Brenthaven Collins Tech Pack 60% off!

For a cool $19.95 (down from $49.95) go grab a stylistic pack / satchel / murse or man bag to hold all your goods whilst traveling to the local coffee shop for a flat white. Brenthaven just slashed the price of their Collins Tech Pack by 60% and that makes it a wonderful steal!

The construction is beautiful and is sure to hold your Moleskine, pens and protect your iPad using their "High Density Foam Protection System"! Oh yeah, did I forget about Brenthaven's lifetime guarantee too! If this sale doesn't suit you, there are a few iPad cases and iPhone cases as well marked down by over 75%!

The "Without" [You] App

Being without my family or my wife stinks. Plain and simple. I love the job, but it's really bad when you have a crew of slam clickers (those who go to the hotel and don't do dinner or sightsee) and you find yourself at the hotel playing Clash of Clans for hours.

Here comes a beautiful app appropriately named "Without" by Mr. Jeremy that brought the amount of buttons pushed from 17 down to two! Awesome idea, amazing app. Check it out and share it with your loved one.

Paternity Leave: Max it out!

A recent article that I've highlighted below, from the NYTimes: Upshot, covers the topic of paternity leave. Being an airline pilot, the only stigma that comes from taking extended leave is the reduction in flying hours (experience) and the potential of losing currency which would require a simple proficiency check.¹ I decided early on that my family comes first and with that, those two side effects didn't worry me. Hence, I took the full 90 days of Family Leave when our daughter was born and it was the best time of my life²; getting to learn how to care for a newborn, new mother and bond together as a new family. I loved every moment of it and would never trade it for anything.

Five months after Todd Bedrick’s daughter was born, he took some time off from his job as an accountant. The company he works for, Ernst & Young, offered paid paternity leave, and he decided to take six weeks — the maximum amount — when his wife, Sarah, went back to teaching. He learned how to lull the fitful baby to sleep on his chest and then to sit very still for an hour to avoid waking her. He developed an elaborate system for freezing and thawing his wife’s pumped breast milk. And each day at lunchtime, he drove his daughter to the elementary school where Sarah teaches so she could nurse. When she came home at the end of the day, he handed over the baby and collapsed on the couch.

“The best part was just forming the bond with her,” said Mr. Bedrick, who lives in Portland, Ore., and went back to work in June. “Had I not had that time with her, I don’t think I’d feel as close to her as I do today.”

And of course, this comes without surprise. My daughter and I are tight and I love that I can read her and “feel” her emotions. I love her and my wife so much!

Social scientists who study families and work say that men like Mr. Bedrick, who take an early hands-on role in their children’s lives, are likely to be more involved for years to come and that their children will be healthier. Even their wives could benefit, as women whose husbands take paternity leave have increased career earnings and have a decreased chance of depression in the nine months after childbirth. But researchers also have a more ominous message. Taking time off for family obligations, including paternity leave, could have long-term negative effects on a man’s career — like lower pay or being passed over for promotions.

“Part of the rationale for paternity leave is if men are able to be very involved early on in the care of their children, they’re going to be more involved ever after, and it will translate to more equal sharing and equal roles,” said Ms. Waldfogel, the professor of social work. Though men who want to be more involved fathers are probably more likely to take leave in the first place, she found that even after controlling for fathers’ commitment levels, those who took significant leaves were more likely to do hands-on child care later.

Mr. Bedrick added, “I definitely would not have done anything differently.”

I couldn’t have said it better.

Cultural messages tend to reinforce the stigma. Last spring, Daniel Murphy, a second baseman for the New York Mets, was criticized when he took the three days of paternity leave allowed by Major League Baseball. “I would have said: ‘C-section before the season starts. I need to be at opening day,’ ” Boomer Esiason, a radio talk show host and former professional football player, said on his program. (He would later apologize for the remarks.) Mike Francesa, another radio talk show host, added: “You’re a Major League Baseball player; you can hire a nurse.” Men often receive subtle or not-so-subtle messages that leave is unacceptable, even if it’s in the employee handbook.

If you remember a few months ago in April, the sports media went a little crazy about criticizing Daniel Murphy and I too was enraged. It’s all about spending as much time as you can, no matter how rich or who you are, with your new family. Period. There is no higher calling. Baseball??? Dumb that in our society, we'd put these material things above that.

