car, you watch your mirrors extensively and make sure you don't hit anything with your "tail-swing" (tail swing is virtually non-existant in a car/compact SUV/mini-van)

5) You wish you had or actually have convex mirrors on your personal car

6) You give your car a mini-pre trip before you leave in the morning


So anyway, that's all for now. This bus job is kicking my butt as far as sleep goes and being tired. In Alaska, I never really had a problem getting up in the morning for work. Probably because it never felt like work. I was surviving on an average of 6 hours a night and it didn't bother me. But now, I'm getting up sometimes at 4:15 am! Luckily, next week I'll be working afternoon routes so it won't be as hard. I am NOT a morning person.

The Last 9 Months Can't Be Contained In One Post...

Look at me! I'm on a roll! Two posts in two days!! I guess I must be bored. Abby and Trent left to go back to Texas, and I have yet another day off. Well, actually it's more like half a day off since I'll be working at 6pm. It was really sad for me to see them go. They've been keeping me company for the last month and it's a hard adjustment. It was fun to have them around. We got to do all sorts of fun things. We actually went shopping a lot, mostly because of Christmas. I almost dread the holiday season here in Fairfax. The traffic is TERRIBLE. After living in Alaska with barely any traffic and Skagway not even having stop lights, it's a huge change. It takes forever to get anywhere around here! One day, Abby, Trent and I went to Tyson's Corner Mall which is about a 20 minute drive under normal circumstances. Driving there wasn't bad, a little traffic but not much delay. Well on our return trip home, it was 'rush hour' and a 20 minute drive took 3 hours!! I had to break out my GPS to find a back road way to get home in order to avoid taking the highway. As a general rule though, here in Fairfax, traffic is generally just bad. Some days are better than other days, but it usually just takes longer to get places. A lot of times it's just because the traffic lights take forever. You can wait at some of them for as long as 5 minutes! Not to mention the crazy drivers too! Some people just shouldn't be allowed to drive. I'm a firm believer that when someone renews their license they should have to retake the written exam too. It would force people to refresh their memories on how to drive properly. For example, just yesterday I almost had an accident with another car as I was turning out of a shopping center. I was at a red light and looking to turn right. It was a double-lane road and my turning lane was clear, so I began to make my turn. Out of the blue, a car in the left lane, decided to change lanes in the intersection and almost side-swiped me. The driver then proceeded to honk at me! Now I will admit, that if the result had been an accident, it probably would've been my fault. BUT people are always in such a hurry, trying to weave in and out of traffic that it poses unnecessary danger to others. Had the other driver waited until he'd gotten out of the intersection BEFORE changing lanes, a possible accident could've been averted. One other thing I've noticed about the drivers here in VA that I haven't noticed anywhere else is their turning methods. So say you're turning left onto a road with two lanes going in each direction. Are you not supposed to turn into the innermost (i.e. left) lane? Then if you need to, you may merge into the outer (right) lane? Well apparently, people here in VA do it backwards. It's nothing horribly dangerous I suppose, but it's a little thing that irks me. I'm a professional driver, so I guess driving flaws are more noticeable to me than to other people. Moving on...

As an early Christmas present, Trent gifted me WoW and bought my first months subscription. He had tried getting Abby into it, but she didn't really like it. I was his next recruit. So I started playing, and I must admit, I still don't really see the point of it BUT it is a pretty fun game. I haven't decided whether or not I will pay the $15/month to keep playing, but I'm tempted. I guess it depends on how much time I'll have to play. Once both jobs kick in, I'll potentially be working 7 days a week. I won't be able to play in Alaska at all since the game runs on Internet and Skagway Internet would not be able to run the game fast enough. I guess we'll see, but I suggest everyone should at least try it.

After Christmas was over, came the New Year! I can't believe it's 2010! I remember when 2000 rolled around! All the silly hype about Y2K! How people thought all the computers would crash with the Y2K virus. Or that they wouldn't be able to calculate the year 2000. I remember my Dad had to stay at work that night to monitor the computer systems and so me, my sister and my Mom all went to his office. We brought our traditional New Years party snacks and celebrated 2000 in the conference room. How things have changed! I was 12 years old then, barely even knew how to navigate the internet and now here I am about to turn 23!! Gosh I'm getting old! I wonder if I would have admired myself back then, if I knew how I would turn out in 10 years? I wonder how my life will be when the year turns 2020? As for my projects these next few months, I need to get back on my diet. I've kept off the 20 pounds I lost last winter, but I think I need to drop another 20 pounds or so. I also need to start saving money in order to buy a car to take to Alaska. In the Fall, I plan on returning to school somewhere. I'm considering Western Washington University if I can get in. If not then I'll either try a community college or do Independent Study through BYU. I doubt I'll be returning to Virginia or the East Coast for awhile. I love the East, but I need a change of scenery to decide where I really want to be. I'd obviously like to graduate college, but I really want to move up with REI and eventually become a store manager. We'll see where the wind takes me!

