the iPhone/Blackberry survey continues

I'm still conducting market research as to which phone I should buy, so yes, I still have the flip phone.  It hasn't completely fallen apart yet, thank goodness!

I've received input from lots of people here and at work and if I would tally it up then the Blackberry would certainly win.  But I'm thinking that maybe most people just haven't had the chance to own an iPhone and maybe if they had one then they would like it.  Can you see where I'm going with this?  I'm LOOKING for reasons why I should get the iPhone.  I want to like it.  My computer is a Mac, so it would make sense.  But the results seem dismal.  I've scoured dozens of websites looking for answers and I'm still not sure.  I keep seeing those same words "bad reception" and "hard to text"...  and those are really the most important features to me.  The other stuff is just for fun.

Maybe we'' ll try it.  AT&T gives you 30 days to cancel the 2-year contract that they make you sign.  I wonder if Apple will let you return the iPhone if you don't like it??  Anybody know??

my last post (aka don't kill the messenger)

A couple of people asked me to publish that last post.  

I really don't care who other people vote for and am not trying to sway anyone one way or another.  It was just something I had that seemed interesting and people wanted to see it.

just the facts, please

2008 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE COMPARISON TALKING POINTS

ISSUE		JOHN McCAIN	BARAK OBAMA
Favors new drilling offshore US		Yes	No
Will appoint judges who interpret the law not make it		Yes	No
Served in the US Armed Forces		Yes	No
Amount of time served in the  US Senate		22 years	173 days
Will institute a socialized national health care plan		No	Yes
Supports abortion throughout the                                 pregnancy		No	Yes
Would pull troops out of Iraqimmediately		No	Yes
Supports gun ownership rights		Yes	No
Supports homosexual marriage		No	Yes
Proposed programs will mean a huge tax increase		No	Yes
Voted against making English the official language		No	Yes
Voted to give Social Security benefits to illegals		No	Yes
CAPITAL GAINS TAX
MCCAIN	0% on home sales up to $500,000 per home (couples). McCain does not                                 propose any change in existing home sales income tax.
OBAMA	28% on profit from ALL home sales.  (How does this affect you? If you                                 sell your home and make a profit, you will pay 28% of your gain on taxes. If you are heading toward retirement and would like to down-size                                 your home or move into a retirement community, 28% of the money you make from your home will go to taxes. This proposal will adversely affect the elderly who are counting on the income from their homes as part of their retirement income.)
DIVIDEND TAX
MCCAIN	15% (no change)
OBAMA	39.6% - (How will this affect you? If you have any money invested in stock market, IRA, mutual funds, college funds, life insurance, retirement accounts, or anything that pays or reinvests dividends, you will now be paying nearly 40% of the money earned on taxes if Obama becomes president. The experts predict that 'Higher tax rates on dividends and capital gains would crash the stock market, yet do absolutely nothing to cut the deficit.')
INCOME TAX
MCCAIN (no changes)	Single making 30K - tax $4,500 Single making 50K - tax $12,500 Single making 75K - tax $18,750 Married making 60K- tax $9,000 Married making 75K - tax $18,750 Married making 125K - tax $31,250
OBAMA (reversion to pre-Bush tax cuts)	Single making 30K - tax $8,400 Single making 50K - tax $14,000 Single making 75K - tax $23,250 Married making 60K - tax $16,800 Married making 75K - tax $21,000 Married making 125K - tax $38,750 Under Obama, your taxes could almost double!
INHERITANCE TAX
MCCAIN	- 0% (No change, Bush repealed this tax)
OBAMA	Restore the inheritance tax Many families have lost businesses, farms, ranches, and homes that have                                 been in their families for generations because they could not afford the inheritance tax. Those willing their assets to loved ones will only lose them to these taxes.
NEW TAXES PROPOSED BY OBAMA
New government taxes proposed on homes that are more than 2400 square feet.  New gasoline taxes (as if gas weren't high enough already) New taxes on natural resources consumption (heating gas, water, electricity)  New taxes on retirement accounts, and last but not least....New taxes to pay for socialized medicine so we can receive the same level of medical care as other third-world countries!!!

