Hack-ed

As part of renewing our 2 yr contract with Verizon, our Wireless provider, Ang and I updgraded to new phones- the Motorola RAZR V3m. Ang got pink, I got silver.

Well, as with most Verizon phones, they decide to disable a number of features that are available under most other CDMA carriers.

So leave it to the power of the internet to find all the information you need to bring your phone back to a fully-functional device. With a bit of trepidation, I ventured into this realm, and the results have been amazing.

Hacks:
1) Enable the "Vibe & Ring" function, which was noticeably missing
2) Disable (replace) startup and shutdown VCAST animations (simply annoying)
3) Replace startup and shutdown sounds (which were too long and loud and annoying)
4) Change banner that says "Verizon Wireless" to say "Danny Davis" on inside and outside of phone
5) Change picture that shows up on outside LCD when the flip is open.

It no longer feels like one big advertisement for Verizon, but instead it is my phone, with my photos, my name, sounds, etc etc. Here's to hexadecimal bit editing.

Soccer

Yes, the World Cup is over. But, it's almost August, which means the English Premier League (EPL) starts in less than a month!!

Call me a bandwagon jumper-on-er, but I've enjoyed watching and following Chelsea, the champion of the EPL the last two years. There is an amazing dominance in their play and a real sense of team, even though it is built of super-stars.

Give all the credit to Jose Mourinho, the Portugese manager of Chelsea. He must have some amazing skills and leadership qualities, b/c his team is stout.

This year, they're adding two more superstars- German Michael Ballack and Ukrainian Andriy Shevchenko. People have speculated that Ballack and current midfielder, scoring machine Frank Lampard will have troubles sharing the midfield together. Let's see how they handle it and share the wealth of goal opportunities.

So, the point of this post is not to bore you about soccer- it's to set the stage for today's Davis family story.

For our anniverary, Angela decided she wanted to get me a soccer jersey. I currently have one (David Beckham's England National Team jersey), and I've thought for a while about getting a Chelsea jersey (for about a year, now). Once Angela gave me the go ahead (and blank check!), I decided to start looking around.

The three most popular EPL teams - Chelsea, Manchester United, and Arsenal - all changed either sponsors or jersey styles (or both) for 2006/07. Which to buy??

I immediately ruled out Man Utd. The new sponsor's logo isn't really cool (it's AIG), and what player's jersey would I choose??

I then checked out Arsenal's new jersey. Drooooolll..... Wow, it's sweet looking.

I'm becoming a fan of Thierry Henry, the French star who plays for Arsenal. He is quite a finisher, and he plays much better with Arsenal than he did with the French team in the WC.

It's also a new phase in Arsenal's storied history, as they are moving out of their Fenway-esque stadium and moving into new place....


But I finally decided to stick with Chelsea and get one of their new jerseys. First, they've moved from Umbro to Adidas, and I've always been an Adidas fan (especially over Nike). Second, their sponsor is pretty cool - Samsung Mobile. Third, they just signed a contract with both Samsung and Adidas, so the jersey will be pretty much the same for a number of years (meaning it won't look too obsolete next year).

And finally, Frank Lampard. The aforementioned midfielder is the up and coming star of English soccer. He scores a lot, sets up a lot of other goals, and really controls the tempo for Chelsea. So, I've ordered a #8 jersey and will be wearing it on August 20th to cheer on Chelsea in their opening match v. Manchester City.

Dad, close your ears

Last night, Ang and I went with Mike and Sarah and my former boss Ron Robinson to a Switchfoot concert, held outside on the lawn at Belmont Country Club. All I can say is- WOW.

It was loud.

Not to mention we were 10 rows back from about 36 speakers.

As we were driving up, about 3 minutes away, the heavens opened and it rained buckets for about 15 minutes. It kept raining off and on for another 15-20 minutes and then finally stopped. The concert was delayed almost 2 hours, but once it started, it rocked on until about 10:30pm. I just found out that the rain actually destroyed the main sound board, and the sound guy had to build one from scratch in order for the concert to go on. He must have great talent, because it went off without a hitch.

Did I say that it was loud?

Anyway, it was fun to get out, hear some cool music, and hang with the Brewmeister for a while. I'll try to write more later about the band and their songs....

A First of Firsts

or something.... Anyway, here's the first time she's sucked her thumb. We're still working on technique, but not bad!

 

I'm all smiles...

SNEEZE - God Bless You!!

 

7 weeks...

Mom and Amelia at the Mall- all alone!!

I'm a looker. Keep those boys away!

Dad, you're just taking entirely way too long!!!

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzz

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BAM!
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

That's what happened on the way out of the coffee shop last week. I step out the door, and this flying bug just waps right into me. Almost dropped my coffee. Whew!

The Unending Cycle

From the Washington Post, a week ago:

The apartment market in the Washington area has become one of the tightest in the country, and rents are rising briskly as some affluent residents decide to rent rather than buy in what they fear is an inflated real estate market.

So here's a question about supply and demand. If the rental market is so hot, and rental prices are going up, wouldn't that lessen the gap between rental prices and mortgage payments? Thus, wouldn't that incentivize renters to consider leaving the rental market to buy a house? And, thus, with the greater demand for houses, wouldn't that help lift us out of the "slump" that we are currently experiencing in the housing market?

So, in fact, these renters, by entering the home-buying market, will protect themselves from their fear of a housing bubble. Maybe?

I'm no economist, but one of the most intriguing aspects of the free market is that anticipation/fear of a certain result will acutally bring it to pass. I.e.- anticipating a stock to go up causes more people to buy it, which with the additional demand causes the price to go up.

