So, here I am at home with no phone coverage. A few months back we canceled our home service and went to cell phones only cuz that is the economical thing to do. It may not be the smartest thing to do if you have a product failure.

And I have a product/customer service failure.

Back in February, I got lured into a Blackberry Storm by the commercials making it appear it  would be a really good competitor to the iPhone. Verizon seems to have a monopoly on the best service in our area, rural area, so I thought it would be fun. Plus, John Krasinksi voice is just so nice.

Let me tell ya, the Blackberry Storm is NOTHING like the iPhone. It locks up randomly, updates at odd times, and won’t allow you to answer your calls. Seriously, if I was in a emergency situation and had to make a phone call in 2 seconds, I would just die because it would be 5 minutes before I could make a call.

Some minor things like the fact that in the commercial you can shift it sideways really quickly….well that just doesn’t happen. It is like 30 seconds in between and then it will lock in one position and you can’t control it.

Supposedly the new update was going to take care of those issues. Well, for me it didn’t but I did the update via the phone. Apparently, some people did it via the computer, which I don’t even know how to do, and it worked better.

I haven’t found a Blackberry Storm user that says they love their phone? Are you out there? Do you love the Blackberry Storm? Why?

This post has been in my head for awhile and is probably very confusing but I HATE my Blackberry Storm. It is a MAJOR RIM/Verizon Fail.

So here’s the topper.

Yesterday the backlight died on me. Why? I don’t know. My phone hates me I guess. After taking it to my friendly Radio Shack, Verizon was to send me a new phone by 10:30 am, which I paid expedited shipping for.

It is 12pm and I still don’t have my phone. I’m at home with no phone access, afraid to take a shower or leave my house to find a phone because I don’t want to miss FedEx.  Verizon has no email or twitter support. In fact, even when logged into my account, it tells me this:

Nice. I just really needed an excuse to terminate my account and buy an iPhone. Apparently, I have it now.

EarCheck Middle Ear Monitor is a first-of-its kind, clinically proven and physician-recommended, home  use device that accurately detects middle ear fluid, a key sign of an ear infection. The device helps parents identify when a child might have an ear infection, when it is necessary to seek medical attention and when the fluid is going away or gone.

Thanks to EarCheck, I was able to review the EarCheck Middle Ear Monitor and use it the first week to discover our daughter had an ear infection. Our two year old gets ear infections a few times a year but usually she doesn’t have any of the typical symptoms besides having a cold. This past week, I was fortunate that we had received the EarCheck, which detects the likelihood of fluid in the middle ear – a key indication of an ear infection.

Here’s how it went. We received it on Thursday and just for fun on Friday morning, we tested it out. We received a result of a “1 – Fluid Unlikely.” She had been coughing for a few days and by Friday evening it had worsened and daycare indicated she was having coughing spells all day long. When we got home, I tried out the Earcheck again and it indicated a “4 – Consult a Doctor” for her left ear only.

The left ear is the ear infection we had been fighting to get rid of since November. It keeps coming back so I made an important with our Pediatrician and she came to the same conclusion as the EarCheck – the left ear was infected.

Why Do I Love this Product? In this situation I probably would not have taken my child  to the doctor at this point because the only indication of an ear infection we had was cold like symptoms. She was not complaining of pain in her ear even though she was a little more grouchy than normal. So this saved our daughter extra days of discomfort by getting her into the doctor quicker than I normally would.

It has also been nice to monitor her ear infection. It has been several days since she started to taking her antibiotics and we did a check again today and  EarCheck indicated “1 – Fluid Unlikely.” So this is telling us that the fluid has decreased in her ear and the infection is clearing up.

This product retails for $49.95 and is well worth the investment if you have a young child (not recommended for use on children under 6 months old) because if your child does not show any symptom and then gets worse rapidly, you could be in for a more expensive course of treatment and/or more days of discomfort for your child.

Obviously, you want to use your mother’s instincts and other symptoms as well as a tool like EarCheck.

Special Limited Time Offer on EarCheck for Twitter users! 20% off total order when you enter code TWEET20 at www.earcheck.com. (Brings the price down to a $39.96 – which includes FREE Standard Shipping.)

Other Resources

What the Experts are Saying About EarCheck

More Details about how it works along with a video demonstration (professional unlike mine!)

EarCheck Use & Care Guide

Big Bang Mini is an updated “old school” arcade style games with stylish colors and entertaining music. It is themed around fireworks, which makes it very family friendly and will provide hours of fun. Using the stylus, you your child uses the stylus to dodge enemy fire and other rubbish and you try to collect stars.

My boys ages 4 & 8 both enjoyed this game. They usually like the shoot ‘em games but this is much more family friendly with a fun fireworks twist. With 9 levels to navigate, there is plenty for everyone. The best is when you get to World 9 and can get the Lasso upgrade. You just draw a circle around the enemy on the touch screen.

Use the stylus to move your ship around the screen and to launch fireworks at the enemies. You can move your ship very easily by placing the stylus over the ship image and dragging it anywhere on the touch screen. If you want to fire, you place the tip of the stylus on the screen and quickly flick it in a straight line. You can aim anywhere and at different angles. As with any games, it is something you just have to dive in and try it to get the knack of it.

Like with most games, each level has fun additions to it. Some are permanent and others are temporary. The ones that are permanent can be used in any level afterwards. You can not use the upgrades during the boss battles.

If you start firing like a madwoman, watch out! This is what I first did and by missing, debris comes back down and can be dangerous. So fire as accurately as you can to avoid this mess.

Big Bang Mini for Nintendo DS is now available for $19.99 retail. It is rated “E” for everyone and everyone WILL enjoy. You will find it in a very eye catching package – which the kids will love!

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE VIDEO GAMES FOR EVERYONE?

(Thanks to Role Mommy for the opportunity to review this game.)