August 12, 2013
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Ben Bits 12 (It’s Been A While)
1. I just can’t win with my current phone anymore. I’m still waiting for newer phones to be available on my carrier, so I still have to put up with this phone. Over the course of having it, the phone sometimes disconnects the SD memory card in the middle of playing music and says that the music file is not a supported media file. Usually a reboot of the phone fixes that (even though it’s still pretty annoying to do that). Now, after coming back from the beach, the phone does not recognize the SD card at all. Even after several reboots, taking the card out and putting it back in, the phone just refused to acknowledge that the card is there. Not only am I without music when I head to and from work, but even my saving grace for my bus ride on Sunday, Pandora, refuses to work too. I’m seriously about to destroy my phone in a fit of rage. One of the phones I’m looking at will come out this Thursday, another next Tuesday, and the last probably towards the end of the month. I’m slowly losing my patience with this patience (whatever’s left of it) and just want a new phone already. #FirstWorldProblems
2. Even after having a great weekend with close friends, I still feel…. not all the way up where I should be. Maybe it’s because I recently saw that another friend got married and that one of my best friends from school will be getting married in two months. That I’m constantly reminded that I don’t have a certain someone to share such fun and intimate times with. I try not to think about it too much, but usually, I have it appear in front of my face in person or on Facebook.3. I’m having cravings for snacks late at night (like right now), and I don’t want to snack on chips or things that aren’t necessarily healthy. Tomorrow, I might pick back up that pickle snack plan as well as some baby carrots and some veggie dip.4. I guess in the same vein as number two, I haven’t really been using my OKCupid account as much anymore. I’m starting to get tired and frustrated with it.5. At least with work, I no longer have to take furlough and can now make back my $672 a month that I’ve been missing out on because of the sequester.6. I’m saving up for a trip to Hong Kong with my family in January. It’s been 13 years since I’ve been back, and I’m anxious and excited to go back. I also might get a chance to meet another Xangan!7. I hope you guys are having a good start to the week. Hugs and love to you guys.- Ben
Comments (27)
Ah did I tell you I bailed on my okc account after a week? haha don’t know how you put up with it
So exciting about going to HK!!! January is so close too yay!
@isitreal_no – Hahah, oh Holly. I guess the pickings weren’t good there, huh? And I know! One of the first things I’ll do when I get there is eat. Hahah. Hong Kong food is too good. Maybe one day I’ll visit Australia too.
HA, First World Problems, that is so funny. HK does sound fun, my GF worked there for a while before getting married and coming to the states. I heard it was a nice place, yet really crowded. I wouldn’t mind visiting there on the way to “THE WALL”. hehehe
I agree with #3 for sure, baby carrots and celery stick with ranch dressing are my weakness for late night snacks.
I hear ya on #5 as well. Wow, they were taking $672 a week out of your pay? Damn, they were taking only $200 from mine. I guess COLA up where you are is higher than here. I’m kind of happy that they have stopped with the furlough days, and kinda bummed. I really enjoyed getting the time off to HAVE FUN and all.
1.my phone sucks too. 2. Your time will come. You aren’t a lemming that needs to just follow the crowd blindly and do what they do when they do. (But I do understand how occassionally seeing happy couples makes a single sometimes want that special bond) 3. what’s a pickle snack plan? 4. OKCupid still exists? You should meet girls in real life without problem; You don’t need a dating site. 5. Yay, more $! 6. a trip to HK does sound exciting, and meeting another Xanga on top of that? YES. I hope we get pictures upon your return. 7. So far so good.
1. I looove my phone.
2. I feel you.
3. I hate it! So bad, it has gone to spoon feeding peanut butter right from the jar into my mouth. God knows how bad it is … I’m not sure how much I actually consume, but 2 little tbsp = 190 calories. #fatgirlproblems
3. I’ve also slowed down on there. So many idiots piss me off lol
I’m going to Vietnam in January. Well whenever the Chinese New Year. My first time. Your first visit back in 13 years should be interesting. Last you were there, you were I think 13!
@olwd - It’s quite crowded the last time I remembered. But, so is the city… except HK is filled with more people that look like me. ^_^ I would go to the wall, but in order to go into China, I need a visa and I don’t feel like spending $100 to get one. So… maybe next time. Hahah. I just got baby carrots with cucumber dill dip and baby dill pickles today! But, of course, when I’m trying to eat healthier, a cousin just bought me Sriracha flavored chips. I can’t win. And yeah. With the furlough, having to take every other Friday off, I lost out on $672 a month. I will miss those free vacation and rest days, but adult life requires us to be adults…. most of the time, anyways…
@Crystalinne - Yeah. I have about 20-ish more days to wait for my options to become available. Hopefully, they will be worth the wait. And that sentence can be applied to a girl as well. OKC still exists. Hahah. The problem with meeting girls in real life is that I’m not a club or bar person. And also being in the city, girls here are much more defensive when approached by a stranger, especially if it’s a man. There’s been issues with women dealing with street harassment and, honestly, I don’t want to get caught up in the wrong part of that situation. And no worries, you guys will get pictures post trip.
@jennylovve - Hahah. You have an iPhone, right? I don’t think an iPhone will last very long with how much I use my phone. I’m looking for something with a lot of battery power and I’m told the iPhone doesn’t match that with how much I’ll be using it. I love peanut butter but, I don’t think I can ever just eat it by itself. Hahah. Yeah, I feel like the search is just weening out. Oh well… And woot woot! Vietnam! I still haven’t been, but I know that I’ll be rich when I have currency exchange. Hahah. Hope you will enjoy the trip! And I know! I heard so much has changed and that the public transit has expanded so much. I want to ride those again!
