I hope everyone’s year is off to a good start!  Keep in touch

So let me get this straight.  My $11.99 plan is going to be $19.98 (60% higher!!!)???  Are you smoking crack Reed?  Netflix.  I remember when we met - http://www.zaneperry.com/wp/netflix/.  I remember when we first broke up http://www.zaneperry.com/wp/so-long-netflix.  I’m not sure our relationship can take another hit like this!

I am not sure if Karen and I are going to go back to blockbuster’s 1 disk at a time plan (with 5 in store exchanges) or give up on DVD’s all together.  We could start watching movies via Vudu or Youtube for $3-$4 bucks a pop.   Our TV streams Vudu directly and I have a laptop hooked up to our TV permanently.  I am really tempted to pay a couple extra bucks for the convenience of instant gratification.  There is also a Blockbuster express 2 mins down the road that rents DVD’s for $1.

Karen and I really only watch 3-4 DVD’s a month.    Maybe I should just join my friends and jump on the pirated streaming bandwagon ;) (not mentioning any names!).  Netflix streaming options are crap anyway.  I can’t really tell you the last time I watched a good movie streaming on Netflix.  There is no way in hell I would pay an additional 8 bucks for the service.  In short, there are plenty of other options and this move will probably hurt NFLX (SELL! or Short ).

ZJ has one more thing to add…

I brought my crappy camera to take pics. Have a look!

Garage Entrance Garage View from Front Front Mailbox Address Approved DSCN4899 Enterance Enterance Looking Up Reading Room (Future Office?) Front Door Front Door Up (Shade needs to go) Dining Room Dining Room looking towards front Dining Room looking towards Kitchen Kitchen Kitchen Countertop Food! Stove AC Unit Right Side Back Yard Back Yard Circuit Breaker Washing Room Downstairs Bathroom Under Steps Storage Living Room Living Room Screened in Porch Screened in Porch Dog Pen Dog Pen Door Dog Pen Back Yard Back Yard Under Porch Storage Left Side Living Room Steps Steps Big Bedroom (My Office?) Look Down to Front Door Master Bedroom Master Bedroom Reading Area Bathroom Enterance Master Bathroom Master Bathroom Master Bathroom Master Bathroom (Double Rainbow faucets!) Mahogany Closet System Bedroom (Nursery?) Guest Bathroom Office (Guest Bedroom?) Office (Guest Bedroom?) Office (Guest Bedroom?) Storage Steps Down

A few days ago this blog entry came out which describes 2 issues.

1.  Loose Hinges

2.  Half Internal Storage

Well thank god for the internet.  When my phone arrived I knew exactly what to check for.

Do they have the loose hinge issue?  Of course

How about the half memory issue?  (The G2 was Spec’d to have 4GB Internal)

And the cherry on the cake!  Karen’s screen is slightly yellow tinted.  I checked both screen brightness settings and they are both 100%.  Have a look.

I called T-Mobile to see what they had planned and they said nothing at the moment.  They suggested returning the phone within the 14 day return period and waiting for these issues to resolve.

 Update 1: After talking to a local T-Mobile agent on the phone I learned that since I ordered this phone over the phone I had to ship it in.  I explained that a support rep told me earlier this morning that I could return it in store.  He explained that current policy stated you could not.

After spending 30 mins on the phone with a rep she confirmed the only option was to mail it.  She also explained that she could not credit me for sending shipping costs.  After escalating to her supervisor I was able to get $10 shipping for each phone credited to my account.  She supplied the following information if you are looking to return yours.

 National Return Center
Attention Form ID: #(Get this from support)
210 Wiley Rd
LaGrange GA 30240
Directions are to get shipping with a Tracking Number

 Update 2: There appears to be a bit of discussion in the T-Mobile forum about the Loose Hinges and the 4GB Memory issue.  Apparently the phone does have 4GB of memory but Android is reporting the available memory incorrectly.  Karen and I decided that the hing issue was a non issue and the memory problem should correct itself in due time.  Unfortunately the screen will not so we are shipping it back.  I am letting her use the good phone.

Update 3: I mailed back the yellow screened G2 and just received a new one.  It has a yellow screen too.   A friend pointed out an issue with the iPhone where the screen had yellow blotches due to glue that had not dried (apparently apple was shipping phones too quickly) which eventually went away.  Not sure if this is the same issue.  I called T-Mobile again and they are shipping a 3rd.  Fingers crossed.  They also credited my account $50 for the troubles.  The reps I have been working with have been excellent.  Thank you for your support

In case you have a hard time seeing the difference.

Off-White vs White

Update 4: The G2 randomly reboots  Read the T-Mobile Forum post.

Update 5: After 2 returns and about 25 calls to T-Mobile support I finally have a working G2. Although they charged me for each phone and still have yet to credit my account for the 2 returned phones (my account at one time was over 1000 owed) I finally have a phone that works. The phone is a great phone. It streams movies & music like a charm. I think this is the last time I am ever going to pre-order a phone. It pays to wait until the phones are worked over and perfected.

I have been looking everywhere for a review and found a quick intro.

Technical Specs

Will have to compare with the Galaxy S Vibrant when it comes out at the end of this month.

It is the first the first HSPA+ smartphone but there is no way Charleston will get that kind of service. I love the QWERT keyboard and love the flash on the back. Like the look. The processor is 800mhz which at first appears slower then the snapdragon 1ghz but it is a newer processor. I am interested to learn the pro’s and con’s of each. Hopefully it will get better battery life with similar performance. It also has passed on the “Super Amoled Screen” but that is suppose to save on battery life too.

Can’t wait. RIP G1. You were good to me.