There’s also quite a few articles that have touched upon this highly important topic in the last year. One of my favorites was published a few months ago in The Atlantic and there’s also the 5 Reasons Dads Should Take Paternity Leave. Read them both and if you can afford it, max out your paternity leave!

note: with my daughter in school, and with a new one on the way, finances are stretching and unfortunately, I will NOT be able to take the full time off unpaid when my son arrives around Christmas time. However, if it was a paid leave, I would be all for it.

:

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1. my leave was also unpaid. ↩
2. besides running bone dry on funds near the end of the 90 days, it was the most rewarding time of my life as we were fortunate that my wife’s company had paid leave and we have great supporting families and friends nearby. ↩

Customer Service Goes Above and Beyond

I have to applaud the Apple retail lady who picked up my phone call yesterday at Fashion Valley, San Diego. She truly went above and beyond. I inquired about an order that I was placing online for "In-store pickup". Specifically, I had an iPhone 6 Plus in Gold 128GB AT&T for my wife in my cart but ran into a small problem. Apparently by the time I had connected with her on the phone, she advised me that they had just run out.

I told her that I was flying out to work and she continued the awesome service by asking where. It was a little odd at first but after I told her Dallas, she found two different Apple stores that had the 128GB in Gold AT&T and Silver AT&T around town.  She told me that if I placed the order I would have 7 days to pick them up so that wouldn't be a problem at all. You're asking why AT&T? I'll talk about that in a later post. Yes, I'm still heavily contemplating T-Mobile but yeah… in a later post.

Unfortunately, I didn't feel like flying around the country for the next few days with $2k worth of phones on me after my iPad debacle in Miami so I politely thanked her and said that I'd continue to play the game in San Diego when I get back.  I also thanked her for her amazing job and told her that she was awesome.

Kudos again to Apple Fashion Valley. Happy October!

A 6-month Android Journey: The Beginning

On Thursday May 15th, I embarked on a journey that many have written about. This is my foray into the six month ownership of an Android powered Samsung Galaxy S5 Mobile Smartphone. [hashtag: #elijahsgalaxyxp] All this, in search of a full understanding on why my few remaining Android friends are still ranting and raving. Granted, I also have a small group of friends (read: 3) that have also switched to Android. I've owned and used a 2012 Google Nexus 7 tablet since it's debut but more and more I've found myself frustrated with the lag and short comings from what I can deduce was aging hardware. I can't recall being happy with it at any point in time except for the initial excitement and unboxing. To prepare for my journey, I pre-ordered a Spigen TTough Armor Case and a 64GB micro SD card.

Note: Upon accepting the device, I found myself with 24 hours on Wifi only before I was able to insert my Nano SIM Card due to adapters not being readily available. I called Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, AT&T and even Best Buy, Fry’s Electronics, Radio Shack and a few iPhone repair shops and none, absolutely no one had an adapter that would take my Nano Sim and size it for Micro Sim Card slot in the Galaxy S5. I found a few on amazon, and paid $3.99 for one day delivery ending up with the Nano Sim Card Adapter.

Still, day one was not a wash as I was able to do almost everything via Wifi. Here is my early breakdown.

Hour 1: I needed to find my must have apps. I needed 1Password, Simpletnote, various social networks apps such at Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, Instapaper and Clash of Clans. Come to find out, 1Password's Android app is just a reader app, Simplenote is pretty much the same, Tweetbot was nowhere to be found so I chose to go with the official app, Instagram is so large on the phone but pretty, Facebook is pretty much the same but the workflow very different and Clash of Clans was beautiful in syncing my iOS progress.

Hour 2-8: Still adjusting to the sheer size of the device, I ended up configuring the Samsung Fingerprint Scanner and let me tell you, that is one crazy nuisance. After my second attempt of programming it, I could never get the phone to unlock at a consistent scan. Infuriatingly, I scanned the same fingerprint again designating slot #2 and even #3 to the same finger, but it still refused to recognize it. After a few attempts, the phone alerts you that you have tried too many times and defaults to a backup password that you create during the initial setup but just click back twice on the phone and it allows you try again… and again and again. The phone never once locked me out nor prevented me to stop trying. I thought that to be bizarre. Needless to say, I turned it off after a few hours.

