A baby about to cry.Man the last month or so has really put me off balance. There’s been too many changes in my life that have happened too fast. It’s one thing when you are the initiator of change, but it’s something completely different when change is forced upon you by others. This morning I’ve reached the end of my “comfort zone”, so there’s nothing left to do now but whine and pitch a fit. 😛
TV Woes
It all started with TV. Holly and I have been a big fan of “Friends” for a long time. It wasn’t the highest quality television ever produced, but we really enjoyed watching that show. We saw all the NBC specials they aired, prior to the final episode and read any magazine that claimed to have anything to do with the show. When the final episode aired, everything stopped in our household to soak up every minute of final time with Rachel, Ross, Monica, Phobee and Chandler. It really felt like friends of ours were moving away. We weren’t as big of fans of “Fraiser“, but I was sorry to see that show go off the air too. It was a funny show and somehow reassuring that there was some remnant of Cheers still on the air. Unfortunately, NBC put it in a Tuesday time slot and that competed with other shows that made it something I would only see in reruns. Then, I learned that “Lenny” has left “Law & Order”! He’s been a staple of that show for 12 years. I just can’t imagine Law and Order without him.

As if that’s not enough, Comcast recently purchased TechTV and they have all but killed it. Although I thought the quality of programming had slipped since Sumi Das left, I still enjoyed most of the programming. Comcast has fired everyone in the San Francisco office and some are moving and being hired in Los Angeles, but the last time I watched the channel, I just couldn’t relate. Call For Help is dead and even their web site is no more, which is a shame because there were some really good resources there.


Palm OS Woes
Then there’s the Palm OS Economy. I’m very involved with the community aspect of Palm OS and there’s been some big changes and a few rumors that have really shaken things up. For starters, Sony announced that they are suspending production of the Clié line of Palm OS handhelds everywhere except Japan. There’s been numerous theories on the matter ranging from “they released too many products too fast,” to “Clié was just a development test bed for the Playstation Portable coming out at the end of this year.” Sony is still a licensee of the Palm operating system and they are still making Cliés (only in Japan though), but it still sucks that they’ve decided to pull back like this. Sony was the major innovator for Palm OS and they will be sorely missed.

Then there are rumors that Dell is looking to purchase pa1m0ne. It’s not that I don’t like Dell, but I like pa1m0ne‘s style and culture better. Dell sells commodities and I don’t like to think of my handhelds like that. pa1m0ne has shared a cult of personality much like that of Apple for quite some time. There’s a personality behind the company and it shows. Dell makes excellent computers at an affordable price, but I don’t have the same affinity for them. I don’t see users banding together to form communities around Dell products like there are for Palm products. Palm OS handhelds just feel more personal and when you have a corporate culture that encourages community, then you have something. If Dell acquires pa1m0ne then handhelds will be nothing more than a commodity, just like a calculator, or a cordless phone and that makes me sad.

A little closer to home, PalmGear has pulled up stakes and moved to North Carolina. PalmGear moved from Dallas, Texas to here in Nashville a year or so ago, but due to a recent merger/acquisition, they have moved to North Carolina. I liked having PalmGear in “my backyard” and I liked to say that the Palm OS Universe was shifting to Nashville since PalmGear, InterPUG and NPUG all resided here. Well I can’t say that any more. 🙁

Personal Woes
Then there’s my friends. It’s not that I haven’t made friends since moving to Nashville 5+ years ago, but most of my die-hard buddies still live in Baton Rouge. For years I have tried to convince them to move up here, but all my attempts have failed. Chris and Ken are simply too entrenched in Baton Rouge with friends, families and careers and I’ve given up trying. I still see them once or twice a year, but it’s just not the same and they aren’t online much, if at all, so I can’t even maintain a virtual relationship with them either (I told you I was going to whine didn’t i? 😉 ).

There was one good friend that I’ve made since moving here, but within 9 months he moved away. I’m of course talking about Dan. He was back in town for most of April, but he moved to Guam and will be there for the next two years. Luckily he’s very much online, so we’re able to keep those ties, even though he’s on the other side of the dateline. What does that mean, well it means that it’s already tomorrow there. :O I’m still getting used to the time zone thing, but it looks like we might be able to make this work. Still, it’s not like we can go riding every morning like we did when he was here in Nashville. Ahh, those were heady days. 🙂

Time To Cowboy Up!
So what am I saying? All of my favorite TV shows have changed dramatically, or have gone away. The Palm OS Community is in turmoil and my closest friends aren’t so close anymore. Well that sucks, but I’m not one to sit and whine about it (but isn’t that what you just did? ??? ), so now that I’ve gotten it off my chest, it’s time to make some changes of my own.

There’s plenty of good things happening around me and I’ve got a few irons in the fire that are just about ready to come out. Suffice to say that I don’t have reason to complain. I’ll share some of these things as they come to light in the months to come. I just needed this cathartic purge to reset my system so that I can get back on that horse and ride.

Yee haw!