Love Returns to the Galaxy

Image from http://www.psychologytoday.com

There was a time when I loved without question and learned to live with all the idiosyncrasies of the recipient of my love.

•  So what if there were no compliments or support for the things I like to do?
• So what if my need for recognition went unrecognized?

I persevered and loved out of purity and ignorance.

• But there came a time when I was no longer tolerant.
• And I felt abused and always angry.
• I suffered more and more from the lack of caring.
• And there was never any support for the things I was trying to do.

That was when love turned to hate.

And the hate began to grow.

Eventually I complained bitterly at every opportunity and all my friends knew I wanted “out” of the relationship.

This misery and resentfulness went on for 3 years!

And I wound up  hating the same old cell phone more and more.

Two days ago I was given a brand new Samsung Galaxy S8 cell phone.  And Wow!

I am so impressed with the hidden person inside and I know I will never be alone again.

• The little person tells me when I’m doing a good job, sends congratulations, and is a how-to source when I’m lost.
• And I haven’t found them all but I just know there are happy words of encouragement that are written out or spoken aloud on this wonderful little cell phone!
• The phone is ultra-responsive to my touch and has another hidden fellow inside named Bixby.  Bixby has already memorized my speech and will answer questions any time I ask.  And I don’t even have to be polite and say, “Hi Bixby!”  I can just shoot off the questions and be as rude as I like.

Yes -The Galaxy S8 is a winner!  I LOVE MY NEW CELL PHONE!

It is a highly personal interactive little gadget that offers options I have never seen before.

And with a masterful teacher (my son) who launched me on my way through adapting to yet another mystery of the technological age, I am once again, in love.

I LOVE MY SAMSUNG GALAXY S8!  THANK YOU FOR THE GIFT OF LOVE FOR MY BIRTHDAY BILL.  AND THANK YOU FOR THE GIFT OF LOVE FOR MY BIRTHDAY SON!

Ummmmm…….  I do need a little help with a few little issues though……

Like why isn’t the darned thing responding to my thumb on the keyboard?  I still have to hunt and peck with my index finger!  Grrrrrr!

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Smug, Brave, Naked and Mismatched Thoughts

I am Woman!

I feel superbly smug this day.

Things were freezing on my computer you know, resulting in panic. I turned the computer off, walked away and came back, opened the lid.  But Argggh!  A dark screen!

A convincing inner voice said, “You really did it now.  You wrecked the computer.   Don’t touch anything else or you are doomed.”  But wait!  I forgot to push the little  button that opens the screen.  And Voila!  It all works again and everything that was frozen is thawed!

I feel superbly smug this day.  Mystery solved.

Be Brave!

My son was counselling me on how to operate Windows 10.  “Be brave, “he said, “Be willing to try different things.  Don’t be afraid to push buttons.  You can always undo what you have done.” Without his calm and expert advice, this blog would not exist.

The last time I was brave I deleted the cache on my cell phone and managed to put it in a deep freeze of protest.    There were no calls in or out and no emails either – just a dead phone.  Thankfully, things are now restored to normal.

But I have reverted to a timid, cowering techie convinced that all connections will be severed if I push the wrong buttons.

Mismatched Eyebrows

O.K.  I admit I still want to look beautiful, even at a venerable old age.  I thought that was accomplished this morning, so while Bill was out bush hogging (that means mowing big overgrown fields with a big overgrown mower) (and I knew it was safe to indulge in self fantasy), I took a few selfies.

The glasses helped to eliminate soften wrinkles but if you look closely enough, one eyebrow is light and one is dark!  Arrrrgh!

Looking beautiful at a venerable old age is a challenge if you can’t see straight enough to make your eyebrows match up.

Naked Desperation

I just read a book about organizing one’s things.  Starting with clothing, the idea is to hold and touch each piece you own to determine if you love it or not.  If you FEEL something is wrong and you FEEL you don’t love a piece of clothing, either discard it or put it in the donation pile.

I did it!  You can’t imagine the liberated feeling there is to this exercise!

But now the problem is, I don’t have anything to wear!

I have always said, “My husband wouldn’t notice if I went out naked.”  Now is his chance to prove me wrong.

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All Wired Up

There are  a whole lot of wires around my house.

In fact, every room boasts some sort of wire and some have spaghetti wiring systems.

I thought in this age of technical acumen when everyone is talking “wireless” (like wireless mice and wireless phones and wireless reception), that wire-less would surely mean an absence of wires.

Not so.

Take my office for instance.

It is a very small office  since it is only  a desk and a chair in a corner next to my bed.

The desk also doubles as a bedside night stand.

THERE IS A LAMP OF COURSE, AND IT HAS A WIRE!

The desk holds a computer which also has a wire – actually two wires for connections and one to turn on the other two I think.

Pretend Landline Phone

There is a mobile phone on the desk.

It is a cell phone but it is not a cell phone.

There is no defining what it is, but I know it is wireless because I can walk around with it when it is not in its cradle.

I call this phone our “PRETEND LANDLINE PHONE” and it stands in a perpetual charger, which is wired to a wall plug because even though we don’t have wired landline phones anymore, our pretend landline phones have to be charged.

I know, this sounds a bit garbled, but it is a clue to our in-home wiring system for various wired and wire-less devices.

Then there is my other “REAL WIRELESS CELL PHONE”  that I carry everywhere.  But that also has to be recharged and there is a wire for that.

And there is another wire to recharge the Kindle reader.

In addition, the printer has to be wired although I’m not sure where that wire is.