Harassment Pays Off

So yet again, I've been harassed to write a new blog entry. I'm terrible at writing frequent entries, unless I have something interesting to write about. I guess this time I'll just make some updates as to what I've been doing for the last 9 months....

First off I went back to Alaska for 5 months. It was a total blast as usual! I was so happy to be back. Skagway has almost become my real home. The second the plane landed, I felt immense relief and happiness to be back where I belong. It was cool going back as a second year driver too. I started out doing local tours again, but then I got roped into doing highway tours since they were short on drivers and I knew how to run them. In the '08 season, I tried doing highway and hated it. I didn't like leaving all the time and living out of a suitcase. This year however, since most of my good buddies (i.e. Helen and Donnie) didn't come back to AK, I didn't mind leaving. Not to mention, the local Skagway drivers weren't getting as many hours this season as we had been getting in '08 so I made more money there, plus WAY more money in tips! I've realized that local tours are too inconsistent as far as tips go. One week you could do really well, the next week you could get totally stiffed. Highway is much better since you're spending multiple days with your passengers, resulting in a better relationship, resulting with them giving you more money.

After highway was over, I was stuck in Skagway for a month doing local tours which kinda sucked money wise, but was fun to enjoy the town. I got to hang out more with some friends I hadn't seen much all summer, plus go hiking up to the glaciers too!!

Glaciers are gorgeous! Especially when they're sporting an OM NOM NOM cave!

In August, my parents came to visit also!! They were there for about a week. I only got to see them for like 3 days since I still had to run my highway tours. But they did a bunch of tours, and got to see where we all hang out. Plus, they were able to ride on one of my highway tours partway up to Whitehorse. It was fun having them onboard!

Mom, Dad and I on a bike tour down the White Pass!!

Once the season was over, Bethany and I decided to take the ferry from Skagway to Bellingham, WA. The managers shut down employee housing early, so we had to take an early ferry out of Skagway to Juneau. We were in Juneau for 3 days! It ended up being a LONG time in Juneau since we didn't have a car and were restricted to the downtown area. Now you may think that there would be plenty of things to do in Juneau, but the tourist season was practically over so most of the attractions were closed, had limited hours or were only open on the weekend. Plus downtown Juneau, while historical, was basically like Skagway on steroids with a McDonald's thrown in. None of the shops we came across were unique (most stores had a location in Skagway too) and it was all the same touristy merchandise I'd seen a billion times in Skagway. Below is a picture of Juneau from the mountain top:

So after an eternally long time in Juneau, it was time for the eternally long ferry ride to Bellingham!! Luckily, a couple other friends joined me and Bethany for the ride. The ride was basically 3 days and 3 nights!! We had plenty of en

tertainment though. We had both bought a couple TV seasons to watch, and I loaded my iPhone up with games to play. During the ride, the ferry stops at lots of towns as it makes its way to Bellingham, so we had plenty of opportunity to get off. Plus we got to see more of Southeast Alaska. We stopped in Sitka, Petersburg, and Ketchikan. All of them just like Skagway! Haha. But the ride was gorgeous and I got to take a lot of pictures!!

The wake from the ferry:

Sunrise on the Ferry!

Whales!!!

After the ferry ride, Bethany and I arrived in Bellingham and got picked up by our friend Chelsea, who was also in Alaska with us. She gave us the tour around town. Showed us the hotspots, and we met up with Rose, another co-worker from Alaska. It was fun to be back in civilization! We went to a movie, got to eat real food and enjoy real shops!! We went out to this place called Larabee Park. It looked a lot like The Point in Skagway with similar landscape and views. I didn't want to leave Skagway at all, so it kinda made me homesick. But we found some starfish in the water which was so cool!!