I continued to download quite a few apps that my friend Jeremiah mentioned such as Muzei enabling live wallpaper updates, Google Camera, and HD Widgets. I also downloaded HBO Go, Tivo, 8tracks, Amazon Kindle, Dropbox, Metam, Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, Waze, VSCO Cam, and Snapseed. Amazingly, I did all this while connected to the Karl Strauss Wifi and the speed was awesome.

I didn't play with it that much further but I was already beginning to miss a few iMessages from my iPhone friends. So far, so good, but still difficult.

Hunt and Gather for your Mitochondria

Dr. Terry Wahls at TEDxIowaCity presents the science behind feeding your Mitochondria and brain cells. http://youtu.be/KLjgBLwH3Wc

Dr. Terry Wahls learned how to properly fuel her body. Using the lessons she learned at the subcellular level, she used diet to cure her MS and get out of her wheelchair.

I'm definitely thinking of a life change right about now especially after those diabolical nachos.

Dads Who Really Do Nothing

Big City Mom recently wrote on being a mother who does nothing.

There is no greater task than the nothing you did yesterday, the nothing you are doing today, and the nothing you will do tomorrow. Caring for a baby is all about the immediate experience, yet the first two years are all about investment. It’s give, give, give, and give some more. These are hard-fought, rough-and-tumble years that can cut us down to our core and take us soaring high above the clouds, all in the space of 5 minutes. And yes, as you do the hardest work of your life, it will seem like you’re not getting anything done at all. Crazy, huh?

Our daughter was born 18 months ago and I've loved every minute of being a father. I was fortunate to take one week off prior to her birth and followed it with another 4 months. Both my wife and I were home for those crucial months and I wish everyone this opportunity. Furthermore, I wish that our society put these initial months of nurturing as a number one priority - but that's another topic. Leaving for the first time was difficult but each time after that has been equally just as hard, if not harder.

I'm blessed that my occupation enables me to dedicate 100% of my time off with our daughter. I couldn't have asked for it any other way. There are times where I would rather enjoy a stress free shower without the worry of her crying, a little gaming here and there, but singing along with her during the intro to Sofia the First, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood or even Dr. McStuffins, brings me joys that I can't even speak of. Watching her feet wiggle with happiness when I feed her or teaching her baby sign language trumps mashing buttons, reading technology news and yes, even flying.

My day usually entails changing her nighttime diaper, changing her into "outdoor" clothes, playing with her, feeding her, changing her diaper, playing some more, followed by a delicious 1.5 hour (or more!) nap, then doing the same that afternoon until my wife comes home.

I'm able to get a few things done around the house, but it's even more amazing how much my wife is able to accomplish. She cooks, cleans, does laundry and washes the dishes. She even plans big parties including writing and mailing her mother's invitations for her upcoming 60th birthday party. All this with our daughter still nursing and sometimes throwing small temper tantrums. Not to mention, the previous month where our daughter was sick almost the entire time proved to the hardest yet, but we got through it together. Compared to me, I'm beat from hanging out and literally doing nothing. I like to call it playing hard.

At the end of the day, I sometimes find myself still in pajamas! After we lay her to bed, my wife and I cuddle on the couch and reflect on the past months. Sometimes we think that we haven't done anything barely remembering the first couple of months, but we come to the realization how amazing life truly is. There's no need or want to do anything else but hold her, hang out with her and play. Sometimes I have to resist the urge to wake her up and play more!

Yes, my wife and I joyfully co-sleep with our daughter on the floor of her room. I really don't understand the need to ever sleep in separate beds, or rooms for that matter, especially during these first two years. Maybe it's me being away for days at a time that I rather be with my entire family. I have friends, some with and others without kids, that look at us like we must be in a living hell, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Our setup makes it rather lonely when I leave and stay in the bed of a hotel in a distant city. I love my family so much and the happiness from being together is truly wonderful.

Sometimes we're able to get things together and venture outside the house. When we do, the beach is usually our go to. There are a few times that I look back and really have to think about what I've done, but then my daughter gives the biggest smile and I know exactly, right there, that what I'm doing is all I need to do. Did I mention, I love my family!

Ultimately, the days go by too fast. She's growing up too quickly but I always cherish every day and every minute I get with her.

Never too Late but Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Go CHARGERS!

