Nexus 5 vs OnePlus One vs Nexus 6

Ok, so my wife got careless a few days ago and dropped her Nexus 5.  This is the black Nexus5 that I had bought her for her Christmas present last year.

When it happened, she phoned me and sounded so devastated that I had thought for a moment that we had lost our first born.
I also happen to have a Nexus 5 myself, only that it is bright reddish-orange colour instead of black.  I had bought it in spring of last year.  I had grown to like it very much, as it had high end features (like high quality camera, high res screen, 16Gb drive space, and the latest Android OS, which was KitKat at that time), but low end price.  It really was, and still is the best value for money spent.  I liked it so much that I decided late last year to buy my wife a Nexus 5 as well.   No, we don't have his and hers personalized towels, slippers and bathrobes, we don't have the same shirts.  But we do (or did) have the same phones.

So when she first showed me how FUBAR'd the phone was, my initial thought was, crap, another $400 down the drain!  But then I thought, oh GOODY, I get to buy a new phone for myself (because I was going to give her my Nexus 5) !!!  Whoo - Hoo!

Then came a new problem - what kind of smartphone should I buy?  Well, my initial criteria was that it has to be Android, and it has to comparable to the Nexus5 - I wasn't interested in downgrading my user experience and phone quality.  With a bit of research, I came up with 2 candidates - the Nexus 6 and the OnePlus One.  Both were pretty decent Android phones.
As I researched the Nexus6 more, I started to have second thoughts about the Nexus6.  Sure, it is the latest and greatest from Google, and it is the only current Android phone that is actively sold by Google.  And who can argue with the screen size?  It's big, it's in your face, and the colour and contrast shines even more on the larger screen of the Nexus 6.  However, the Nexus5 fit comfortably in my pants pocket.  The Nexus6 with its bigger size?  Not so sure any more.  I don't have any desire to carry around one of those metrosexual man bags.

After all, I am already carrying my laptop in a bag during my commute to and from work, so that means I'm already carrying a metrosexual man bag!
So in my mind, the bigger screen of the Nexus6, as much as I loved it, meant less practicality.  So in the end, I decided not to buy the Nexus6, oh well.
And what about the OnePlus One?  I like the build, and I liked the Cyanogen Modded skin on the OnePlus one.  I also liked how they accepted Paypal right from their website.  Two of my co-workers had bought the OnePlus One a while back, when it first came out.  I spoke with them to get their thoughts on their experience with the OnePlus One.  One of them complained about the random glitches in the phone, like call sound volume suddenly would be very quiet, random crashes.  The other one complained about it being too big.  It's bigger than the Nexus5, but not as big as the Nexus6.  So I came to conclusion that those were flaws that I could live with.   However, when I went back to the website,  I discovered that the OnePlus one was no longer available for purchase!

After all that deliberation, I decided to get the Samsung Galaxy S5. The S5 cost about the same price as the OnePlus One on Craigslist, but the S5 had more features. Little things like fingerprint scanner and face recognition to keep the screen active made the difference in favour of the Samsung GS5. Plus ,the one that I had found also came with a car charger as an added bonus.

Stubborn and Skilled

Let me tell you about my son.
Last year, when he was 7, we enrolled him in a beginners gymnastics course.  He had fun.  He had so much fun that he started attempting backflips on my bed.  Then he started on attempting a handstand starting from sitting split legged .  He just kept doing it and doing it until he was able to nail it.

At the gymastics lesson that we initially signed him up for, they had a parent observation on the final day of the course, where parents could enter the gym to observe their child go through their routines that the coach had taught them.  Based on my observation of his routines, he was 2nd best out of his group, and the only reason he wasn't the best out of his group was because the boy who was was better than him was also older and had taken more lessons than him.  And I know that he was having fun because he watched him talk to all the other boys in his group, and laugh with them the whole time.  He was having fun, dammit!!

This boy shows dedication, or so I thought as I watched I watched him practice.  I then showed him a video of an aerial cartwheel on youtube.  He then tried to do the same thing in our back yard.  He tried and tried many times, but didn't have the technique quite right.  So later on, I asked him to sign up for a more advanced gymastics lesson at a different gymnastics club, so that he could learn all the proper techniques for the aerial cartwheel, backflip, front flip, etc.  To my dismay, he told me he didn't want to take any more gymnastics lessons.
WTF ????
Why oh why hast thou brought such wretched frustration upon my soul?
I tried to reason with him, but unfortunately, he inheirited my stubbornness.  And his rebuttal was sharp too - he told me he is happy with his current level of skill, and does not feel the need to better himself.
So now I am left debating whether to just sign him up for the lessons anyways, and deal with him being angry with me later.

