iPhone charger cords are pathetic

$97,000,000,000....$97 billion.....that's a lot of cash! That is more than most small countries and more than any other US corporation.
Apple has put together a product line that is unstoppable. Everyone loves the cute logo and well lit stores. How can you not...the products are great and the support is better. There are less users than windows so there are a lot less people trying to steal your information. Fewer viruses, less spam, and less nonsense.
The iPhone - lightweight, able to use it around the world, wifi, gps, camera, retina display, 3 axis gryro, etc, etc, etc.
So why does a company with $97 billion chose to be sooooo cheap with a 3' charger cord?? Seriously folks, if I want to use my phone while it's plugged in then I have to sit on the floor or against the wall? My place is a little older so I'm not sure if they are designing homes now with sockets all 3' apart throughout the home. My night stand is maybe 3 1/2 feet from my closes outlet so I'm in trouble. Every night I am reminded of how lame these cords are. When I sit on my couch I have the same problem. I can't Skype or Facetime while my phone is plugged in unless I am hanging off the edge to reach the outlet. Why do I have this problem in my own home?? because I have a 3' cord.
Forget any other upgrades for the iPhone 5 until you decide to give use a matching 5' cord.
I'm sure Apple has an entire division of nerds with MBA's from Harvard and Yale sitting on medicine balls in a eco friendly conference room discussing the cost benefits of this smaller cord. I'm sure the group met and told the head cheese that, 'at three feet we can hit our target goal of $97 billion in cash reserves.'
Cut your loyal customers some slack (pun intended) and give us a longer cord.
As you spend all of that cash buying back your stock make sure to consider a longer cord on your next release!!
bscottkelley can be found on most sites.

Tiradentes Square

November 2011 this photo was taken while we were on vacation. Directly behind me is the street from the other picture. The other picture showing my beautiful wife is from the top of a hill looking down towards the trees and centre square. Brasil has so many historical cities and I plan to add a photo and story of the ones I've been to. This is really going to help in my quest to hit 12 blogs in 2012. The city if filled with great places to eat, shop and of course photograph. There are some very old and beautiful churches here as well.

Tiradentes or 'tooth puller' is the other name for Joaquim José da Silva Xavier; a revolutionary figure of Brasil who wanted to make Brasil independent.

Brasil is with an 's' and only the US likes to 'Americanize' it with a 'z' but the great people of Brasil seem ok with it.

Tiradentes is about 1/2 way to Rio (another route) from the city of Belo Horizonte. It's mostly a single lane secondary road until you get close to the city. As you get closer it becomes brick and them it becomes stone when you are in Tiradentes proper. Even with a modern car the road kinda sucks but the locals want to keep it that way. It keeps it authentic and I agree. Walking around it much easier and the city is so small that you don't need to use your car.

During Carnaval this city is wall to wall people. My wife talks about a time her and her girlfriends rented a house down here and had a blast. It was strange for her to be back with no one there, she could actually see the city and all of it's glory.

Tiradentes moved to Ouro Preto later on and it's a place I visited on my first trip to Brasil. Photos to come in another blog!

Thanks for visiting.

Spread the word and carry on!

bscottkelley can be found on most sites so you can find me anywhere, so say hello!

Apple and American Pie 2012

Time to kick off writing the blog again as promised when the ball dropped. 2012 is upon us and lots of changes in my life. We added our first child to the family and are excited each day and what it brings. More blogs probably about this topic in the near future. 12 blogs total this year...it's my goal!
Apple Computers and the American homeowner is the topic today.
I am a believer that the United States is great place. We have great National Parks, great roads, and it's pretty safe here.
Now that I've been employed again for the last year and a half, I've turned a blind eye to the serious unemployment issues this Country still faces. There is work out there, you either have to move or change what you are doing. I moved and couldn't be happier about it. I am in a completely different area, away from the beach but I'm working and the check clears every time.
So the housing market continues to drag and we continue to attempt to fix it. I agree with taking a close look at each individual asking for help and their situation. What I have an issue with is those who cannot accept the fact that they cannot afford their home. I also take issue to those who walk away from their home due to falling property values. You are now hearing about celebrities walking away from their million dollar properties due to values. Great role models for the young people during this time of crisis; 'it is a business decision'. All of these folks that are upside down are now asking for principal reductions. Sorry you bought in 2006 but that's the breaks of the game. Do you think people who bought Apple stock in 2000 and saw the price of it cut in 1/2 ask for their money back? No, they waited it out to see a split and a rising star!
We as a Country have to believe this Country is a mirror image of Apple. There are ups and downs but over the long haul we will be back on top.
Let's sit down and enjoy some humble pie and regroup. We have the resources and brain power to be great again. We should take this time to improve our infrastructure. Fix our schools. Hire more teachers and have a teacherbook.com where we can rank and track each teacher. We can build a great rail system. From LAX to San Fran and LAX to Las Vegas. Los Angeles should start becoming a more vertical city. Let's build up instead of out and save some of the land for the dog lovers.
I had a great 2011 and even had to pay more in taxes this year. I'm over it now but I was a little disappointed when I compare to the years as a 1099 where you can write off everything! More blogs this year and lots of positive energy out there for the world to enjoy!
Spread the word and Carry on!
bscottkelley can be found on every major site out there and I think they are all me so stop by and say hello would ya!

Cancer

What does cancer have against us people? Why are we are still hearing stories about losing another close friend or family member to cancer? It seems that life is going great and then all of a sudden.....................BAM!...............someone else has cancer.