Un-boxing the G1

 

Update: Two G2′s ordered for Karen and I. ETA 10/4

First Mike and Annie Prodoehl invited a very special little man into the world. Lincoln James Prodoehl!  I love the name Can’t wait to meet this guy!

Nick and Candice Hester introduced a new Baby Boy on July 17th at 6:03pm EST. Beautiful little boy. Can’t wait to meet this guy too! Here is Nick’s announcement to the world via Facebook

Davin and Megan are expecting another. They are once again waiting to learn the sex. I don’t know how they do it!

Last but not least JP and Allegra have another little girl on the way! I hope I get to see her before she goes into labor so I can pet her belly

I hope everyone is having a great Summer Karen and I have been watching ZJ stand and crawl all over the house. We are still waiting on the Sellers bank approval on a short sale. Hopefully we will have some good news in the next couple of weeks. In the mean time my thoughts are with my Father who will be going into sugary next Wednesday. Luckily he is the toughest guy I know and I know he will do great.

Dusty’s Last Hoorah!

March started out with a bang with Dusty’s Bachelor Party in Orlando Florida.  While I can’t post much about the experience…  I can say it was a blast!

Dusty's BP

ZJ

ZJ continues to grow at an unbelievable pace.   If you haven’t seen it yet check out Video Clip’s of our Growing Son!  ZJ is currently 15 lbs.

Growing Strong

Fire Scare

While Lauren Cattaneo and Lissa (who always seems to bring the heat) were in town we came home to a 2 alarm fire in our townhouse complex!  Scary day.  Jess Zaks and Lauren came to Maddy and Molly’s rescue and put them in Jess’s car while the fire was extinguished.

Fire Damage

Forced Vacation

I apparently accumulated too much vacation over the last 6 months and was forced to take an unscheduled break from the daily grind.  I happened to play the break during St. Patricks day and Chris Odom saved the day by coming to Charleston to party it up!  It was great to catch up and slam a few car bombs with a good friend.  The day after St. Patricks day we were pretty hung over so we decided to do something fun and sober so we checked out the Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum.

This picture cracks me up!

March Madness

Maryland’s defeat was brutal and my bracket is shot.  Enough said

Work Projects

1.  I am still working on Dunn & Bradstreet Reverse Transition Application Inventory & Compliance.  I have learned some interesting processes on managing application inventory, licensing and compliance.

2.  I am starting up my role as PM in charge of managing all items network related in a mainframe migration for Zurich.  We are moving a Mainframe from a Zurich Data Center in LA to a CSC Data Center (CDC) in Chicago.  Hopefully I can find an excuse to travel to either as I would love to see the Piaggi’s in LA or the (soon to be) Walkers in Chicago.

Personal Projects

Small projects moving along.

1.  My projects for Paula vW. Dail, PhD are almost complete

writingladllc.com

MemoriesofyouBook.com

2.  We just updated melissabarrickphotography.com to ProPhoto 3

3.  I need to build Casey Spears http://prestonlandscaping.com/.  Thank you Casey for your patience.

4.  I finally finished creating Erin Shaklee’s DVD of her wedding.  It includes a short video that is fun to watch

5.  I need to make Jimmy and Christa’s wedding video.  Now that I am done Erin’s I can get to it.

Fun Month coming up…

April 9th - Lance Visits Charleston to meet ZJ  We also timed his trip right so he could catch…

Spiritual Rez plays Sunday April 11th @ Chai’s Lounge & Tapa’s.  It is definitely the best place in Charleston to watch them play and grab a drink.  If you have no plans definitely come.

April 23rd – Mom & Pop’s fly down from Maryland for ZJ’s Baptism

April 25th – ZJ gets Baptized

April 27th – ZJ’s Half Birthday!  6 Months Old

April 28th – Taylor visits Charleston!

*

That’s it for now.  I hope everyone has a good April Fools planned

I have titled this post 01/10 as I have no real subject.  Just a few updates on projects I am working on.

1.  http://www.sphs99.com – In an attempt to get an email address from everyone in my graduating class I created a Joomla CMS hosting a PHPBB3 forum and Gallery2 gallery (merged using JFusion).  It is pretty much an exact replica of http://www.umdphidelt.com .  Check out the yearbooks I have been scanning into the gallery .  Others have offered to scan theirs in as well but I am not holding my breath!  As of right now 63 of 409 classmates have registered.

2.  Photoshop Phunhouse – A fun place to post images I photoshopped.  Currently only Melissa Barrick and I post and not very often.  If you play with photoshop send me a message and I will add you to the page admins.

3.  A book website for an author

4.  I am proud of Karen for writing her first blog post on Jr’s blog titled A Perry Wonderful Christmas.  Karen did a fairly good job of capturing the Christmas spirit.

5.  Karen recently discovered our friend Katie’s new cooking blog http://sotastysoyummy.blogspot.com/ .  She is a huge fan and is having a good time following some of the recipe’s she is finding.  Karen’s first dish from So Tasty So Yummy…  Pasta Pie

6.  With my Fathers help I updated my website Project Page

7.  Sonny Maxwell Perry Jr. has his own projects going on

SKYSPOT Enterprises

That is it for now.  Plenty to keep me busy.

We miss home and look forward to the weddings to come this summer!  Can’t wait to introduce ZJ to everyone.

Cheers,

ZP

Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel’s Castle

Joust

Defender

Star Wars

ROB

Ikari Warriors

Zelda

Katie’s Games – I can’t believe you gave these to Scotty!

Athena

Goonies

Mario Cart

NHL ’94

Streets of Rage

Sonic the Hedgehog – So original I know!

Altered Beast

Great times! I can’t even imagine how much time I invested in these games

Hope you enjoyed the trip through memory lane.