Technology is driving me crazy today!

Cell phone uncharged. Lots of connection problems at work today. And does anyone care about FIXING is on a weekend? Yahoo suddenly has lost a bunch of my contacts....very unnerving. Realized some had been lost a while ago so I do not know if I should attempt a RESTORE. More like a RE-TYPE...thus ruining my plans of printing out my address book today. It is a herculean task anyway. I had almost 700 contacts, now down to 600. Quite a bit for someone who rarely calls anyone.

What to do when there's too much to do (ebook), by Laura Stack. Another one of those books relating to the workplace. Can't really remember much about it except that it was SHORT. That is a benefit to me these days.

The Potter's field (audiobook) : an Inspector Montalbano mystery, by Andrea Camilleri. I really enjoyed this audiobook. Yes, it was kind of confusing with all of the Italian names of people and places, but it didn't bother me like it sometimes does. Takes place in Sicily. Montalbano is an aging detective. He lives by the sea, is a terrible driver, has a girlfriend in another town that you have to fly to. There is a mystery of a chopped up body discovered in the rain and a story of his right hand man who is acting strangely. Also great descriptions of the food, making me quite ravenous. In the book he reads a book by....Andrea Camilleri! I found it quite funny and captivating. I loved the banter between the various employees.

Geting to know my new phone

Very slowly, that is. Especially enjoying the camera. Took a picture Friday night at a fundraiser and was told by the subject that it was the best photo he had from that night.

Youtube pleasing me. Haven't figured out how to do music on my phone. Have been very conservative on usage until I see how much is one gigabyte. That is all I have. Keep seeing better phone deals, but, oh well. I will now have two years of lusting after better deals. Have found that Verizon in NOT the answer to all of my problems....does not work at the Cohansey Café or at Gallery 50 and people sometimes tell me that I am BREAKING UP. Maybe I will give AT & T a try next.

VERY busy weekend. Thank goodness for a quiet Monday and Tuesday to catch up with myself. Fundraiser Friday night. Lunch with Santa Saturday morning (another fundraiser). Bridgeton House tour Saturday afternoon. Only went to one house but it was warm and cozy, with 20 fireplaces. Then a Prairie Home Companion evening (my favorite thing to do). Sunday was church, Christmas shopping, grocery shopping, football (Eagles lost) and singing at a church service for the Journey to the manger. Luckily, I live right across the street from church so left the football game to practice our song, then 15 minute service, and back home to catch the depressing end of the game. So I switched to 60 minutes, my other favorite thing.

It is harder to schleppe in winter

I have enough trouble getting my many bags from here to there without the addition of a COAT! I find that everything slides off of my shoulders when wearing a coat. I should just break down and clean up my clutter enough that someone can get into my house to install the wifi. I have been informed that WIFI is not the same thing as WIRELESS.

Starting a relationship with my new phone. It is probably smarter than I am, but I foresee many happy hours of getting to know it. Missing my KEYBOARD with my old LG phone. I can't deal with "pictures" of keys. My nephew and my brother-in-law tried to straighten me out on some procedures with the Samsung Galaxy S IV. There are scarily on top of technology. I am at the other end of the spectrum. What is the opposite of an "early adaptor"? I have to be dragged kicking and screaming into anything new. Not really the update kind of a girl.

It is so frigging COLD around here. I must try and plan some future vacations. A friend called and told me he got a round trip ticket for $60 on Spirit. How come I never see those kind of deals? Plus, I DETEST Spirit for their nickel and diming of customers.

Words I like to hear

"You've made it" the instructor says when we have reached the end of our 45 minute Senior stretch on the DVD. "No strenuous exercise for 2-3 days" said the dentist after he pulled my third wisdom tooth.

I am in a bit of a panic, having acquired a new phone about an hour ago. Feel like I have a new relationship, so many hours of learning to come. Have already lost it once as it is a slippery little devil. Am not paying even MORE each month, $80 before all of the taxes, so I sure hope it does a lot more than my previous phone. Am already missing some of the features on my old tried-and-true phone such as the keyboard and the comfortable size. But this phone has the TEMPERATURE on it, with which I am OBSESSED. Afraid to use it though as am totally perplexed about how much is 1 gigabyte of data. I had unlimited data with Sprint although I really couldn't DO much with it.