You can verify the above at the following web sites:

http://money.cnn.com/news/specials/election/2008/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/issues/issues.taxes.html

http://elections.foxnews.com/?s=proposed+taxes

http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourworld/politics/articles/mccain_obama_offer_different_visions_on_taxes.html

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/candidates/barack_obama/

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/candidates/john_mccain/

thank you!

Happy Daily gave me an award!  I must list 6 things that make me happy and then pass the award on to six fabulous bloggers.  My six happy things are:

1.  spending time with my hubby and daughter 

2.  visiting family back home

3.  lunch & shopping with a good girlfriend

4.  watching a good movie

5.  enjoying a delicious meal

6.  blogging & meeting all of my fellow bloggy friends

I'd like to pass it on to:

Still Thinking,  Monograms and Manicures, Preppy Little Dress, Muffy Martini, A cup of thought, an ounce of sass, and just a dash of crazy, and I Pick Pretty !

friends

A good friend of mine recently lost her son, her only child, unexpectedly.  She is having a very difficult time dealing with it, and I have been checking in on her and trying to help, but what can one do, what can one say??  I feel so helpless, there are no words...  It is so sad.  Today she sent me this e-mail:

Time passes. 
Life happens. 
Distance separates. 
Children grow up. 
Jobs come and go. 
Love waxes and wanes. 
Men don't do what they're supposed to do. 
Hearts break. 
Parents die. 
Colleagues forget favors. 
Careers end. 
BUT......... 
Sisters are there, 
no matter how much time and how 
many miles are between you. 
A girl friend is never farther away 
than needing her can reach. 
When you have to walk that lonesome valley and you 
have to walk it by yourself, the women in your life 
will be on the valley's rim, cheering you on, 
praying for you, pulling for you, intervening on 
your behalf, and waiting with open arms at the 
valley's end. 
Sometimes, they will even break the rules and walk 
beside you...Or come in and carry you out. 
Girlfriends, daughters, granddaughters, 
daughters-in-law, sisters, sisters-in-law,Mothers,
Grandmothers, aunties, nieces, cousins, and extended
family, all bless our life! 
The world wouldn't be the same without women, and 
neither would I. When we began this adventure called 
womanhood, we had no idea of the incredible joys or 
sorrows that lay ahead. Nor did we know how much we 
would need each other. 
Every day, we need each other still. 

~~ author unknown

iPhone or Blackberry??

Yep--that's what I look like with my dinosaur flip-phone that now sadly happens to be falling apart. I tend to resist new technology in the beginning (before diving head first into it).
So, my question is this -- which should I get -- the iPhone or the Blackberry?? I welcome any and all opinions!
I know that everyone loves their iPhone, but I would like to know a few things:

1. Honestly, how is the reception? Does the iPhone (AT&T network) drop a lot of calls? I am hearing this from a few people and it could be a major deterrent.
2. How difficult is the touch screen for texting? Would you prefer buttons? Do you hit the wrong key a lot of the time? This is important.
3. I've also heard the camera is not so good and only 2mp. Not so important.
4. How easy is it to deal with e-mails? I've heard that it jumbles all of your e-mails into one folder (sent & received).
5. Any other pros and cons of either would be much appreciated!

Blackberry Pearl

Apple iPhone

Samsung Instinct

Tag

I've been tagged by Madras and Martinis and All Things Fluffy, Fashionable and Famous to post seven random or weird facts about myself.  Here are the rules:

Okay, here comes some totally random randomness!

1. I am the youngest of six children.  I am the youngest by six years.  Hmmm...I wonder if that means that I wasn't planned??
   
   
2. I have situs inversus:   an uncommon condition in which the heart and other organs of the body are transposed through the sagittal plane to lie on the opposite (left or right) side from the usual.  Therefore, my heart is on the right side instead of the left, as well as the appendix, gallbladder, spleen, etc...  I have no side affects from this and usually forget that I have it.  X-ray technicians freak out when I forget to tell them this.
   
