Sunday, April 20, 2008

WHAT IF

As a church, Saddleback finished their 4-week series One Month to Live, based on the book, One Month To Live. The authors Kerry and Chris Shook concluded the series with an amazing life story and background of their book. To be completely honest, I really was not looking forward to this series at Saddleback Church; however, it was something that I was going to commit to reading and attending the services listening to Doug Fields talk on the series.

Honestly, the last half of 2007 (basically June-December) weren’t the best months of my life. I was dealing with a lot of personal “issues” (guys have issues and girls just have problems) and dealing with a lot of confidence and insecurity issues. Even into the beginning of this year, I was still struggling with some of those issues. On top of that, I my work schedule was constantly changing. I was working 6-10 day workweeks from the last week of February until just a week ago, working over 60 hours of “volun-told” overtime that I didn’t want.

However, during this time God was setting a lot of that time aside for me to be alone with Him. I was dealing with two very important issues in my life. For almost three months I knew that I’ve needed to tend to some unfinished business, but it was something that I had been procrastinating on since late January. After the second weeks message, we were challenged to love like I’m forgiven. The ending of that message was the last push of encouragement and motivation that I needed, to go forward in faith and do something that God had kept on my heart for so long. It wasn’t easy, nor was it something that I wanted to do, but I knew it had to be done.

This morning, as I sat in church at Yorba Linda Friends I was listening to Pastor Matthew Cork finish his series, Life In Balance: Simplicity. To summarize his sermon:

Simplicity is not:
- a checklist of do’s and don’ts
- just a change in lifestyles or habits
- necessarily the opposite to complexity
Simplicity is:
- a call to a life of focus, not simply a plan of action (Matthew 6:33)
- an inward reality that changes our outward lifestyle (Matthew 22:37-39)
- a freedom from self, and a willingness to surrender our rights for the good of others.


In the message Matthew made two comments that I really took to heart. First, “You will only love God as much as you love the person whom you least like.” Being that I basically ended a friendship due to several circumstances (which I will not go into), it was definitely encouraging hearing that. I believe that you can completely forgive someone for all the hurts and pains that they may have caused with out wanting to restore any type of friendship.

Also, I am a person who loves my space, my comfort zone, and for the most part I am usually not a huge risk taker. I’m the type of person that will evaluate, research, and calculate the pros and cons before jumping into a decision. With that said, Matthew brought up a point of having visible “warning indicators” in our lives for decisions that we face. If that actually existed, believe me, I’d be the first one to get one. I like knowing what I’m about to get involved in. I don’t like going into any situation blind, nevertheless unprepared.

Sometimes I feel that I live a lot of my life on the safe side, especially when it comes to relationships and friendships. There are reasons why I don’t put myself into compromising situations, or try to go a little further that what I know would be pleasing to God. I’ll be the first to admit that I have hurt a lot of people close to me, but mostly not on purpose. A lot of times it was done out of ignorance. For those of you who really know me, I am probably one of the most respectful, honest, open, and down to earth people that you know. Yes, I know I do have a little of a cynical side to me, but for those of you who know the “real me,” you know that I have a ton of positive attributes that I try to uphold on a daily basis. Bare with me, I’m going somewhere with this…really, I am.

Back to tonight…as I mentioned earlier, we finished the series, One Month To Live. From the four key points of the series, live passionately, live completely, live humble, and live boldly, we were challenged to do three things on a regular basis with the people closest in our lives:
- say what you mean now (tell them that you love them, encourage them, and admonish them on a regular basis),
- show them how you feel be following through with actions, and
- share it now…don’t wait.


As of last week, I am completely comfortable knowing that if I died tomorrow that I would have no regrets. I’ve made my peace with God, I know I am saved, my friendships and relationships have been restored, and I am confident in knowing that in every deep and personal friendship and relationship that I’ve been in, I’ve left each and every one of them in a better and healthier place than when I first met them. We’ve all grown and walked through several valleys together. Am I saying that my life is perfect? Not at all. Now that everything is completely restored I can use the remainder time here to deepen and strengthen the ones that I already have.

So, if tomorrow I was told that I only had one month to live what would I do? I’d embrace those closest to me and spend every moment making memories for the future.

