Steinway

I'm now a proud owner of a Steinway grand piano. M and I went out and bought a Steinway model M on Friday. It's a beauty; the notes sing. The high register is melodic and round; the low register is full, powerful and strong. Not having lived with a piano for the past 11 years means I'm completely out of practice - yet this piano covers a hundred faults. Who cares about a weak pinky and the occasional slip-up when the notes produce such an enchanting and mesmerizing sound?

We bought the piano from Sherman Clay. They had a Steinway event this weekend and we happened to drop by Friday evening just before the event. I played on about 20 Steinways that evening. What a treat! It's really amazing how much sound difference there is even between Steinways - and it's hard to compare them unless the two pianos are side-by-side. The one we bought was definitely superior than the model L's and model O's in the room, even though the model L's and the model O's are larger pianos. Even M can tell the difference. Each Steinway is handmade so each possesses individual characteristics. Apparently to M, this one was "born a genius."

I still need to get it tuned, but I'm supposed to let it sit for 4-6 weeks to acclimate. I feel guilty for playing so poorly yet able to own this piano. It's like if the piano were a guy, he would not want to date me. Except I bought him...

Uh... I'll resist the temptation to take this analogy any farther.

Treo 755p

I upgraded from a Treo 650 to a Treo 755p today. The 755p is lighter, grips nicer, and it no longer has an ugly antenna sticking out of the top. The menu and the navigational buttons are in different places from the Treo 650, so it'll take me a while to get used to it.

The reception at my house improved by a couple of bars, which is quite amazing considering there are what, only 4 or 5 bars total? That's a whopping 50% improvement!

I was happy to find Google Maps pre-installed on the device, since that would have been the first piece of software I download. I downloaded the newest version of Google Maps anyway, though, since the pre-install is a couple of versions behind. Too bad Sprint's GPS isn't opened up to Google Maps like some of the Blackberries.

The next piece of software I want is calendar sync from Google Calendar to Palm's calendar. It's nice to be able to check my meetings directly on the phone, without waiting for an internet connection. Apparently CampanionLink makes a pretty good 2-way syncing software, but I can't decide if the extra convenience is worth $30. :(

I installed the following freeware games: Space Trader, Sol Free, and Blocks. These ought to keep my parents entertained on long family trips. It's funny - my parents are nearing retirement age but they fight over handheld games just like children do.

I think it's because I'm cheap and am only looking for freeware, but I can't find any good non-game applications. Some of the applications just seem a little silly, like there is one application that helps you reset the phone, and one application that helps you hear people louder.

I guess I can't complain too much about freeware. But it's annoying that sometimes they don't pay attention to the details, like having a "quit" menu item, or defaulting the game to the correct "Game" application category. I keep thinking that I'm going to write the next piece of palm software I need, but I never get around to it. Maybe one of these days something will annoy me enough to do something about it.