A New Sibling - 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History

My earliest memory is that of Sibling arriving home from the hospital after being born. I would have been around two and a half. My grandparents were staying with me. I remember going into my room, the one with the flowered curtains, flopping down on my bed, picking at the flowers on my bedspread and wishing my mommy would come home. I remember being rather distressed.

Being that it was a fairly nice day (historical weather data bears out my memories), my bedroom window was open and I heard a car drive into the driveway. I would've had to stand on something to see out my bedroom window and I can't recall what that was but it's possible I crawled in my cradle and stood up on that. By the time I looked out the window, my mom was getting out of the car with this little bundle in her arms. Naturally I was very excited. After all my mommy was home!

Later I remember getting my first look at Sibling and Mom telling me to be very careful.

Amy Coffin's series, 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History is a series of blogging prompts that "invite genealogists and others to record memories and insights about their own lives for future descendants."

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Remembering 9/11

I don't yet have anything additional to add to my memories at this time, so I refer you to last year's post.

For an incredibly moving pictoral tribute to the events of that day, I encourage you to visit How To Be a Retronaut.

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

My New Smart Phone - The Bionic Droid

Motorola Lapdock

If you haven't been following along, I asked readers for advice on which "smart" phone to purchase and then wrote about my final selection criteria.

When Youngest Child and I walked into the Verizon store, we headed straight for the section that had the Droids. Lo and behold, there was a new phone sitting among the Droids that had been there the other day on my visit. Immediately I noticed the camera quality seem to be better than that of the other Droids. I also noticed you could get a device called a Lapdock which allows you to “plug” your phone into what looks like a mini laptop. Thus you have a larger screen than that on the phone and the keyboard to type on! I have to say those tiny letter buttons on the Droids were driving me crazy. So after playing around with the various Droids for a few minutes I was pretty sold on this new Bionic Droid phone. And I sprung for the Lapdock too!

I was able to meet my criteria of 4G, and a good quality camera. After much discussion regarding the battery life issue I learned the following:

• The battery on the Droid simply won't last as long as the battery on my old phone (I've been known to toss my phone into my purse for three days at a time and I still have battery left).
• I will need to plug in more often than I'm used to but I think that by plugging in when I'm at home, recharging on the Lapdock, and using a charger in the car I'll be fine. I'll just need to make some habit adjustments (no more leaving my phone in my purse for a couple of days).
• Also, I was told to turn off the wi-fi, Bluetooth and GPS when I’m not using those features. Apparently they are big power drains.

Regarding my requirement to have the calendar on the Droid sync with my Outlook calendar, I'm still working on it. It looks like I need to find an app and I'm confident that I will eventually.

Really good tip for anyone with a smart phone. Get yourself a stylus. It made all the difference in the world for me.

Another really good tip for Verizon customers. Verizon offers free classes on how to use your smart phone. It was worth my time. I feel like I'm going to be a power Droid user and have joined the 21st century.

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Disclaimer: I am a paying Verizon customer. I received nothing for writing this post. I'm just saying what I think.

If you haven't been following along, I asked readers for advice on which "smart" phone to purchase and then wrote about my final selection criteria.

When Youngest Child and I walked into the Verizon store, we headed straight for the section that had the Droids. Lo and behold, there was a new phone sitting among the Droids that had been there the other day on my visit. Immediately I noticed the camera quality seem to be better than that of the other Droids. I also noticed you could get a device called a Lapdock which allows you to “plug” your phone into what looks like a mini laptop. Thus you have a larger screen than that on the phone and the keyboard to type on! I have to say those tiny letter buttons on the Droids were driving me crazy. So after playing around with the various Droids for a few minutes I was pretty sold on this new Bionic Droid phone. And I sprung for the Lapdock too!

