XBOX ONE (Germany)

The new XBOX ONE is finally out in Europe but it's not being sold in every country... what did this mean for us... it meant two trips to Germany before actually getting a hold of my husbands Christmas present!  And of course, the trips didn't go flawless, but inevitably worked out.  The first trip to Krefeld was a complete disappoint, we (inc. our daughter & dog) drove around an hour to get to a shop where a friend of ours had managed to get a hold of an XBOX ONE, just to find out they were sold out.  Of course they were sold out, they hadn't even been on the market for a week.  After the unsuccessful trip and couple other incidents with some people in Krefeld my daughter was done with Germany and never wanted to go back (keep in mind she is 4 yrs old, ha-ha!)  My husband claimed he was going to give up on the XBOX ONE until 2014, but considering he had the next week off work and his friend kept calling over Germany to find us one, the mission was far from over.  Out of nowhere on a half day of school we decided to load the family back into the car and return to Germany, this time headed for Monchengladbach (another hour drive).  Our friend swore he had reserved one for us, and since he can speak German we had to trust he made the right arrangements.  When we arrived, my husband picked a shady parking garage to leave his car (and dog).  See my husband does this often, randomly parks and then gets to listen to me complain about for a hour afterward.  The parking garage was clearly not a public lot, but we knew we were just running into the store and would be back in less than 30 minutes.  Everything went great, the XBOX ONE was waiting on us, they had the soccer game and the extra controller, and even our daughter found a Hello Kitty book.  Happily we all take the hilly walk back to the car, we didn't have long to get back home before our groceries would be delivered.  But uh oh, the garage door was now shut and there was no way to get back in the parking garage without a key.  We obviously didn't have key.  We called the number on the side of the building, Wico Modehaus, and the woman basically said it was our problem because she was in Dusseldorf and had no intentions of coming that way.  O.k., no problem, we remembered seeing an entrance to the garage through a shop on the other side.  We walked back along the hilly path and started checking out the shops, none of them looked like what we needed.  We stopped in a store and explained to the German in English of course that our car and dog were locked in a garage and we just needed to cut through the building, as you can imagine, no one was helpful.  Our daughter is starting to panic, I'm talking about calling the police, and my husband is considering breaking into the garage.  We called the Wico Modehaus one more time, and they sent us to voicemail, can you believe that, how rude!  (I really should send her a nasty email!)  We returned to the parking garage a little frazzled and contemplated our options.  My husband had just removed his jacket and was about to scale the wall when someone pulled up and opened the garage with a remote.  We grabbed out things and chased after him, everyone thankful.  I waited at the door holding the emergency stop button so the garage door wouldn't shut again and my husband and daughter rushed to get the car.  In the end, the dog and car were fine, we made it home in time for the delivery, and my husband has spent endless hours on his new XBOX ONE!  And I'm pretty sure our daughter never wants to go to Germany again, oops!

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica

Different Times

We've decided to introduce our daughter to The Cosby Show and luckily enough we've been able to start with the pilot episode thanks to You Tube.  While watching the first couple episodes last night, my husband and I had a good chuckle, it's amazing how much has (and hasn't) changed since the 80's!  It really made my head start swirling, how different will our kids childhoods be than ours?  Don't get me wrong, I grew up in the 80's & 90's and we didn't have it hard at all.  But I started wondering what kids/teens these days do... do they still talk on the phone for hours to their friends... do they still write pages of notes to exchange with their friends between classes... do they even still see the importance of a library... do they even do homework without computers?
 

While watching The Cosby Show we had to explain to our 4 yr old that phones used to be connected to cords and you had to stay in one place to talk.  Then she saw a beeper/pager, we explained its simple function but I don't think she understood.  I'm sure she's going to start asking where the computers are soon.  I look forward to watching future episodes with her and answering all of the questions that will arise.
 

Besides technology changing, people have changed, we are desensitized.  Think of shows or movies that used to be considered controversial, and think of the market these days.  Even manners and respect has changed, I'm happy when my daughter says please & thank you, but my grandma still expects a "yes ma'am". 
 

Different times, different values.  Is it good or bad... it's both.

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica

Google Reader

Dear Followers,
Don't forget that Google Reader will no longer be available as of July 1st.  For those of you still interested in my quirky random fleeting thoughts be sure to follow me via Bloglovin'.  You can sign up using the button listed on the right side of my blog or simply click here. 

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Thanks so much for visiting my blog and hope you stop by again soon!

