My 3650

I love my Nokia 3650. I thought I would never get a cell phone. I was the longest holdout that I knew of. Even my 11-year-old nieces were getting cell phones. When Joanne first get her cell phone back in the mid 90's, I always joked with her that she was dealing smack. Only gangsters and drug dealers had cell phones. When she got a $400 cell phone bill in our first year of marriage, I threatened to throw the phone out of the window! Little did I know that I would have my OWN cell phone nary 2 years later.

Mind you, I don't really use the phone too much to call anyone. I got it initially because of the family rate plan that only added ten bucks to Jo's bill, and because the 3650 was free, because of the rebates. It was bulky, odd-looking, and weird, but I still got it because it got great ratings from Amazon consumers. It had a large color screen, bluetooth, a camera, a videocamera, and limited internet capabilities.

At first I used it to just play thay dumbass game, Snake. Then I started circulating my number, and people called me! Woohoo. And then, I discovered the camera and videocamera. So here are some favorite pics of mine from the past couple of months. They also come with a story.




I took this picture while Jo and I were watching a long movie. Gilbey and Belle were so tired of waiting for us to take them on a walk that they just fell asleep at our feet. Apparently, Belle makes a good pillow.




Alvin and I went to a preseason game back in April. We got pretty damn good seats right in front of the Giants bullpen. Before the game, I saw Fred Ingliss, the Channel 2 Reporter, lugging a bunch of his equipment across the field. Without even thinking what I was gonna say, I yelled out, "Lookin' good, Fred!" He bounced back a smile of acknowledgement, looked at all the crap he was carrying, and retorted, "I don't get paid enough for this shit."

I was wearing my New York Yankees hat, even though the Giants were playing the Rangers, and Dave Righetti, the pitching coach, yelled from the field towards our direction. I didn't catch what he said, but I should have gone up to him and have him sign my hat, being that he was a Yankee in the early 80's, and got a no-hitter with them.

Last thing about this pic. It was the first day that the Giants organization announced that SBC park had Wi-fi. Sure enough, the techie in front of us brought his Mac and webcam. He got on the internet really quickly and corresponded via webcam with a bunch of his buddies. Eh, it was preseason; can't blame the guy.




My company has its annual dinner in July, and even though I had work that night, Jo and I decided to go. I was glad I went because I saw a bunch of people I hadn't seen in years. My buddy, Kevin, went with my old Supervisor, Moe. They also handed out the Unkie's, the unconditional care awards. One person at our table, got one. It was nice, because she seemed sweet, and judging by the applause, deserved it. I always get uncomfortable during awards, because you don't know if you'll be receiving one. I didn't receive one that night, but 2 weeks later, I received the Residential staff of the month, as well as the Residential team of the month. It was nice getting the accolade.

Anyways, the nicest thing about that night was spending some quality time with Jo. We've been so wrapped up with such stressful crap the past year, that it was a relief to get all dolled up with my honey and spend a nice evening together. The dinner was held at Hs. Lordships at the Berkeley Marina, and the picture was of the sunset. It was a beautiful sunset set amongst the rolling clouds, and the sunlight appeared to dance above the horizon.




Went to the Residential picnic for my work earlier this summer, and played a friendly game of volleyball. Friendly, indeed, but not without its share of trash-talk. My fellow overnight, DeShannon, was talking so much smack that I had to break him off. After he bragged about how he should be in the Olympics because of his athletic prowess, I bounced back and said, "Yeah, Special Olympics." It got a laugh from everyone else, but their team still lost. Then, we played football, and for some reason, it turned into a boy vs. girl thang. I swear we played to 100, because I was sucking air at the end. Those chicks could definitely play. Yes, we got our asses handed to us by a bunch of women. Girl power.




I was transporting a kid from one of the group homes to the school site one morning, and we had an eventful trip to say the least. First, we passed by a house with a huge yard that got tee-peed, or should I sat t-p'd, as in tissue paper. It was a masterful job, too. There were at least 30 rolls used, and the front yard that used to be green looked like a winter wonderland. I could only imagine how hard it would be to get that crap off those 20 foot trees they had. Incidentally, a couple of weeks ago, some fools tried to t-p our house. They picked a good night, too, because I was away at work. It took me 2 minutes to clean it up. 2 rolls and one of them was still 3/4 rolled up. I could only surmise that our pups took action and scared them away with their barking. Ha!

Anyways, I had to explain to the kid what the tissue paper was doing there, and why it was harmless and funny. I hope I didn't give him the impression that is was something every kid did. I only did it twice when I was a kid, and that was when I was a young thug. As if I thought the morning drive could'nt get any weirder, we're stopped at Seven Hills and Lake Chabot in Castro Valley, and guess what comes walking right in front of my car? A gaggle of geese. They were walking in single formation as if they owned the road. My fellow motorists were all stunned in amazement, and they were walking so slow, that I had time to reach into my pocket, pull out my 3650, and snap a pic.

Well, those are some of my favorite 3650 pics. I'll probably snap some more in the next couple of months, and post it later. Unfortunately, Jo's phone is acting up on her, so I promised she could use mine. Oh well.