Reeived My New Replacement iPhone!

Talk about service!  

I received my replace iPhone about an hour ago by overnight FedEx Express.  I'm in the process of setting it up now.  

Damn but Apple does make it easy. 

I do have to go through several steps like backing up my old iPhone date to iCloud. 

Then I have to erase all the data on my old iPhone.

Then I have to remove the SIM (telephone) card and place it in the new iPhone.

Then I have to package up my old iPhone and in the box provided by Apple (I just tear off the top shipping label and use the shipping label beneath)

Then I call FedEx to arrange a pickup.  

Then I download my old iPhone data from my iCloud backup, which is what I am doing now.

Sounds complicated doesn't it?  It's not actually.  

Doesn't make for the most interesting or provocative blog posting I admit but this procedure is important to me.  

What did I do before I had my iPhone?

I'll tell you what I did, I struggled and my life was a LOT more complicated.

With my iPhone I have unlimited access to news and information, can stay in touch with friends, neighbors and everyone by e-mail, text and FaceTime, and (this is really important) take a LOT of photos!

I was bummed out yesterday when I broke my iPhone. I could still use it but I had this ugly spider crack on the glass.  Being the perfectionist I am, you know that I was very bothered using a damaged piece of equipment.  

Ah bliss, I now my perfect iPhone. And you can bet I won't drop it again.

Have a great day!

Accidents Happen

Broken iPhone glass - yep, I did it.

This morning, groggy, I reached for my iPhone on the nightstand next to my bed.  Half asleep I forgot that I had my iPhone charger plugged in. Thus, as I reached for my iPhone to check the latest Trump news, I lost my grip and my iPhone fell and crashed against the brass knob of my nightstand. Unbelievably, the knob hit exactly on the bottom button on my iPhone, breaking the glass in a spider like web. Lucky Ron.  You know if I tried to do that I couldn't.

I know others who have shattered the glass on their iPhone and I smugly thought "How careless can you be?"  Well folks, here I be.  I did it myself and now I know how carless one can be.  

Lesson learned. 

I called Apple support and thank goodness I have an Apple Care Protection plan.  They will replace my $949.00 phone for $99.00.  Phew!

Next time before I groggily grab for my phone in the morning to check for the latest Trump news, I'll make sure I'm awake. By the way, I'm blaming this broken phone on Donald Trump.  Why not?

Computer Problems

That's right folks, computer problems right here in River City.  I spent all morning watching the Apple rainbow spinning Wheel of Death.  Hey Apple, just because you colored the dreaded hung up symbol with rainbow colors, doesn't lessen the impact of dread when my computer is hung up.

The past several months I've been doing ever increasing disc repairs and yet the Spinning Wheel of Death returns, slowing down my momentum.  I finally put a call into Apple support this morning, which, by the way isn't as responsive as they used to be (I had to wait 16 minutes this morning before anyone even picked up the phone).  But once I had someone ("Dan") on the phone, he was pleasant and helpful.  I explained my problem to him that my Time Capsule backup was stuck all morning.  I also explained that this was happening with increasing frequency.  Of course the first thing he asked me to check is what version operating system I was on.  I am on the latest.  So that's not the problem.

I purchased this iMac computer in January of 2010.  Yep, five big years ago.  And as we all know hard drives only last about three to four years.  Or at least that has been my experience.  

I have a 2 terabyte storage capacity on this iMac.  I'm using up more that 1 1/2 of that storage already and rapidly closing in on using up all that storage.  Yep, my photos and videos and iMovies.  I don't do Garage Band or iTunes, just photos and videos folks and I.AM.RUNNING.OUT.OF.SPACE.

Time to bite the bullet.  After I'm done this blog entry I'm on the phone ordering a new iMac with a 3 gig storage and faster processing speed.  

Wow, that was a fast five years.  Now next year I'm up for my colonoscopy.  My last one was in 2011.  Another fast five years.  

Apple Upgrade To Yosemite - No Thanks

Apple's latest suck upgrade - Steve Jobs, where are you that we now need you?

The new dock and toolbar feature a flatter look, which is more in keeping with the design language Apple began to embrace in iOS 7. The new look isn’t so dramatic that users will be confused as to the function and purpose of interface elements, however; the change to the toolbars frees up space to give more usable area to the app upon which it appears, and the new look for Apple’s system apps in the redesigned dock make for easier legibility and recognition.

WHAT?

Apple has come out with their latest "upgrade."  It's called "Yosemite". It sucks.  

I didn't do the last "upgrade" to Maverick because I heard too many complaints about it, mainly how it hogged up all the memory.  Just what I need on my computer, more memory hogging by applications that I would never use in my lifetime.  