Modern McDonald's

When I first moved to The Netherlands I was definitely given the impression the Dutch avoid McDonald's like the plague.  It's considered way too unhealthy for their lifestyles.  But I must say in the past few years I've noticed the McDonald's here getting busier and busier.  I'm not embarrassed to say I pop into McD's occasionally.  Me & my tot love the milkshakes and it's a nice treat a few times a month.  And sometimes we also order food; big deal, we eat healthy otherwise.  (And to be honest McD's here taste different than in The States, I don't eat it when I'm there.)  The last couple of times I have been to McDonald's in Eindhoven or Best they have been packed.  Long lines and high prices, where is the convenience exactly?  At least one McDonald's in the area has done something to help bypass the usual line, they've installed "Easy Order" machines.  No explaining again and again what you want to eat or fiddling with cash, because you place the order yourself via the machine and use your ATM card (pin pass) to pay.  Then you even stand in a separate line to pick up your food.  Considering the majority of the crowd still went to the standard line there were actually fewer orders before ours and we received our food quite quickly.  It still costs an arm and a leg for a greasy pile of food but at least the speedy service has returned.  Now if they would just do something about the ridiculous inflation of the menu prices!

You Trader!!!

Well, it's official, I'm a trader... I've switched from a Windows Phone to an iPhone!!!  I fought it for 2 months, so obviously I'm quite stubborn.  When I wrote the original post about my situation in December, I really didn't know what decision I would make.  And to be honest the only thing that forced me to switch is an upcoming trip to The States.  Since my husband uses an iPhone, it'll be easy for us to stay in contact through FaceTime or Skype apps, functions I didn't have on my HTC phone.  (Yeah, you heard it right, me & my toddler are travelling internationally without my husband, but that'll be a separate post!)  Standing in the store waiting to be helped with the switch (you trader!), all I could do was admire the Windows phones on display... I love the tiles and colors and the way they work.  I love that it's the same applications as on my home computer.  I love supporting Microsoft, great company!  But sometimes you just have to make logical decisions, and this time it was to use the iPhone 4S laying around our house rather than investing the money in another 2 year phone contract inclusive phone.  It'll actually save us around €30 a month... that's until I break the phone (I'm clumsy) and then we'll have to pay out of pocket unlike when you have a phone issued from the phone company.  This was one of my debate points, but my husband wasn't going for it.  Sure, in the end he won (just like with the expensive trash can I didn't want), but I gave him hell and held out for as long as I could, ha-ha!  (I actually refused to use a new trash can in our kitchen for a month in protest of the costs, again, I'm stubborn.)  You'll probably never hear me say that I like the iPhone, whether I do or don't, it's a pride thing.  But since I do have one, I might as well sign up for all of the apps that I hear everyone going on about all of the time, Instagram here I come.  Turns out it's also available on the HTC, arg!

Windows Phone

I have a small issue, a luxurious problem if you will... I have to decide between a new Windows phone or my husbands old iPhone4.  I am a happy Windows smartphone user, and I thoroughly enjoy my HTC 7 Trophy.  My husband is an Apple iPhone user, he's tried HTC & Blackberry and every time he goes back to the iPhone.  The contract on my phone is almost up, so it's time to renew which means I get a new phone!  Exciting, can't wait to get a newer version of the Windows phone, whether it be HTC or Samsung.  (Samsung is also a great product, we love their tv's & media players.)  But then the luxurious dilemma arose.  Through work my husband received a new iPhone5 which means his iPhone4 needs a home.  Considering my contract is almost over and my phone is beat up after 2yrs of use, the most logical choice is that I take over his old (basically new) iPhone4.  If you've followed my blog, you've learned I like to make logical money saving choices.  But in this circumstance, I really don't want to.  I'm not an iPhone kind of person.  It sounds silly but I am a Microsoft fan, I love most of their products.  I have Windows 8 on my home computer, I have Windows on my smartphone, we own an Xbox; I love Microsoft and I don't want to switch to an Apple product.  It sounds silly but to me you're either a Microsoft user or an Apple user, one will suit you better than the other.  I'm familiar with Apple products, we have an iPad and I've used my husbands phone before, but I am just more comfortable with a Windows phone.  I think my husband is going to use my own words about being frugal and sensible against me, forcing me to take the iPhone.  It just seems unfair, there are people out there who dream of having an iPhone and I'm having one forced on me, it's not right.  I guess I should take it, be grateful, and the first opportunity I get, go running back to a Windows phone. 

What do you think?  Any Windows fans?  Any Apple fans out there?