To the Galaxy and Beyond!

I sometimes think that choosing your mobile phone is as hard a decision as choosing the right place to live, or the right person to be with.

You need something that is going to fit you well, have functions or quirks that are compatible with you and something that you are going to be able to spend the next two years with.  It's a hard choice when you think about it.

Here is where I am stuck.  I currently have a Blackberry Bold 9900.  I adore it.  Well, I say that, but what I mean is that my heart adores it, but my head knows that it isn't the right match for me.  I have said as much about people in the past.

I love the keyboard and it is an idiosyncratic little thing; it fits my personality well in that respect.  I don't care that it isn't the most popular phone on the market, or that some people laugh when I say I have one, they can bugger off quite frankly.  It's my baby and I love it.

But.  There is a but here.  It isn't suited for what I want.  For that, I need either a Samsung Galaxy S4 or a Note 2.

So here is what I came up with.  I am writing down everything I need from the phone and will see if it takes me to any sort of decision.

Minutes - unimportant, I rarely use more than 60 minutes a month.

Texts - need unlimited.

Apps - must have the Blogger app.

Internet

This is an important one.  My home broadband situation is that I am on a mobile dongle.  This isn't about to change anything soon which means that I am stuck with 3 gigs of internet usage available there.  I need a phone with a larger screen that is going to be more useful for a more prolonged internet usage and with that, I need more than just the 750mb I currently have on my plan.

I am veering towards the Note 2 at this stage, but we will see what I think when I get hold of them both in the shop.  This is of course only if they manage to wrestle my beloved Blackberry from me....

Sorry by the way for wittering on about phones on here.  I was going to do a regular list offline, but when I blog I feel like I am talking at the same time which makes it a little more of a fun process!

Here's something funny to make up for it:

Creative Corner 3

The creative writing prompt was very short this time - just two words:

A Step

You know that saying "Every journey starts with a single step" ?  Well not to be disagreeable, but I believe that every true journey starts with the second step.

The first step is done hesitantly, with caution.  You can, and frequently do take the step back.  From the simplest thing of reading the synopsis of a book before you start reading it to choosing a different path that your life will take, that first step is always an exploratory one.

You may make hundreds, if not thousands of those first steps in your life.  A quick decision that you instantly change your mind on, an idea that you want to carry out but are still unsure; the new direction you want to take, but don't yet have the courage for.

The second step however, that is decisive.  You have made the choice, committed to it and you are going forward.  The second step is the one that is the hardest to take.  It shows that you are resolute in what you want, and you are going after it.

No one remembers the first step.  But the second, where the real action takes place, that is where the interesting things happen.

Making Choices

Life is always about choices.  The ones you make, the ones you allow yourself to make and also the ones that you convince yourself that you can't.

You can only be restricted in your choices if you allow in other factors.  Such as what other people think.  If you allow other people's influences and judgement into your choices, then it becomes more about what they want and think than you.

When I started a degree through the Open University last year, it was a snap decision.  I was still trying to figure things out within myself and I thought doing a degree might be interesting to do.  What I didn't think about was how much of a commitment I was making and the reasons behind it.  

I chose to work at a 25% rate given that I work full time and still wanted a life and other interests.  Adding that up to the honours degree I had chosen equated to the next fourteen years of my life.  Going into it I couldn't say if I wanted a change of career at the end of it.  I basically drifted into it.

This week, after being on the course six months, I sat myself down and asked myself some questions.  Questions that had been in my head for weeks, but I'd ignored.  Why had I ignored them?  Because I didn't want to be called a quitter.

Are you ready to commit yourself for 14 years on this?

No

Do you actually plan to change career?

Honestly, no.  I'm not career driven, never have been.  I chose it for interest.

Is there anything you want more than this?

Yes.  I want to give the blog more of a go.  I want to try and expand on the writing side, and not just on the blog.  I may not be any form of Shakespeare, but I truly love it and it makes me happy.

I asked myself those questions and there was my answer.  I've withdrawn from the degree.

Will some call me a quitter?  Probably.  Was it too hard?  No.  I was maintaining a First after all.  Will I regret my decision. No,  I don't think I will.  I would have regretted more if I was still having the same thoughts two years later and still hadn't done anything about it.

Some people are about education, some about fun, some are about their careers, some are about the life outside of what.  Further education isn't for me.  I've made my choice.