Monday, April 14, 2008

OH SWEET DEER

Tonight at work I BBQ’d up some Venison. Being that I have never eaten Deer before I was a little sketchy and hesitant to try it, however, after the first bite it was quite tasteful. Needless to say I will be defrosting another batch of Venison for a near future meal.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

NEW SPRINT VS. NEXTEL BLACKBERRY'S

This past Thursday morning I sent an e-mail to Dan Hesse, President and CEO of Sprint, inquiring about the two BlackBerry's:

Hi Dan,

I know you are super busy, so I won't try to waste your time. I'm an avid CrackBerry,…I mean BlackBerry user. I used to be on the Nextel side of business before having to change over to the Sprint side. The greatest loss was the Direct Connect feature on all of my older phones and BlackBerry's. I was extremely tempted to switch to AT&T back in August just to keep that feature, but only on an updated BlackBerry, but I have been with Sprint/Nextel/Sprint since July of 1998.

Rumor has is that Nextel is coming out with an iDEN compatible BlackBerry some time this year. Is the Sprint Curve 8330 going to be compatible with the Direct Connect feature? If not, will the Nextel iDEN Blackberry have a digital camera feature. I currently have the Blackberry 8830WE, but miss both features, which was something that I had on my Motorola i580. And if Nextel is indeed coming out with a new BlackBerry, which quarter is it projected for?

Thanks for any feedback!

Brian


When I got to work and checked my e-mail just a little while ago, I ACTUALLY got a reply back:

Dear Brian

Thank you for your email. I have done some research on your questions and the Sprint Curve 8330 will not have Direct connect. Also the Nextel iDEN Blackberry will not have a camera on it. I do apologize for any inconvenience. If you have any other question please visit us at www.phonescoop.com.

Thank you again for contacting Sprint. We appreciate your business.

Sincerely,
Camika D - Sprint


You heard it hear first...I'll be sticking with Sprint and purchasing the BlackBerry Curve 8330 when it is released sometime this month. I can't wait!

Thursday, April 10, 2008

THE SUSPENSE IS KILLING ME


As all of you know, I am extremely addicted to my BlackBerry, or “CrackBerry.” Although I have gotten in the habit of not always having it on me, it’s always at least in the car where ever I go. Lately, I have been eagerly awaiting the release of the BlackBerry Curve 8330, which is set some where between April 16th and 20th. I’ve even been on the phone with customer service trying to pry information from them about conflicting reports.

As if I am not already anxious enough about the release of the BlackBerry Curve 8330, now I am also hearing reports that the Nextel side of Sprint will be releasing a new BlackBerry sometime this year. Dan Hesse - President, CEO of Sprint quoted in the Sprint Nextel Corporation Q4 2007 Earnings Call on February 28, 2008, “…later this year we'll introduce the first ever iDEN WiFi BlackBerry, which will feature push-to-talk, a QWERTY keypad and contemporary industrial design.” FINALLY!

I bought my first BlackBerry 7520 on the Nextel network in May of 2007, which incorporated the iDEN network. Because of massive texting issues I was having with it, I threw my BlackBerry against a rock in July of 2007, which subsequently fatally damaged my blackBerry. Later that month I purchased the BlackBerry 8830 World Edition on the Sprint side. Best of all I was still able to keep my $7.50 unlimited text message plan when I switched sides, but ultimately lost the Direct Connect (PPT) feature.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my current BlackBerry, however, I miss the digital camera and video feature of my old regular phone. Now that Sprint will be offering the Curve (which has a 2.0MP camera) and Nextel will be coming out with a new model (maybe with a 3.2MP camera) and my favorite, the DIRECT CONNECT (PPT) feature. Either way I’ll be happy. Both BlackBerry’s will be duel network compatible.

So, the “chirp” is coming back along with all the other great BlackBerry features. I’m assuming that this new Nextel BlackBerry will be announced at the 2008 Wireless Enterprise Symposium in just a little over 4 weeks. I can’t wait. I think I’ll be able to hold off a little longer (self-control).

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

SOUP IT UP


There are some things in life that you just can't get enough of. For me, this is one of them!