I knew there was a problem immediately when I saw the former very user friendly Dock was replaced by a flat, cartoonish, uninspired Dock.  Gone is Apple's commitment to design.  I suspected this would happen when Steve Jobs left the scene.  Who is designing for Apple now?  Former Microsoft nerdies?

Gone is the nice three dimensional Dock.  

To be replaced with a flat, inspired, "you don't need this" Dock.  

I'm venting folks.  

Why is it that when a company comes up with a fabulous design they always "upgrade" it to the point where it sucks!  Remember the original Thunderbird?  

1955 Ford Thunderbird

A cool looking car, right?  

Now look at the last time Ford made a Thunderbird model in 2005:

2005 Ford Thunderbird

It sucks, right?  And they pay people thousands of dollars for these "upgrades."

Hey Apple, go back to your roots and stop complicating things with these so called upgrades, especially when you're going backwards.  Not everyone is a tech guru.

Throwback Thursday

My trip to New York City 1958

Thank  you folks!  I finally achieved my goal of 100 followers.  I was stuck on 99 for so long I was beginning to wonder if I was actually getting "out there."  And yes, I do need to have verification that you all are reading my blog.  I appreciate all of you!

Well, this morning has been rather busy.  I just got off the phone with Apple Support.  My iMac has been getting hung up the past week or so.  This morning while I was patiently waiting for the rainbow spinning wheel to finish doing it's thing, I got the Blue Screen of Death.  Hey, what's that?  I thought the Blue Screen of Death only showed up on Windows based computers.  So I put a call into Apple Support.  Since my maintenance contract is up with Apple, I now pay $19.00 per incident charge, good for thirty days, which is a good deal for me.  I get to talk to someone who speaks English as his (or her) first language and actually listens to me instead of reading from a script.  Without boring you with the details, I think we solved the problem.  It was an errant 2.4 GB disk that was hanging in iPhoto waiting to be copied to a DVD.  Some long ago DVD copying of an old family reunion that I was doing for my relatives.  I'm not copying any more reunion DVD's because of all the ones I copies, not once did I receive a "thank you".  A little "thank you" goes a long way. All too often one is taken for granted and rarely receives a "thank you."  What's with that anyway?

The Photo of the Day at the top of this posting (which has nothing to do with this posting) is one I took of New York City.  I won a free trip to New York when I was fifteen years old.  I was a paper boy and the Philadelphia Bulletin had a contest to see who could get the most new subscriptions.  Born salesman that I am (not), I won.  I took my Kodak Brownie camera with me and took a roll (eight photos) of New York.  I never thought to have a picture taken of myself or the other paper boys who won the contest.  What was I thinking?  I'll tell you what I was thinking, I was just too damn shy to ask.  Not now though.  If you know me I'm always asking "Here, take a photo of ME!" 

Time to end this rambling missive that I'm going to pass off as a thoughtful blog post and get ready for work at the hotel.  Lunch, nap, shower and then off to Expensive Botique Hotel in Lower Slower.  Tomorrow at 8:15 AM I have my stress test.  I think everyday I have a stress test.  

The photo below?  Taken of me when I was 16 years old by one of my brothers.  I wanted some photos to share with my 67 pen pals.  Pen pals, how I stayed in contact with my world wide fan club before the Internet and blogging.  

It's all good folks!  Have a great day!

My "Pen Pal" photo - 1958 

Facebook's Faceplant

Is anybody surprised that the much anticipated Facebook IPO is now mired in controversy?

Recents news about the biggest IPO in history reveals that it was overpriced and SOME investors received information about Facebook that wasn't available to the rest of us, the Great Unwashed.

BIG SURPRISE.

Well, all that counts in the end I guess is that the hoodie wearing Youngest Billionaire Ever, Mark Zuckerberg now has more money than God.

GREED, GREED, GREED.

Over and over again Wall Street and the Insiders sell us the same snake oil.

P. T. Barnum said it:

"There's a sucker born every minute."

There was a time when I worked in the Investment Services Department of a major Bank (Mellon) that I believed that Wall Street and those who worked there were honest.  Not so folks, they're all crooks.  Yes, I said it.  THEY'RE ALL CROOKS.  

So now it's Ground Hog Day all over again.  The Greedheads hype up a business that PRODUCES NOTHING and we fools fall for it.

You want to invest in a company that actually produces a great product?  Buy Apple.

In the meantime, I thought I would never dislike anybody more than Mr. Softee, aka Bill Gates.