JUST IMAGINE ALL THOSE WIRES FOR ONE DESK!

Underwiring in the Inner Sanctum

But if you are brave enough to enter Bill’s inner sanctum, you will be even more impressed with wires.

He has all the same gadgets, but add the television and its assorted wires , and so many behind his desk I am afraid to dust due to the threat of electrocution!

IS THERE SOMETHING LIKE THE THIRD RAIL FOR WIRE CONNECTIONS?

When I asked Bill what all those wires are for, he said, “I honestly don’t know.  We had a fax machine once.  Remember that?”

“Yes.”

“Well, that could be one explained wire, and maybe another for the shredder,  but I don’t know what the other 30 or 40 are for.”

I LOVE BEING WIRED UP but we are fast approaching a state of strangulation!

Maybe robotic help is  in order,

but only if the robot is wireless.

 

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Growing Up With Phones

Daily Prompt:  Call me, Maybe.

Describe your relationship with your phone.  Is it your lifeline,

a buzzing nuisance, or something in between?

I remember how telephones used to be.  I even remember party lines where there were several people talking at once and you could listen in on some very interesting conversations. 

We only had one phone, just as we only had one car and one bathroom.  Imagine?  And if we called anyone long distance we were supposed to shout.  After all, long distance meant the recipient was very far away, so we had to shout to be heard.

There were also phone booths on most street corners because nobody had cell phones.  There I go, dating myself again.  Mom always said, “Don’t forget to take a dime so you can make a phone call if you need help.”  If you forgot your dime, you could always ask at a nearby store or gas station, “May I please use your phone?”

Not Smart Enough for a Smart Phone

So, I love my phone!  I love the one in my pocket or purse and I love the three we have at home.  We even did away with the land line phone and all ours are now “cells.”  Imagine?  I guess I’m not smart enough for a smart phone yet though.  They say you have to take a course to learn how to operate one.  And they have something called “apps.”  I don’t think I need apps, whatever they are.

The only time I have been annoyed with my wonderful not-so-smart ignorant phone is when a local guitarist-teacher- musician’s phone number was one digit off mine.  Students and would-be students were calling constantly to make or break appointments and would leave lengthy messages.  He is a very popular teacher. I finally connected with him and the problem was solved.  Guess his phone got smart and changed its number.

Invisible Friends

But I love my phone so much I have joined the crowd of people who immediately call people on their “cells” when the airplane’s wheels touch ground!  And I love watching people who walk around waving their arms and making hand gesture to seemingly invisible people. 

And I love being able to call home if I’m going to be late, or to call for an emergency tow, or not to have to remember a phone number because it’s programmed into the “cell.”  On the other hand, I almost forgot my own number once!  Imagine?

Phones make for wonderful stories don’t they?   Who knew?

Related articles

• Call Me, Maybe (thelissachronicles.wordpress.com)
• Daily Prompt: Call Me, Maybe (yourfriendmel.wordpress.com)

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A Dime to Dial Home

 

Roadside “Phone Booth”
Always Carry a Dime!

 Telephone booth – A little one-person building with a pay phone inside.  Does anyone remember telephone booths?  Are there any still out there?

Rotary Dial – A round dial with round notches for your finger to “dial” around to the various phone numbers and letters.  Twirl the dial to the right spot.  Let it go and the dial goes back to the starting point.

Pocketbook – A handbag or “purse”, mostly carried by women and still used today.

When I was a young girl (not too long ago really), my parents warned, “Always carry a dime in your pocketbook in case you need to call home.”

Rotary Dial

The rationale for this admonition was the existence of telephone booths.  There were no cell phones, smart phones, or iphones then,  but you could always count on finding a “phone booth” with a phone book inside and all you had to do was put a dime in the slot of a mounted rotary dial telephone inside to make your call.

Telephone booths (affectionately called “phone booths”) were scattered around most towns and cities in America, and they had  rotary dialing instead of push buttons (and certainly did not allow for texting!).  Booths even lit up inside when you opened the doors.  Talk about cutting edge technology!

The phone booth, the pocketbook, and rotary dialing may all be archaic terms now because today’s parents simply advise, “Don’t forget your cell phone” and a dime will not get you far.

I hate losing words and phrases.  But the words I said daily all those many years ago are disappearing anyway. We took phone booths for granted when I was young.  They were just “there” and are still there deeply etched in my imagination. The American pay phone is disappearing if it is not already extinct.  But, my handbag is still a pocketbook, and I still carry change for emergencies.  This old habit reminds me of the odd phenomenon when a person loses a limb and can still feel it.  Having the change in my pocketbook is comforting because I still feel the phone booth will be there.  I carry money “to call home” and expect to find telephone booths whenever I need them.  Only now I carry four quarters.  The ridiculous part is in the assumption that $1.00 will be enough even if I do find a phone booth by the side of a road somewhere in America.

History of the payphone

 From pbs.org: “The pay phone has been a part of American culture since almost the creation of the telephone in 1876 by Alexander Graham Bell.  The first pay phone, which was serviced by an attendant who took a customer’s money, was installed in 1878… Coin-operated machines, the ancestors of the modern pay phone, were first installed in Hartford, Conn., in 1889 in the Hartford Bank.  For many years the pay phone was the main way in which many Americans made reliable and inexpensive phone calls.  Phone booths have also been a big part of popular culture — from Clark Kent entering one to become Superman in the 1940s to the 2002 film, “Phone Booth” in which a man is trapped by a sniper in one of the ubiquitous boxes.”

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