A post in which I get a 'smart' phone

Fortunately, I had enough to scrape together for one more lunch today, because I played all day yesterday and didn't do any chores.

I mostly finished up write-offs today and got them turned in for approval and/or processing.  Since Vicki had been out sick and had been sick all weekend, I gave her a break and put off one of my more complicated situations for a day.  Tomorrow is soon enough.  Betty got around to looking at my useless ISO files, which had a deadline of 12-31-12, today.  So I can certainly understand what all the hurry was about.  She told me that they were good work, which would have carried more weight had I not known that they were absolutely useless.  Still, I'll take a compliment where I can get it.  It was nice of her.

After work I had a LOT to do tonight.  First on the agenda was to go to Verizon.  Sigh.  I hate to go to Verizon.  First, I am walking in to someplace where I know I have nothing in common with anyone there.  They're by and large pad people, and I'm just a people.  Second, I'm going to do something that I know absolutely nothing about, and where my complete ignorance will be exposed almost immediately.  Third, I any time I'm in there, I'm going in to give them yet more of my hard-earned money.  Tonight was an especially bitter pill to swallow, because I'm at long last going to buy a $#@@!! "data package", which I have long put off.  This is the equivalent of 'road carriage underspray' when you buy a car, it's just a way for them to charge you more for the smart phone - as if the phone isn't expensive enough, they say, "Oh wait, we have to charge you more to run that one."  I hate crooks.  And I hate situations where there is no way to win - there's no negotiation, there's no way to get a bargain.  If you want that phone, well then dammit you can just pay whatever they decided to charge you.  I did at least get the phone from Billy, so that was a huge chunk of change I wouldn't have to part with.  He's an early adopter, so about the time he's finished with something, it's cutting edge for me, and what the general populace is using.

My salesperson tonight (unlike the last time) was pretty much charm-free, but he got it all hooked up and put the data package on my plan.  Perhaps sensing that I would have no idea how much capacity to buy, he just decided for me and put a $30 2gig package on. Just as well.  Had he asked me what I wanted, I couldn't have told him.

I went out into the parking lot with my tail between my legs to try to see if I could get the damn thing to work.  Initially, I met with small success, despite finding that my briefcase had inexplicably eaten my stylus during the day.  After only eight or ten tries I was able to get the phone open and sent a text message to RBL.  Then the phone got stuck in the text.  I was in a white screen, with no arrows, buttons, or directions of any kind.  Experimentation enabled me to pull a blank black 'window shade' down over the text, but the phone stubbornly refused any efforts to move it off of that one screen.  I was pissed off and frustrated.  If a call had come in, I don't even know if I could answer it.  So I thought, here I am, paying all this money for a stupid complicated phone that I don't even want, and I don't even know if I could get a call on it.  Since I couldn't call out, there was nothing to do but head to RBL's house to get them to fix it. 

I cursed most of the way there.  I was angry at myself for being so stupid.  I was angry at the phone people for upgrading the fucking phones once a week.  I was angry at a world that requires a degree in electronics just to function.  I remember a time when simple things performed several tasks well.  I live now in a world where very complicated and expensive things perform hundreds of tasks poorly.  I don't feel like I fit into this world.  It's a frustrating and isolating place to be if you're not a gadget person. 

Of course, as soon as I walked in the door and told Logan what was wrong, he was like "You just do this." and fixed in like 1.5 seconds (to his credit, he was not the least bit condescending).  So I felt more stupid than before, having just been through the equivalent of an old man's dementia tirade on the corner with my underwear on over my pants.  Logan and Billy were very kind and patient, and sent me a link to the manual for the phone.  I went home much less humiliated than I had any right to feel.

When I got home there really wasn't much time to reflect on any of this.  I had too much to do.  Since I had played all day yesterday I had chores.  I did find the stylus when I got to the house, but the charger cord was still missing.  It is not like me to mis-lay things, but I figured I could make do with the car charger (purchased tonight) until it turned up.  I sent a text to RBL to tell them I found the stylus, and called Logan to apologize for yelling when I came in.  I'm sure he has no frame of reference for the frustration I was feeling.  He was sweet about it.

I finished up my beans and put my potatoes in the oven to bake.  I changed the sheets, put the old ones in to wash, and folded the clothes that were in the dryer.  I divided the beans out into lunch portions and ate the ones that were leftover for supper, along with a potato that was too ugly to cook whole.  I had cut the bad places out of it, cut it up, and wrapped it in foil with butter, salt, pepper, rosemary, and fresh garlic.  It turned out pretty good. 

I logged in for a minute or two, checked my messages, and said goodnight to Chuck.  I turned in on clean sheets, feeling much better prepared for the rest of the week than I had been for today.