Move over Mr. Softee, you have been replaced by an even more odious and despicable creature, Mark Zuckerberg.

Success!

Thank you for all of you who prayed for me this morning when I updated my external hard drive backup system.  I installed (with help from Apple Support) the Apple Time Capsule with is also a Wi-Fi base station.
 
In our house we have an iMac, two iPads, two iPhones and one MacBook Pro.  I needed a dependable backup system.  Now I not only have a dependable backup with an external hard drive, I also have a strong WI-FI network here at Casa Tipton-Kelly.  And as a bonus I got rid of three pieces of equipment and exchanged all those wires and units for ONE UNIT which is the Apple Time Capsule.  The three pieces I got ride of was my Cisco Valet router, my Western Digital external hard drive, and my NetGear WI-FI extender.  I love it!  The less wires the better.

My Apple Time Capsule and router - love it!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, going with Apple is one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life.  With Apple my life is so much easier now.  Not for a second have I regretted leaving Mr. Softee's world of Windows.

Steve Jobs, wherever you are, thank you!

Pray For Me

The Apple Time Capsule external hard drive and Wi-Fi combination - new kid in town

All folks, I got my Fed Ex delivery yesterday at 5:30 pm.  What I got was a Time Capsule 802.11n Wi-Fi Hard Drive unit from Apple.  Today I call Apple support to install this thing.  Pray for me.

I am always reluctant to change my computer setup when everything is working.  "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."  I'm not sure if something was broke but I do know when I got back from vacation my external hard drive backup wasn't operating.  I don't know if this was because I hadn't used my computer for a week or it was a real problem.  I called Apple Support with my problem.  The guy on the other end of the line (who sounded foreign - first time I got someone from Apple Support with an accent - please don't tell me that since Steve Jobs has departed the scene Apple is outsourcing their Help Line to India) had me check a few things and he determined that my external hard drive wasn't big enough.  He suggested that I purchase (for $299) an Apple Time Capsule.  He said the Apple time Capsule was not only an external hard drive with two terabytes.  He also said it operates as a Wi-Fi and that my Wi-Fi connections would be much better.  I can also use wireless printers with this device, although I think I will pass on that option.

So here I am folks.  Involved in yet another techie operation for which I have little or no confidence.  Usually when I embark on these adventures they turn out to be disastrous.  I think it is a combination of my non-technological talent.  I am a photographer, Find a Grave volunteer, genealogist, cook, gardener and hotel front desk clerk personality after all.

I am going to call Apple Support as soon as they open this morning.  Pray for me.

My Cisco Valet Wi-Fi - soon to be gone

My Annual Trip to Philadelphia, PA

Arriving in Philadelphia yesterday morning - I always believe in letting someone else do the driving.  Lots of White Heads in the bus.  Check out the Philadelphia skyline in the distance.  Returning home to my former home!

My visit to the Philadelphia Flower Show was a success!  The flower show was all right.  This year it had a Hawaiian theme.  Lots of color, delightful smells, and beautiful music and lost of crowds too.

Even though the flower show was crowded there seemed to be more room to move around.  At previous flower shows I felt like I was part of a lava flow, moving with the crowd.  This year I actually saw the floor.  Also there were plenty of benches for the weary to rest their feet.

No need for me to rest my feet though.  I moved through the crowds quickly, taking my photos and occasional videos.  This is the first time I've attended the flower show solo which actually turned out to be pretty good.  I could move around as fast as I wanted to and go where I wanted to without trying to keep track of my slower, plodding companions.  I move fast.  I'll take future trips by myself.  Lesson learned.

Me at the Philadelphia Flower Show 2012 - photo taken by a stranger (blurred)

One thing I won't do in the future is take extra cameras.  This time, just in case I needed them, I took my Canon SLR camera as well as my Flip video camera. Guess what?  I took all my pictures and videos on my iPhone!  I didn't take ONE PICTURE OR VIDEO with my other equipment.  Wow. I'm not loading myself down with extra unneeded equipment in the future.  That will make my future trips much easier.  I love my iPhone! I love traveling light!  I move fast!

Color at the Philadelphia Flower Show 20122

After making the rounds of the flower show I left the convention center to meet my long-time friend and former c-worker Don for lunch at Woody's on 13th Street.  I get to Woodys and pull a "George Bush"(remember his famous trip to China when he tried to open up those large red doors as he was exiting the stage only to be stymied?  That was me yesterday.  I looked as foolish as Georgie Boy did then)  and try to open the door and it was locked! A couple of gay guys who were dawdling outside this famous Philadelphia gay bar/restaurant told me that Woody's was closed and wouldn't open until next week.  Okay, Plan B in effect.