Day 36

My wife is yawning a lot in the afternoons.  She gets tired and tries to take a nap.  I try to encourage her not to take a nap but she does not listen.
We found the medical records from the previous time she had PPD.  She was on Respiridone, Zoloft and zoplicone, but at heavier dosages.  So her GP increased her dosages from what she is currently taking.

Facebook: epilogue

Ok, so I didn't get the job at Facebook, and they sent me off with some thank-you schwag.  I interviewed at Amazon before and wasn't able to pass their interview either.
This whole interview process did give me time to reflect on my motivations before and after this whole process.

The vast majority of people are not interested in changing jobs.   There are various reasons for this, including an aversion to the interview process, being happy with their present job, or not being able to find a worthwhile job opportunity.  In particular, the interview process is essentially one extended sales pitch, where you have to sell yourself to the person sitting across the table facing you.   That's the downside risk with interviews, when you don't pass the interview, ie. you're unable to sell your skills well enough, then it is bad for the psyche, and confidence.  Most people, whether they admit it or not, are not good salespeople, hence they tend to avoid interviews.
As for me, I have gone through so many over the years that I have grown a somewhat thick skin to the whole process.  Yeah, I didn't pass the interview at Facebook, but it didn't bother me too much (unlike my younger days, when I took things more personally).  It may have to do with several factors, including being mentally prepared for a negative outcome, and lowering my expectations going in.

In all honesty, I would die for a chance to work at Facebook. They are what I consider the elite, upper echelon of software engineering companies.  These elite, top tier software companies include Apple, Google, Amazon, Twitter.  They are built from the ground up to make software engineered products.  This is distinctly different from the software divisions at companies like Qualcomm, or Intel, where their subservient software divisions exist only to help the hardware teams sell more hardware products.
What makes these software companies elite is their culture.  The programming tests that they give you in the interview tend to be theoretical and complex, and the knowledge required to pass such tests is not going to be used in your day to day job.  However, that is irrelevant, because they are looking for a certain personality profile.  At the end of the day, I unfortunately have to admit that I do not match the profile of a person who can do well in such theoretical software tests, and as such, tend not to do well in such interviews.  I've learned to accept who I am over the years, and learning more about my strengths and how I contribute value to a company in ways that a programming test cannot identify nor uncover.

But still, I would give anything for a chance to work at one of these top tier software companies.

Day 25: This could be the Key

It's depressing to talk about depression.
But my wife has gone through depression 3 times now, with this latest episode being the 3rd.  The first 2 times were counted as post-partum depression (PPD), but the symptoms that I saw were exactly the same:  insomnia leading to muscle tension in the neck and upper back, heart racing, sweaty palms, loss of appetite, general lack of interest and motivation to do anything.
So, as much as it sucks to talk about something so depressing,  this is something I must document, as my memory is starting to decay inversely proportional to the gray hairs that have been increasing on my head.

I went through my old emails from 2007, when my wife was going through PPD a second time in search of any clues.  I discovered that she went to see some doctors who specialize in all sorts of post-partum issues including PPD.  In fact, I was the one who drove her there, but no longer remember the experience, because... I really don't know why.

But what I did find out was that I reported to someone at my church that my wife started to get better not long after she went to visit the post-partum specialists.  We were able to find the name of the doctor who was looking after my wife's case, but unfortunately, she has retired.  However, we are in the process of filing some paperwork to obtain access to her records so that we can find out how my wife got better under this doctor's care.

Top 7 Fight Scenes from the Flash Season 1

The Flash is one of my favourite TV shows.  I like it even more than the Arrow.  I like superhero shows, and it appears that the TV networks are keenly aware that I am not alone in that affinity.  Superhero movies have become very popular in the past few years, because they have all the ingredients to make them popular with the consumer:  a good story, likable characters that we aspire to, or can relate to, and drama but really, they all build up to testosterone pissing contests.  Back in the 90's I watched the Superman: the Animated Series and Justice League.  Batman I watched as well, but it was not my favourite, because it was darker, more serious, and less optimistic.
Anyways, when the Flash came out, I knew I had to watch it and follow it religiously.
Season 1 had many great non-fight scenes and moments where the Flash gets to show us his powers (like creating mini-tornadoes with hands, phasing through solid surfaces, etc), but here are my version of the top 7 fight scenes from Season 1:


1.  Flash / Arrow / Firestorm vs Reverse Flash (Ep. 23, Fast Enough):

Barry Allen from the present knew he could not defeat Reverse Flash by himself, so he brought in reinforceents, but this was just an excuse to give what the fans have wanted all season - to see an all out brawl of superheroes!  Harrison Wells starts off the fight by pointing his ring to let his yellow costume enlarge itself to full size.  This is taken from the comics, except usually the comics show Barry Allen getting his costume out of his ring.  Way. cool.  Then we see various elements of a good superhero brawl:  displays of the Reverse Flash's superpowers, as well as Firestorm's powers, and Green Arrow's tactics.