   
3. I do not drink coffee.  Blech!  It doesn't taste good.  I'd much prefer green iced tea or a Coke, please!
   
   
4. I do not drink alcohol.  Well, okay--I rarely drink alcohol.  I just don't like it better than a Coke or iced tea and it makes me too tired!  On special occasions I may have a drink and if so I prefer champagne or Pinot Grigio.  Sometimes I go a little wild and order a Margarita.  Have you ever had a Pomegranate Margarita?  
   
   
5. I was a very serious student at an all-girls high school and went to college on scholarship.  It took me one year of having a little too much fun to lose said scholarship.  I then wrote the University a letter explaining that my low grades were due to the fact that I had contracted Mononucleosis that year which had affected my studies.  This was kinda true, but not entirely true.  They extended my scholarship another year.
   
   
6. I  had so much fun in college that it took me six years to graduate with my bachelor's degree.  I drank lots of alcohol in college and really enjoyed it and it didn't make me tired at all. 

I'm going to tag (If you feel like playing along, that is!):

1. Pink Cashmere Cardigan
   
2. Looking Through The Lens
3. It's Mrs To You
4. A Belle and Her Beau
5. Peeptoe Pumps and Pearls
6. Chez La Vie
7. Darrin Defined

I love my bloggy friends!

Love this cartoon! (Mindi made me think of this.)

I had a very nice day today lunching and shopping with a friend. I hadn't seen this friend in about a year or so. She has had two babies in the last 2 1/2 years, so she's been a bit busy! She found me on Facebook about 2 weeks ago, we made plans to meet up and voila! How cool is that Facebook??! I love it.

Now for the bad news. I think I am coming down with the flu. As I was driving home today I started feeling achey all over and now have a sore throat and a headache. Boo! I'm supposed to be enjoying my days off. Why couldn't I have the flu on workdays and feel better by the weekend? I know I have some tags to acknowledge, but I just cannot think properly right now and would probably post some really weird stuff, so I'll do them when I am not loopy on the Nyquil! I am going to try to get some rest. Nite-nite!

the most wonderful thing about Wednesdays...

is that they are the end of my work week!

Woo-hoo, I made it through Wednesday. This has been an exhausting week. 

I have some simple plans tomorrow to meet a friend that I haven't seen in ages for lunch and shopping.  Just the kind of day I need right about now.

Hope your weekend starts very soon as well!

i hate mondays

Every other day, every other day,

Every other day of the week is fine, yeah
But whenever Monday comes, but whenever Monday comes
You can find me cryin' all of the time!

(lyrics courtesy of The Mamas and The Papas)

This is how I feel on Mondays.

I don't usually have that much to say on Mondays because it is the most unsatisfactory day of the week for me. I usually work Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday. Starting on Thursday I revert to a totally different schedule--my schedule--sleeping in and staying up late. I am a night owl by nature. Well, this night owl had to wake up for work this morning at FOUR THIRTY AM!!!!! Arrrrrgh! Blech! Waaaaaaaah! What Einstein thought that a 6AM staff meeting on Monday morning was a good idea??? I have nothing to say at 6AM. It is hardly normal to be awake much less at work at 6AM!

I had to wake up this morning at nearly the time I went to bed on Saturday night!! Well--I don't usually stay up that late, but as I was heading to bed just before midnight Saturday I noticed that Pride and Predjudice was about to begin on the Oxygen channel. I sat down to watch the beginning, and as they say...it had me at hello. I was so taken by this beautiful production that I stayed up until the very end at THREE AM. I had no choice--I was hanging on every word, every scene. What a movie!! I think I need to buy it and then hubby can watch it with me. He is going to love it!! (He may not admit that to you!)

Anyway, what does this all have to do with the stack of magazines above? Um,...nothing really. I just wanted to ask one thing.  All of these magazines were stuffed into my mailbox on Saturday. Now they are all piled on top of my nightstand and on top of the 2 Town & Country magazines that I haven't gotten to yet. My question is this--why do they all have to arrive on the same day???