This is coming to you a tad late, but with Captain upgrade training, traveling back and forth to and from Atlanta then Washington Dulles, back to Atlanta then Dallas, it's been quite hectic. Norah enjoyed her first plane ride to Atlanta and we as parents enjoyed the happiness that comes with traveling with a young mobile child. I know, we know it's shocking that with me being a pilot that we waited so long to take her on a flight but our schedules only lined up recently to which of course they are now out of whack again. This, plus all the exciting happenings at home with our daughter growing up too fast and my wife starting a new job, the tail end of 2013 slid right into 2014 and it's off to a running start!

There are a couple of changes that I'm lining up for elijahnicolas.com to say the least and first and foremost is the styling. (maybe hosting or platform as a whole) I'll have more on that much later but enjoy this family photo and Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!

Oh yeah I forgot to mention. I'm also starting it off this week with a guest post scheduled for tomorrow morning so check back then! It's going to be a great one! GO CHARGERS!!!

Wordpress Throws in Built-In Support for Markdown

With the Ghost platform recently launched and proving to be a viable medium for easy publishing and a clean writing style, it comes as no surprise that Wordpress finally supports writing in Markdown. For those that are unfamiliar with the style, here's the definitely from creator John Gruber.

Markdown is a text-to-HTML conversion tool for web writers. Markdown allows you to write using an easy-to-read, easy-to-write plain text format, then convert it to structurally valid XHTML (or HTML).

I've been learning how to write in Markdown and have installed awesome plugins for support in my Wordpress site such as Markdown on Save Improved and WP-Footnotes. Of course with this launching, I suppose I can turn these off now but I still have yet to find where to "activate" the setting.

You can find a quick reference guide here.

Footnotes Finally!

I've finally found a viable, easy Wordpress plugin for footnotes and activated it here on elijahnicolas.com ((first post with embedded footnotes)). I decided to go with Simon Elvery version instead of Austin Sweeney's only because I could customize it within a "Settings" tab. I like Austin's idea about how his Civil Footnotes makes decisions for you and that you could edit the output easily in the plugin, but I just proved to be a little lazy. They seem to operate in similar fashion and I couldn't be happier. ((for some reason, my social plugin and the new wp-footnote plugin are conflicting in the spacing area beneath the body of my main text in preview mode but not when the post is published. Weird.))

Fundraising for the Philippines

It's truly amazing to see all the fundraising opportunities that are popping up all over the internet for the Philippines for relief from Typhoon Haiyan. From free voice calls and text messages via AT&T, Verizon or Sprint, free shipping from LBC or you can also donate directly to the Red Cross Typhoon Appeal. My two favorite are from the folks at Ironman and San Diego Bolt Complex. Click on any of the images or the links to proceed and support this cause, country and people ((I was born and raised in San Diego but both my parents are originally from the Philippines. This is a cause and time that holds dear to my heart. I would appreciate any donations you can make)) I also have friends that I can get you in touch with that are accepting donations and shipping every week as well.

From the Ironman Foundation:

To support victims of Typhoon Haiyan, IRONMAN and The IRONMAN Foundation want to provide one meal a day for 1,000 families for a month. We need your help to achieve that goal. We’ve teamed up with a Philippine non-profit organization dedicated to fighting poverty, Gawad Kalinga (which means "give care").

Your $30 contribution for one shirt will feed a family of five every day for a month.

From San Diego Bolt Complex

We, the BX, will donate ALL proceeds to this organization, http://www.savethechildren.org. Millions of vulnerable children are at risk in the aftermath of Super Typhoon Haiyan. More than 300 miles wide, the typhoon left a deadly path of destruction in its wake. In response, Save the Children is working around the clock to help children and families with emergency assistance during this difficult time. Thank you.

A friend of mine composed a bitly bundle that is showcasing all the Philippine Charity Tee Shirts. I'm sure with all the various tee out there, you can easily pick one!

Which iPad Am I Buying?

Both the new iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina Display are set to debut three weeks apart with the iPad Air going on sale this Friday, November 1st. Available for pre-order online and available for "in-store pickup", if you want it same day with no lines, reserve it online and pick it up. If you ask me, I'm doing just that. If I didn't make it clear already, I'm grabbing the 32GB LTE, T-Mobile option, leaning towards 51% space gray. You can't beat 200MB free of data and they'll have various one time plans available too. Just incase you go over 200MB, they'll just cut it off and reset it the following month so no overages! During this afternoon's Apple earnings call, CEO Tim Cook mentioned that he believes the iPad mini with Retina Display is going to be hard to come by this Christmas / Holiday season primarily due to manufacturing constraints. So yes, I too will be pre-ordering a mini and make my decision on which one to keep after I've handled both new iPads. While we're at it, if you must know, I'm also opting for the 32GB LTE, T-Mobile option in space gray… maybe. Or maybe white. Darn it!

