You may remember that not too long ago I was praising the Blackberry, thinking that it was the one I wanted back in August. I told myself that it was the email functionality that made it the one for me and work. I think I also told myself that I would not get an iPhone just to be that person with an iPhone because everyone else has one, but now I see why they do. Having the BB Curve for the past two months, I can say that it is a nice phone, but just not right for me. While the email pushing is good, the messages themselves are hard to read due to the small screen and poor formatting. And if I didn’t like the email interface then what was the point of having the Blackberry? The web browser was excruciating to look at, and that was after you brewed a cup of tea waiting for it to load in the first place – an obvious disadvantage of the Curve being an Edge device and not 3G. Add to the email and browsing woes the fact that there are few apps that I found useful and we have a trifecta of non-brilliantness that made it sub-par from my viewpoint. Do I get a cheaper rate for my wireless service then? You would think so, but nope! For the same price I can have the iPhone with the exact same plan. Cue the iPhone…

I am a gadgets guy and so the iPhone is aimed directly at me, and I took one right in the center of the forehead. The device is a beauty, with its perfect size and weight, jaw-dropping screen and intuitive interface. You might as well have a mini-computer in your hand – oh wait, you do! What about the email though? Well, the iPhone can now handle Microsoft Exchange connections and so all is good for most of the emailing I will need for work, and Gmail is built in for my personal needs. No, not those kind of needs! A lot of people go with a Blackberry because of the physical keyboard, citing that it is too difficult with the touchscreen to type. I find the opposite though – I can type faster with the iPhone, and with the auto-correction feature I don’t have to be 100% precise either.

And then there are the apps, and I mean aaaaapps! There are so many to choose from that it can be a little confusing and overwhelming at first. I spent most of yesterday afternoon and evening logged into the App Store, finding. installing and testing many applications – all of the “free” variety. This is where the iPhone stands above the rest of the crowd and it is why I knew I would love the phone. I haven’t tried any games yet, but here are a few of the applications that I have grabbed and am enjoying already:

• Facebook for iPhone – ummm, pretty self explanatory
• TweetDeck – awesome free Twitter app
• Score Mobile – for all my sports scores on the go
• Time Mobile – articles from Time magazine to read while waiting somewhere
• Run Keeper – everything my Garmin Forerunner does (plus mapping, minus heart rate)
• WeatherEye – weather info and radar whenever you need it
• Lose It – keep track of food and calories in a day (not sure about this one yet)
• Shazam – will listen to a song playing (ie on radio) and give title, artist and info about it

All this to say that I am a convert. I didn’t believe all the hype around the iPhone until I actually got to sit down with one for a while. It is a fantastic piece of gadgetry and would urge anyone thinking of grabbing a Blackberry to see if the iPhone will do what you want. Maybe I had the wrong Blackberry myself – perhaps a Bold would have given me a different impression. Either way, I am happy I made the switch.

Yup, looking at its definition it does appear that I have joined a cult. I wasn’t paying attention and then BAM!, here I am part of a group bound together by veneration of the same thing – a Blackberry. The iPhone cult almost had their claws in me but the Blackberry group made too compelling a case. I must admit, if I was looking for a purely personal phone then the iPhone would be in my possession already, but I needed a phone that would be an email beast with a full keyboard that wasn’t on the screen. So, with the decision made, I browsed the used phone listings and found a great deal on a Blackberry Curve 8310 over the weekend. Bad timing though as it is the long weekend and so now I have to wait to get a new SIM card and a plan on Rogers.

So, I guess I should also explain why I need such a phone. This time it isn’t just a case of me wanting a cool, new toy (which has been known to happen.) In line with all the changes happening in my life situation, I have chosen a new career. While searching for a new job, I was offered a position as a mortgage consultant by an acquaintance who has a mortgage brokerage. After a couple of weeks of research and meetings with him I came to the decision to accept the offer and registered for the course I need in order to get accredited. It is not going to be an easy career to start out in since it is solely commission based, but with some hard work and perseverance I believe I will do well. It is going to offer me the opportunity be in control of my own success – the harder I work the more I am rewarded. I am really excited about this opportunity and can’t wait for the course materials to arrive this week so that I can get started.