Sunday, April 6, 2008

SWEET GAME


Phoenix 2, Anaheim 3 in SUDDEN DEATH!

Friday, April 4, 2008

CURVING TOWARDS THIS INSTEAD...MAYBE


In addition to the Samsung Instinct which was just announced, Research In Motion aka Blackberry just announced that their Curve series will be offered for Sprint. I bought my first Blackberry (the 7520 from Nextel) back in May of 2007, but had a short life expectancy due to it being thrown against a rock in July because of network complications. After about two weeks or so I switched from my Nextel service to Sprint and purchased the Blackberry 8830WE, which I totally love. However, I miss ONE thing that my Nextel "bullet proof" phone had that my current one doesn't...a camera.

I missed the camera feature so much that I had seriously looked into purchasing the Pearl series from Sprint, losing the full size QWERTY keypad just to have the camera feature, but I didn't want to deal with learning how to use the "smart text" feature. I hate T9 text, which is something that I don't have to worry about with my current Blackberry.

It looks as of April 15, 2008, the Blackberry 8330 will be available for around $179.99 (versus the $299.99 Samsung Instinct price tag) after instant and mail-in rebates. This is something that I am very seriously looking into purchasing. In addition to the camera feature, it also allows you to take movies (which are stored on a micro SD card-Blackberry now supports up to an 8GB micro SD card) so you can take hours of video, and a digital voice recorder feature. Rumor has it that you cannot use both hands to text on the Samsung Instinct's virtual keypad, which is a draw back because I do text and drive at the same time.

I compared both the Samsung Instinct and Blackberry 8330 specs side by side. Other than a few little things, basically I've come to the conclusion that I will be getting a LOT more for my money if I purchase the Blackberry. As far as the billing fees are considered, I'll be paying the same on either phone, so that's not an issue any longer.

Anyways, here are some additional specs on the Blackberry 8330.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

SPRINT INSTINCT

Sprint just announced the unvailing of its' new phone, the Samsung Instinct, which is due out in June. I am very excited about this new product and have already signed up to be one for the first to own this product. Usually I'll wait a few months for any new product to so that any kinks can be worked out. Lately I've been looking into ditching my Blackberry 8830(WE) for the Trio 750WX, only because I really miss the digital camera feature and won't have to spend the extra $50 a month for the Blackberry service.


Here are just a few of the specs of the Instinct:
- CDMA/EV-DO Dual Band (800/1900MHz), which will now fully support the Nextel
Direct Connect feature (something that I REALLY MISS), and 3G Capable
- 3.1" TFT Touch Screen @ 262,144 colors
- 2.0 Megapixel Digital/Video Camera with Flash at 2X Zoom
- MP3 Player
- Micro SD (supports up to a 8GB card)
- Phone as Modem
- Full HTML/WAP 2.0 Browser ready
+ Java
+ E-mail
+ GPS
- Bluetooth 2.0 (Stereo)
- Phone Features:
+ Dimesions (4.6 X 2.2 X 0.5 inches) @ 4.4oz
+ 5.75 Hours of Talk Time
+ Alarm, Calendar, Calculator, TO-DO, Stopwatch, Memo, World Clock, and
Unit Converter
+ Address Book (up to 600 names with Call Groups, Muntiple Numbers per Contact, Picture and/or Ring ID)
+ Sprint TV (CNN Live) and Radio
+ SPRINT EXCLUSIVE of VISUAL VOICEMAIL
(which allows you to pick and choose the voicemails which you want
to hear)

Additionally, initial reports are indicating that the Instince will come with a 2GB SD Card and TWO (2) BATTERIES for a price tag under $300.

Click Here for Continous Updates

FINALLY SENTENCED

This was an arrestee that I booked and transported to OCJ in March of 2004. Now, four years later he is FINALLY sentenced. While he was making his phone call to his mother, she said he was all over the news. His response? He began laughing and yelled to the other two accomplices that they were in the news.

I have no sympathy and having personally seen the store surveillance tape that captured the whole murder, I wish he would have received the death penalty. The store employee who was murdered was someone that I saw on a regular basis when I worked at the police department. The murder was basically an initiation to a white supremest gang.

Irvine 7-11 Murder Sentencing