So after 3 days in B-ham, Bethany and I rode the bus to Seattle and went our separate ways. Well actually, we both went to the same place (Baltimore) but my flight was later in the day. I decided this winter that I would live at home to save money, so here I am in Fairfax, VA. I'd thought about the idea of possibly just collecting unemployment for the winter, but then I'd really have nothing to do to occupy my time. So I ended up getting a job at REI, which if you don't know, is an outdoor sporting goods store. It's kinda like the Nordstrom of sporting goods. It's a really awesome place to work!! The company is on the "Fortune 500 Top 100 Companies to Work For" list and it's easy to see why. Not only do they help provide health insurance (even for part-time employees), but they give you great discounts on gear. I get 30% off gear I buy from REI, except for the actual REI brand gear which I get 50% off. I can also buy directly from the manufacturer's for an even better discount (more commonly known as ProDeal). ProDealing is addicting because it's usually 60-75% off the retail price. Since REI is just part-time, I also got a job driving buses for a public transportation company. I'm still in training for that job though, since it took awhile for all the logistics to be completed. But it pays $16 an hour and it's a good filler job for extra money.

Now that's its after the holidays, it'll be good to settle down for a few months. Abby and Trent were here for almost a month. They leave tomorrow :(. And in 3.5 months, I'll be going back to Alaska!! I'm planning on driving up this year. My world was shattered a few months ago when I found out that HAPA has decided to only run highway out of Fairbanks this year! It's a terrible decision if you ask me, and now I will be reduced to only doing local tours in Skagway. But I'm hoping with a car, that I'll be able to enjoy Alaska more and be able to travel more too.

It's Been Awhile

So I'm sure some of you have been clamoring for a new blog post of mine. Not that my life is super exciting. Nothing much is new lately. I'm still in New York but there's a light at the end of the tunnel to end my monotonous past 6 months. I'm leaving in about a week to go home to DC!! I will be in DC for about 2 weeks, and will then fly to Utah. I will be in Utah to visit Abby and Trent (even though they're coming to AK also) for a couple days and will then ride on the company buses to Seattle. Then it's only a short 3 hours flying to Skagway!! Woo-who!! 

I did have a bit of bad new today though. My friend Helen was going to come up after she found out she wasn't getting this internship she applied for. So I was all excited, but then she tells me today that she did get the internship after all, and will be doing that instead. Now don't get me wrong, I am super excited for her to have this opportunity (and it's in Germany!) but I was so disappointed to put it mildly. But then I remembered my other friend Amber who is coming up! I've known her for 8 years from middle school. A couple months ago out of the blue, she asked about Alaska and said she'd be interested in coming up this summer. So I sent her a bunch of links to jobs in Skagway and she was hired by one last week! So as much as I'll miss Helen, it'll be fun to hang with Amber (who I also haven't seen in a good 2-3 years).

So right now I'm just working on getting ready to go. I need to start a packing list of stuff to bring, which I think will mostly be clothing. I thought about bringing beauty/personal stuff, but figured I can get most everything in Skagway or have it shipped so why waste the luggage space? OH! And I got a matching rolling duffel bag that goes with this cute plaid duffel I got in AK last summer so now I have matching luggage!! I know that's super dorky, but it's cute and I don't have to tie some stupid ribbon on my suitcases cause they're so individual! 

So if you go back in my blog about a year, you might find a post on weight loss. Well needless to say I caved and quit the diet before I went to Alaska. Well since I've been in New York and have had nothing else to do, I started my own program in February and have since lost 15 pounds! I basically just count calories, nothing fancy. I use the WebMD website for help and reference and it's been going really well! I realized today that my conviction towards being healthy has been helped along by the fact that I don't do much besides babysitting my niece so all my energy goes into this diet. I've been exercising more, and feeling so much better. The only downfall (which is actually a good thing also) is that all my clothing has gotten to big and I've had to buy new stuff. And this leads me into my secret that...

I am going to allot some of my Alaska earnings and go on a shopping spree after I get home in the Fall!! I'm going to need new jeans, and all sorts of things. Plus I would like to buy a little bit of jewelry and want to get a couple things from Tiffanys. Yea I know, I'm splurging lol. My goal right now is to lose about 6-8 more pounds before I leave for AK, and then continue my goal once I get there. So cross your fingers for real this time! Cause I might need it!

