Slightly Off Kilter

Looking for Work

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:24:16 -0800

After 5 years with the same company, I'm looking for a new job. There was a division re-org back in August and my manager resigned the same week (coincidentally). I wasn't a fit for the new team I was assigned to and, despite my best efforts, couldn't find a team I did fit.

"What you do is very valuable, Vicki... but there's no position for you in our group."

I heard that a lot. ]]> On Nov 30, my "position" was eliminated. (Was that the new position, the old position, or just the point where I connected into the org chart? I think it was the latter. :-(

In any event, that was that. I said "Thank you" and "No, I don't have any questions" and hung up. (Yes, it was a phone call. I'm actually quite happy it wasn't an in-person thing.)

My first emotion was relief. After all, I'd spent two months unsuccessfully hunting for a new position in the same company. There was a lot of job stress in that two months.

So now I'm looking for something new. This involves many things: updating my resume, updating my LinkedIn Profile, contacting people I know who may be able to suggest someone else I should contact...

I'm also taking advantage of a layoff "perk" offered by my now-former company: two months of outsourcing services. The program is offered through Right Management, with both in-office and home-based classes, job coaching, and assessment tools.

I liked the way the 2-hour "Getting Started" session was handled, loved the opportunity to take the Birkman personality test for free, and learned some new strategies in the "Resume Development" class.

Apparently, a lot has changed in resume theory in the past 5-10 years. The best thing I got from the class was the recommendation to remove "responsible for" from my resume everywhere it appeared. I was surprised at how much different my work history sounded when everything started with an action verb: Defined! Created! Wrote!

Who knew?

I've also changed my resume format, from the historically popular chronological format to a functional format. I like this one better. Check it out.

The last thing I need to do -- what I'm still working on -- is figuring out exactly what kind of job I would like to have if I could have anything I wanted (and I could find it). There's a temptation to apply for anything at all that I could possibly do. (A job. I need a job! Will work for income!) But I know that if I'm not happy with what I get, it won't last for very long.

Five years was a long run. Most of the time, I really liked the job that just ended. I'm hoping to find something that I'll like at least as much going forward.

Onward and upward.

Haskell

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:59:50 -0800

At a techie Meetup last night, I met an IT guy who programs in Haskell. Haskell is described as a "polymorphically statically typed, lazy, purely functional language". The language is named for Haskell Brooks Curry, "whose work in mathematical logic serves as a foundation for functional languages". *

I've never used Haskell, the language, but every time I hear that someone does, I smile. I remember a sweet, absent-minded professor who wore purple socks.

I grew up across the street from Haskell Curry and his lovely wife, Virginia. They were wonderful people and good neighbors. I'm delighted that Mr Curry is remembered in a programming language.

Ultimate Sack

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:58:00 -0800

Many years ago, we had a poof (pouf) - a giant bean bag stuffed with foam instead of "beans". It wore out, we recovered it, the new covering didn't work. It's gone now.

Today we got a new one from Ultimate Sack. The cats already approve.

]]> An Ultimate Sack comes compressed down as a 2'x2' cube of foam in a canvas bag.

Unzip the bag and remove the plastic-bag wrapped body of the poof - a "brick" of foam pieces in another canvas bag.

Then comes the fun part - opening the big bag and breaking up the compressed foam "brick" so it's soft and squodgy and settable.

Eventually -- voila! The foam is all separated, the bag is zipped, and the crumbly bits are swept up.

Time to put on the cover and get the stamp of approval.

My Name is Me

Sun, 21 Aug 2011 18:41:23 -0800

(Posted under the category, Supporters at My Name is Me. The site supports your freedom to choose the name you use on social networks and other online services.

My name is Vicki. That's not the name on my birth certificate or how the IRS knows me. It _is_ the name my mother gave me.

My mother didn't give her daughters a name and then call us by a shortened version. She gave us each a name as well as a longer "formal" name to use for things like banks and taxes.

Which is my "real name"? For me, it's not the one on my driver's license. ]]> I know people who use their middle names, their Hebrew names, their Unix login IDs, their initials, their Chinese names, Americanized names, or names they "invented" in high school and have been using ever since. Those are their "real" names because those are the names they have chosen.