I called Don on his cell phone but of course he had his cell phone turned off.  I went to the corner of 13th and Walnut which is where I thought Don got off his bus.  On there way there I saw Don rounding the corner.  Don and I used to work together back in the 80's on this very block.  Now we meet this way on the street for a reunion once a year.

Don suggested a little hole in the wall restaurant a block down the street.  I was a little apprehensive because I had never been in this restaurant before but my fears quickly proved to be unfounded.  I forgot that I was in The Big City, not Gayberry (aka Rehoboth Beach, DE) where almost ALL of the restaurants serve good, reasonably priced food, even the "holes in the wall."  No overpriced Tourist Trap Restaurants in Philly today.  Oh how I was spoiled all those years I worked and lived in Philadelphia.

My friend Don "on the street" in Philadelphia

I ordered Chicken Quesadilla.  The only other place where I have had a good Chicken Quesadilla before was the Brickside Grille in Eagleview, PA.  I've ordered it several times down here in Gayberry at these pseudo Mexican restaurants but what I get is a overpriced wrap of tasteless cheese and rubbery chicken.  Note to Rehoboth area restaurant owners:  A WRAP IS NOT A QUESADILLA! 

The Chicken Quesadilla I had yesterday was prepared properly which is gently friend tortilla, quartered, with TENDER chicken delicately flavored with Mexican cheese.  The so-called "Mexican" tourist traps restaurants in Gayberry should learn how to properly prepared Mexican food but I guess they figure they don't have too since they can fool the touristas.  But I digress from my Philadelphia Trip.  Don and I had a great lunch!

Don and I at lunch yesterday at the "Hole in the Wall" luncheonette which is way better than most Rehoboth restaurants!

After lunch, Don and I parted and I took off for the ten block walk to our former home on 24th and Naudain Streets.  Walking down Walnut Street I saw an Apple store.  I meant to stop in just to take a look at this new way of retailing.  I WAS AMAZED!  I was so impressed.  In fact, I was so impressed that I made a purchase (more about this in a future blog posting.)  In my previous paragraph I was talking about how our overpriced Tourist Trap Restaurants here in Gayberry could learn a thing or two from Philadelphia restaurants, our retailers could really learn something BIG TIME from the way Apple retail stores do business.  I can't emphasize how impressed I was with my Experience in the Apple store.  Of course it helps that I had a cutie waiting on my too.  I am a sucker (no pun intended) for cuties.

Apple Cutie

After "submitting" at the Apple Store I headed down to our former home, taking pictures all along the way.  Our old house looks great from the street.  I was tempted to knock on the door and ask for a tour of our old home.  However I was running out of time so I couldn't spend too much time around the old stomping grounds.  My bus was scheduled to leave at 4 pm and it was already 3 pm. I didn't want to miss my bus!

Rittenhouse Square (on the way "home" yesterday) I used to walk this every day when I lived and worked in Philly!

I had about fifteen blocks to make in a half hour.  Huffing and puffing with aching legs, I made it and caught my bus on time but I am paying the price now. I am sore all over.  I feel like someone "tuned me up."

Our former home in center city Philly - we moved in 1980 but the doors are still red!

Walking around Philly yesterday I'm surprised that I worked and lived over thirty years in that  crowded, noisy and dirty environment.  Maybe it was because I was young and had other "priorities."  I was on The Prowl in those days.  Young, handsome, successful, I had it ALL baby! And I am proud to say I didn't waste any time either.  The crowds, noise and dirt were minor distractions back then, now I couldn't take it.

Broad Street, Philadelphia High Noon - Across the street from the bank where I used to work - I can't believe I dealt with this EVERY DAY for YEARS!

I'm glad I made my trip to Philly yesterday but I'm also glad I'm back home.  I am just too comfortable here at Casa Tipton-Kelly.  I enjoyed my trip but taking this trip also has reinforced my love for where I live now.  Every now and then one has to take a trip away from the comforts of home just to appreciate what one has at home.  And believe me, I DO APPRECIATE WHAT I HAVE!

This is what Bill LOVES!  Actually he doesn't, that's why he stayed home. 

It was good to see Bill waiting for me in the dark at the Delaware Tech campus in Georgetown.  I had a long day, I was exhausted but I am glad I made the trip.  I was home again.

Home in Delaware at the end of a long day

Why Big Companies Fail

This morning I heard the news that Eastman Kodak filed for bankruptcy.  Yes, you heard it right.  Eastman Kodak, the Goliath of the photo industry has failed.  Eastman Kodak, the company that discovered digital cameras wasn't smart enough to figure out that the future was digital photography.  Basically put, the high salaried executives couldn't get their heads out of their asses and let their company fail.

