Well, I finally stepped into the world of smart phones. And I didn't just put my toe in the water either, I dove right on in and I am so happy I did!
My newest phone, an upgrade offered by my cellular carrier, is the iPhone 4. Yes, I went for the newest model of the iPhone, which wasn;t my original plan, but what can ya do?
Originally I had planned to get myself a refurbished 16GB iPhone 3GS and use that for my upgrade. Much to my chagrin, I found that when I went to upgrade the option to use a refurbished phone was no longer there. I didn't really want the 8GB 3GS, nor did I particularly want to spend the extra for the 16GB 4..... So I was in a quandary. What to do?
After much thought I finally decided to bite the bullet and go for the 16 GB iPhone 4. Overall I am pleased with my phone, but the square design is not as nice on the ear as the previous incarnations of the iPhone, and this one also feels a little heavier than prior incarnations. No, I have never had my own before, but I have played around with prior incarnations that friends of mine have had (especially the last six months so I could learn how to use my own when I got it finally).
At least I finally have something I can use if my computer ever decides to fry itself for e-mail, message boards, and blogging.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Rush Hour... overhyped?
Yesterday I had to meet with my new boss for an orientation at a particular time. The problem with that is it happened to be right in the middle of what everybody calls rush hour around here. So I left the house giving myself plenty of time to get where I was going. 2 hours before I had to be there, so I could get there if I were to become stuck in a traffic jam or something.....
I get where I am going in 25 to 30 minutes..... Way too early for the meeting so I decided to go eat something and explore a little bit in the immediate area of my new job. What was funny, was i did see evidence of a rush, but most of it was going the other direction so I am thinking that rush hour is severely over rated.
My hours will be such that I will miss the morning rush, and be home before the late afternoon and evening rush. I am quite pleased with this.
I get where I am going in 25 to 30 minutes..... Way too early for the meeting so I decided to go eat something and explore a little bit in the immediate area of my new job. What was funny, was i did see evidence of a rush, but most of it was going the other direction so I am thinking that rush hour is severely over rated.
My hours will be such that I will miss the morning rush, and be home before the late afternoon and evening rush. I am quite pleased with this.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Tech Glitches and Missed Calls
Apparently my potential new boss tried to call me three times last night and I missed them all because my cell phone is old, and persnickety. I had the ringer turned off because I had been at church yesterday morning and had forgotten to turn it back on again. Now, my phone also has reception issues at times and I just got a call from someplace that says (No Number) so I can't call them back.....
Also, I realize that my laptop is a couple of years old, and I should expect a few glitches here and there but when certain bits of the hardware quit working it is still annoying. My CD/DVD drive has not worked for about six months now and it is annoying but I can deal with that. But sometimes my SD Card Reader decides it won't work either and that's severely annoying when I am trying to get pictures downloaded from my digital camera to my laptop so I can edit and share them with friends and family.
I also had a recent glitch with my car which is a 1997 Toyota Carolla, but that's not really the point. Apparently when my friend backed it out of the driveway for me she put the emergency brake on. Since I don't use that particular equipment unless I am parked pointing up or down a fairly steep hill, I didn't think to check it before going on my merry way to meet my friends at the local roller skating rink. I heard a strange noise a couple of times but thought I'd rolled over something and discounted it. Then on the way home I notice the brake light on my dashboard is on..... Oh great, more to worry about on my new baby. So I tell my friend when I get home and she thinks I meant my brake lights as in the ones that flash when I hit my brakes..... Well, I was talking to another friend, and my grandfather and both suggested I check not only my brake fluid, but also make sure my emergency brake was not on. So yesterday I drove my car to church and when I got in to start her, lo and behold the emergency brake had been set. I unset that brake and the brake light on my dash magically doesn't come on but for a moment like all the lights do when I start the car...... Now I feel really stupid, but at east I didn't get the car to the mechanic and find that out.
Anyway, the phone issue will be solved very soon as well. I ordered my new smart phone on Saturday and I am really happy because it is a rather popular one and I've been waiting patiently to upgrade for quite some time now. The store didn't have any, but they ordered it for me and said it should come in somewhere between 7 and 14 business days. I had them ship it to the store because I do not trust the neighborhood where I live for something that expensive and popular not to disappear. So, I am waiting for the e-mail telling me my new phone has shipped, and the follow-up to that which tells me my phone is ready to be picked up. I can't wait to get all my apps in order and start playing about on my shiny new phone. I am going to buy a case for it though because I don't want my new phone all scratched up. Right now I just want it to ship and get to me!