I use the name my mother gave me when I was born. However, I rarely use the "long" formal first name and I never use the middle name that is on my birth certificate. Those may be "legal" names for me but they are not "real".

I have long believed that names hold power. Names are important. What you choose to call yourself - how you introduce yourself - IS your name. If that name differs between your online worlds, your social worlds, your professional worlds, and the legal world, that is none of my concern. Tell me what I should call you; that is your name.a

"I don't want Borders to go."

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 21:21:34 -0800

This evening as they were driving along, the child suddenly looked very happy. She shouted and laughed, "Lets go to Borders Book Store."

Grandpa explained they couldn't because Borders were out of business. A while later he looked in the mirror.

She was sitting very quietly. Her face was all scrunged up. The tears where slowly flowing.

"Are you crying"? he asked. She slowly, silently nodded. "Why?", he asked.

A little four-year-old forlorn voice answered, "Borders is gone. I don't want Borders to go."

Highly Sensitive People and the Interruptive Workplace

Sat, 13 Nov 2010 17:36:01 -0800

Good News: I have a new manager and increased scope at Dayjob. My job title and description will be adjusted to formally recognize what I've actually been doing for the past three years.

Bad news: New manager wants me in the office "more often". It's the only point on which we disagree. But it's a big point. For some time now, I've been telecommuting three days a week.

Within a month of my starting work at this company (on a temporary "contract"), I asked to telecommute one day a week. When they offered to make the position permanent, I requested permission to telecommute two days a week. That (and a Mac on my desk :-) were my most important negotiating points before saying Yes.

About a year and a half ago, I increased my telecommuting to three days a week. As my commute time and exposure to noise and disruption have gone down, my stress levels have also gone down. The ability to telecommute is one of my top reasons for staying with this company.

Asking me to "be the office more" feels like a punishment for a job well done.

Is Customer Satisfaction Worth $9.95?

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 17:20:04 -0800

Back in early June, I noticed that the front grill emblem on our Scion xB was missing. I decided I wanted to replace it and our local dealership's price seemed high so I checked online. I found a decent price but their web ordering system was out of whack and proposed $35 for shipping (um, no). There was, however, a box I could check to "get a quote" for shipping.

So, I placed the order (using PayPal) and checked the box. The next day, they sent me a quote for shipping. The quote was a bit higher than I would have liked (the item is small enough to fit in a USPS flat-rate envelope) but it was only a $5 difference from what I would have liked, so I sent the shipping by PayPal. Then I waited.

Continued...

Swirly Brickwork

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 08:25:33 -0800

We recently encountered this building on a downtown corner in Walnut Creek, CA (1700 N. Main St.). The building, which currently houses a Realty office, was converted from a drive-in bank. The small building in back is apparently used for storage.

The architecture (and brickwork!) are really interesting:]]>

Rows of mottled red bricks curl and twist along the facade. The woodwork seems hefty enough to support the Washington Monument. The corner across from Walnut Creek's City Hall gets full castle treatment, with a two-story-high circular tower topped by a steeply pitched slate roof.

High design it ain't. But this conversion of a drive-through bank offers something that today is all too rare: tactile delight. In a world where office towers are clad in wafer-thin granite and shopping centers wear columns of stucco-covered Styrofoam, it's great to see the arrival of a downtown building that wants to make an enduring mark on the landscape.

Holey Associates - Adaptive re-use - Walnut Creek, California, USA - 2005

Click any photo for a full-size image.

Evolution of a TWikiist

Sun, 04 Apr 2010 14:09:25 -0800

I've had a rather eclectic career. Most of the time, I've been a programmer, starting with Unix (shell, awk, and some C), then moving into Perl. At other times, when the mood suits, I've been employed as a technical writer.

I've also been a Quality lead and a Linux sysadmin. I've created web pages, managed mailing lists, provided Macintosh support, and written code in JavaScript and Visual Basic. Regardless of my job title, I've always been happiest when I'm helping other people to be more productive in their work, either by writing code or writing and editing documentation.

At present, I'm a TWiki adept. Read more in commentary.

Privacy in the Internet Age

Sun, 10 Jan 2010 21:50:16 -0800

I read an article today, in Read Write Web, on Facebook's "privacy changes". The headline screamed "Facebook's Zuckerberg Says The Age of Privacy is Over" .

