Technology Rocks!

What would we do without Facebook and technology?  I was in the backyard last night.  I noted that the skies were filled with smoke from a fire some distance away.  I took my phone and camera and went to locate the source of the smoke.  It was clear by the time I got to the highway that the flames were about ten miles away.  Out near Highland/Cowiche.

I stopped at the high school and walked up to the stadium which has a clear view and took a few pictures.  I then went home and emails the photo to my dad 30 miles away, who looked at it via his iphone.  It just seems amazing to me that we no longer have to rely on News Cameras to bring us "Satellite" coverage of an event.  In minutes, my father was looking at a photo of an even 45miles away from him.  I COULD have taken video, had I chosen and he could have viewed that.

I COULD have taken a picture with my phone and sent him that.  WHO KNEW, thirty years ago, that the Brick Phones they were making would evolve into something that could take videos and photos?  Am I alone in my awe?  Am I the only one that stops and stares in amazement at the digital kingdom I am in charge of? The answer, of course, is no, but I wonder if you all consider it as often as you might.

I was not sure where the fire was exactly, so I posted it on Facebook and a few of my friends came back and told me it was about where I thought it was.

Of course, I could have GOOGLED it, had I been so inclined.  It is amazing to me how much information is available at our fingertips!  In 1987, if you had told me to Google something, I would have probably thought you meant ogle and would have looked closely at something.  I love the word google!

For instance, and we will go back to the phone thing, a friend I work with sent me a picture on the phone.  It was a picture of Elton John!!!  He went to the Elton John concert last night at the Sun Dome and thought to send me a photo of ELTON JOHN!  Now, THAT is the ultimate in cool!

I know we do this everyday now, but just a few years ago we still were waiting for film to be developed.  In the next day or two I will have the digital equivalent of an SLR (Single Lens Reflex) from the olden days.  NO FILM!!!!

Ahh, I love technology when it works!

Pictures! And Narrative.

Looks like I finally managed to get my pictures up again. I guess I just needed to catch my computer by surprise. Above you see one of my wonderful nephews on my shoulders. This was at my Sister and BIL's birthday party. She is older than he...guess he got a wildcat feral cat...I don't think she quite qualifies as a cougar.

My lovable sister likes for everyone to participate in somewhat humiliating games when she has a party. This was no exception. This time we were given "handicapts." Note the guy with the glasses? He's blind. The guy next to him, in the Florida shirt, is mute (did the tape over his mouth give it away?). I had small rubber balls shoved in my shoes to simulate some sort of foot malady. We were to all go into a store and buy a pack of gum and then take a picture in the store...hence the picture below.

Below, the mute guy is carrying the blind guy.

All in all, it was a very fun day and we got to spend some time with friends and family that we don't often get to see.

I managed to put up hooks for our new pots last week. I like to have them within reach...it might not look very pretty, but they are useful!

My sister got dogs and below you see the product of that choice.

I tore the corn out of the garden and put the stalks around the front door for Halloween. I think they look good and scary. The 9 year-old neighbor girl thought it was only "SO-SO" scary...I think she thought she was being generous. Still she lied to save my feelings...sweet, ain't she?

I have been busy this week. And sick. Well, not totally sick. A little sick. I think I am handling the thing remarkably well. I know I have mentioned it before, but I think it is weird how when I have a cold I stay awake and can't sleep at night, but during the day I feel fine.

I guess, I should give a narrative, since that is what I advertised in the title of this post...of course, maybe that was simply a clever ploy to gain readers. No, probably didn't work anyway.

We may get the chance to meet the Famous Bishop from Burundi again this weekend. I won't get into it much, but we are hoping to get some concrete details about BB. I hope we get a good chance to grill him on things like "What does he eat, OTHER than bread?" and "What size of clothing does he wear?" and most importantly, "When are we going to get him?"

So, when we got our phones last month there was a rebate. A significant rebate. I had gotten the rebate page and the associated necessities (Proof of purchase, receipt, etc.) and sent them away, after having Cora check to make sure I was not missing anything. Today I got a card in the mail explaining that they would not give us the rebate because we did send the receipt. I DID send the receipt. So, I drove into the Sprint Store and asked if they could print me out another darned receipt (I wanted them to help me, so I did not use the choice words I wanted to). To my surprise they had not problem with it and even filled it out for me. To top it off they filled out two for me so I can at least get one...fine by me. I was more than a little annoyed by Sprint's antics, because you know that has to be a gimmic for them to get out of sending off semi-large sums of money...who keeps that receipt. OK, some people do, but I am not THAT organized, and I think those bastards were expecting me to be pathetic and give up. HA HA HA! They were wrong!

Well, Survivor is on...I gotta go watch Russel weed out the rest...I don't like him, but he seems to be doing a decent job.

Phones

Isn't it interesting that phones, which at one time only transmitted sounds, now transmit SO MUCH more than sound? Who, apart from the odd sci-fi writer foresaw that? I mean, take a look at the movie Lethal Weapon from the 1980s. Remember that brick that Dany Glover was talking into? Who, at the time, thought, well, in a few years that phone will be so tiny you can put it in a pocket? I am certain almost no one thought, "Well, wait until they can play movies on their phone." I'd have probably said, "Sure, in the year 2250 (OK, I was 12 or so when the movie came out, I wasn't very good with dates)!"