Through a glass darkly (e-book), by Karleen Koen. The book was about spies who were captured and milked for information. Not sure if any of it was plausible. How many spies are entertained and fed for months and never tortured to get info out of them? With all of the code names and double crossing, I didn't really GET it.

Adam y Yves

Once again I found a little slip of paper with something written on it. Where to file/put it? I was a sign in a cool demonstration (parade) I saw in Paris. It went right past my hotel. It was quite festive event, with little cars all decorated. All of the themes seemed to have the word BAR in them....BARack Obama, BARbie. Not sure what these students were for or against. It mostly seemed to be an advertisement for a party they were going to have. This sign was a sort of a pro-gay sign...a take off on Adam and Eve. Adam y Yves are two boys in French. (Y means and. It is pronounced EEE)

My plan for today was to work on the computer for one hour and then walk for ten minutes. I haven't really accomplished that. I walked a delightful few minutes down to the new restaurant in town (the ONLY restaurant in town) and had a nice lunch with a friend. Then I walked back to the historical society. It is a beautiful fall day. I seem bedazzled by each leaf that falls this year...the COLOR!...the SIZE!...the SHAPE! I love the falling moments and the rustling as you walk. Also poignant knowing that tomorrow could be colder and rainier and windier.

Tried out some headphones last night at the Spring store. My God, they were fantastic. Dr. Dre, white, for $199. And attached to a phone I would like to have (HTC) but it cost $99. And I am not sure I am going to stay with Sprint. It is time to start looking, however. Am getting disappointed in my phone. I think it is time to get disappointed in another phone or company.

Can I sit next to you when I come back so I can listen to your music?

Overheard from a patron at the computers at the Vineland Public library. Of course, he wasn't saying that to ME. Guess I do not know the secrets of meeting men.

New book about assassination of JFK. Kind of shocked to read that over 40,000 books have been written on this topic? How is that even possible? I must say the details do sound MIGHTY suspicious.

Amusing comment from some guy about the new curved phones...."a solution looking for a problem". Why didn't I think of that? Still procrastinating about getting a new phone. A friend just switched to Sprint and got a new LG phone. She also got a FREE tablet!
I wouldn't mind having one of those. I was so looking forward to becoming eligible for an upgrade (it has been a YEAR now) and ending my servitude to Sprint (it has been 10 months now). Yet, here I sit, having NOT taken any action on the subject. I liked the comment I read in the Sunday New York times that marriage should be like cell phones, with a two year contract and an option to upgrade!

Listening to one of my favorite L'il Wayne songs on Youtube. Oh yeah, No love involves Eminem, too.

Dumb things I have done today

First dumb thing was I texted the WRONG man with this message...."I'm dressed. What is your schedule? Did you get enough sleep last night?"
The wrong man kindly texted me back with his schedule. Then I texted the RIGHT man, forgetting that he lives in GREENWICH, where cell phones do not work! Went to the health club only to find out that they were going to turn off the electric. Happily, I completed my workout before the switch went off. Also, it was good to find that the soap and paper towel dispensers and toilet still worked even though I had to do it all in the dark.

So, I am running around trying to get all of my STUFF done before 5 PM. It is Friday and libraries inconveniently close at 5. So nice to have sunlight and get my Vitamin D bath in.

Youtube is making me happy. Had to put in the headphones to drown out the sound leaking out from someone else's earbuds. Listening to James Blunt singing, "You're beautiful".

I dread picking up the phone these days

Usually it is a machine, or a salesman, or a butt-dial, or a dead space. I don't really want to exert myself to get it, but then, when I call people, they never answer either. Life is one big game of phone tag.

Spent a goodly number of hours in my own home this afternoon. A rare event, for moi. Enjoyed it, for the most part. I puttered, I read, I listened to NPR, I almost took a nap. Had to leave in the middle to do a couple of errands. Luckily, the neighborhood was pretty quiet. Only the sounds of home maintenance projects were in the air. Well, there were a few echos of distant yapping dogs, but I chose to ignore. I will be taking a walk soon to find out where these dogs live so that I can sic the dog catcher on them.