Well, apparently that's not actually what Zuckerberg said. That was an interpretation for a sensationalist headline.

Read my commentary.

A Year in Tweets

Sun, 03 Jan 2010 12:52:27 -0800

Inspired by Facebook's "Year in Status" application, I excerpted "A Year in Tweets".

♥ Happy New Year Pacific Standard Time USA! Wishing you all everything you hope for in 2009. Time to turn off lights and watch for fireworks. ♥ Gorgeous day. Sunny. Blue sky streaked with whispy clouds. Clear as far as I can see. Sailboats dot the Bay. Perfect view. How's your day? ♥ Oh not again! Now we're having a peanut butter scare. No reports of contaminated peanut butter in CA, but it's been pulled from the cafe. :( ♥ Just removed a tuft of cat fur from under my trackball. Wondering how the ball has been working with that in it. A marvel of technology. ♥ The cat says it's 4pm. At 4pm, on days when I work from home, it's "Stop Typing and Pay Attention to the Cats" time. Plus crunchy snacks. ♥ ]]> ♥ There's a catered meeting in the room down the hall. The lunch line snakes past my cubicle areas. Yo, people! Shhhhhh! ♥ The catered meeting has wine. And food. And HAPPY people. Wheee! We were not invited. Door is closed. Time for headphones. ♥ Fluffy pink cat to my left in prime belly-rubbing position. Fluffy bluegray cat to my right in perfect ear-skritching position. Bliss. ♥ People in the park are flying a kite. It's a dragon - brightly colored with great detail. Good day for kite flying. Winds about 5mph. ♥ A good day. A new President; a hopeful Nation. The sun is in Aquarius (it is the Dawning of the Age...). And this is my 1000th tweet. Smile! ♥

♥ Happy birthday to me; I'm taking the day off. @rdmorin and I enjoyed Dim Sum for brunch. Egg rolls, pork buns, coconut jello, mango pudding. ♥ Driving home from brunch, watched a man cross to center divider to attach (electric screwdriver) homemade garage sale sign to city signpost. ♥ Om nom nom. Bagels and lox for brunch today. "House of Bagels" bagels; real bagels (boiled and baked) none of that bread fluff stuff. Solid. ♥ The bad thing about having a cubicle near a window (ground floor) is the landscaping guy weedwhacking the landscaping. ZzzzMMMMmmmRRrrrrmm ♥

♥ I admit to being compulsive about recyclables. I just pulled half a dozen outdated "announcements" from trash to put into recycling instead. ♥ It's definitely Spring in San Francisco area. The ornamental plum trees have blossomed. Saw the first on Feb 2. Typical timing, every year. ♥ Rain in the night; still raining when I woke up. I don't want to get up. I want to lie in bed with the cats and listen to the rain falling. ♥ Me in living room; @rdmorin is preparing dinner. He won't say what; I'm guessing. Black pepper, seasoned salt, chicken... Ah. Should be yum. ♥

♥ At Airport El Torito, SF. Window table. Watching planes landing in the rain. Full moon occasionally peeks through the clouds. ♥ Spatter! It's raining hard again, wind from the NW, splashing at windows.Those of you in wetter climes don't know how special this is to us. ♥ After a blue sky day w/ a handsome setting moon at 7am, slowly clouding for the home commute, it is now raining. Time for sleep & listening. ♥

♥ On a day when I don't have to get up until 7:30, it is most unfair to be trampled by lowflying pussycats at a little before 7. ♥ Power outage! No Internet, UPS beeping, monitors dark. Can't make breakfast. Much Worse, cat fountain is not running! Meew! Hooman failure. ♥ Cutting up turkey for supper (hot T sandwiches). I did not slice my thumb. Still checking to confirm this (a nearer thing than I prefer). ♥ No Work today (Co holiday) but plenty of work. Our mail server didn't come up after one power failure. Hoping to move to another box. Ugh. ♥ From the novel I'm reading: "It had been built in 1999, funded by a massive cash donation from a past pupil who'd made good in sausages." ♥