And, here's another thing. Who looked at a camera and a phone and said, "what would happen if those two mated?" Or even a phone and a computer? And, I really want to know who the guy was that decided the screen should be able to sense touch! Because, I don't care what era you live in, that's COOL!

When phones were first invented they were connected via a network of heavy cables. People depended on "operators" to connect them. Now banks of computers do that job. And who needs cabes or wires? We just send our electronified voices (I'd have said digitized, but electronified seems much cooler, maybe it will catch on) out across the air waves.

This post has a point, and I intend to make it eventually. Cora and I bought new phones yesterday. We managed to get a very good deal. While other providers/carriers were charging $30 per phone for the ability to surf the internet, we found one that would do that for both phones for a low price, not too mention the helpful sales rep gave us his own 27% employee discount (I suspect it is because the end of the month is right round the corner).

We wanted one of the new cool phones...you know, touch screen, senses when it is upside down, stuff like that, but we decided to go with something we could afford instead. Turns out the ones we chose aren't slouches. The ones we got will play video, take video, pictures, allow us to surf the net (Not that fake mobile net, which I can't make heads or tails of, but real net, like on your computer) and, of course, make phone calls. If you want to look at it and see what else it can do, here is a link: Centro

If you are interested in getting an OLD PHONE for your very own, go here: Old Phones And I want to thank them for the image of the old phone above, I borrowed one of their images to ilustrate the evolution of phones.

Phone Calls

We have had our share of callers in the past. Once in a rare while they are bill collectors, more often they are people wanting us to buy their services. Lately, one of the tv companies, I can't recall if it is DISH or Charter, has been calling. You answer and there is nothing but silence. You say "Hello!" a few times, and there is nothing on the other end. You hang up. 1/2 hour later it happens again.

I hung on the line for at least 15 seconds before the mechanical digitalized voice said, "______ Television has an important message for Jim..." I hung up. If they want to talk to me, surely they, whoever they may be, will put a human on the phone. I have no intention of buying any extra service from the telvision provider that calls but does not think it is important enough to have a real live caller talk to me. In fact, I will be MORE difficult for them to contact! If I see that number again, I will hang up. That's it.

I remember the time the San Francisco Chronicle called asking if I would like a subscription. I ask the lady if she knew where she was calling. She gave me the startled answer, "uh, no." I said, "do you know what time it is in Minnesota?" (I think I told this story once, if I did, SORRY!) She said, "No." I asked, "How would you like it if I called you at home during dinner?" I believe I said a few other things, but the whole gist of it is the call center people don't know crap. I jst want to voice my frustration at mechanized voices and call centers!

On another note, I would like to hold a moment of silence for our dear friends (make-believe friends) Jon and Kate Gosselin. They began proceedings to disolve their marriage today. I liked the series because it was a window into somone's real life. They seemed to be a real couple, without holding back. They got into arguments and that reminded me of Cora and I. I liked that. Sadly, it seems it has become too real. Divorce can't be an easy decision. I am sad for the kids and I am sad for Jon and Kate. I feel it may have ben that the whole thing that brought their lives closer to us may have been to blame. I hope they know our hearts go out to them in these trying times. So, yeah, I bared my ugly, pasty, TLC self. (Why do you suppose it's called Merlotandtheinternet? Stupid TLC.) I am not ashamed...ok, maybe a little...but that does not make the hardships experienced by these nice people any less difficult.

Sorry to interrupt this moment of revery, but I received a great book today. A book on my favorite airplane!! The F-105 Thundercheif!! I am excited because thre seems to be a dearth of books on the F-105. Some go for as much as $100.00! So, yeah, I am happy about that.

I think I will take Wednesday off, since the boss asked me to work on Thursday and Friday. I gues that's it for now...carry on.

i-phone, i-vote, i-llegal

Here is a big shout out to my father, who has leapt ahead of me in technology, once again. He has an i-phone. He even let me touch it. O.k., now I want one...I just think I might spend every last minute on-line. "Jim, what are you doing!? You are supposed to be driv-AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Probably best I stick with what I got.

(Oh, and Dad, nice "gone.")

So, election day is tomorrow. I purposely stay away from that crap. I know too many people who go nuts if you mention a political belief or opinion different from them. There is one particular person with whom I have worked that I despise, because, somehow, every conversation turns to politics. Even stupid things like mops somehow revert to politics, because some politician wants better mops or something...really, I have gotten to the point where I tune him out as soon as he enters the room. I even have been rude on occasion. last time I spoke to him he asked me some question that was intended to provoke a response for the ex-president that he hates. I simply responded, "I don't care. If it doesn't have to do with the Cold War, I don't care." He shut up...for once.

Oh, yeah, we voted.

So, the pre-schoolers did not bite, and I am in relatively unharmed. It WAS, however, an over blown daycare day.

My truck is legal again. I went to the DOL and got some new plates. I told the lady that my license plates were good as new, they'd hardly been used, and they were easy to remember! She sympathized, but I still had to buy the 24 dollar plates. To placate me she gave me a set that were easy to remember. REALLY! It was awesome! She went through the plates at her desk and finally came up with the nice ones that will be easy for me to remember (Cora, whispering at my side, says don't write down your new plates! DUH! [A12345B] She thinks I m SOOOO dumb!). It is amazing how simply asking for something can somehow get you that thing you want. Cora, of course, says it is my charm, but surely, it is just people being nice.