But, today (2/22/2010) I am making a stand.  I am forcing myself to do things.  I’m going to clean the apartment, make a grocery list, make a non-grocery shopping list, and then go about carrying out my tasks.  I want to make a permanent change and remove this procrastination from my life.

Click for larger picture.

Fortunately, I downloaded the backups beforehand, as you are supposed to do in the upgrade process.  I created a new 5.0 MySQL database, uploaded the backup (after a few tweaks to the SQL to make it work right), and reconfigured my WordPress installation on the hosting server.  After that it worked correctly.  I didn’t lose anything, nothing was corrupted, and I didn’t have to re-upload my files and photos for the links to work.

If you are going to have an upgrade failure, this is the one I would recommend.  It only took about 45 minutes to get everything working after it failed.

I love my new Canon EOS Rebel T1i.  I’ve got a lot to learn, but ever since I got my first digital camera in 2002 photography has been a passion.  These two photos are a few of the things I’ve bought to fill out my apartment.  Most of the dishes are dirty at the moment, so the cabinet seems a bit empty.  It’s normally full to the brim.  I have enough settings for 8 people.

I’m looking forward to the coming months.  I’m planning a holiday party for some of my coworkers.  This will be a good début of the dishware, my cooking skills, and my hosting abilities.  Amanda, my sister is due in January.  I’m very excited about the addition to our family.  Plus, babies can be used as chick-magnets .  I’ve also started planning for the purchase of a house.  It probably won’t happen until after 2010, but I want to get a fixer-upper.  I don’t want it to be falling apart, but it could be in need of a remodel.

Cable and Internet was connected last Tuesday.  I am currently watching the History Channel in HD.  The program is about robot warriors.  I’m a little creeped out by how the military is using robots.  World domination by the machines will be here soon enough.

I definitely like having the whole place to myself.  I can just relax and do what I want in my new place.  Once I get the dishes, I’m going to plan a dinner party to have people over.  That should be fun!

I will get to these issues after I get back from vacation (10 day roadtrip)

First off, as a phone it works much better than my old one.  I can get the volume loud enough to hear well when I’m driving.  It allows me to keep all the phone numbers and email addresses I need for people.

As an Internet-device, it suits my purposes very well.  The browser on this model phone reduces websites to fit on the whole screen, then you zoom in to see what you want.  Also, some sites have mobile pages and the zoom feature automatically turns off for those because they are already the right size.  I have almost completely moved to the BlackBerry for my email needs.  The qwerty keyboard has is it’s greatest feature in my book.

Finally, as an application platform it has a good start, but there is room for improvement.  The BlackBerry App World store has many applications, but not nearly as many as the iTunes App Store.  It also is hard to navigate on the phone.  There is no way to browse the store on the PC, which is a really bad idea.  I want to be able to easily buy apps from my computer, because it is easy to use for this.

Overall, I am very happy with this phone.  It’s not perfect, but it is so much better than what I had before.

I really like this idea of micro-loans.  It is better than donating money because the receiver must pay it back.  It builds up a local economy, instead of destroying it like the donated clothes in Africa.  When I get the loan payment back, I can just cycle it back into Kiva and to another individual/group.  I think donating money this way (I’m not going to pull my money out of the system, I will always loan it out to someone else.)  Is a lot better than just giving someone something.  Obviously, if someone is starving or destitute they need a donation, not a loan.  But for small businesses, the best thing for their growth is a small loan without the corporate bank interest charges.

I have not lived my life.  I have put off a lot of things because I “just wanted to get through school, then I would get it.”  I’m not starting a pity party, I just committing myself to do the things that I want and should do.  My camping trip is a good example of something I did without waiting.

2009 is a new year and I’m going to try to make the most of it.  I am also going to try to figure out what I want to do.  Doing that might put my planning mind at rest.

The Grand Canyon is beautiful.  My family’s last trip there was June 2007.  I recently brought up the idea that the men in the family (Dad, my brother Braden, and me) should go on a road/backpacking trip in the West.  I hope this trip actually comes to fruition.

I have been counting down the days/hours to get this, and now I finally have it.  Thanks to my parent for buying it for me as a gift!  Thanks to them, again, and everyone else who has helped me get to this point in my life!  I love you all!

I know that my blog is mine and I can do with it as I wish.  But, I cannot help but feel guilty that my “recent” posts have all been fluffy.  I have not written much substance in a long time.  I can blame my busy days, but then I’d be lying.  I will try to do better.  I want to find something important to write about and do an intelligent job.  So, I guess today is Sunday.  I hope to see you soon!

The economy has been up and down.  The Dow, S&P, and NASDAQ have all fall a great deal in the last few weeks.  Many people believe the government should bail out the failing companies to “save” the economy.  I don’t think it will be enough.  We have based our economy on credit, and credit must be paid back.  Stricter lending policies must be brought back.  People not able to pay back a loan should not get it.  That may be harsh, but these are obviously hard times.  The national deficit is out of control.  We must stop spending money, and keep taxes low.  The government shouldn’t spend money it doesn’t have.  Raising taxes in an unstable economic climate would be disastrous.  It would slow the economic recovery further.

The next four years are going to be historic.  Either a female VP or a black President will lead the country through the worst ecomonic conditions in a very long time.  I do not doubt that we will recover, but it will take time and wise leadership.