Seriously, are we waiting to kill off the Greatest Generation with cancer because keeping them around would prove to be too costly for our country? Are we going to miraculously have a cure AFTER the baby boomers are gone? Being a Generation Xer....I'm ok with that but in the meantime we are going to lose some pretty great people. Even though we don't appreciate our elders we do still enjoy having them around. Spend some time with an old person and you'll be glad you did, they know a lot about everything. Matter a fact they know more than all of my know-it-all friends combined.

Who is winning the cancer battle? Some do and will continue to.....like Lance Armstrong the the Army of LiveStrong.org folks. The yellow bands may not be in style but I still where one because the last time I checked.....we still have cancer kicking around.

Have you seen the salaries of the American Cancer Society? It's good work and the pay is not bad either. With cancer gone, jobs in this field would take a hit big time. Also...the number of non profits supporting this cause doesn't fit on the first page of a google search. There are a lot of groups out there, supporting individuals, families, and everyone else affected by this sucky cancer stuff that could simply change their focus. We'll give them all a copy of Who Moved My Cheese? and they'll be helping children with autism.

There are also lots of types of cancer. You name the body part and you've got a great matching cancer to go along with it. Like peanut butter and jelly or rice and beans or bagels and cream cheese or breathing and water we get throat and cancer or brain and cancer or lung and cancer...you get the point.

We can fly to the moon, we can put a plastic knee in person, and we can switch out a person's heart for a new one but we can't beat cancer. We are losing to cancer and it's not fair. Cancer is winning and that's not to say I'm giving up but come on......we need a breakthrough. I'm ok with baby boomers breaking the bank by draining social security and bankrupting our country and exhausting our medical services if we can just get cancer under control. I hope there isn't a person out there in the world who would not give up everything in their bank account to find a cure.

Is the cure out there sitting in a lab? Are 'they' waiting just a little longer to have less folks here in the US? I'm sitting in the USofA so my thoughts are US based. My wife is from a country in South American so her country is also in my thoughts. I'm sick of it...I'm sick of cancer!!

In 2008, I spent a month with my Mom as she finished her last days on Earth. It was cancer, her second go around with it that finally took her down. When I first arrived at my parents house she was aware and in somewhat good spirits considering she had cancer. I took notes, pictures and the memories of being there 24/7. I am so grateful to have had 30+ years as her son and 30+ days at the end. She passed without pain at the Auburn Hospice in 2008 and I played golf the next day. After 9/11 happened in the morning I decided that I'd better get a quick 18 in case it was all going down but I digress. Being around cancer is painful and I'm not the one with it. It's painful to know that you are helpless and you'd give anything to help that person.

We all have to go sometime but does every person have to die of cancer? What happened to dying of old age? Everyone dies of cancer it seems and it's becoming the norm. I'm over it, cancer really needs to be old news and soon. Can't we go back to dying of old age or in a fiery crash at a tragically young age? Frostbite? Natural causes?

cancer sucks and I hate you cancer seriously!

A Dog That Can Do No Harm

When you look at this dog as I have for the better part of 7 years, you realize she can do no wrong. She is adored by so many people and has touched the lives of more. Her videos are a hit and her pictures can be found on foreign web sites. She has a big dog personality that is easy to love. She gets along with all types of dogs. She never barks at other dogs unless it's to say hello. She never starts trouble with other dogs unless it's to protect her owner. She doesn't pee in the house and never has to ask to go out. She loves the beach, the sun, and going for long hikes. She doesn't do well in snow but lucky for her it doesn't happen that often. She can sit her in dog bag in a good restaurants in LA. She won't say a word, she won't move because she is comfortable and knows she is getting a treat for being a good girl. At the beach and at the airport, children flock to her. The are mesmerized by her big dog attitude in such a small package. Everyone wants to pet her and everyone wants to know her name and bred. That being said, she does sometimes pull stunts that I don't approve of. She normally can be off the leash even with other dogs around but on occasion takes off. She never leaves my site but refuses to back to my side....unless I squat down and point to the ground in front of me. She'll then crawl back knowing she pushed it. She's got a pretty good life. She eats Nature's Balance mixed with a little juice from dinner. She gets a couple of licks of whatever the dessert is. Can this dog really do any harm? If you call being a heartbreaker then yes. She's only had one real boyfriend named Joey. They met at dog beach in HB and the few times they saw each other they played and played. When we say Joey's name now she remembers. Thank you for being such a good girl my love.

The start of 2011

Happy New Year!
2011 is here and we say goodbye to 2010 finally.
Excited about 2011 and thankful for where I am right now.
Good job, healthy, healthy wife, and healthy dog.
Didn't win the recent 350 million dollar lottery but that's ok. Health and a decent job is enough to feel blessed.

More stories to come this year so stay tuned.

God Bless!

The Power of a Recruiter

When a recruiter calls you...especially on a Saturday they are either desperate or have a great offer. I was fortunate to be on the other end of one of those calls about the latter.
45 minutes after that call I was scheduled for an interview 2 days later.
2 days after that 1 interview I had a job offer. My first serious job offer in 2 years. 1099 pay and lots of free time was about to become a thing of the past. I talked the numbers over with the wife and the impact it was going to have on our lives. We agreed this was the right move at the right time.
2 months later and we still believe this was a good move. The money is great, the hours are great, and the position is everything and more. I miss the hours of hanging out with the wife but its ok.
Starting a new job means a beginning to do something big and start fresh.
To anyone and everyone given a new opportunity - take full advantage of it!
It's these opportunities that can help rebuild this country.

I have a very good friend who is a recruiter and he loves what he does. I've spent many days hearing him tell me I should go into the field.
He is great at what he does but it wasn't for me.
We need to make sure we are true to what it is we want to do and be.

He can be reached at:
http://www.juntointernational.com/

I encourage anyone looking for a new career or a change of scenery to give him a call; you won't regret it.

Have a great weekend everyone!

bscottkelley can be found on most web sites.