♥ 11pm. Caught up on Twitter. Should go to bed. But my arm is a pillow for a snoozing kitty. I can't move. The things we do for love. ♥ Promising morning. Drizzling rain from a lowering sky, then a rainbow (full bow!) over the train station. Redolence of chocolate in the air. ♥ Ruummmmmble! Real thunder in SF Area, CA. Cool! (I miss Pennsylvania thunderstorms). ♥ Playing "Bluetooth or Crazy" in train. Woman in dark glasses, hair over her ears, talking at a spot on the wall. Blackberry gives it away. ♥ Taking today off from Work, not for fun, unfortunately. I need to do Taxes. More frost on the rooftops this morning but also a hummingbird. ♥

♥ Beautiful day. Spring in the air. Birds are singing. Why do I have to Work indoors? At least I can go for a walk around the block. So I did! ♥ Rich is down in the garage making our bagel slicer slightly wider. The smell of burnt wood is drifting up through the living room window. ♥ ♥ Living room window open. Drizzly rain currently stopped. A happily chirrupping bird sings from somewhere nearby. (Should I say "twitters"?) ♥ 7am. Sunrise obscured by heavy clouds. Drizzling rain. Car ahead of me has license plate 1CLUTZ. Give him room. ♥

♥ Today is Spring Equinox. The first day of Spring is Groundhog Day (says @Morning_Porch) and I agree! Esp. where I live; trees blossom Feb 2. ♥ Wow! 22 mph wind with rain. From the North. Splatter all over the front windows. Sploosh! ♥ At 3:30 I was in 5 simultaneous IM sessions. Where were you people earlier today? Told #3 "already chatting". For next two, didn't bother. ♥ Solved all 5 requests. Didn't type in wrong windows. Everyone happy. And out the door to shuttle at 4:25. W00t. (Let's not do this again.) ♥

♥ The (large) poster on a bus stop shelter in SF shows a man's face - yawning. Hello! I'm driving here. I don't need (yawn) to start yawning. ♥ The Painted Lady butterflies are migrating north up El Camino Real. I recall the 2005 migration. They were _everywhere_ ♥ My sister is in town for 4 days of Training sessions. We're meeting her (and a coworker) in The City tonight for dinner. Should be fun. ♥ Dear man on the train platform, bouncing (not jogging) in place. It's 07:15. Could you do that later? And somewhere else. ♥ I'm 30min into a 'required' 90min meeting that pretty much has no relationship to my Job. I hope the Company is getting its money's worth ♥ Some people appear totally focused on laptops. Why are they here? Why am _I_ here? The "joys" of mandatory meetings. Can't mandate value. ♥

♥ Hummingbird flitting around the bottlebrush bush as I got into my car this morning. A gray day suddenly got brighter. ♥ Visitor in the breakroom: Can you tell me which of these is coffee? Me, looking with new eyes: 4 urns, artistically labeled but not so easy. ♥ Company packing day. The entire building population is moving across the street. Too bad; this was one of the better cubicles I've had. ♥ Once again, the cubicle fairies have come while I was away. I never see them. Perhaps I should leave out a bowl of mocha for them? ♥

♥ Working from home. The breeze through the window smells like honeysuckle and other good things. Two ravens are having a noisy discussion. ♥ There's a daycare near our house. One of the adults is blowing soap bubbles. It's windy. Soap bubbles are flying down our street at ~10mph. ♥ Much value in walking away from a problem for a bit. Before lunch: banging my head on JavaScript. After: Oh. I have two forms w/ same name. ♥ It's a bad dream when you dream you have a headache and you're taking Excedrin. Good news: I didn't have a headache when I woke up. ♥

♥ In my rearview mirror this morning, a pickup truck at the gas station forgot to disconnect the nozzle before driving. Breakaway hose FTW! ♥ I upgraded my aged Palm OS smartphone today to a Motorola Droid. Resisting temptation to play since noon. Now off Work and it's Play Time! ♥ Chex mix; taste from childhood available on the grocer's shelf. We didn't use bagel chips; they don't use Cheerios, but close. I added nuts! ♥ My New Year's tradition since moving to California: call my parents in Pennsylvania at 9pm PST to say Happy New Year! (How's it look? :-) ♥

A Year in Twitter (Word Cloud)

Sat, 02 Jan 2010 21:18:39 -0800

I generated a TweetCloud out of a year of my tweets. Top three words: people, time, love.

2009 in Review

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 20:38:30 -0800

Japan and Europe are already in 2010. As I write this, California has 4 hours to go.