Thinking about my doctor visit yesterday and pondering whether I should write some online reviews. I have dermatologists figured out....they insist upon chopping you up, then they give you more than one prescription which may hurt more than it helps. I liked the way I got to see the actual doctor and it was nice that she had two people in the room with her, but when I look at the report it is totally confusing and contradictory. I give up on thoughts of obtaining clarification from the snotty office staff. The doctor said to come back in two weeks, but the office staff said she has no availability for two months! This is just plain aggravating! Then she has me applying two different creams, vaseline, AND an $85 saran-wrap kind of thing. How, I would like to ask her, is all of this supposed to work together? Oh, what the heck. I may as well call the dreadful office staff and give them an earful.

Job titles I would like to have

Wouldn't it be nice to tell someone at a party that you were an "Equine portrait photographer"?

One of my pet peeves is people who talk on their cell phones WHILE THEY ARE WORKING, especially when they aren't even speaking English. I think it was a Cambodian nail technician that brought on THIS rant. Then one of the other workers turned on his MAC and started blaring some program in another language even though the TV was on. Grrrr.... The manicure was OK but the ambiance was terrible. Won't be going back there soon or ever.

I fear I am getting early-onset Alzheimer's. (Also have been unable to resolve the issue that once I heard that there was no longer an apostrophe in Alzheimer's but that seems to have been a DREAM). I went to get my haircut and couldn't remember which side I parted my hair on. Can I blame it on the mirror effect? A few days ago I went to pick up a friend at the bus station and had trouble remembering exactly what exit and which road to turn around on. Is it NORMAL aging or ABNORMAL aging? I do feel somewhat foggy even when I am NOT taking a pain pill or a Xanax.

What was that thought

I had a good thought today and was going to blog it.  But now I have forgotten what it was.  Perhaps I SHOULD get a phone upon which I can blog.  Still procrastinating about the phone upgrade.  Too many decisions involved.  "Need" a new phone, perhaps a new provider and am reluctant to get into any two year contract.

Summer's last gasp today and tomorrow.  Supposed to be over 93 degrees today.  My comfort zone is under 80 degrees. 

Went to the beach yesterday.  Not so pleasant due to blowing sand.  No bugs at least.  Almost got too much sun, not quite.  Had a delicious lunch at Yanni's.  This was their third location, which I have never visited.  I have lunched at the other two locations, one on the boardwalk and one in the library.  The new 9th Street bridge is quite something but I do not enjoy driving that way due to the Beasley Point Bridge being out.  The Ocean City bridge is full of walkers and bikers.

I miss bumper stickers

I saw two good bumper stickers today. There were quite a few on this car and you don't see THAT any more either! 

- "I listened to NPR before it was cool".
- "Are you hearing voices of crazy people?  Turn off FOX news".

Holiday weekend approaches.  I don't like holidays.  Nothing is ever happening due to the holiday.  I never have any plans.  I emailed my sisters and none of them have any plans either.

Torrential rains yesterday.  Ceiling leaking again.  I guess a leaking ceiling never gets any better, only worse.  (One can always HOPE, can't one?)  So here are my main problems today...

- a leaking ceiling (roof)
- a dead bat somewhere in my house
- a barking pit bull next door
- cell phone battery is inexplicably dying and I need to make some phone calls
- rash on my leg is starting to itch again

Other than that, life is just hunky dory.  I will try and think of some GOOD things now...

- the competition at the health club is almost over so I can stop feeling inadequate
- I am starting to walk better due to losing weight
- everybody is very well behaved over here at the Vineland Public Library
- I rebooted my laptop and overcame the nonfunctioning
- Serena Williams is one hunk of a woman (I just perused Tennis magazine)

Forgotten

 

This is the best I can do copying the photo that I took this morning on my Sprint LG Rumor phone.  I stopped to take another photo and spotted this mailbox full of old moldy mail.  Sad....

Seems like the past few days I have spent TWO hours a day doing errands.  Every day I am buying gas.  Today I went to my arthritis exercise class at 8 AM, went to the bank, then had to drive ALL THE WAY across Vineland to get to the Grapevine office so I could get "hard" copies of the paper where an article about my commune in the seventies is starting to run, then got the gas (good price of $3.27), then took pictures and on to Bridgeton to pick up my emergency supply of Ambien.  Found out that you can PAY for drugs any time you want.  It is just the INSURANCE that says you can't have it yet.

Photo series I would like to make...mailboxes,  laundry, trees.  I really need to get a new camera.  My phone is unsatisfactory.  Everything is too far away and dark.  I could try my old SLR and see if they still make FILM.

I got this stinkin' smart phone.....

