Most times the title of the daily blog entry is ambiguous at best. I like to have something in the title square before I go to my first edit. It's cleaner this way, no blanks. So here I sit, the dog next door is raising Hell about something. Maybe there is a cat, or a gato walking across the fence? I just realized why Rocky doesn't listen to me, he's Hispanic.
I received a call from the Safeway pharmacy about an hour after I posted the blog last Thursday. I doubt the insurance adjuster reads this but she could. Maybe she took offense to my implication that she has no ability for creative thought and rudimentary math? Whatever the rational for the call, I'm not going to bet the farm my problems are over.
Warren from Safeway called to let me know my medication was ready. He said, "Mr. Shulak, your prescription was approved and it's ready for pick up." And I replied, "Will wonders never cease, I'm shocked." I really try to be a glass half full kind of guy, but in this case, it's difficult. I have an appointment with the new doc this Thursday. We will do this entire process yet again. I'll keep my optimism in check for now. Like I said, I'm not going to bet the farm the problems are over.
We have a Garmin GPS. It's come in handy many times over the last few years. Now it's bothering me to buy and download new maps. Every time I turn it on I know how inadequate it's directions could be. "I'm getting old and outdated. Please shown me you care. Spend money on me. You better do it or I'll get you lost." I look at it and yell, "Hey, shut the Hell up. When you learn how to pronounce our street name, I'll buy you new maps."
I love making the GPS crazy. I'll use her for a short ride that has several variable routes. I ignore her directions and make her 'recalculate.' I do this several times and listen to her get agitated. With all the different devices offering GPS directions, I think she could be a little nicer.
Wanda and I have some friends who are currently on a road trip. They have a built in GPS, a tablet, and a smart phone. They could have three devices giving directions. I wonder if they would argue? "Turn left at the next intersection" "No, turn left in .9 miles at Powers." "Hey, quiet, I'm the built in GPS and you're just a smart phone." It would be worse than having a couple kids in the car. OK, maybe not, you could shut them off and heaven forbid, use a map.
Do they still print maps? Does AAA still have "Trip-Ticks?"
I don't understand why anyone would use the remote control set up on a tablet. How difficult could it be to reach over to the TV remote?
I have yet to read the instructions for taking pictures with ours. I need to give it a name. I can't keep writing our tablet or our Samsung 10.1 or our Android. I'm giving some thought to Freeda which means "Elf" or magical counsel. So, Freeda takes pictures, wow. We have two cell phones that take pictures. We have two digital cameras that do nothing but, take pictures. I think we have enough picture taking devices. I don't need to learn something I won't use.
Wanda is the chief Freeda user. Now that I see what fun she is having I would like one too. Freeda has only been here a week and is already out dated. Samsung has a new tablet that uses a pen like stylus. You can, among many other features, hand-write notes and e -mail. The pen, pencil, stylus, whatever you want to call it, can be configured to write or draw from micro point to paint brush, pretty neat don't you think?
Have we come full circle? Before computers, if we wanted to connect with family or friends, we wrote a letter or made a phone call. Once we had computers, E-mail and Instant Messages were how we communicated. Cell phones evolved to replace many home land lines. Calling across the country was included in most cellular packages.
Programs like Skype were developed making talking just a part of the package. What was once science fiction was now reality. You could see the person you were talking with. Connecting with friends and loved ones now has many diverse possibilities, one easier than the last. After all this, after all the improvements, we can go back to letter writing, except now we'll write on a tablet.
The day Freeda arrived here Wanda realized she would need some accessories. A stylus, a cover that could also be used as a stand, and something to protect the screen. She placed an order through Amazon. A few days later it arrived. Freeda fit in the cover like it was designed for her and her alone. The stylus did everything as advertised.
As for the screen protector, I thought it would be a thin plastic cover of sorts. I was wrong, it was a rectangular piece of saran wrap. The 'instructions' listed four steps. 1. Remove top layer of film by pulling on tag A. 2. Aligning holes on top place over tablet screen. 3. Remove next layer of film by pulling on tag B. 4. Using soft card (included) start in center and slowly push air bubbles out to sides.
Tag A would not peel off. I used a fingernail to separate the plastic sheets. I now had a large rectangular piece of plastic wrap that tried to adhere itself to anything within six inches of it. Like a cup, or the lap top, or my hand, either of my hands. I was able to align the 'holes on top' only because there were no holes on the bottom. At this point nothing was sticking, or adhering to, anything, except my hands. I thought things would improve once I pulled tag B off, except I couldn't do that, either.
After ten minutes I stopped trying to follow directions and gave the job to Wanda. Two minutes later Freeda had a protective coating on her touch screen. The included soft card must have been in a deck somewhere in China because it was not here. We tried to push the air bubbles out as best we could. Rather than a nice smooth surface Freeda now looks like a teenager with a terrible case of acne.
I wanted to throw the plastic cover away. I didn't think it was worth the trouble. It's a good thing cooler heads prevailed and Wanda got it on. I took a second look in the packaging but still couldn't find the 'soft card' to use on the air bubbles. I did find, along with the instructions, a list of why you need the cover and what it protects.
Glare and scratches and dirty dirt.
I know I am going to sleep better tonight knowing Freeda is protected from Dirty Dirt. After all, clean dirt is one thing, moderate dirt is another, but that dirty dirt, you need to watch out for, a little of that, and the day is ruined.
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