I keep a journal — started in College (real paper notebooks), stopped for many years, then picked up again in 2003 (this time electronic). So, at this time of year, I can look back and see: what happened this year?

Here are some of the highlights from my view of 2009.]]>

The Great Peanut Butter Panic of '09 interfered with my breakfast choices for a week.

Parking for the Millbrae BART lot went from free to $1/day.

We transferred our internal email toaster services from a blue G3 to a Mac mini.

The Company underwent a major re-org.

Our grocery store underwent major remodeling.

We ordered (and read) all of the Eve Dallas books, by J. D. Robb.

My sister came to SF for a week of training classes.

The Painted Lady buterflies migration came north through our neighborhood.

I started taking every other Wednesday afternoon off.

At Work, everyone in my building moved across the street to a different building.

My sister rented a new house. I packed and shipped my stoneware (loved but unused) to her as a housewarming gift.

The Exchange server at Work stopped accepting my password. I was finally switched to Exchange 2007 (after a week of frustration).

A Farmers Market started downtown on Sundays.

I started working from home every Wednesday (3 days a week)

I re-activated my Facebook account, primarily so I can see my sister's posts.

We switched from our old credit union to a new (local) CU.

I set several bills to go paperless.

Our hot tub is back together and working (after a couple of years offline).

Discardia rules: We got rid of a lot of stuff through Freecycle and craigslist: two arm chairs, my old smartphone, a Pleo, a JVC CD / radio "lo fi", two sets of novels, a desk, and more.

We also got industrious with software and hardware. We packed up a beige G3 and monitor plus a carload of computery & electronics stuff and took it to Weirdstuff for recycle or resale.

The Bay Bridge lost a cable and a piece of metal rod, closing the Bridge during rush hour and for several days after. No serious injuries but lots of commuter stress. We were thankful that we don't use the bridge much.

Rich started a new contract programming gig.

We replaced our aging (and unreliable) Lexmark printer with a new Brother color laser printer.

My family visited us in California for Thanksgiving.

We attended the Leopards Etc. Fall program with my Mom & Dad.

My sister ran in the Golden Gate Turkey Trail Trot.

I spent a bad weekend with Food Poisoning. :-(

Snow on Mt. Diablo and on the ridge behind Milpitas.

7-layer Bars are back! (at Peets at Mollie Stones)

I discovered Chimes Orange Ginger chews.

I bought a Motorola DROID and have been enjoying playing with Android Market.

PG&E replaced our gas meter (and everyone else's too).

Two Weeks Away from Work!

Happy New Year!

The Reason for the Season

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 13:45:41 -0800

   Fah who for-aze!
   Dah who dor-aze!
   Welcome Christmas,
   Come this way!
 
   Fah who for-aze!
   Dah who dor-aze!
   Welcome Christmas,
   Christmas Day.

I always feel sorry at this time of year for the people who insist that they don't celebrate Christmas because they aren't Christian. I feel sorry for them because they believe that Christmas is a Christian religious holiday. It's not. ]]> I also feel sorry for the Christians who insist that we "need to put Christ back into Christmas" and that "Jesus is the reason for the season". They're wrong too.

Oh, there's certainly a Christian religious holiday set on December 25. But the mid-winter festival is far older than that. The longest night. The return of the sun. A festival of lights. Gathering family and friends. Yule. Saturnalia. Celebration.

For years, I've been insisting that Christmas — the Bank Holiday, the gatherings, the lights and decorations, the cookies and giving and sharing — is a secular holiday. It's a time to celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of the next. It's a time to push back the midwinter darkness with lights and cheer. It's a time to gather together with family and friends.

The Christians gave the current holiday its name. But Christmas transcends religion. I wish more people could understand that.

   Fah who for-aze!
   Dah who dor-aze!
   Welcome Christmas,
   Come this way!
 
   Fah who for-aze!
   Dah who dor-aze!
   Welcome Christmas,
   Christmas Day.
 