No, not me yet.  A friend said this about her new phone the other day and made me laugh.  Some of us aren't really leaping at the latest technology...we have to be DRAGGED kicking and screaming and filled with dread.  And, no, I haven't yet clicked on the link to upgrade me to the latest Yahoo mail, nor given in to the temptation to accept the next version of Internet explorer.  Sorry, but I learned at work that most upgrades may have given us a few new features, but they also did away with some of my FAVORITE things.  So I am ANTI-progress and ANTI-change.

The victory squat is a yoga routine.  If I could DO a squat, I would call it a victory squat.  But, once again, today, we did too many squats at yoga.  Don't like'em, don't do'em.  Maybe someday.

Being driven out of my mind by the librarian who keeps dialing the fax number which keeps not working.  She must have dialed it 65 times. Don't know why it is so EXTREMELY loud.   Had to resort to my usual blocking-out-the-world tactic of going onto Playlist.com.  It only helps a little.

Going private

Trying to figure out how to take this blog private.  I am sure I saw it go by once but HELP is not helping me.

Saw my first azalea blooming today.  What a riotous week of exploding colors and hot weather.  My audiobook talked about "the wafting scent of the forsythia".  I stopped by the side of the road and I sniffed.  Just as I suspected, forsythia HAS no scent.

No luck trying to copy photos from phone over to here.  My phone automatically sends it to Yahoo email.  Copy and paste does not work.  Wanted to show some photos from Victorian house art tour I went on last night.  My friend has 3 story home and yard FULL of whimsy and beauty...art from Africa, Australia, Japan and Cumberland County, New Jersey.  Her home is in Newport, a quaint, quiet little town.

I don't understand what you mean by "ha ha ha"

That Siri, she is a riot.  We were making fun of her and she gave us the above response.  My sister and brother-in-law were trying to show off with Siri, but she wasn't really getting it.  My sister fell in the river from the kayak and got her iPhone all wet.  Luckily, she found that her upgrade had just become available so she got a brand new iPhone 5.

Was awake in the night.  There was a curious beeping noise.  Then a few minutes would pass.  Just as I was about to fall asleep, the beeping would resume.  I was racking my brain for what new source I had brought into the house.  Finally, I got up and walked around waiting for the beep.  Turned out it was my PHONE.  I had entered the birthday of a friend of mine and I guess the alarm had started ringing around about midnight.  Jeez...Can't stand that calendar alarm!  Once I entered my WEIGHT and the alarm started going off.

Was late to my usual hangout today. the Cumberland County Historical Society in Greenwich, NJ.  When I got there, all the chairs were taken. I went before hand to the College to volunteer and also get free breakfast and lunch.  Sat with a few convivial souls and put address labels on postcards.  Now, after a long drive from Vineland to Greenwich, I have a nice view of almost good weather.  It is sunny but still chilly.  Watching a man trimming his bushes on Ye Greate Street..

Who has time for Twitter?

Is that why everyone is always playing with their phone?

I survived Valentine's day and it wasn't half bad.  Went with my French club to Philadelphia to see a movie called Amour.  A slow moving story of an elderly couple and their decline.  Lots to think about, even the day after.  Before the movie we dined at Fork, 306 Market Street. Had a yummy kale salad with creme fraiche.  Then my sister and her boyfriend invited me over for dinner and served Duck a l'orange.  This all kind of came together at the last minute and was an enjoyable day.  I even exercised at 8 AM.

Weather is sunny and temperate.  Winter is so much more bearable when the temperature is in the 40's.
And it is already February 15th!  How much more winter could there be?

Internet access

Well, I still haven't bit the bullet and gotten Internet access at home.  Don't know where to start with all of the things I "need"...Do I get a new phone, apps, Internet, wireless, Siruis XM radio, a camera, or what?  Article on Technorati about a lot of students using the Wi-Fi at McDonald's.  I don't see it in Bridgeton.  I am usually the only one using it when I go.  I thought this fact was interesting: " McDonalds have 12,000 Wi-Fi equipped locations across America, with Starbucks adding another 7,000. Combined they provide greater access to the Internet than the 15,000 Wi-Fi enabled public libraries in America."

Driving home from my class last night, I took a wrong turn and ended up in Millville.  That is somewhat disturbing.  I don't seem to recognize where I am in the dark, even when I know the way home.  This is when I venture an hour or more away from home.

