Tag Archives: Tablets

Love & Hate – Toy Story

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Through my experiences with Girl and Boy Sip (aka the Sipplings), I’ve come to love and hate a variety of toys that have come into my life, as a result of being a parent. Let’s start with the toys I enjoy seeing my kids enjoying:

Marble Works

Growing up, a young Sip Advisor was such a fan of Marble Works sets that Ma Sip remembers me tracing the paths of the toy in catalogues. Boy Sip is particularly fond of playing with tracks his dear ol’ dad builds. My only issue with these sets is all the marbles I have to dig out from under the couch.

Lego

Another toy that the Sip Advisor was quite into in my own youth. I love seeing the Sipplings creating and imagining with Lego. It’s fascinating to see how the brand has evolved since my days of enjoying the bricks. Now, there seems to be a line of sets for every property in entertainment and I’m here for many of them.

Lego

Outdoor Equipment

One of my more recent favourite pastimes, is hanging out at Ma and Pa Sip’s place, drink in hand, while the Sipplings ride bikes, trikes, scooters and other vehicles around their cul de sac. Sometimes, we bring out Boy Sip’s remote control car, and I chase the Sipplings with it, as they fly around the neighbourhood.

Let’s give an honourable mention to tablets because sometimes you just need your kids the shut up and leave you alone for a bit! On the flip side, here are some items the Sip Advisor dreads seeing the kids get their hands on:

Play-Doh

I understand that Play-Doh and similar products are practically a right of passage for kids, but man do I hate this stuff. I hate the way it feels, smells, crumbles, hardens, etc. Every time the Sipplings sit down with Play-Doh, it means I will have a messy cleanup on my hands and will likely threaten to ban the junk from use in the home.

Playdoh

Slime

In a similar vein to Play-Doh, I greatly dislike slimes and goop products, which have become popular in recent times, thanks to all the bozo online influencers out there. These substances always seem to get into kids’ hair and clothes, as well as on household furniture and is not easy to remove.

Chalk

What a vile substance. I once had a kid come up to me at a playground, wipe their chalky hands on my pants and giggle the whole time they did it. Worse yet, I’d never met this child in my life, so giving them hell or walloping them was certainly not an option. Even schools realized that chalk sucks and boards have disappeared since.

Also worth mentioning is any toy without an off button, particularly ones that make noise and have no volume adjustment or way of shutting down. Throw musical instruments into this category, although Boy Sip asking for and receiving a mini trumpet for Christmas was quite entertaining.

Love & Hate: Toy Story

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  • 2 oz Peach Schnapps
  • Top with Club Soda
  • Splash of Lime Juice
  • Garnish with a Lime Wedge

Which weapons of destruction – they can all be classified this when in the hands of a child – do you love or hate? Time to go throw out all the Playdoh, slime and chalk I can find around the house!

November 8 – Sweet Tweet

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Technologically Traditional

Yesterday, we looked at my favourite apps and while I’ve embraced the games and information tools available to tablet and smart phone users, there is a lot of technology I refuse to adapt to. Kicking and screaming, I’m trying to hold onto my familiar way of life. Here are some items I refuse to give up or learn.

Laptop Mouse

It may surprise some that the Sip Advisor, this internet guru you’ve come to love, still uses a mouse with his laptop. I hate that little square built into the actual computer that you’re intended to use. I find that it completely slows my progress down. I occasionally use Mrs. Sip ‘s laptop for some site work and I wish she’d regress back to a mouse so that I’m more comfortable operating her computer.

Mouse Hunt

Touchscreen Keyboard

Recently, my old phone died on me and I was forced to upgrade. I had dreaded this day for some time, as I knew it meant losing my pullout keyboard. I think too many errors occur with the touch screen typing system and don’t even get me started on Mrs. Sip’s swiping texts that are littered with spelling errors and unrecognizable words. I often respond to her with a simple “?” because I have no clue what she’s writing me about. And sometimes I do it just to be a dick!

Websites (Instagram, Linked In, Foursquare)

While I’ve joined sites like Facebook, Twitter, and even Pinterest, there are numerous other social media hubs that I just can’t get into. I don’t get the rage over Instagram and the weird filters people use on their low-resolution pics, I don’t care to meet business contacts through Linked In (I mean, my contacts would just be winos and alcoholics anyway), and I don’t need to let everyone know I’m still sitting on my couch through Foursquare!

Cell Phone Photos

Speaking of low-res photos, I really don’t understand why people are relying on their cell phones to capture the greatest moments of their life. I get it that you’ve shelled out a fair amount of money for these devices and that bringing along an actual camera is another hassle to deal with, but you just can’t replace the quality of image a real camera provides. No matter how good cell phone pixel quality gets, it will never supersede the ol’ digital camera.

Camera Phone

Ear Buds

Am I the only person in the world who absolutely despises these sound delivery devices? Everywhere I look, people have ear buds jammed into their head. That’s not to say I don’t like listening to music, but I prefer to have an actually set of headphones and not something that constantly feels like it’s going to fall out of the snugness of my earlobe. Perhaps my ears are made to the specifications desired for bud usage, but I hate those little things.

Tablets

I have nothing against tablets and I think they are actually pretty neat with the big screen and all the functions they can provide. That said, between my laptop and phone, I have no intention of ever purchasing one. Donations will be accepted (they always are!) at the Sip Advisor headquarters, however. If anyone is tired of their iPad, Tab, Surface, or Nexus, you know who to ship it to.

ihad-ipad

E-Reader

I barely read enough print books to justify having eyes and a brain, let alone an e-reader. Mrs. Sip spends countless hours on her digital book, which infuriates me to near madness. No, I don’t see the Sip Advisor picking up a Nook, Kindle, or Kobo anytime soon; unless it becomes the only way for little sippers to read my awesome work… then I’ll practically become the face of the industry!

Video Game Systems

I’ve said it before and I’ll probably have to say it again: I will not buy another video game console. After the Nintendo 64, I held out for years without buying a system until finally caving an buying a Playstation 2 near the dying days of the console. Then I said it again before becoming enamored with the Nintendo Wii, again in its later years of existence. Clearly, I’m not an early adopted and I may own all of these products right before they become useless!

Drink #312: Sweet Tweet

Sweet Tweet Drink Recipe

  • 1 oz Rum
  • 0.5 oz Galliano
  • 0.5 oz Peach Liqueur
  • Splash of Lime Juice
  • Dash of Cherry Syrup
  • Garnish with Lime Wheel

Which items do you refuse to purchase and accept as the way things are done today? Am I the only one who refuses to give up the Discman, Sega Genesis, and MySpace!?

Sip Advisor Bar Notes (3 Sips out of 5):
I “borrowed” this recipe from a photographed menu from the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York, which also offers guests the Garden of Google, Brbon Tumblr, and… the SipAdvisor. Hey, wait, hold on a second. Should I be asking for royalties? Perhaps a cease and desist order? I’ll have to contemplate my legal options! As for the cocktail, it wasn’t bad, but it was a little too sweet. I guess that was implied in the drink’s name.