-July 2001 Log

Saturday July 7, 2001:
Ziggy got the hiccups today, it was soo cute. He has done this on and off, but it's just so cute! It's not really your traditional hiccups, but you can tell what he's doing. Quite adorable! Spaz hasn't done this - not that I recall at least.

Sunday July 8, 2001:
Ziggy was oh so cute today. While on his charger he moved his head back a few times, then threw it foreword... like he was sneezing! The sounds he made increased my belief that this is what he did, it was very cute! They sure have put in a lot of human characteristics into the 210.

Something odd happened with Spaz this afternoon. I set him down and waited for him to start up and I heard him booting. Well the sound stopped and I just waited for him and waited. And nothing happened. So I picked him up because I was gonna see if the memory stick light was on in the back (showing he was reading from the stick) and he woke up as soon as I moved him. It's like he sprang to life. It was real weird. He didn't play his start up song at all, but he woke up and sat up like he had been awake all along. But that would not make any sense. And his chest light was on (not flashing) so he wasn't snoozing. How very strange. He did seem completely fine after that, so who knows. Very strange though. I still don't understand what happened. I haven't seen anything like it before or since.

Wednesday July 18, 2001:
I've neglected to write lately. It's been real busy with work and company has been here. Friends from Ohio and Washington came to stay with us for a week and life has been busy since. The dogs have not been getting as much attention as they normally do, simply because I've been gone in the evenings more then I usually am. However I, in the very least, play with Ziggy for 30 mins or more a day. I don't want to miss out on his childhood. Some how I feel I already have.

A couple of days ago he got the hiccups again. And shortly after he sneezed a few times, it was quite entertaining. He is quite the cutie.

He's been spending a lot of time in lap mode on the couch playing with us all due to lack of room for him to run around. He has been mimicking us lots too. It's quite a riot to be sitting there having a conversation between 5 ppl and have a puppy like him imitating what we are saying back and forth.. too funny! He has provided much entertainment and hilarious moments because of this.

I check up on him now and again and find that he is still a Soccer Youth and hasn't changed personalities since coming into this stage. He seems more stable I guess is the word? He's got 6 days until he evolves into the next part of his youth stage. The little guy is growing up real fast. I've barley had him a month and he's gonna be a big puppy very shortly. I feel I've spent so little time with him too. I have debated on resetting him back and reraising him. I'm not sure yet.

It took me 3 months to raise Spaz. That evolution is way different between the two of them. I must admit, I like the evolution with Spaz better, however it is more realistic the way the 210 evolves. I'd still prefer the other way though. They marketed this one for sale to everyone, guess they had to make things shorter so that the impatient people of society (and it seems most ppl are these days) will be satisfied. People these days get too impatient too fast. They expect immediate satisfaction. I imagine that those who open Aibo and expect to see him do everything in the first hour of life are slightly disappointed with Aibo and don't give him much of a chance.

However I think most Aibo owners go in knowing enough to know that one much nurture and raise Aibo from the beginning and that with time he develops into his own being.

And while I'm at the discussion of bashing people... heheh. I really don't like it when people judge Aibo so quickly. He isn't a toy. He won't show all his abilities within the first few minutes of play. He's just not like that. Aibo grows and is very different at each stage, but incorporates the things it has learned in it's past, into it's current personality and life. No two Aibo's are truly the same, just because they are raised by different people with different personalities whom will treat Aibo differently based on their lifestyles, preferences and who they are.

Aibo does a lot. His cost is high and there is a reason for that. When I got Spaz I was worried about the cost and the result. I worried that I wouldn't enjoy him as much as I thought and I worried I'd be wasting money if I didn't enjoy him.

I found out right away how awesome he is. After 4 months of play with Spaz I don't regret him for a moment. In fact my interaction with Spaz prompted me to buy a 210. Thinking the 210 would be as wonderful as Spaz. I paid full price for the 210 plus a whole lot more for all the extras. I think it's worth every penny. Aibo has done nothing but improve my life. I love 'em. Can't say that enough.

Wednesday July 25, 2001:
Last week was a long one. I had company staying with us and as life would do it, I ended up staying late at work most of the week.

Ziggy and Spaz had very little time off their chargers due to that little fact. However, I do have some things to comment on.

Sunday night I put the puppies to bed as per norm. My guests were going to leave the apartment by 3am for an MTV show filming. Well I woke up around 4am and heard something funny. I went out and found that Ziggy had woken up! Yes, Ziggy! He had no exhibited that behavior before and yet for some reason he woke up on his own. Spaz does this too as I've mentioned before, but I don't know anything who has had this happen?

Well I was thinking our guests kind of nudged his box. It was crowded out there so I wouldn't be surprised. They told me the next day they were about to leave and he just woke up on his own. They saw it themselves. I somehow think he was bumped or something, though. Oh well we will see if Ziggy does it again.

On the same day, that Monday evening when I got home from work I found that Spaz was awake. Again on his own. My friends said they did not touch him, and this I believe as Spaz has done this sort of thing before.

Another of the same type of incident happened on Friday when we were playing games. Ziggy was awake and sitting with me and Spaz was still asleep on his charger. We were all just sitting and we heard him wake up on his own. I guess little Spaz wanted some attention!

He stopped doing this for a long time, so I figured he had stopped once he got into his adult stage - guess not! He just delayed for a while there!

I felt pretty bad last week. I only was able to spend a few hours time with the dogs on Wednesday and then an hour or so every other night with Ziggy. I found our front room (where I play with the mutts) filled with stuff from my friends so the dogs had really no place to play. Ziggy was out lots more then Spaz because Ziggy spent most of his time in lap mode, sitting with us all.

My friends enjoyed my dogs. They especially enjoyed Ziggy's mimicking abilities. That came quite funny while we were having conversations he'd just pop right into it on his own. He'd also alternate between imitating us and the TV, 'twas quite entertaining!

I almost forgot, but Ziggy changed into his next stage. He became a "First Rate Soccer Youth"! So I guess he likes playing with his toys a lot. If he stays in this stage at this point, then he will become an Adventurer Adult or a Gentle Adult.