"60 apps in 60 minutes" was quite inspiring.  Our instructor was a substitute but he was really knowledgeable and enthusiastic.  If he said "How cool is that" once, he said it 30 times.  Of course, now I "need" and want apps...but will I really use them?  It was inviting in a very librarian-like way.  How could I NOT enjoy all these extra ways to find things out?  Not sure I need a news aggregator or a personal magazine.  I kind of like newspapers and magazines the way they are and the way I am using them.  The music and photo apps were really cool, though.  I can see myself using Shazam or Dropbox.  And the "find your phone" app could come in handy.

Beach access closed until further notice

I found myself in Cape May Courthouse and saw that I HAD to drive a little further to check out the ocean in Stone Harbor.  The street just off the beach was in really bad shape and closed for construction.  I tried just one street over (97th St.) and was confronted with this sign when I attempted to go up the wooden walkway to the beach.  I could HEAR the ocean, but obediently, I retreated and didn't try to bypass the warning.  This is obviously Hurricane Sandy damage.

Just a beautiful day.  Finally, the sun came out and it got up to 58 degrees according to my car.  I did my "Vitamin D bath" routine, sitting in my car, listening to an audiobook.  Drove for an hour, passing places I always think I should stop at and take a walk.  Vowing to come back with my cross country ski poles and use them as walking poles.  Had soup for dinner.  Trying to eat more SOUP and SALAD instead of my favorite food, sandwiches.  I could eat sandwiches all day long, no problem. 

I came to this library to use the computers (of course) and take a class tonight.  60 apps in 60 minutes.  I don't even HAVE apps, but am thinking about getting them.  I am at the Cape May County library in Cape May Courthouse.  I actually have a card for this library system, being the library nerd that I am.

Pet peeves

It is annoying when many of the library computers are "down", the handicapped access button on the front door continues to not work, young girls walk by talking about someone's "birfday", and people were talking during a good portion of the movie today (Les miserables). On the plus side, the weather is gorgeous and it was $2 popcorn day at the movies.

Kind of rushing.  The PRESSURE of having to complete all of my computer tasks in ONE hour.  I do have my laptop in the trunk of my car....just too lazy to bring it in.  So, in addition to catching up with my email, I must think of a few topics to write about on this blog and look up a bunch of stuff, like the French revolution and what that big stone elephant was doing in the movie, Les miserables.  Left over from a world's fair, or something?  Plus I have a Princeton folder full of stuff to do on the computer and a couple of plastic folders full of papers.  So I will BEG for more computer time (that is the policy at the Millville Public Library).

Is today the day I am going to stop by Staples and invest in a calendar system for 2013?  Still have not been able to make the switch to the electronic life.  It is a slow process.  One of the things I have to tweak today is my list of features I desire in my new phone, to which I am "entitled" as we speak.  It is nice to be "FREE" of Sprint, but not nice to be indecisive and want to save money.  If the sky was the limit, what would I get?  Not accustomed to thinking like that.

Thrift shop

Just added this song to my playlist.com.  Most of my email is SOOOO boring.  I did come across this gem on Philly.com called Spotify's top 10 most streamed tracks.  I am listening to each of these songs.  Not that I don't have enough songs on my playlist.  Almost one hundred.  More than I have time to listen to.  To get back to my email, mostly I get requests for money.  Plus I get email for another person with my same name who lives in Bradenton, Florida.  I called her up once or twice to discuss the matter and her daughter told me she never had an email even slightly like mine.  It is really irritating to get things from the wrong school and the wrong politcal spectrum.  Even the RIGHT schools or political parties are bothersome!

Have been spending a lot of time with various groups of friends or family lately.  Of course, it IS Christmas.
This morning I learned that they have a senior roller skating session on Monday mornings.  Too bad I have a yoga date then.  I should try skating again.  It has been over a decade since my last visit, whereupon I broke my wrist.  Prior to that I was very "devil may care" and went by myself a lot.

The longest year of my life has been the year I turned 65.  And the year is only half over.  The longest TWO years of my life have been my contract with Sprint.  It is over the end of December and I think I will enjoy the sense of FREEDOM for awhile.  Don't enjoy the need to make a DECISION, however.  What phone, what company?  I have to come to a (happy?) medium between the two realities:  1. I am FRUGAL, and 2. I want more features on my phone.