I'm reading Steve Job's biography now.  It is a very insightful book, not only about Steve Jobs personality (he was an asshole) but about his frustration with dealing with companies like Eastman Kodak who couldn't or wouldn't get their heads out of their asses because of arrogance, inertia and incompetence.

I am typing this blog on a Steve Jobs product, an iMac computer.  I use an iPhone.  I also use an iPad.  These are almost perfect consumer products in that they are very user friendly and ahead of the curve in anticipating the consumer's need in the 21st century.  Whatever Steve Jobs personal failings as a Feel Good manager of people (he was terrible), at least he had a vision of where and how consumer products and customer service should be in this day and age.

This morning I experienced another example of corporate arrogance, hubris, and incompetence.  Last January I signed up with Comcast for my Internet service.  Previously I had Verizon (yet another example of corporate arrogance, hubris, and incompetence) but I discontinued their DSL service because it was so unreliable and slow.  My only other choice was Comcast, the local monopoly.

Me with my Comcast paperwork, ready to sink into the Labyrinth of Frustration with phone calls this morning

I did not want to use Comcast because of my previous dealings with them when I moved into my new home in November of 2006.  I won't bore you the reader of my nightmare experience of just trying to get service set up on my new house but suffice it to say I was glad to be done with them.  I signed up with Verizon, and while they didn't have the arrogance of a monopoly company their customer service wasn't much better (too automated) and it was SLOW.  Rarely a week went by that I didn't lost my Internet service at least once.  After several years of constantly rebooting my modem and going through the Menu Hell of calling Verizon, I finally relented and signed up with Comcast in January of 2011.

Last March I got my first bill in the mail.  Of course it was wrong.  They charged me too much.  I called them (another Menu Hell by the way) and they said I wouldn't be receiving a bill because I had a credit.  Okay.

The months roll by.  Then I got to thinking last November "That credit must have been fulfilled by now."  I  still haven't received a bill.  I checked my credit card billing.Yep, there it is.  They're charging my credit card.  Funny, I don't remember giving authorization for that.

I meant to call them but with my Prostate Drama and the holidays rushing upon me I didn't get around to it until just this morning.  I call to find out why I'm not receiving a paper bill.  Yep, I was in Telephone Menu Hell again.

I heard that Comcast is losing about half a million customers a year.  I heard that they were "doing" customer service now.  Hey, BIG WHOOP!  So I call expecting to get an immediate answer to my phone call like I do when I call Apple support.  HA!  Foolish boy Ron!  I go through the menu options.  You know how it works.  "1 for something, 2 for something else, etc."  I finally choose "4 for other."  Then I"m on hold.  No surprise here.  So I stay on hold for about ten minutes and finally I get someone.  I tell her my problem.  "Why am I not getting a paper bill?"  She tells me that I'm getting "e-bills."  Funny thing about that, I don't remember authorizing "e-bills."  I asked her where the e-bills are going.  She tells me to my e-mail account.  I tell her that I don't get any Comcast e-bills to my e-mail account (which is AOL).  She tells me they go to my Comcast e-mail account.  Oh, and what account might that be?  I didn't know I had one.

She tells me I have to talk to Internet support.  Okay.  She transfers me.  Yep, you guessed it.  I got a long silence then a message from the telephone operation "If you would like to make a call...."  OH I'M NOT SURPRISED.  Comcast hung up on me.  And not for the first time either.

So I hang up and go through all the menu options until I get someone in the Internet department.  After another fifteen minutes I get someone.  I explain my problem and she tells me that she can't help me because she is in billing.  Yep, I'm back to Square One again folks!

Me patiently waiting on hold - at least I wouldn't be talking to someone from India

I patiently explain to her (barely surpressing my anger and frustration because I KNEW this would happen) and tell her I want to find out what my Comast e-mail account is so I CAN SEE MY BILLS!  I told her I've already been through the Phone Transfer thingy this morning so DON'T TRANSFER me to a dial tone.

She transfers me to another number and I wait another 10 minutes then I finally get someone.  We're going on 45 minutes now folks just to find out where my bills are.  This is why I didn't call last November.  I knew this would be an ORDEAL.

I talk to the new person.  I explain to her that I don't know what my Comcast e-mail account is but I would like to check my bills but I don't want Comcast to be my default e-mail account on my computer.  You know how that works with these companies, you check into them and the next thing you know Bing is your default search engine and not Google.

