Yes, I am still alive!
I have just been very, very busy and have not had much time to blog! But stayed tuned, things are happening. ![]()

Welcome to my site! Here you can read all about me and my family. You might also learn a thing or 2 since I am including some technical tips along the way. And by all means check out the photo gallery for some great pictures of my beautiful family.
Looking for twin related content, ultrasounds, or twin advice? Check out my new site, Doubletwinz.com!
I have just been very, very busy and have not had much time to blog! But stayed tuned, things are happening. ![]()
AT&T is soon releasing WM6 for the Blackjack, Cingular 8525 and Treo 750. Well, like most things on the internet these days it could not be hidden and someone leaked it. Curiosity got me plus I love installed new apps for my phone so I tracked it down and installed it.
It went extremely smooth. The interface has been changed and in my opinion, improved. All the Cingular stuff is changed to ATT. AND that annoying start up and shut down sound is off!
There is a lengthy thread at Howard Forums full of info from others that have jumped in.
Here are the instructions for how to perform the flash.
NOTE: THOSE INSTRUCTIONS ARE FOR THE REBRANDING FLASH, BUT THE SAME INSTRUCTIONS APPLY TO THE WM6 FLASH. Just make sure that you download and install the correct file.
I don’t want to upset anyone by directly posting to the download here. But if you are handy with Google you can find it.
I will post my findings and differences as they come up. My husband also has a Blackjack and I will compare the 2.
Here is a great tip that I found after a Google Search on Lifehacker for how to disable one of my major annoyances mentioned below.
I recently gave up on my several year run as a technician/computer builder at home when my desktop took a nosedive and I didn’t have the time or energy to resuscitate it. I built it I think 4 years ago, ore rebuild I should say. It had a good run. I wanted a reliable new machine that when it broke, someone else would fix it this time if I did not feel like it. So…. Dude, I got a Dell!
This is the first name brand computer (desktop) that I have purchased personally since 1998. WOW! Before that, I had built my first machine which was an Intel Pentium 133Mhz, with I think 64mB of RAM, and a 1.2GB hard drive. Something like that. I had also built a less powerful 486 for my mom. I hung onto that for quite a while and then passed it on to my nephew. Well, once I decided that i wanted something more powerful, I made the huge mistake of buying a Powerspec from Microcenter. All I can say is ICK! What on earth did I do that for. The hard drive died after I think one month. I had home repair service, but that did not help the stuff on my drive. Luckily, since I had not had it long, I had not added much and the old content was still on my old drive. I upgraded that one a couple of time to fix it, then passed it onto my mother and went back to building my own. It was certainly the best way to go at the time. Prices on parts were so low that there was no doubt that you could build yourself a really good machine for the same or maybe even lower than buying one.
Well times have changed, computers from Dell, HP, Gateway, etc. prices are great and you can always find a great deal on the web.
So, I did some searching online for a few days until just the right coupon deal caught my eye. I got a great machine and a 22″ widescreen flat panel to boot. WOO HOO!! Along with this machine, I decided to be daring, bite the bullet, and get Windows Vista….
ooooohhhh….
So far things are going pretty well. I have to be honest. I don’t use that machine as much as I should yet. I am still all over the house with my laptop (Also a Dell, but with XP). But when I do use it, I am pretty happy with it. Yes, Vista has crashed a couple of times, and I did have to go through a couple of simple hoops to get some software to work, but nothing serious. All my hardware had updates from the manufacturers, so that was a relief. I still have some more things to install so I may encounter some problems. Here is what I dislike so far…
I decided to write up the differences in the article. You can see those on my other site here.
A local Suburban Chicago paper interviewed me for their Mother’s Day centerpiece story. It’s very strange to look at a paper and see yourself on the cover.
Check out my story here
Kristopher got up at 5:24, so I went to the computer to look up the article. Eddie said “no, don’t read it there, it’s not the same”, so at 5:30 he got dressed and went to the store and bought 10 papers.
There are a couple of minor mistakes on details in the article, but no big deal. I think it’s great!
Enjoy.
I have been noticing that things seemed mighty fast on the net at my house lately, so I decided to do a speed test.

EDIT(5/17): Well for some reason my link to the speedtest image died. But it was well over 13mb down and 1.5mb up.
Holy ^$**&(&$!! That is FAST!!!
I swear it seems like just yesterday that I was 25, but 9 days ago I turned 33. My girls keep asking me if I am getting old. Well, yes I am girls! I wish I had the energy of a 20 year old.
I did not have a big party or anything. We had a few friends over at the last minute for bbq. I also watched my girls get their first crack at riding their new bikes.
That was a riot!
Hey, see my fancy new banner above?? I finally got off my lazy bum and signed up for the reseller account like I should have done long ago.
If you need to renew a domain or need hosting, check it out! Prices are great. Domain transfers start at 6.95 for a .com and include a FREE 1 year extension. Click the banner to get started.
Hosting starts at only 3.99 for 5Gb of space!! That is more than most of the other hosts on the web. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!
I found this on a forum, I don’t recall which one. But apparently, Cingular is trying to right the wrong of the super short battery life on the Blackjack and offering free extended batteries and covers.
I received mine yesterday. It does make the phone just a tad bit wider, but I guess it is worth it for when you need more battery time.
Claim your battery now before it’s too late!
https://www.web-rebates.com/cingular/blackjack/Step1.asp