When Google first announce wave back in the spring I was intrigued. It looked like it could change the way that things worked on the web. Of course having to wait after the announcement to get access just built the curiosity. I applied for access to the developers sandbox as soon as I could. I was surprised back in July when I was granted access.
My first thought when I sat in front of the interface was ‘Cool’ and I started to explore. What I found after a short time of exploring was a bit chaotic, there were a ton of waves most of which I couldn’t seem to join. So after being frustrated in the chaos I asked myself what could I build with this. I never came up with an answer and life never seemed to give me the time to really explore it so my account sat mostly unused. I logged in every few weeks to see what’s changed but that’s about it.
When the major expansion of users came round and the hype started to build I thought it might be time to give it another shot. When I first logged in the interface looked the same but there was less Waves. Just one from Dr. Wave explaining how things worked, one for Inviting people to join wave(these are more recommendations then invites though), and one with some sample gadgets that can be used in waves. After exploring the waves I had I was soon wondering what the point was. none of my friend have access yet and I don’t know when the ‘Recommended’ users will be given access.
It was then that I found the ‘with:public’ search that gives you access to all the public waves. With the search chaos returned, but this time I could interact with the waves, and though I did experience some trolls editing my wave in troll like ways I also found a few Waves where the conversation was flowing and I saw the power hidden in Wave. Just one catch you need to have people to talk with. So though I’m sure I will take the occasional swim in the Wave until some of my friends join it wont be a daily destination.
As I’ve been taking about my experiences and not really reviewing the service I thought I would share the a video I found on Lifehacker that explains at least part of what wave does:
The other day I was going through some old sites, reviewing old accounts and I came across my NaBloPoMo account. I looked over the message board and thought maybe it would be fun to do again. My first thought was to keep it slow, try to post every weekday in October then go for the gusto in November. Then the other day I thought, why wait. What’s the point? Either I do it or I don’t but way wait a month to find out. So without fan fair on the first of the month I submitted my blog to the Blogroll and started.
On the weekend I was inspired to add the badge to my site (See sidebar) and as soon as I did I got blocked. I had a lot of trouble getting out my next three posts. I had planned on saving the post about what I was doing until I was a third or half of the way through the month, but today I figured why not announce it. Let people know what I’m doing. Let’s not fail in Silence, lets fail in front of everyone. Of course I might not fail. Only time will tell.
Family traditions is something Melissa and I feel strongly about. One we would like to start is the Family dinner. Of course wanting to and doing can sometimes be completely different matter. Though we try to eat together every night, it doesn’t work out as often as we’d like. Between my working and other evening events it doesn’t always workout. So tonight we had ourselves a nice Sunday dinner. Tonight it was a nice Roast beef with mashed potatoes and Corn. Next week we’re debating either a pork roast or some nice ribs. I’m hoping that we can make it a weekly thing. Of course in 4 short months when Melissa goes back to work it will be harder to find a Sunday where the family can gather for a meal. But we plan on trying.
Tonight after I got home and had dinner, I decided that I would take some time to play with Jacob. I had an idea, could we run his train set tracks from his table to his floor. It was ambitious and kinda silly, but it was something that Jacob got into. HE help pick out track pieces, Choosing track and running his trains down it. It’s amazing to see how good he’s gotten at putting the pieces of his track together. He still gets frustrated when a turn goes the wrong way, but it’s a fair cry from how he was with it when I first set it up last Christmas. Now I just need to get him a few more track sets so that we can have the train go off the table and back on again. I’ll try to get some pictures of the crazy track that we built tonight.
It was nice to spend some time with Jacob just playing. with all the different things that I need to do each night, I sometimes thing I don’t get to spend enough time with him, just playing. I’m hoping that it’s something I can work into my schedule better in the coming months.
Today marks the first day of the fall swim classes for our kids. That’s right both Jacob and Violet start their lessons today. Our goal was to do an evening class, so that I could meet Melissa and the kids there after work. Unfortunately we couldn’t find both Jacobs Preschool 3 and Violets Guardian swim at a timed worked. So after looking at all our options, we determined that our best choice was Thursday mornings. So today I take the morning off from work and head off to swimming with the family.
This will be Jacob’s second swimming session in a class with other kids, and he’s very excited. He was asking me last night about how many kids would be in his class and who would be going with him. It’s hard not to get caught up in his enthusiasm. I just hope that he can focus in the class. When he gets to excited he has a tendency not to listen, of course he’s only 3 so I guess that is to be expected.
Our second little swimmer, because of the city workers strike and the cool weather this summer, has only been in a pool once this summer. For her it will be an adjustment, I wasn’t there when Jacob took his first Guardian class so I’m not sure how Violet will react. Of course after our family day at the pool (See photos from yesterdays post). I’m pretty sure she’ll be alright. I am glad that the whole family will be there for her first lesson, though I’m not sure how well Jacob will do just watching.
Of course I’m posting this before leaving for swimming so I can’t say how the day went, but as this is just the first week, I’m sure I’ll find time in the coming weeks to talk about our adventures at swim class.
At the beginning of the month I picked up a copy of EA’s Wii Active. Wii Active is an fitness ‘game’ for the Wii. The idea is to have fun while you get in shape from your own living room. Wii Active comes with a leg strap and resistance bands allowing for a wide range of exercises. This is the second fitness product I’ve got for my Wii, the first was the Wii Fit. I liked the Wii fit, but I didn’t keep it up. After a couple of weeks I stopped working out. I’d come back to it ever few months but it didn’t stick.
I’m hoping that the tracking features will inspire me to work out everyday. Well almost everyday, the 30 Day Challenge has a rest day after every 2 days, so the 30 day challenge is actual 20 works in 30 days. Yesterday marked the half way mark of my first 30 Day Challenge. So far I’ve managed not to keep on schedule.
My plan is to do 3 consecutive 30 Day Challenges, one at each level of difficulty. I’m not sure if I will keep to the 2 days workout, 1 day off schedule. I’m leaning towards moving to a 4 or 5 days working out then one day off. These will make the 30 day challenge down to 24 or 25 day. I’m hoping to do regular posts on my progress. So stay tuned
Today I’m taking the time to write you a letter. I’ve been wanting to do this for some time, but never seemed to find the right words. Today I hope I have found them. You are growing up so fast. It’s hard to believe that next fall you will be starting kindergarten. School is still a year away and though I have a lot of things I want to say to you about it , that will have to wait for another letter.
Today I’m writing to you about the classes you are just about to start. Thursday you begin your fall session of swimming. You will be in a class with other children so it’s important that you listen to the teacher. You also need to try new things like jumping into the pool on your own. These classes are for you to learn and to have fun.
In October you begin your second year of skating with Papa, I really hope that you remember how well you were doing in the spring. I remember how tough it was when you started skating last year, but by the end of it you were doing really well and you seemed to enjoy the time Papa and you spent on the ice. I hope you will enjoy it as much this year.
Even though the weather starts to get cold, this fall will filled with lots of fun family adventures, we are planning trips to a Pumpkin Patch, an Apple Farm, The Zoo, and even a trip on Santa’s Train. Of course that doesn’t even mention Halloween, this will be the fourth year you are dressing up, though I don’t think you remember being either a Pumpkin or a Lion. It beings a smile to my face when I think about how excited you are to be dressing up as a pirate this year.
Most of all Jacob I want you to remember that I’ll always be here for you.