"In terms of the retina or the iPad mini with Retina Display, we'll start shipping later in November. Uh…i t's unclear whether we will have enough for the quarter or not. We know how many we will have but we really don't know the demand until we start shipping, so we'll see how that goes. I think we'll do fairly well with with iPad as i'd mentioned before. we felt like its gonna be a great holiday season." - Tim Cook

Helping me with which size to pick, here's Jon Gruber's take on the iPad Air.

Calling the new full-size model the iPad Air says it all. In one year, the iPad Air has dropped 30 percent of its weight, narrowed considerably, and doubled in performance. A weight drop like that is significant for any product, but especially so for a device that is primarily used while being held in your hands. It’s startling when first you hold one.

I’m an iPad Mini convert. After just a few weeks last year, my Mini became my one and only iPad. My iPad usage is mostly for reading, and not much for typing. The smaller size and lighter weight just fit my usage better. I went into this year’s event assuming I’d walk out wanting to buy the new Mini. But the new Air is so much lighter, and thus so much more amenable to holding it in just one hand, that I walked out of the event completely unsure which one I want. In fact, the new Air (469 grams) is closer in weight to the new Mini (331 grams) than it is to the old iPad 3/4 (650 grams) that it replaces. (Those weights are all for the Wi-Fi-only models.)

The Verge posted their hands-on glimpse of the iPad Air last Tuesday during the Apple Event. In case you missed it:

http://youtu.be/6XunU-iXwyc

I'm excited, none the less, to once again have a full-sized iPad so that I can enjoy my comics, magazines and movies on my commute or while I sit in the pilot lounge during prolonged stays.

For further reading, iMore's Rene Ritchie offers his advice on which color to get and which model to get. I stand by it and agree with him. It didn't make it necessarily easier for me but I'm sure that you might be able to take something away.

Also if you want to read an edited transcript of Apple CEO Tim Cook Macworld has you covered. He also goes on record saying, "I think it’s going to be an iPad Christmas." If you ask me, exciting times ahead for Apple especially with the mention of new product categories.

I'll leave you with Apple's awesome pencil commercial. Take a peak. What do you think? Which one are you going to buy?

http://youtu.be/o9gLqh8tmPA

Three Flights Down to One Long Extended Flight

Something things go right sometimes they don't.  Yesterday wasn't something out of the ordinary but I guess some of you never experience the frequency of weather or maintenance that we encounter working at an airline.  Looking at the weather prior to our departure from Dallas-Ft. Worth, we knew that we could expect some thunderstorms during our approach into Charleston, West Virginia. Blocked to just a little over two hours, and looking at the terminal aerodrome forecast (TAF), we took off with confidence that we could "beat" the storm.  Whether or not to jet east and then up and around the front or penetrate earlier in the flight and fly behind it, we chose the former.  Usually you chose the latter, but once we were in the air, the weather didn't look that bad.

Almost an hour after our scheduled arrival, we made a safe approach and landing safely getting all our passengers to the terminal.  It wasn't without bumps and initially the weather at CRW wasn't calling for landing conditions, but after 45 minutes, the initial thunderstorm cleared and calm winds presided.

Arriving at the gate, the plan was to leave as soon as we could board up, refuel and clean the aircraft but things changed. The plane gave us a flashing light notifying us of a maintenance item which after two hours of coordinating with dispatch, maintenance control and crew scheduling, ultimately led to the cancellation of the flight. Repositioning the aircraft to another portion of the airport, coordinating a shuttle and hotel stay our day came to an end with nine hours of sleep.  We also had the opportunity of riding the hotel shuttle back to with some passengers who were taking the cancellation well.

So back to present time, scheduling had us report at 5:15am this morning and to no surprise without a phone call or notification from anyone back at company, we came down for the scheduled shuttle back to the airport only to find out that the aircraft wasn't ready. I'm now back in the hotel room killing another two hours before our next scheduled van ride. At least I can now grab some coffee.

update: I just got a call a couple of minutes ago notifying us again for a change to 6:45am which as I spoke to her was actually six minutes in the past.