   Welcome, Welcome
      Fah who rah-moose
   Welcome, Welcome
      Dah who dah-moose
   Christmas day is in our grasp
   So long as we have hands to clasp
 
   Fah who for-aze!
   Dah who dor-aze!
   Welcome Christmas
   Bring your cheer
   Fah who for-aze!
   Dah who dor-aze!
   Welcome all Whos
   Far and near
 
   Welcome Christmas
      Fah who rah-moose
   Welcome Christmas
      Dah who dah-moose
   Christmas day will always be
   Just so long as we have we
 
   Fah who for-aze
   Dah who dor-aze
   Welcome Christmas
   Bring your light
 
 
   Welcome Christmas
      Fah who rah-moose!
   Welcome Christmas
      Dah who dah-moose!
   Welcome Christmas
   While we stand
   Heart to heart
   And hand in hand
 
   Fah who for-aze
   Dah who dor-aze
   Welcome welcome
   Christmas
   Christmas Day

DROID

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 13:22:48 -0800

Four days ago, I traded in my aged Palm OS 4-based Kyocera smart phone for a new Motorola DROID (through Verizon.) I really like it so far.

It's more net-savvy and connected than my Palm phone was. I don’t have to “turn on the phone” to use an Internetworked app. It’s always on, always connected (although I can turn it completely off if I wish).

It’s got a modern web browser, far better email capability and a MUCH nicer screen. Plus, its actually going to be cheaper to operate. I’ll save $15/month on my data plan with Verizon. That was a nice surprise!]]> There are a few things I wish were different:

I really wish I could use a random stylus (or my fingernail). That's my biggest peeve with all of these capacitive touchscreen devices. I want the CHOICE of handwriting vs "typing". I want the choice of whether and when to use my fingers.

Maybe in a future rev (I mutter as I once again clean the smudges from the screen).

I also wish that the keys on the slide-out hardware keyboard were a smidge wider and just a bit less flat. They seem like little bits of paper. So I use my fingernail on those and my fingertip on the soft keys. Weird.

I don’t care for the “sleep/lock/off” button. It’s (intentionally?) difficult to press. It also annoys me that there’s apparently no way to “lock” the device in software.

Peeves and annoyances for sure... but none big enough to be a showstopper for me.

Why The DROID?

I wanted a PDA device and I didn’t want Microsoft. I already had phones with Verizon on a family plan. That meant a choice between the HTC DROID ERIS and the Motorola DROID.

I asked for advice from a techie mailing list. Everyone recommended the DROID. A quick comparison explains why.

Both phones include a 5 MP camera, USB connection to my desktop computer, SD card slot, WiFi & Bluetooth, and capacitive touchscreen.

Three major differences stood out as selling points for me:

The DROID includes a slide-out hardware keyboard. I may not use this all the time but it’s nice to have more flexibility for some operations.
The DROID has a 3.7" 480 x 854 WVGA screen. (wow)
The ERIS has a 3.2” 320 x 480 HVGA screen
The DROID comes with Android OS 2.0 (“Eclair”) upgraded to 2.0.1
The ERIS runs OS 1.6 (“Cupcake”)
(I love that Android releases have bakeshop names. Cupcake?! :-)

(DROID specs) (ERIS specs)

New Ways to Think

I'm still getting used to movement being reversed from what I'm expecting. I don't want to slide the scrollbar down; I need to slide the screen up. I'm not moving my focus to the left (as with a cursor); I'm sliding the desktop to the right.

There’s “touch” and “long hold” instead of tap and double tap. The “back” key is contextual to each app and is often used where I would expect a “Save” or “Close” button. Menu items come up from the bottom; the bar thing at the top of the screen is a task bar.

Applications

Android OS includes email, a web browser, SMS messaging, photo/image viewing & editing tools, music and video players, calendar, calculator, alarm clock, and address book.

Lots of additional software is available through Android Market (accessible from the phone). You can also search for apps and read descriptions and reviews at AndroLib.com

My must-have app requirements included IM access (AIM, GoogleTalk, and Y!IM), Twitter, a good notepad, and a way to read text files transferred from my desktop computer. A task list application is also nice to have, as are various utilities, (e.g. weather forecast, battery usage meter, daily “journal”), and maybe a game or two.

Here’s what I’ve installed so far:

Sync Manager

Missing Sync for Android (from Mark/Space) - This is a must-have for use on a Mac; it lets me sync my Address book as well as photos, random folders, videos, ... (Missing Sync for Android OS 2.0 is currently in Beta but I’ve seen no problems so far.)

Communication

Twidroid Pro — Twitter client.
Meebo IM — IM client (Note: a GoogleTalk app is included with the Android software.)