Also, I realize that my laptop is a couple of years old, and I should expect a few glitches here and there but when certain bits of the hardware quit working it is still annoying. My CD/DVD drive has not worked for about six months now and it is annoying but I can deal with that. But sometimes my SD Card Reader decides it won't work either and that's severely annoying when I am trying to get pictures downloaded from my digital camera to my laptop so I can edit and share them with friends and family.
I also had a recent glitch with my car which is a 1997 Toyota Carolla, but that's not really the point. Apparently when my friend backed it out of the driveway for me she put the emergency brake on. Since I don't use that particular equipment unless I am parked pointing up or down a fairly steep hill, I didn't think to check it before going on my merry way to meet my friends at the local roller skating rink. I heard a strange noise a couple of times but thought I'd rolled over something and discounted it. Then on the way home I notice the brake light on my dashboard is on..... Oh great, more to worry about on my new baby. So I tell my friend when I get home and she thinks I meant my brake lights as in the ones that flash when I hit my brakes..... Well, I was talking to another friend, and my grandfather and both suggested I check not only my brake fluid, but also make sure my emergency brake was not on. So yesterday I drove my car to church and when I got in to start her, lo and behold the emergency brake had been set. I unset that brake and the brake light on my dash magically doesn't come on but for a moment like all the lights do when I start the car...... Now I feel really stupid, but at east I didn't get the car to the mechanic and find that out.
Anyway, the phone issue will be solved very soon as well. I ordered my new smart phone on Saturday and I am really happy because it is a rather popular one and I've been waiting patiently to upgrade for quite some time now. The store didn't have any, but they ordered it for me and said it should come in somewhere between 7 and 14 business days. I had them ship it to the store because I do not trust the neighborhood where I live for something that expensive and popular not to disappear. So, I am waiting for the e-mail telling me my new phone has shipped, and the follow-up to that which tells me my phone is ready to be picked up. I can't wait to get all my apps in order and start playing about on my shiny new phone. I am going to buy a case for it though because I don't want my new phone all scratched up. Right now I just want it to ship and get to me!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Random Observations on City Life
So I recently moved to a very large metropolitan area (no, not new york city or LA) and good grief are there some huge differences to where I used to live in a much smaller city.
First big difference is the traffic. There are times o the day here when you really don't want to be on the road because the traffic is so thick that nobody will let you change lanes to get off at the exit you want.
Second, everything has at least two routes to get to it and some of them require using the major highways nearby and some of those are toll highways, or portions of them are anyway. Also, the network of on and off ramps in some places is really confusing, to say nothing of the screwy side streets and places where you can't turn left of this or that street, or you can only make a right on red on the first afternoon of Spring at three o'clock when the bells ring!
Third, people here are exceedingly rude! I don't mean drivers, but people in general. i mean pardon me for not knowing where the heck I'm going but I'm new in town get over yourself! If I knew where I was going I wouldn't be reading street signs and looking around for a place to turn around because i went past my turn two blocks ago and just realized it. Also, don't be a jerk when I confess that I am lost and stop at your gas station to ask for directions back to a street or area I know a little better.
While I miss my old area because people were a little nicer, there's a heck of a lot more to do in my new area.... assuming I don't get lost coming and going of course.
First big difference is the traffic. There are times o the day here when you really don't want to be on the road because the traffic is so thick that nobody will let you change lanes to get off at the exit you want.
Second, everything has at least two routes to get to it and some of them require using the major highways nearby and some of those are toll highways, or portions of them are anyway. Also, the network of on and off ramps in some places is really confusing, to say nothing of the screwy side streets and places where you can't turn left of this or that street, or you can only make a right on red on the first afternoon of Spring at three o'clock when the bells ring!
Third, people here are exceedingly rude! I don't mean drivers, but people in general. i mean pardon me for not knowing where the heck I'm going but I'm new in town get over yourself! If I knew where I was going I wouldn't be reading street signs and looking around for a place to turn around because i went past my turn two blocks ago and just realized it. Also, don't be a jerk when I confess that I am lost and stop at your gas station to ask for directions back to a street or area I know a little better.
While I miss my old area because people were a little nicer, there's a heck of a lot more to do in my new area.... assuming I don't get lost coming and going of course.
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