She assures me that Comcast won't be my default e-mail account unless I choose it.  She walks me through how to get to my Comcast e-mail account, providing me with a password which I didn't know I had.

I get to the Comcast e-mail and yep, it is not a user friendly e-mail site.  No surprise here.  Except for Apple and Discovercard, most Internet sites are notoriously non-user friendly.

With the Comcast representative on the phone (and she didn't sound happy probably because I didn't sound happy), we go into my e-mail account.  Only last month's bill is there.  Uh, how about LAST YEAR'S bills.  Oh, for that I have to do to Comcast's website under "ACCOUNTS".  We're up to an hour on the phone now folks.  Just to find out my bills.

After some more laborious searching around their Internet site I finally found my bills from last year.  Yep, they were e-billed.  I asked her why I was e-billed without my permission.  She said that the (excuse me, I just got an automated call from Comcast to answer a Customer Satisfaction Survey)...I'm back.

She told me that the customer service technician who installed my Comcast equipment last January should she explained to me that I would be e-billed through my Comcast e-mail account.  You know what?  He might have explained that to me and maybe I missed it.  I don't think so.  But I could be wrong.  One thing he did do, he installed the equipment in a timely manner and my Internet provider service is MUCH BETTER than it was with Verizon. Since last January I only had to reboot my modem once which was a VAST IMPROVEMENT over Verizon's service.

But still, sloppy customer service by not informing my of the way I would be billed.  And then I still had to jump through all these hoops this morning just to get it straightened out.

Comcast may be on a new path to improving their customer service but quite frankly, after this experience I don't see it.  I get a better Internet connection with them (faster than Verizon but still not as fast as FIOS that I had at my home in Pennsylvania) but there is no excuse for this laborious procedure that I had to go through this morning just to get a paper bill in the mail.

I think big companies fail because sometimes they get too big.  They're like a huge ship, they can't turn around without sinking the whole ship.  They're especially prone to failure when they become a virtual monopoly without competition because the first thing that goes is customer service and the first thing that appears is the arrogance and the "take it or leave it attitude."

I hope Apple never gets like that.  Steve, I miss you already.

Life After Steve

My friend Larry and his cat Thorne on FaceTime this morning

I am still saddened by the death of Steve Jobs.  I only just recently discovered Apple products this year after years of urging from my friends Larry (pictured above) and Don V.

This past year I have purchased an iMac, TWO iPhones and TWO iPads (one for Bill and one for me).  Our lives are infinitely better now that we are freed from the traps and quicksands of the Windows based operating systems and the second rate computers like Dell.

No longer do I have to call my Computer Guy to make a house call to fix the latest freeze up on our computers just because we happened to hit the wrong key.  I've saved hundreds of dollars plus countless hours of frustration now that my daily living experience is no longer dependent on Mr. Softee's (Bill Gates of Microsoft for those of you unaware) non user friendly software.  In fact my Computer Guy mentioned to me a few months ago that he "hadn't heard from me so you must be happy with your Mac."  YES I AM.

I am  truly saddened by the death of Steve Jobs.  I felt like I lost a personal friend who cared about me.  Steve Job's genius was creating a product that was user friendly and "fun to use."  No longer did we of the naturally non-tech persuasion have bow down to the arrogance and domination of a few nerd computer geeks who had their hands gripped tightly on our balls.  FREEDOM BABY!  That's what it's all about.

My only hope now is that Apple doesn't deteriorate into the usual Corporate Bog that happens to most companies when the original founding genius dies.  And we all know what that is.  Meet those quarterly goals, maximize the top executives' stock options and screw the public.  We'll know when this is happening when Apple outsources it's Help line to India.  If you call Apple Support and you get a person on the other end of the like that says "Hi!  I'm Brad.  Can I help you?" and Brad has one of those happy, tongue tied, high pitched Indian accents, then you know the End has arrived.

In the meantime, the next time the corporate executives do a new Apple product rollout, leave the jeans at home.  That only worked with Steve.  Jeans on you guys looks just plain weird.

Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs 1955-2001

I woke up about a half an hour ago.  I couldn't go back to sleep.  It is now 2:50 am in the morning.  I normally get up at 6 am.  Today is different.

Last night as I turned on the Lawrence O'Donnell Show on MSNBC, a news bulletin flashed across the bottom of the TV screen.  It said "Steve Jobs Dead at 56 years old."  Immediately a wave of sadness washed over me.  I knew then that this would one of those days that I would remember where I was when I heard the news that a very public figure has died.