In this case, the fear of a bloated housing market causes renters (who would normally turn to buying a home) to not buy a home, which artificially lowers the demand for houses, which causes housing prices to lower (making the renters think they actually made a right decision). However, once the demand returns (maybe speculation comes back) and prices begin to go up, more people will jump into the market as quickly as possible to get in before the costs get too high, which merely increases demand even greater and causes prices to go up even more quickly. Follow?

All this to say- I'm glad I own a home. While the market has taken a slow down/slight reduction, our time will come....

Link to WashPost article

Do I have a sign on my forehead?

Random:

I was walking down the sidewalk between the gift store and Starbucks, and these teenage kids were sitting around a table talking. I hear one kid say, in the midst of a larger conversation, "That [bleep] is [bleepin'] crazy."

I sort of look over, kinda wondering what the deal was to arouse such language. He looked up and saw me, and then quickly said, "Oh, sorry- sorry," not necessarily looking at me. The whole group, which had been rather boisterous, was all of a sudden very quiet. I heard one member ask the aforementioned kid, "What are you sorry for."

And by that time, I had passed them by.

I started pondering what made the kid feel so guilty about cursing in front of me. Was it the suit and tie? Did I look like a preacher? Did I have a condescending look on my face? Do I have a halo over my head that screams, "Christian!" ??

Maybe it's that while cursing frivolously is in vogue, those evoking such expletives realize that there is something intrinsically distasteful about their actions. Food for thought.

Situational Dilemmas

It's 8:55am, I'm watching Mia while Ang gets a few more minutes of sleep. I'm minding my own business, drinking coffee, watching Wimbledon, and reading the Wall Stree Journal - when all of a sudden, there's some more business that I need to mind. (If you know what I mean ;-) ).

Here's the problem- our silly cat, Dido, has decided that the pack 'n play is a great thing to scratch and attempt to jump in, especially when the dear little one is asleep in it. And, she has just emerged from the depths of our basement.

So, how do I, needing to visit the loo for a few minutes, keep our cat out of the pack 'n play?? I bring the cat with me into the bathroom. She seemed okay with that (actually, she often tries to pry open the door when you're in there anyway), but I wasn't able to close the door (my paper was in the way- you know, reading material).

Well, a few minutes in, Dido leaves. And as I poke my head out the door, what do I see?? SHE'S STANDING OVER THE BABY! Dilemma time - do I hobble out of the bathroom; do I hope that even if Dido snuggles next to the baby, it won't cause any harm; do I grab the roll of toilet paper and throw it at the cat???

Well, many silent curses towards our kitty ran through my mind, and in a hushed but firm voice, I yelled her name a couple times. She managed to understand that I was upset (and maybe she thought I was on my way, which I was nowhere close to leaving the porcelain throne), and she jumped down, only to walk back into the bathroom like nothing had happened.

Whew! Semi-crisis averted. And Ang will never know (unless she reads this, which I don't think she does....). =)

Men - Buy this for your wife!!!

For the last year/18 months, Ang has been talking about the "Southern Living Ultimate Cookbook." My sister-in-law just raved about it, and I think Mom got one for Christmas one year. I had planned to get Ang a copy, but got her other things instead.

So imagine our (!) excitement when a notice came in the mail about a special- the new, updated Ultimate Cookbook for half the price!!! And I quickly caved.

Needless to say, it has been worth every penny. The very day it came we went to the store, got ingredients, and made three dishes that were phenomenal. The most impressive was a blue-cheese spread/sauce/topping for our grilled filet mignons and baked potatoes. It was amazing.

But possibly even better than grilled steak were the BBQ Ribs we made for the Fourth. They were the most tender, most flavor, and best ribs I have ever had. I don't think I could ever order ribs from a restaurant again. I probably shouldn't post the recipe here for fear of copyright infringement, but if you're interested, e-mail Ang (you're allowed to share recipes with friends, right?). Warning, it took a bit of preparation. But maybe that made it taste even better.

Miscellaneous

I can't remember everything I was going to post, but here's a rundown of our lives as of late:

• I played golf on Monday with Mike and Mark (my next door neighbor). We had fun in 94 degree/85% humidity weather- I actually did very well. Crushed the pitooey out of the ball and shot a 108- should have been about 100, but I had two 10's (I can explain later).
• Amelia has been sleeping better at night. She actually went 6 hours between feedings the other night. We think it has a lot to do with putting rice cereal in her bottle to help the food stay settled and not creep back up to cause pain.
• Did anyone see the Germany heartbreak? They played well for 118.5 minutes. And then they couldn't clear a corner kick. Wow.
• Wimbledon Finals are this weekend- should be exciting.

And the big item of the day- well, you'll have to look at the next post.

Oh- ps- about the most important person in our household- Ang has been doing well. She's been venturing out more with little 'Mia (don't ask if this is a permanent nickname, but it's easier to txt msg to each other). In fact, she just couldn't wait to go to the mall with her little girl. It's good to see them having fun together already!!

Break our hearts

ESPN is claiming that the Redskins will be the third best team in the NFL this season (and the top three teams are NFC teams). Much of this is due to a new offensive coordinator and four #1 wide receivers, as well as the consistently strong defense.

Who'll wager the Redskins go 7-9 and finish one game out of the playoffs? Wouldn't surprise me.

Beef 'n Cheddar

mmmmm....Arby's is now open in Leesburg. Previously we had to travely 30-45 minutes for a good Roast Beef sandwich.

We welcome you with open arms. And I will say again- mmmmmm.....