Enough With The iPhone Already

Last modified on June 10th, 2008

Ok, ok. I’ll take a break from writing about the iPhone. But business has been great lately – my traffic has nearly doubled in the last few days. Not like I really pay attention to those things, but it’s pretty clear when there’s a big prolonged spike — clearly people are excited about the iPhone.

To be honest, while talking about web traffic, I’m actually surprised mine has stayed up. I used to host all my plugins here and sort of assumed when I finally moved them over to BraveNewCode that alot of my traffic would disappear. But for whatever reason, my traffic has actually increased quite a bit since then. Strange things, these tubes.

Anyways. As I pointed out, Bell Mobility finally lost the battle against me. I could rant endlessly about the disappointment I have that every business nowadays seems to just be looking to screw you as hard as they can against the wall, but you know the drill I’m sure. To that end, I currently don’t own a phone, which is causing my mom no end of grief I’m sure. Hesty gave me an old unlocked GSM phone this afternoon, so if all goes well I’ll have it up and running tomorrow using a pay as you go plan for a while. I’ll wait and see what the plan looks like for the iPhone, but unless the data plan is generous and they have a non-contract version of the iPhone, I doubt I’ll go that route honestly.

This weekend I’m going to be boarding a plane and heading down to San Francisco. I’ll be staying in Mountain View mostly since I have to be at Google’s main campus for a few days. It’s a work trip, but I’m technically not on the clock until Monday morning, so Sunday night I’ll probably head down somewhere for dinner downtown with some friends.

Next Thursday I’ll hit the San Francisco airport and end up down in Los Angeles for the start of my vacation. The main purpose of the trip is to hang out with my sister, brother-in-law and my niece and nephew down around Disneyland, but I’ll hopefully be seeing a few friends down there, including Tony.

Since I haven’t been to Los Angeles is about 20 years, I thought I’d spend my first night down there staying in a hotel right downtown. I used Hotwire, like I normally do, and ended up at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel downtown. Apparently it’s where they filmed part of True Lies (I think it has the elevator that Arnold goes up in with a horse).

Tony offered to lend me (graciously) his car while down in Los Angeles, but since I’m going to be doing some commuting and adventuring, I thought I might as well just pick up a rental. Sure, I could have gotten away with a measly Echo or something like that, but I decided to start my vacation with a bit of fun. So, I picked up a convertible for my time there, which is actually only about $45 more expensive for the whole trip.

Photo from here

I haven’t really given much thought to what I’ll do in Los Angeles. I want to hit a patio somewhere and eat nachos in 100 degree whether. A few beer would be nice too. Other than that, I’m not picky. Disneyland is obviously on the agenda, as is Legoland (I’m actually really looking forward to that). Last time I was at Universal Studios I nearly barfed in the Avalanche simulator as a kid, so maybe I’ll go back and see if I’m any tougher as an adult. I seriously doubt it.

After that, I fly back to Vancouver and still have nearly another two weeks of vacation ahead of me. Matt’s show is a few days after that, and then who knows. Maybe I’ll get in the car and disappear somewhere next to a stream in the Rocky Mountains.

8 responses to “Enough With The iPhone Already”

  1. Raul says:

    I hope you have a wonderful vacation, I’ve got relatives in LA too!

  2. Stewart says:

    I just started reading ‘Bright Shiny Morning’ by James Frey – which is described as an epic novel about L.A. – given all your vacation time, it might be the perfect read…

  3. John Biehler says:

    I was thinking that maybe your Bell phone just got wet while camping….and it needs to dry out for a bit…usually there is some kind of sticker, usually under the battery, that turns pink when wet and the cell vendors can deny you warranty coverage if that’s the case.

    Glad you have a backup phone now anyways…what about when you’re in the US? You should pick up an AT&T GoPhone….$10-20 at Walmart/Target/etc and at least you call people when down there.

  4. Gregg says:

    A convertible will be fun for a few days, but I’ve sure noticed when I’ve visited or lived in such climates that natives by regular cars… the convertible roof lets out too much A/C! I see more convertibles here then when I lived in an area that got over 110 each summer day.

    Have fun!

  5. Duane Storey says:

    @John – it might have gotten humid, but it definitely never got wet. I had another phone years ago that spontaneously died in my jeans pocket on a damp day. They aren’t made very well for Vancouver weather. Either way the phone is two years old and no longer up for warranty. I’ll try and activate hesty’s today using Pay as you go or whatever. Just have to find a Roger’s sim

  6. Travis says:

    Things to do in L.A.:

    * Phillipe’s french dip (pay in cash only): Best sandwich near downtown

    * El Tepiac: best mexican food in L.A., just east of downtown

    * The Curry house: Have the chicken katsu curry, it’s the best japanese curry I’ve ever had. Also downtown (Japantown)

    TTFN
    Travis

  7. Jen says:

    Enjoy your trip, you’ll have so much fun at Disneyland with the kids!
    …I’m heading to San Diego on Monday and can’t wait for some sunshine!

  8. Keira-Anne says:

    Duaniac! I hope you have a most excellent time in California. All your pictures will for sure be amazing, as will the time you spend. 🙂

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