App Review: Granny Smith

I have a new review of Granny Smith.  Check it out at http://www.theandroidvibe.com/granny-smith/

A great time wasting game. Quick and fun.

So it has been a while...

So it has been a while since I have posted or been online for any length of time.  A lot has happened in the last few months.  I stopped writing Android posts on a regular basis because we were in the process of adopting 3 kids.  We are still in the process but we have custody and they are now living with us.  It has been the most rewarding thing we have done as a family ever.  It has changed all of our lives and I hope that it has a positive impact  for all of us. We have been blessed with finding 3 great kids (ages 13, 12 and 10) and we are happy that it has worked out that we can adopt them. My wife and I have 4 boys and 2 girls ages 20, 17, 14, 13, 12 and 10.  My mother-in-law lives with us also.  It is a full house!  Never is there a dull moment.

In late July my old Volvo was totaled while parked downtown by an old lady reaching for some crackers in her car while driving down the road.  Her insurance company (Horace Mann) fought me over $500 like it was the end of the world.  They canceled my rental car without proper notice and forced me to settle.  Even though their client admitted fault and I could prove what I had in the car for improvements, they refused to budge on price.  It was frustrating to say the least.  We had to have a second car so that we could transport all of us places, but they cut that off without the decency of allowing me to prove what I thought the car was worth.  I would tell you NEVER use Horace Mann and I hope that you never have to deal with them. They are shady (in my opinion) at best.

In mid August we had a kitchen fire that also changed our lives dramatically.  We were living in a rented home that we had been in for a year and a half and while cooking some grease on the stove, the pot caught fire and burned out of control.  For some reason, it took the fire department 30 minutes to arrive from the first 911 call.  To help prevent the fire from spreading, I used a garden hose to keep the roof from igniting.  It was the dumbest and most frightening thing I have been through in many years. However, it may have saved the house.  Since then, the landlord has not made any repairs.  I think that he may be letting the house go into foreclosure.   Regardless, we had to find a suitable home for us to live in.  We were blessed with the opportunity to live in what we would consider our dream home.  We moved an entire house (unpacked) in about 2-3 days.  I have never attempted such a crazy feat but it was done!  

The Realtor that was the representing agent for the house with the fire refused to call us back. We went 2 weeks without as much as a phone call to say….anything. We just wanted to know if we would have a home or not.  Since we had custody of the kids, we needed to provide a stable home or we could have lost custody.  I will tell you that it was so frustrating not knowing where you were going to live and if you were going to lose custody of your kids because of a horrible Realtor and home owner.  I will pursue complaints against the Realtor and his broker so I will not name them specifically here.  The worst part is that he still continues to blame us for everything. I know that this all will one day come back to haunt him, and I am ok with that.

We are now settled and starting to find out what normal for 9 of us!  I hope to get back to writing on a normal basis again.  I miss the Android community but obviously, life's circumstances have all taken center stage in my life.  It has been good to step away some and see what is important in life.  Having been through all of these changes recently, we have come together as a family.  It makes you see that having each other to depend on is crucial in life. 

I am not saying all of this for sympathy or help.  I just wanted to let you know where I have been and to let you all know I am glad to be back!  Trust me, I appreciate being able to be a part of a community where there is such passion over all things Android.  I know that it too brings us all together as a family.  We are bonded together because of our love of technology. I am glad to be getting back to that family also.  I hope that I can quickly pick up where I left off and be a contributing member once again. I have a few stories coming over on the Android Vibe.  I am going to try and get back to being the writing machine I once was.  I am knocking the rust off and getting ready to write with a passion once again.

Steve