Notes & Documents

AK Notepad — a nice notepad. I tried several and settled on this one.
3banana — for really quick notes; from the folks who make AK Notepad
Mobisle Notes — checklists, with a cute UI.
~~ColorNotes — stickies for the “desktop”.~~ (deleted when it went all wonky on me.
Text Edit — simple text file editor/reader.
Documents to Go — read Word, Excel, and PDF documents.

Games

Mahjongg (Solitaire) — one of the few games I sometimes play.
Blocked (like Bejeweled). Another game I sometimes play.
Puzzle Blox - similar to Bejeweled crossed with Tetris, with Haptic feedback
Voxel Fun - 3D blocks!

Techie Tools

Better Terminal Emulator Pro — for us *nix command-line types.
~~ConnectBOT — ssh utility~~. Whee! BTEP 2.12 has ssh!
~~Astro~~ Explorer — File manager. (I liked Astro but Explorer has a much smaller footprint.)

Handy Utilities

The Weather Channel — forecast and info with current temp in task bar
SimpleWeather — current conditions and forecast.
BatteryTime — battery % and statistics.
Contact Owner — puts my name and contact info on the lock screen.
All-in-1 Calc — the best calculator I found
Secret Box — simple utility to keep some information encrypted

Settings

Locale — configurable settings profiles by time or location.
Switch — easy access to my most-used settings.

Accessories

When I bought the DROID, Verizon offered an accessories bundle. I didn't really need or want a Bluetooth headset so I got a simple stereo headset with earbuds instead. The salesguy says this works better than the bluetooth headsets if you plan to listen to music on the DROID.

I considered getting an additional home charger but realized that the charger we have for our other phones will work. Instead, I got a car charger (which, not coincidentally, will work for our other phones. :-)

I also purchased a snap-on hard cover. I didn't like the slippery feel of the bare DROID in my hand; I don't want to drop it! This cover has a nice feel with just enough friction. It's a black impact resistant plastic cover wrapped in leather (model # MOTA855COVLTHR).

The DROID charges via a micro USB cable. I've ordered a second cable to carry with me between home and remote office.

Capacitive styli are available. :-) I have ordered some to try...

In Summary

I love it! I am not going to miss my Palm PDA one bit.

Techies might find that they prefer Android to iPhone. I've heard several comments to this effect. The Linux underpinnings and Open Source OS are especially appealing.

I've been told that Android is a bit clunkier looking than iPhone. I don't personally see enough aesthetic difference to notice, but then, I care more about the screen and apps than about the case they come in.

The DROID had nearly everything I wanted, out of the box. A few app installations later, it's personalized and configured just for me. I'm very happy.

Notes:

If Verizon isn't your carrier of choice, Android phones are (or will be) available with other providers.)
You will need a Gmail account. If you don't already have one, you can set one up at phone activation time.
Android discussion forums can be found at androidforums.com and talkandroid.com.

Many of my co-workers have iPhones and I've been feeling iPhone lust. But now I have an Android and I'm happy. My phone is different... and perfect for me.

Stylus Update (Dec. 23, 2009)

I ordered the Touch Stylus Pen from cellphoneshop.net. Regular price is $15.99. They were doing a pre-Xmas sale (ending 12/23) for $3.99.

Problem 1: the tip of the stylus is angled slightly. It only works if you touch the screen at that one precise angle. Unfortunately I found that the cylindrical barrel tended to turn slightly in my fingers so I never had the angle right on the first try.

Problem 2: You need to press pretty hard to get the stylus to work at all, even presuming you have the correct angle.

My conclusion: save your money. These are almost worth $3.99. For $3.99 it's a better way to press the keys on the hardware keyboard. They're not worth a penny more and I won't be using one on the screen.

Updated Jan. 4, 2010

Updated (above) with modified app info.

Updated Jan. 16, 2010

I've been doing mini reviews of some of the new apps I've installed. I'm posting these at " Snibbles ".

All-in-1 Calc is a very complete and nice-to-use calculator.
Puzzle Blox is a game with elements of Bejeweled, Tetris, and others. It takes advantage of the Droid's touch & tilt features.
Tricorder is just for fun - or is it? Tricorder uses the phone's sensors to detect gravity/angle, sounds, GPS position, and more.