GroundDay 2012 - Rodent Confusion

My Jamesburg groundhog

Since this blog is rooted in the adventures of the small furry ones among us, the adventures of groundhogs need to be included — at least on Groundhog Day. Today's groundhogs have come out on either side of the question. Some have said "six more weeks of winter" and some have said "spring will be early."

Here in New Jersey, the winter has been mild, and we are all holding our breath until April to see if we escape the snows of yesteryear. We have even had a few days when it was perfectly appropriate to turn off the heat and open the windows; at least for a few hours. It is no wonder that the groundhogs in this area are confused. Not to mention the ongoing debate as to whether or not an accurate prediction can be made if a groundhog sees his shadow because of all the television lights and flashbulbs going off.

I have my own personal groundhog, a large, tough creature who could not be persuaded to leave his den under my shed by either earthquake or hurricane. I certainly know better than to challenge the claws of this rodent to try and rouse him out of his hole for a specific weather prediction for my small town. I have decided to let sleeping groundhogs lie – at least the one in my yard.

After all, the famous groundhogs getting their 15 minutes of fame across the country today really do agree with each other, no matter what their predictions are. Spring will be here – sooner OR later.

No puddles in New Jersey

Considering the type of weather New Jersey has been having, it is surprising that it isn't raining today, and that there isn't a puddle to be seen. This makes celebrating National Splash Your Friend in a Puddle Day a little difficult. Of course, such a celebration is pretty impractical in January in New Jersey, or most of the US. 

A quick check of the average January temperature map for the US shows that most of the country is usually a bit too chilly for enjoyable outdoor puddle splashing today. The very southernmost states may be warm enough, but the average rainfall amounts in much of that area don't bode well for the availability of puddles. We are pretty much left with some areas of Southern California,  Louisiana and Florida.

Of course, the truly best place for this holiday looks to be Hawaii. After all, even if the sun is shining there, and there isn't a puddle to be found, splashing a friend in the ocean could be a great substitute. In fact, I think that Hawaii should be the unofficial headquarters of National Splash Your Friend in a Puddle day from here on out.

Now, if we could just all arrange to be there!

National Splash Your Friend in a Puddle Day

I have become fascinated with this offbeat commemorative day. It is not for what it is; we have all kinds of crazy "national days" to recognize all sorts of events, activites and marketable products. No, what fascinates me is that whoever came up with this day placed it in early January, which is not a prime puddle splashing time of year. Not in this hemisphere anyway. It makes me wonder, what areas of the world are warm enough and wet enough for enjoyable puddle splashing in January? 

I'm off to do some research and will bring you the answer in my next post. In the meantime, get you rainboots ready, just in case.

Have a Ha-Ha-Happy New Year with Laughter Yoga!

And don't forget, January 28, 2012 is Fun at Work Day. What could be more fun than a Laughter Yoga session in your workplace!

www.njlaughter.com

A laughter Yoga Holiday Card

New Gift Items Featuring My Digital Art: "In My Cups"

See it here!

Adventures in SmartPhone Land

To say that I have just joined the ranks of smart phone users with my recent purchase of an Android phone, is really untrue. Way back in 2003 or 2004 I owned a VOQ phone. This phone had a phone pad that opened into a keyboard, and with it, I could access the web, email and chat systems. The phone had a tiny joystick that served as a mouse. With that phone, and its small screen I amazed my friends and coworkers who had previously only seen such tricks performed by a Blackberry.  My reputation as an ahead-of-the-curve geek was preserved.

The VOQ phone, however, soon fell out of favor in the United States, and when I wore out the joystick with my enthusiastic web and email surfing, there was no way to get it repaired or replaced. Around this time a little thing called the iPhone made its debut, and before long, the race was on to dominate the smart phone market, create millions of apps, and of course, create expensive "data plans" that are required to keep these phones going.

Since I was forced into austerity budget measures at the time, I could neither afford the fancy new smart phones, nor the dataplans to run them. I sat on the sidelines watching people fall in love with their iPhones, become addicted to their Crackberries, and generally leave me behind in the technology dust. It was humiliating. Worst of all was the explosion of QR Codes and my inability to access the secrets they unlocked. Sometimes I just wanted to shout "remember when I was the only one with a smartphone?"

I must confess to a certain small measure of smug self-satisfaction when some of these phone began having issues with operating systems, faulty upgrades, poor cell phone service and fleeting battery life. While others were dealing with phone "bricks" and multiple trips to the various cell phone repair stores, I was motoring along with my simple flip phone, making calls and sending texts like a pro.

This all changed in 2011 when a Black Friday deal made a 4G android phone available for only a penny, and a certain cell phone provider offered a dataplan that was not much more than what I was paying for my "unsmart" phone. I was hooked. The fact that I could keep my old phone number sealed the deal and proudly paid my penny.

When the phone arrived, it needed to be activated, a process that seemed very simple, according the the enclosed directions. This is when I learned that some things, like clueless customer service, have not changed. Waiting endlessly on hold to get to a live person has not changed either. And, as I have experienced with everything from internet service to medical insurance, the process of needing to speak to at least four people has not changed. But eventually, the phone was activated and I was immediately mesmerized by my new toy.

I put in my contacts, even importing everyone's photos directly from Facebook. I snapped photo after photo with the 5 mp camera on the phone, and downloaded a camera app that let me take photos with all kinds of special effects. I was able to view video of my granddaughter and decorate my home screen with "live" holiday wallpaper featuring snowfall. And yes! I could access all the QR codes I could find, including ones I had created myself for work!

My introduction to SmartPhone Land was not complete however. Apparently, even today, no one can escape the curse of the "brick" phone. For me, it is an endless loop telling me that TWLauncher isn't operating and must be force closed. Unfortunately, TWLauncher is like the door at the Mines of Moria, and if you don't know the secret password/reset button combination - you never get back into your phone. I tried every solution I could find in Android forums, but all roads still lead me back to same loop.  I have now made an appointment at a cell phone store to see what they can do. I am not so smug now.