This year in AK is going to be so much more fun I think. My friends and I have plans to go camping (among the bears and moose) and I want to go to Whitehorse more often. And my goal this year is to see those elusive Aurora!! Three of my friends are going to have cars, so I think we'll have to make trips up to Dawson City more often. That's where the lights are mostly seen. I really need to see them this year! I'm also toying with the idea to visit Juneau more often. At least go down once. It's a 3-hour ferry ride and they do whale watching there. That's also something I'd like to see one of these days.

So there you go. A basic summary of what's going on. I don't feel like sharing anymore, so go away. Thanks!

Indie Wears Salomon Hiking Boots

Far away from any major civilization in Southeast Alaska, lies the small town of Skaguay. Skagway was a famous port town during the 1898 Klondike Gold Rush, which supposedly is quite well known (though I had never heard about it). Hundreds of thousands of men came up to this remote place to find the supposed gold that lay hidden 500 miles north in the deserted Yukon Territory. Only a few found wealth, the rest died on the treacherous trail, or came back empty handed.

That was then, this is now. Today, Skaguay is a bustling tourist town. Visited daily by cruise ships sailing around the better ports in Alaska, toting old fogies around who have saved all their lives on order to take this trip. Coming to Alaska is said to be the adventure of a lifetime. About 500,000 people come each season, and it is quite the unique place. Which brings me to my purpose.

One day, I was off work, hanging out, minding my own business when my friend Bethany tells me that apparently Harrison Ford was visiting the town. With him was longtime girlfriend Calista Flockheart and her son. I was a little intrigued. I'd heard about famous people coming to Skaguay to visit, for example Kevin Bacon, but I never thought I would be here when some random celeb showed up. Bethany however, wanted to search for Mr. Ford, and I agreed just out of curiosity to see if we could actually find him. All we knew was that he had flown his own plane into town, and was out and about. We found out that he had ridden the White Pass and Yukon Route train, but had since gone on his merry way. We hoped maybe he would pop into some of the shops, and since downtown Skaggs isn't that large (one street about 1

0 blocks long), it seemed we'd be able to find him easily. So we went up one side of the street, then down the other with no luck. Bethany had the idea that maybe he had stopped in the Skagway Brewing Company for a drink (or to try their famous Spruce Tip Ale), so we went in that direction. We arrived at the Brew Co. and got a drink, and looked around the room, but saw nothing. After about an hour of searching for the elusive man, we gave up and headed home. 

After arriving home, my other friend Donald said he wanted to buy some rock climbing gear, and so I decided to go with him. By now I'm pretty sure every person who lived in Skaguay had heard he was in town, and a few people had gotten pictures of him, but I doubted I would run into him. So Donnie and I went over to The Mountain Shop which sells more rugged camping and outdoor gear, including rock climbing harnesses and shoes. After looking at their selection, I was wandering around the store, when who should walk in, but Mr. Indiana Jones himself!! I couldn't believe it! It took me a second to realize it was him, he was sporting a beard and sunglasses as well as one of those hats with the big brim around it, one would wear in the sun or for water activities (see below):

Once I had gotten over the shock of seeing Harrison Ford in this little town, I immediately sent a message to Bethany to get her butt over to The Mountain Shop ASAP! Donnie and I continued to watch him covertly, and overheard he was in the store looking for socks. The ones he had on were giving him blisters or something. So we watched as he went into the dressing room at the store and started trying them on. The sales guy asked him what kind of boots he wore and Indie said they were Salomon. I was kinda surprised because I never thought Salomon's were all that good of a brand. But to each his own I guess. Bethany arrived and joined us. At one point, I was standing in line to purchase something and Mr. Indiana Jones himself was right in front of me making his purchase of socks. I really wanted his credit card receipt but couldn't get it of course. I never got the courage to talk to him, partially because I didn't want to annoy him, but I wish I had said something. After he left, everyone was just like "Um did Harrison Ford really just come in here?".

The next day, I had to work and we heard that Harrison was still in town, but that it was his last day. I didn't expect to see him again, but just as I was driving out of town with a tour group, who should I see walking on the sidewalk was Mr. Ford (with Calista) yet again! I really wanted to say something to my group, but by the time I realized it was him we had already gone past and it was too late. And then that was that. He flew out that evening to who knows where. And that my friends is my brush with a major celeb. 

Obsession

So once every two years, I get the exciting opportunity to pick out a new cell phone. With all the abundance of new models, I often have a hard time choosing which one to get. Do I go for something more stylish? Something with more function? Blackberry? LG? Samsung? What to do?

