2009

Archive for the year 2009

Cheap Fun – Bowling Night

Posted on August 23, 2009 by Ching under Games.

Brian and I had some “buy 3 games, get 3 free” coupons for Derby Bowl. When we found out that Armando likes to bowl also, it was fate. We all decided to go bowling on Friday. It was the five of us: Yeni, Armando, mom, Brian and I.

Mom had the highest game of all (190) but I did beat her 2 out of 3 games. This is a feat because she is a better bowler than I am. I only go bowling about once or twice a year, anymore. Though, that night, I bowled a 162 average (172, 161, 153) compared to mom’s 155 (135, 140, 190). I guess it’s just like riding a bicycle. You never really forget how to do it once you learn.

The photo on the left is significant because it is the first time that Yeni has ever beat Armando at bowling. Usually, he wins. He did beat her the next two games, though. Mom would refer to that as the law of averages.

That photo was taken right as we were wrapping up our first game, which happened to be my best that night. Armando joked that by the eighth frame I’d already beat everyone, I didn’t need to bowl anymore. I think mom was having an off night. We’ll have go bowling again when Armando gets back in town so that we can give mom a chance to redeem herself. LOL.

1 Comment

Poker at Uncle Roy’s

Posted on August 23, 2009 by Ching under Poker.

Since Highlands temporarily closed, Brian and I hadn’t been playing poker. We were itching to play poker after a long hiatus so we decided to try Uncle Roy’s home game. We heard it was the place to play. We had never been there before so I had to call and ask for directions.

When we got there, there weren’t any signs. If it weren’t for recognizing Roy’s vehicle, I’m not sure we would have known that we had arrived at the tournament venue. The door is nondescript and it reminded a lot of Teddy KGB’s place in Rounders. I felt like I should know a secret knock or code word or something.

Jitters aside, Brian and I did pretty well that night. He ended up taking second and I took third, so we both made the money. I guess that is typical. First timers always seem to do well. On that note, we are going to wait a week and hope the regulars forget we were ever there. Then when we return in a couple of weeks, we can be first timers again.

Seriously though, they have the big game this week. Brian and I can’t afford the buy in. That and we are saving our money for a Saturday tournament at Harrah’s NKC.

Good luck to all. See you guys in a couple of weeks!

No Comments

Like Selling Cigarettes to Children

Posted on August 23, 2009 by Ching under Toys.

Brian and I went to get a car charger for my new phone at our local T-Mobile store today. I was so excited to find out that the charger for my old Wing will work with my Touch Pro2. Now I have a charger for the house, a charger for the car (which has foldable prongs so I can actually use it at hotels when Brian and I travel), and a spare charger (the old Wing one) that I can leave at work. I am ecstatic.

Anyway, as we were leaving the store Brian ended up getting stalled by the Samsung Comeback phone display. Oh, shiny! Brian is like a child with ADD. Seriously. “Let’s go,” I called out to him. I was already at the door see.

He’s like, “Wait. Check out this phone.” He was looking at the Samsung Comeback. “It’s just like a Sidekick,” I said. I have no idea why he found this phone interesting. He hates Sidekicks.

“It’s like a mini Sidekick,” he proclaims like he’s discovered Alibaba’s treasure or something. At this point, one of the store representatives chimes in to the conversation. “We’re marketing it as a Back-to-School texting phone.”

“But kids aren’t allowed to text in school,” I said. “Isn’t that like marketing cigarettes to young children?” He didn’t have anything to say after that.

No Comments

Ching’s New Phone

Posted on August 23, 2009 by Ching under Toys.

I’ve had my phone for about a week now. I was reluctant to post a review until I’d actually used the phone for a substantial amount of time. I didn’t want to rave about it only to find out later that I really hate it or rant about it only to find out that it was just a matter of adjusting to the phone. Even today, the phone still has features I haven’t tried yet. However, I cannot contain my enthusiasm any longer. I love my new phone and I just have to share it with the world.

When my phone broke a couple of months ago, I hesitated to buy a new phone because there were none out there that I felt fit my needs. We had considered defecting to AT&T and joining the iPhone bandwagon, but we just couldn’t part with our $70 family plan. I mean where else can you get just the right number of minutes, unlimited nights and weekends, unlimited mobile-to-mobile, and unlimited messaging (pictures and text) for less than $75 for both phones. You just can’t. I had to stay with T-Mobile, but at the time they didn’t have any phones that were good enough. T-Mobile has great rate plans, but their phone selection is probably the weakest out of all the communications carriers.

There were rumors of some new phones coming so I didn’t want to buy another Wing. I mean, I didn’t want to be stuck with an obsolete phone for another couple of years if new phones are being released. What made it difficult for me to find a new phone is that I wanted one with wi-fi capabilities because I didn’t want to pay for a data package. Most cellphone carriers don’t carry good wi-fi capable phones because they want you to pay for a data package. So that they could make an extra $20-30 dollars a month on top of your regular cellphone plan. It would be cool to have all of these neat phone features always on and available on demand, but I don’t use my cellphone while I’m at work (that’s almost 9 hours out of the day) and when I’m sleeping (hopefully another 8 hours, but that doesn’t always happen). At best, I’m using my phone an average about 5 hours a day. Out of that, I’d probably use the features that require data less than an hour each day (if at all). Why would I pay an extra $30 a month for features I wouldn’t even use on a regular basis? This is my pragmatic side showing, through.

When we bought my Wing a couple of years ago for almost $300 sans data plan, it paid for itself in savings in a year (estimated at $25 multiplied by 12 months). There’s wi-fi at home so I just connect my phone to it when I’m around the house, and there’s free wi-fi pretty much anywhere you go any more. It really worked great for me.

When looking for my new phone, wi-fi capability was probably the biggest factor. The only phone T-Mobile had that had this feature and other secondary features (like good camera, Qwerty keyboard, etc.) I was looking for was the Wing. Instead of buying a new phone, I decided to use a temporary back up instead (my mother-in-law’s Samsung T509 Plum). I was willing to wait until November to get a new phone, hoping that maybe the $350 price tag on the HTC Touch Pro2 would come down a little, but as luck would have it a friend of ours got one which he didn’t like so I ended up getting a replacement phone early. Lucky for me.

He said it was too much phone for him (there is no such thing – LOL), but I’m not complaining because it worked to my benefit. Since I got my phone second-hand, I got it for less than the $350 price, without a 2-year contract, and sans data plan.

Enough about how cheap and frugal I am though. Let’s talk about the phone. The HTC Touch Pro2 is just like my old Wing only better. They improved on some of the buggy features and improved usability also. I love that the camera is 3.2 MP because, as you know, I take tons of pictures. The Touch Pro2 has everything I loved about my Wing. I am so glad I waited to get a new phone.

It took me a couple of days to get the settings just the way I want them and to get some apps installed (thank you, baby) and to play with the phone, but now it feels like it’s really mine. As I mentioned earlier, there are still some features I haven’t used or tried but I am satisfied — no, I’m happy — with the phone over all. I think I can live with this phone for another two years and I’m specially pleased that in a couple of years time, I would have saved myself $600 by not having to pay for a data package. Hmm… What to do with that money? Maybe I could put that toward a new phone two years from now. 🙂