In the future I will always remember that I was in my bedroom at 8 pm in the evening of a fall day, preparing to listen to the latest analysis of the political news that is consuming this country.  The date and time I heard of Steve Jobs death will be added to the time and place where I first heard of the deaths of Marilyn Monroe, John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, John Lennon and Princess Diana.  Now a new name has been added to this sad roster of larger than life figures who are no longer among us.

Perhaps why Steve Jobs passing has affected me so deeply is because this is one man who has made my life and millions of others so much easier.  Until I switched to Apple products last year, I struggled like millions of others to harness the new technology of computers.  Up until Steve Jobs, computers were designed and built for techies, normal people need not apply.

After years of frustration dealing with Windows based computers and thousands of dollars paid to a "computer guy" to fix the glitches, and hours on the phone for tech help with people who didn't even have English as their first language, I finally switched to Apple products last year at the urging of a friend and my life has been made immensely easier and more pleasant.

So much in todays world is unpleasant, and frustrating.  From our government that doesn't work for the common man to Wall Street which has systematically robbed the dismantled the middle class of this country, to today's version of the Republican Party whose goal it is to destroy the president and further enrich the top 1% of the rich of this country, a flag waving Republican Party that boos a soldier serving in Iraq after that soldier declares that he is gay; this ugly world in which we live in today a person like Steve Jobs was a shining beacon of USER FRIENDLY.

I am under additional stress today because today is the day I meet with the owner of the hotel where I work about the way disrespectful way he treats me and the fact that I haven't had a raise in pay in over four years despite the fact that I am on call 24/7 and go above and beyond what is called for as my job as a part-time front desk clerk.  I am a professional man who is about to turn 70 but I am treated with contempt and talked down to like a child.  That is today's business environment in which so many of us tolerate because we need the job to pay our bills.  I doubt if I will be working after my meeting today to air my grievances.

Thus it was appropriate that I heard a quote from Steve Jobs last night that is exactly applicable to my situation today:

'Your Time Is Limited, So Don't Waste It Living Someone Else's Life'

 Thank you Steve Jobs for all that you did to make the lives of millions of your fellow human beings more tolerable.  Rest in peace dear man.

Jolly Good

Guess Who?

Just as I was finishing my lunch of a roasted red pepper hummus wrap I hear the harp ringtone on my iPhone.  I go over to the granite countertop where my I always put my iPhone at rest when I am in the house and I see the handsome visage of Dr. Spo on my iPhone!  Yes folks, it was Dr. Spo of Phoenix Arizona, known far and wide for his beloved blog "Spo Reflections" making his virgin FaceTime call on his iPhone (or his 'iPrecious" as he calls his loved iPhone).  Now talk about a Pick-Me-Up!  Be still my heart (and nether regions).  

The famous Dr. Spo of Arizona (wow) 

First thing I thought was "How's my hair?"  "How do I look?"  Yes folks, I am one of the many Spo Fans. Yes, yes....I know.  I am in a long term relationship as is Dr. Spo.  He is TAKEN but hey, I can fantasize can't I?  Dr. SPO WAS CALLING ME!  


I touch my forefinger on the "Accept FaceTime" display only iPhone and viola!  There he was.  Perhaps the most handsome and adorable face to grace the FaceTime feature on my iPhone yet.  Sorry Don and Larry, I love you guys but Dr. Spo is SO GOOD-LOOKING AND SEXY! 

Looking at this comparison picture I feel real old and ugly

I congratulated Dr. Spo on making the connection.  Shortly into the conversation I told him how to take a picture with FaceTime and I took his picture which is what you see on this post.  Dr. Spo immediately said "How's my hair?"  HA!  He said the same thing I thought when I answered his call earlier.  He told me this was a family joke.  He said one of his aunts, after every time she got her picture taken (or was it before)? would ask "How's my hair."  Well Spo, you hair was just fine as were you (you handsome devil you). In fact, if I was twenty years younger, single and lived in Phoenix I would give Dr. Spo a go.  I would give Someone some competition.  Yeah, I said it.   

Dr. Spo shows me how my shirt will look finished - looks good on him doesn't it?

Dr. Spo then showed me the progress he had made on the shirt that be was making for me.  He posed with the pieces of the colorful material that I had sent to him a few months ago from eQuilter.  I have also posted those pictures.


Them I showed Dr. Spo some of the features of the iPhone like how you can reverse the camera and I took him on a tour of my back deck and to the front of my house and showed him my tulips.  Yes, 'my tulips."  I bet no one has ever used that come on line before..."Why don't you come home with me and see my TULIPS?"  