It all started when I was about 14 years old. The cell phone was just starting to become mainstream, in that the normal person could get a cellular phone instead of just corporate big-wigs. A few of my friends had gotten them, and I wanted one soooooo bad!! I would search constantly on Amazon for cool phones I wanted. I knew my parents would never let me do one with a contract, and it was then I discovered the pay-as-you-go plans. I think it was AT&T who first cam up with the GO Phone, where you could pay as little as $10 for a card with 30 minutes of talk time. At 14, I knew I would never use a lot of minutes, I would mainly use the phone for emergencies or incase I needed to stay after school for some reason. So I saved my money and I began to prepare a list of the pros to having a cell phone to convince my parents. Then luck struck! Amazon was running a deal where I could get a prepaid phone for free with rebates!! It was a few weeks before my birthday, so that in addition with my "pros" list, my parents went ahead and ordered the phone for me as a present. I was so excited the day it arrived! I assembled everything and the next morning my mom called AT&T to get it activated! I was the proud new owner of a cell phone!

Then, a couple years later when my sister left for college, my parents decided to get cell phones for us all on a family plan on Verizon Wireless. I got the popular Motorola "bean" phone. It was so awesome. I discovered how to text and I didn't have to do the silly prepaid thing any more. After a year though I started to get bored with it, my sister having gotten a COLOR screen phone (that was the new technology then), and I decided I wanted to upgrade too. My sister had somehow convinced the Verizon guys to let her upgrade early. I wasn't so lucky and had to buy mine on Ebay (the LG VX6000) for a lot of money. But I was content to have one of the coolest phones on the market, and I loved it. Then a year after that I left for college and got to upgrade again. This time it was an Audiovox flip phone. I liked it for two weeks, then I hated it. It was super bulky and not really any better than my LG, so I got another new phone on Ebay which was also an Audiovox, but much more streamlined. It was a good phone. Even more technology advances were made over that time in phones like the addition of MP3 players, higher megapixel cameras, and improved internet. I was excellent at texting, people were always commenting on how fast my fingers flew around the key pad. I began researching the phones I would get to replace my Audiovox and I really wanted to stick with LG. LG had already served me well, their phones are good quality and hold up well. It was still a hard choice since most phones all had the same features. But I ended up with the LG VX8700 which I've kept the whole two years. I've never had any complaints with it, and never got bored which was a problem with phones I had before.

So now the time has arrived for me to get another new phone. Now the technology is focusing around touch screens. The hot phone of the moment was the Apple iPhone which was an iPod, phone and internet device rolled into one. I wouldn't mind getting and iPhone, but I hate AT&T so until Verizon carries it I won't get it. But I liked the idea of a touch screen, and was all set on trying out the LG Dare, which was definitely not at the same level as the iPhone, but seemed pretty cool anyway. I'd always wanted to get a Blackberry also, but didn't want to spend an extra $30 a month for the higher plan. But then news reached my ears about this new Blackberry coming out that was a touch screen phone, the Blackberry Storm. I was super excited to see it. The touch screen was different than any other phone. Instead of tapping the screen, you actually pushed down on it, which sounded really cool to me. It was said to be the iPhone killer, which while it competes there will always be those diehard loyal fanatics who will never let the iPhone die anyway. But after reading Cnet.com's review and user reviews I wasn't sure about the Storm. It was released to early in order to make the Christmas market and therefore had/has some bugs. But reading more and more reviews it seems like the bugs have been worked out. Apparently it has a slow accelerometer and the camera sucks. Fortunately, though Verizon has a 30 day policy to choose a phone, so if I don't like it I'll get the LG Dare. But I think it'll really be useful in Alaska with internet. I pay $60/month for limited megabyte, slow as molasses internet. With a Blackberry I'll pay $30 extra on my phone bill with almost full browsing capabilities. 

But the point of this blog isn't really a review of the Storm, just mainly a chronicle of people's enthusiasm for new technology. And if you think I'm bad, remember there are millions that are a million times worse! Those weird "techies" who constantly have to have the most current hot electronic toy. I remember when portable CD players were all the rage and when the iPod came out I thought it was stupid. I figured, what's the big deal about carrying around a folder of CD's? HA! How wrong I was! It's amazing to see my 100+ selection of CD's shrunk down into a pocket size device! I currently have 1,951 songs, which averages out to over 150 CD's! And now we have cell phones that take pictures, shoot video, play music, browse the internet, give us directions, look up nearby restaurants, and more. Amazing isn't it?