Ramblings #18 : Birthdays, iPhones, and Romney (again)

"There are 47% of the people who will vote for the president no matter what.  All right, there are 47% who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it.  My job is not to worry about those people.  I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."
  -Mitt Romney, 2012

I have to wonder sometimes, if Mitt is purposely trying to sabotage his chances as president.  Does this guy really think that nearly HALF of the country sees themselves as a victim?  That doesn't take personal responsibility and care for their lives?  Sorry to inform you Mitt, but I'm one of those 47% who supports Obama, and I'm not dependent on government for anything, nor have I ever received any handouts.  I buy my own food, pay my own mortgage, pay for my own healthcare, and I take responsibility for everything I do.  This is really insulting.  Basically he's calling half the country a bunch of lazy freeloaders with their hands out.  Yes, those people do exist, but 47%???

My support for Obama has nothing to do with wanting free stuff.  It's very simple, actually.  I prefer the policies of the Democratic platform more than I do the Republican one.  I agree with the Republicans on some issues, but I agree with the Democrats on more issues.  That's all there is to it.

As it gets closer to November, people are getting more and more heated about the election.  I try to talk as little about it as possible.  I have Facebook friends who are staunch supporters of Romney, and when I read their anti-Obama rants, all I can really do is cringe a little, and ignore it.  I can't debate or argue with them because it leads nowhere, and it will most likely end our friendship (not that I'm close friends with most of those Facebook people anyway).  I don't really know anyone who is on the fence about this election.  Everyone seems to be very pro-Romney or very pro-Obama.  People talk like it's going to be the end of the world if Romney or Obama win.  It's not.  Life will go in.  I've already told my wife that the only difference we're likely to see if Romney wins is owing more taxes.  So...we'll just have to prepare for that.
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 I celebrated my 42nd birthday earlier this month.  My birthday fell on Labor Day this year, so I had to work.  It was probably the most un-fun birthday I've had in quite a while.  For those who are new to this blog, I work at a hospital, and on this particular shift, I had the unique experience of trying to talk to someone who was already dead.  I've never actually experienced a death at work before.  Odd, considering I work at a hospital.  I had heard stories about deaths constantly, but this was the first time for me...and on my birthday!

Later, after the melancholy of the days events had passed, Christy and I went to Wal Mart to buy the iPhone 4s, which they currently had on sale for $148 (with a 2 year contract, of course).

I've never actually owned a smartphone before.  I hung on to my crappy little flipper cell-phone for years while the smart phone dominated the market.  I always seem to be last in line for the latest technology, and by then something better has come out (in this case, it's the iPhone 5, which was just released.)

But...I really love this iPhone, particularly the talking assistant, "Siri."  The first day I had the phone, I spent hours asking Siri all kinds of random questions, and she had some pretty good answers.  But I got over that pretty quick.

I gotta give credit to Apple for making some really cool and easy to use products.  I can imagine sometime in the future we're going to see houses (iHouse?) created by Apple, where all you have to do is speak to Siri (or HAL?) to do things for you.
Siri....start the oven.
Siri....turn on the shower.
Siri...flush the toilet.
Siri...open the living room window.

Etc. etc.  Imagine an entire house jacked in to Apple.  Hell, this kind of house probably already exists somewhere.

So will I be waiting in line for hours (or days) to buy the iPhone 5?  Hell no!  Get a life, people.