I guess the last bit of news to share is that my goal of getting in better shape is still on track. Following my three weeks off at the beginning of July due to heel ligament damage, I am back on track with my running. I have managed to get out for seven 5k runs in the last thirteen days, even with a three day layoff with a knee injury. Yup, the same leg… it appears to be moving up the leg and so I guess the hip is next. I have been running with the knee pain for the last couple of days still, but it isn’t getting any worse and it is actually feeling pretty good tonight. I hope I can stay healthy for the next month and a half as I have signed up for the Canada Army Run 5K on September 20th and I would like to be able to run the entire thing with as few walking breaks as possible. I am a few weeks away in my training plan to running an entire 5K and so, barring any further injuries, I should be ready. Aiding me in my training is a pair of Thorlos running socks . They certainly aren’t cheap, $17 CDN after taxes, but well worth it! My feet feel refreshed after a run rather than sore and they also prevent blisters on longer runs. Not only that, but I picked up some tech shirts to help keep me cool and dry, and that they do. I don’t know how I even ran for a couple of weeks before without them – again another great investment in my training. I would like to get some Under Armor stuff to see what it is like now but can’t justify spending $40 on a shirt just yet; I am still only at 5K distances after all. If all goes well with this first run then I plan on doing the Run for a Cure 5K in October as well. Wish me luck in keeping healthy!

This layout is requiring a lot more work on my behalf though; the last one was plug-and-play where I just selected the theme and moved some boxes around. With this layout I am having to do a lot of custom work to remove things I don’t want and to properly add some of the old features, requiring me to get into the actual PHP and CSS coding. Without training or much prior experience there is a steep learning curve and a lot “let’s change this piece of coding to see what it does. nope don’t like that, let’s change it back.” Also, some of the old features have conflicts with some of the new ones and so there have been a couple of functionality changes, but I am working on those. You may notice that there are some things not laid out properly yet, but I will get to them in due time. I think they are all small things now, but if you notice anything big not working properly please let me know ASAP.

Nevertheless, we celebrated the holiday over the 4-day weekend like everyone else – and we celebrated it real good! Cindy’s friend, Kat, and her boyfriend, Ollie, arrived in town from London on Thursday night to visit family (and us!) That night we headed into town for (quite) a few pints and managed to close down the bars. Granted, it was a Thursday and they closed down earlier than we are used to, but it was probably a blessing in disguise since I was still feeling the after effects the next day. I spent Friday resting up as I knew I had busy day coming on Saturday since everyone was coming for a BBQ (known as a “braai” in South Africa I learned). In addition to Kat and Ollie, Nicole and Dave (Ollie’s sister and her boyfriend) and Erica and Ray (friends) were on the guest list at Chez Chris’ Grill. This meant getting up somewhat early and heading to the grocery store to get some supplies. On the way back home, Cindy dropped me off at the butcher where I watched them cut eight beautiful sirloin steaks for me. Once home they marinated in the fridge for eight hours while I made some apple crisp and prepared the potato wedges.

Our guests arrived shortly after 4pm and the beer started flowing, pints of gin & tonic for the ladies. Well, to be honest, for some the beer was flowing earlier at the pub since Liverpool was playing the early game, but I won’t name names. Erica and Ray made a trip to the American PX for us and came baring gifts – ranch dressing, Doritos and maple syrup! The sun was shining and we enjoyed it while relaxing on the patio, although some people found the balmy weather cold still, but it wasn’t any of the Canadians! In between beverages we managed to get the steaks grilled and dinner on the table, and I will toot my own horn and say that everything turned out pretty damn good. I made two apple crisps thinking that we would have some leftovers, but that plan failed as it went quickly. No complaints at all though, as an evening of merriment with friends and foliage-paying-it-forward was enjoyed by all (see the photos for more details).

We didn’t have much turn around time before our next scheduled eating event. Ollie and Nicole’s family was kind enough to invite us to Easter lunch/dinner – I don’t know what to call it since we started eating early in the afternoon and finished in the evening. It was simply fantastic food – and by that I mean meat, meat and more meat. There was even meat wrapped in other meat, and the stuffing was meat! There was only one green dish on the table and I think that was just to contrast the color of meat. It was all so delicious and I made sure I helped myself to seconds, although there was enough food for everyone to have fourths, and that was before the desserts were even brought out after a much needed break. Cindy even got her Easter egg hunt, although it did get a little rough with the eight or nine of us running around the house like kids. We had a great time with our substitute British family while away from home for the holidays and couldn’t thank them enough for taking us in.

So, you see. The Easter Bunny really is a whore! Ya, I don’t think I argued my point very well either.

I will be back tomorrow with another quick post, but the Inter Milan vs Manchester United UEFA Champions League football game has just started. I guess I am becoming more of a Brit every day. Below are a couple of pics – they weren’t pretty but they were tasty.