Well folks, all I can say is that I started out in a 'fowl' (to use my friend Lar's spelling of 'foul') mood this morning.  However that mood quickly evaporated when my Blogger Buddy Spo called me using FaceTime on his iPhone.  


"Jolly Good!"  

Dr. Spo in all his adorableness

FaceTime

Brother John on FaceTime this afternoon

Check out these two old dudes will you!  This is me (the tired looking dude with the beard in the smaller picture lower left) and my 'little brother" John who lives in Greenville, South Carolina.  We were talking today on Apple's great new....what do you call it?....'feature' FaceTime.  I love it!  John loves it!  His wife Barbara loves it!  Oh, the reason we look so tired is that I just got up from my afternoon nap (I'm 69 years old) and John needed his afternoon nap (he is 67 years old.)  


John has lived in Greenville for about 35 years now.  The only time I could see and talk to him face to face was when he would come up and visit us (and our Mom) in Pennsylvania about once every five years.  All the other times we talked was on the phone which was always frustrating because he has a bad connection in his home.  The past several years we have been talking on our cell phones but you know how that goes...scratchy and hit or miss.  Now that I have been introduced to FaceTime by a friend, I can talk to my brother just like he was right here.  Again, Apple has vastly improved my life.  


I also have an iPhone (which has FaceTime) and the iPad2 with also has FaceTime.  So as I waltz into my Golden Years, my life is made immensely easier and more comfortable by Steve Jobs and his wonderful Apple company.  


I thank my friend Don V. for giving me the final push to go 'all the way' with Apple.  Thanks Don!

My longtime friend Larry of Claymont, DE on FaceTime yesterday.

Now if I can just talk some of my other brother Isaac and my other longtime friends  to go 'all the way' and get an iMac, iPad or iPhone.  You hear that Bill B., Bill P. and Don McK.?  Let's go guys!  Be cool!  Don't be afraid of the new technology.  You can do it!

One Down and One to Go

One down and one to go!  So far so good!


I couldn't sleep last night knowing that I had to get up by 3 am this morning to place my order for two iPhones using Verizon.  I got up at 2:30 and placed myself in front of my iMac computer and began my journey through ordering the new Verizon iPhone.  


I logged into my Verizon account and checked the different plans.  I decided that the senior citizen plan was right for me and Bill since we're both Oldie Goldies.  


Three a.m arrives.  I log into the Verizon website and click on the big button for ordering the new iPhone.  


Nothing.  That's right, NOTHING.


Okay, they're probably very busy.  I wait awhile and log in again.  Still nothing.  I roam around their website, thinking I'm missing something.  


No, I wasn't missing anything.  I saw no where were I could order the phone.  I log out and log in again.  I think you know where this is going.  After about 45 minutes of this time wasting exercise, I told Bill (who gets up early anyway) that I was going back to sleep.  Comcast is scheduled to arrive later today (from 8 am to 10 am which it is now 8:28 am and where is Comcast?)


I go back to bed.  I can't sleep.  I get up again and sit myself down in front of my computer and try logging into Verizon again.  Same result.....NOTHING.


So I'm thinking "What did I get wrong here?  I log in to the Apple Store.  Viola!  I get someone on the first ring.  Her name is Holly.  She says I am her first customer.  She is friendly and helpful (as have all the Apple people been to me ever since I started to use Apple products - they know all about customer service).


I proceed with my order but hit a road block because she wants to know my Verizon "billing verification code" for account verification.  Excuse me?  I have no idea what that was.  I look through my password file.  I find that over the years I've had six total Verizon passwords for one reason or another.  I read then all to her.  None work.  Okay, back to Go.


I go back to bed but I can't sleep.  I go to my computer and call the Apple store again.  This time I get Matt.  I explain my situation to him.  He tells me "I can work around that."  THANK GOODNESS!


Matt tells me that I can also order the iPhone through the Apple store.  He said that obviously Verizon was overloaded with calls.  Why am I not surprised that Verizon didn't plan for that possibility?  Customer service, that's what it is all about.  Apple knows customer service.  Most other businesses try to get by on the cheap and have less staff and more automation so they can save money and give their executives even bigger bonuses.  But I digress.  I don't want to go there this morning


Matt complete my order.  My phones will be delivered to me on or about the 18th of this month.  


Matt was professional, friendly and I could understand him.  He was working out Oregan and he has been up since 2 a.m. this morning after a long shift yesterday.  He provided me with a lot of helpful information.  He explained everything to me in a clear and concise manner and left me smiling.  How refreshing it is to deal with a company that places value on customer service.


Now I await Comcast.  I hope I can continue my good customer service streak today. 


Stay tuned.

My Mona Lisa Smile