Yes, I have an iPhone. I’m always always using it. I never really had any battery issues. I usually do kill the power quickly, but have even a car charger. I went away for the day and if you use a phone as much as I did, the iPhone isn’t for you. People got so annoyed because I kept asking them to turn their car on lol
And I use xanga in safari… It’s weird when I reply. Also when I click to comment. So, you’re welcome for the 20 some views haha but its probably me, not this iPhone.
@jennylovve - Yeah, I’m quite a heavy user so my phone lasts about a few hours before I have to really recharge it (and this is with a phone that has a bigger battery than the iPhone). And hahah, no worries. The app sometimes gets annoying, so I would log in using a browser on my phone.
@Crystalinne - Also, the pickle diet is where people would only eat pickles for a set amount of time (like a few weeks to a couple months) since they have 0 calories and are very filling. There has been results where people lost about 9 pounds in a few weeks on the diet, but people often say that just an all-pickle diet is dangerous because of the sodium.For me, I’m only doing it for snacking when I have that craving.
@laytexduckie - thanks for answering that. What is your favorite variety of pickle? I prefer Dill, especially the small ones that are the size of sweet Gherkins. I can eat several of them at a time. I used to worry about the salt content a bit though too, and I suppose if someone ONLY eats them, they aren’t getting the necessary other vitamins and nutrients needed to sustain a body, but I agree that as a snack its probably healthier than chips or cake. A pickle is essentially a cucumber which is a vegetable after all.
@Crystalinne - I love dill and sweet pickles. I just bought a jar of baby dills today and I already finished half of the jar (which is probably about 12-15 of them). I also drank probably a good half a cup of the juice too (which I know is bad, but I love it, hahah). A good tip, though: if you are suffering from a cramp (like a leg cramp or something), drinking pickle juice actually helps alleviate the cramp: Can Pickle Juice Stop Muscle Cramps? NYT Blogs
@laytexduckie - I didn’t know that about the cramping. thanks for the tip. Here’s another I’ve heard before. It’s for pregnant woman. They should carry a jar of pickles if they are close to their due dates so if their water happens to break while in public, they can “drop” the jar of pickles as a cover up.
Do you have “Dollar Tree” stores where you live? Here they have jars of both those types of pickles (plus dill spears and occassionally sweet n sour ones) and unlike other Dollar Stores like Dollar General or Family Dollar, this one REALLY has nothing over $1. Everything is a dollar except cards you get 2 for $1, and canned veggies and candy bars seem perpetually on sale at 79cents. Boy I sound like I have stock in the company, but I just find certain things there are cheaper than anywhere else, and I love that.
@Crystalinne - Hmmmm…. sounds crazy enough to work! Hahah.
And while in NYC we don’t have Dollar Tree, but back home we do. I usually just go to the market closest to my apartment. They don’t have any sweet pickles, though.
You know you can buy a “spare” battery for your phone, right? Maybe more work to charge both but I think it would be really worth it for you Ben and @jennylovve - . I don’t use mine so much during a work day since no real need during working hours, but I certainly can see your point like on a weekend or if not at work. I swear most “Smart” phones come with REALLY DUMB batteries.
So I would have to get a visa to go into China, eh? Hmmmmm didn’t know that but I haven’t looked into it either as at this point it is just a dream to see it before I check-out.
Oooh boy Peanut Butter and Nutella..!!! I usually finish my jar of Nutella within 2-3 days. Im using Samsung but i ran out of juice just as fast listening to music. I hope you get a good phone Ben and Eeee its only like a couple of months… I’ve a friend in HK but he lives closer to China… Im gonna check if getting to Macau is cheap & feasible by ferry… So exciting and ooooh im salivating just thinking of the food… and i hear its nice and cold too (:
@olwd - Ahhh Amy, come visit Singapore, would be so awesome. You & Ben could come attend my wedding if i ever got hitched for real and it isn’t imaginary.. Haha (:
@mellywelly15 - I think Nutella is just okay (I know, blasphemy). Hahah. I currently have a Motorola and it’s…. it’s just awful. Hahaha. The next one I’m thinking about is also a Motorola, but apparently, they’ve fixed the battery issues and other things as well. We’ll see….
And yayyyy! We’re still deciding where else to go (my mom suggested Thailand and Singapore maybe).
@laytexduckie - Woahhh.. Your mom is the coolest! You’d love Phuket… or Vietnam. If your here, i can take you around to some nice food places… and isn’t the song so sweet…? If only a man could seranade like that to me… :/
@mellywelly15 – so will that be the stipulation of our visit?
@mellywelly15 - Hahah, well, I do have some cousins in Singapore (or did, don’t know if they are there anymore). And yeah! Mmmmmmmmm, food.
And I would try, but my voice cracks. 
@olwd - Haha not necessary, i might never get married.. That’s a possibility
@laytexduckie - Oh please do consider Singapore, i’ll be Happy to bring you & your mom to all these awesome places like gardens by the bay.. you can Google it! Its so pretty, you’d feel like your in the set of Avatar! Eeeep anyway im excited to venture out HK & Macau and is Beijing near by?
Sweetie, if I can get married to a man, so can you! hehehe
@mellywelly15 – Oh, don’t you worry your sweet head. You’ll find a worthwhile man, sweetums.
@mellywelly15 – Hahah, my dad and brother is also coming along. I would like to see Singapore again. Especially because then I get to see you!
Hahah. Beijing is nowhere close by and I think you’ll need a visa to get in (although I’m not sure if it’s just restricted to Americans). I’ll put in the word for Singapore. Eeeeeeeeeee!
@laytexduckie - How nice… Oh i thought could take a train to China… lol
@mellywelly15 – Hahaha, well, there is an MTR from Hong Kong into China. But again, you’ll need a passport and visa to get in. And because I’m American, they might give me shit again (like last time).