2. Flash vs Gorilla Grodd (Ep. 21, Grodd Lives!):

The CW network managed to pull off the CGI to bring Grodd to the TV screen, and the results were sick!  Despite actual footage of Grodd lasting only a few minutes, this full episode dedicated to a story on Grodd was a fitting payoff for all the times that glimpses of Grodd was teased in various ending scenes in previous episodes.  This is the second time we see Barry attempt his supersonic punch.  Then we get to see Grodd display his awesome powers of psychic attack, as well as his super strength.


3. Flash vs. Arrow (Ep. 18, Flash vs. Arrow):

The only build up was the early announcement of the title of this episode: "Flash vs. Arrow".  That was all that was needed, and social media viral network did the rest.   Superhero vs superhero, the anticipation was as immense as the payoff itself.  Greatly choreagraphed fight scene, with just enough there to leave you wanting more.  This was actually the first part of a crossover, and the second and final part played out on Arrow.  It was after this episode that I started watching all of the episodes of Arrow Season 3.  I will probably watch the first 2 seasons later in the summer.


4. Flash vs Girder (Ep 6, The Flash is Born):

This was the first time Barry showed off one of the more impressive things that he could do with his powers - Supersonic punch, baby!  Girder was another character from the comics.  Barry is not portrayed as muscular in the show, so it was a classic "weakling getting back at the bully" moment that I'm sure many nerds such as myself can relate to.  I was actually kind of sad to see that they killed off Girder in the very next episode, as I really thought that they could do a lot more with his character.


5. Flash vs. Firestorm (Ep. 13, The Nuclear Man):

Ok, ok, it was not much of a full on fight, but we still get to see some of Firestorm's awesome powers and also his flying abilities.  Pretty cool if you ask me.


6. Flash vs Reverse Flash (Harrison Wells), part I (Ep. 9, The Man in the Yellow Suit)

This is the first of several meetings between these two rivals.  Both of their powers are full on in display.  I really like how they show (albeit briefly) the Reverse Flash running as if the video is being fast forwarded, except that that is actually how fast he would be running.  No wait, he would be running even faster than that.  This round goes to Reverse Flash, as Barry has not yet discovered his true potential in harnessing the Speed Force. yet.


7. Flash vs Reverse Flash (Eobard Thawne), part II (Ep. 17, Tricksters)

This was the opening scene to the episode 17.  The opening scene was so awesome that it made Mark Hamill's special guest appearance in the episode seem rather ordinary.  The opening scene was actually Barry Allen from the future fighting the Reverse Flash from the future.  Barry Allen from the future had a better understanding of the speed force and how to tap into it, so the fight was not as one sided as in the first time they met.

The Hydra of a Different Colour: Sleeping Pills (Lorazapem, Zopiclone, Trazadone)

Not long after my wife started taking the sleeping pills, I have observed the effects of increased tolerance.
At first, she took 0.5mg Lorazapem and got a good nights sleep.  Within a couple of days, that wore off, and she was back down to like 2 hrs of disrputed sleep.  So she increased the dosage to 1.0 mg Lorazapem.  But that only worked for a couple of days.  After seeing her GP, she started switching over  Zopiclone along with Zoloft.  That had mixed results, as the Zoloft seemed to increase her mood swings.  Her initial dosage of zopiclone was 2.5mg.  But she followed the same pattern - after a couple of days, she increased her dosage of zopiclone in order to get the 6-7 hours of sleep that she so craved.  She is now on 7.5 mg of zopiclone along with 50mg of Zoloft.
Not really sure what to do here, or how to help her.  But I've asked her to see her GP again to see what alternative medicine there are for helping her to fall asleep.

The good news is that when she gets at least 6-7 hours of sleep, her signs of anxiety disorder disappear - sweaty palms, heart racing, muscle tension.  When she gets only 2 hrs sleep, the anxiety disorder returns - mood swings, heart racing, muscle tension, sweaty palms.
She has been going through a pattern of 1 good nights sleep followed by 1 sleepless night.  Not sure what to do next.