I was able to meet my criteria of 4G, and a good quality camera. After much discussion regarding the battery life issue I learned the following:

• The battery on the Droid simply won't last as long as the battery on my old phone (I've been known to toss my phone into my purse for three days at a time and I still have battery left).
• I will need to plug in more often than I'm used to but I think that by plugging in when I'm at home, recharging on the Lapdock, and using a charger in the car I'll be fine. I'll just need to make some habit adjustments (no more leaving my phone in my purse for a couple of days).
• Also, I was told to turn off the wi-fi, Bluetooth and GPS when I’m not using those features. Apparently they are big power drains.

Regarding my requirement to have the calendar on the Droid sync with my Outlook calendar, I'm still working on it. It looks like I need to find an app and I'm confident that I will eventually.

Really good tip for anyone with a smart phone. Get yourself a stylus. It made all the difference in the world for me.

Another really good tip for Verizon customers. Verizon offers free classes on how to use your smart phone. It was worth my time. I feel like I'm going to be a power Droid user and have joined the 21st century.

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Smart Phones on Sorting Saturday

About a week ago, I posted asking for advice on which "Smart" phone to purchase. A few days ago, I took a deep breath, the list of suggestions and recommendations from my readers, and Youngest Child, before heading down to our Verizon store. I have to admit that when I began this journey, I really wanted an iphone. In the end, these factors influenced my final decision.

• Availability of 4G network on the device. Since this is the future and I hear it is much faster than 3G, I decided that this was a must have. Right off the bat the iphone and Windows phones were eliminated since Verizon does not have them with 4G. Had to think about this for a few days because I really wanted that iphone. Sorry Tracy (The Pieces of My Past), I was with you on the iphone!
• Address the battery life issue with the various Droids. Several of you pointed this out which got my attention. Thank you for the tip:
• Susan Clark - Nolichucky Roots
• Claudia's Genealogy Blog
• Nira Porter Chambliss - The Door Keepers
• Karen (sorry, I couldn't find a blog)
• Camera Quality. Since I love photography, a good camera is a must.
• Ability to sync the calendar on the phone with my Outlook calendar on my laptop. This is really important to me and it appears that I should be able to address it by picking out the right ap. I took a little leap of faith and made the assumption I would be able to get it worked.

Barbara (Life From the Roots), I hope you found this  and everyone's comments helpful. I sure did.

Hold on to your hats, next I'll tell you what happened when I went into the Verizon store to make my final decision.

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

One Ringy Dingy on Treasure Chest Thursday

Since I seem to have telephones on my mind these days, I thought it would be fun to share the story of this old-fashioned phone that hung on the wall in the kitchen of the Family Home since my earliest memories. These days it holds a place of honor in another home of our family.

The phone hung on the wall in the kitchen where the outgoing mail and any papers Dad needed at work the next day would be placed. I can remember as a child standing on a chair, cranking the little handle to get the phone to ring before I began my conversation with my imaginary friends. The bell still works today.

I never knew where this phone came from until very recently. In a conversation with another family member, I learned the story behind the origin of this phone. Thus emphasizing the importance of talking to other family members as their experiences no doubt are different from yours.

Anyway, Sibling relayed to me that one of our grandfathers found this old phone in an old barn. The other grandfather took the phone, refinished and fixed it all up before giving it to my parents. When you turn the little handle on the side the bell still rings!

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Advice Needed-Why Do You Like Your Smart Phone?

We have come a long way from the olden days when a phone was a phone. Now we have all kinds of "smart" phones and I'm now eligible for one! Only I don't know which one to choose. There's so much to consider. I am hoping that my like minded genealogy friends will be able to provide some valuable advice. Do I go with an iphone, an Android or a Windows phone?

If you have a smart phone, or are looking to get one, what factors influenced your decision? Were there certain features one phone had that you liked or didn't like?

I figure besides the phone feature, I would mostly:

• Take pictures
• Blog
• Use Evernote
• Use Facebook
• Write notes and ideas to myself that would need to get to my computer.
• Make appointments on the calendar that would also need to get to Outlook on my computer.

I'm sure there's lots of other things a genealogist, blogger, mom, family executive assistant and college softball fan would want to do with a smart phone.

I would love to get your input and advice!

To read what happens next, read, Smart Phones on Sorting Saturday.

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum