I just finished watching my last Super Bowl (maybe even football game).  This has been coming on for a while, but tonight I decided I've had enough.

We watched most of the game with the sound muted because the "National Call" is simply dreadful.  They vacillate between one team and the other being "the best ever".  They fawn over players to the point where you want to tell them to get a room from crap's sake. There's so much inane blather I want to throw things at the television.  It's too much. 

If one was at a bar where other things were going on it might be tolerable.  But sitting at home with only the game on, it's too dreadful for words.

Sadly the radio call here is even worse.  I have no idea where they got those two guys, but wow, bad doesn't even begin to describe it.

Of course then we have the game itself.  It's so full of show off showboaters I cringe after nearly every play.  So, a guy who makes a bazillion bucks tackles someone on the other team and he dances or does a little praying thing or points at the crowd, or flexes his biceps or whatever... Dude why are you showing off for doing your friggin' job???  It gets worse every year.  Pretty soon we'll have entire teams out there doing some sort of salsa dance after every play.  Just because the play is over and aren't they great...

Seriously?

What happened to the football games I used to watch with my dad all those years ago?  The guys went out and did their job.  If they won the game they celebrated.  Otherwise they played the game.  They didn't suck oxygen on the sidelines, they didn't dance in the end zone, and they didn't need a lawyer on the field to figure out which hits were okay and which were bad or did they really catch the ball or not.  

Oh and let's not forget about the play reviews... why do we bother with refs on the field?  Just have cameras do all the work.  Now that the guys in stripes know every play will be reviewed they don't even watch well enough to make good calls - the on field mistakes happen more and more often.  Of course it might help if the NFL would decide they want to be a professional sport and actually hire their refs full time... you know like other sports do. 

I'll stick with hockey.  It's way more fun to watch, the players are tough as nails and the local call is always good (no matter which team it is).  Of course now that hockey is getting more attention with HD TV it may go the way of football and baseball and become completely unwatchable.  I hope not, but I won't be surprised. 

I guess then I'll have to see if I can find some Rugby to watch.  Sheesh.

Posted by: Teresa in Ho-Hum at 11:38 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 497 words, total size 3 kb.

Yes we have phone service. No power no cable, but the landline phone service is back.  Of course if the generator is not running we have 2 phones that work (corded phones). One is upstairs the other in the basement. I won't be making mad dashes to answer.  

Posted by: Teresa in Ho-Hum at 11:17 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 123 words, total size 1 kb.

Rain... yeah we got it... lots and lots of it.  Not quite as much as they are getting in Peabody, MA where they had flooding, but enough to make me wonder when we will all turn into mushrooms.  

Posted by: Teresa in Ho-Hum at 08:14 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 253 words, total size 2 kb.

Must must must start writing this stuff down as I think of it because quite honestly after about 10 seconds I can't remember what the brilliant idea was anymore.  Sheesh! Of course that might be a good thing...

Posted by: Teresa in Ho-Hum at 09:38 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 44 words, total size 1 kb.

1 There's that "brilliant flash of lightning" I mentioned the other day.

Posted by: Rev. Paul at September 08, 2011 04:23 PM (0DZhf)

2 LOL - Lightning would blind me.

Posted by: Teresa at September 08, 2011 09:05 PM (ithYH)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

Well, it's been around for a few years, but it seems that lately I'm running into it more and more and it makes me want to scream.  It's the

Give yourself permission to....

Fill in whatever blank you want after that.

Can I tell you how much I hate that phrase. I want to take the person, smack them, and say "I'm not 3 years old!  I don't have to give myself permission to do things!"

It's a cop-out, but oh so very easy for self-help types. They only have to say something like:  all you need to do is "give yourself permission" and you'll be able to do "X" (whatever "X" might be).  How easy is that! 

If you can listen to that trite stupid phrase and then suddenly "X" is accomplished, they can say "see it works".  If "X" doesn't work for you, they say "it's because you aren't letting yourself do this".

Heads I win, tails you lose. I wonder how long we'll have to live with this particular bit of "wisdom" before someone finds a different catch phrase to snare the masses and sell their schtick.  Geeze.

Posted by: Teresa in Ho-Hum at 10:10 PM | Comments (15) | Add Comment
Post contains 195 words, total size 1 kb.

1 The subtext here is that we could all be Having A Great Time if we weren't such pissy little authoritarians, clamping down on anything that looks like fun.

This is, of course, horse doodles, dependent as it is on a universal definition of fun, which doesn't actually exist in our species.  (Your dog wants steak, but he's easier to please.)   How we got to a point where we believe anyone who hangs out his guru shingle is beyond me.

The wisdom of Dennis Miller: "I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman where the Self Help section was. She said if she told me it would defeat the purpose."

Posted by: CGHill at August 12, 2011 11:21 PM (naMhs)

2 I hate catchphrases. My biggest pet peeve lately is people who say: "Really, _____ (fill in the blank)? Really?" So fucking annoying.

Posted by: Erica at August 13, 2011 12:47 AM (PY2l4)

3 Thank you!  I loathe that particular phrase.

Posted by: pam at August 13, 2011 08:11 AM (VZULe)

4 "Horse doodles" is a phrase I could definitely get into though.

Posted by: Erica at August 13, 2011 09:23 AM (PY2l4)

5 First thing I thought of reading the phrase was new age-y crap and how much I hate it. But then I immediately I felt a bad about hating on it all, so I thought, "I know! I should just give myself permission to hate on new-age-y crap." So I did, and, yeah, I feel waaaay better now.

Posted by: sheri at August 14, 2011 06:58 AM (nJv/i)

6 You all crack me up.  Of course I'm guilty of using catch phrases myself - too much - and usually try to let them slide but this one seems to me rearing its ugly self all over lately so I hate it.

Sheri - I feel so much better too and I can now giggle about giving my self permission to hate it... excellent.

Posted by: Teresa at August 14, 2011 10:16 PM (xE2iU)

7 T, I'm LOLing at the spam comment just above. "My man!" I think I'm going to use that as a tag line on my site: You must have something to say, you say style, my man!

WTF LOL WTF LOL WTF LOL <--- picture this being like "police line do not cross" tape across the bottom here

Posted by: sheri at August 15, 2011 06:22 AM (nJv/i)

8 Run with it Sheri!  I love it... since that comment must go the way of its predecessors, I'm copying it down here because it's really classic:

Sometimes I just feel that people write, and do not really have much to say. This isnot the case. You must have something to say, you say style, my man! You certainly have an interesting way to attract people, and with your video and your words. You have got quite a blog twelve punch! 

Posted by: Teresa at August 15, 2011 08:29 AM (xE2iU)

9 Double-rainbow awesome advice!

:p

("horse doodles" ftmfw)

Posted by: Joan of Argghh! at August 15, 2011 12:44 PM (pwg4g)

10 If I gave myself permission at work the body count would be too high.

Posted by: Cappy at August 17, 2011 06:14 AM (KqcM+)

11 Cappy - we'll be there with shovels to help out...

Posted by: Teresa at August 17, 2011 10:54 AM (xE2iU)

12 I have to say, I've never heard that phrase.  Seriously.  I was trying to think if I heard anything remotely close to that at work and the closest I could come to is when I call the IT department and say, 'I can't get in.  Can you get me permission?'  That's it.

Posted by: Bou at August 17, 2011 10:40 PM (NZHwq)

13 Bou - I listen to lots of podcasts the "creative" types seem to use this phrase all the time.  I have actually unsubscribed to podcasts when they fall back on this.  Then I have been reading more since I got my Kindle and I've picked up a couple of books on the rec of people I really like - only to find... they fall back on  this crap too.  It seems to keep popping up more an more. 

Posted by: Teresa at August 18, 2011 01:00 PM (xE2iU)

14 It must be because I hang out with analytical types then, that I've not heard this phrase.  I was trying to figure out how YOU had heard it considering your business, but... listening to podcasts is the answer. 

Posted by: Bou at August 18, 2011 09:30 PM (NZHwq)

15 Yeah, it's the photo podcasts (not all of them of course).  And then I know a couple of writers who are wonderful people and I love reading their stuff. I've gotten a few books they've been reading and have mentioned... and there ya go.  LOL.

Posted by: Teresa at August 18, 2011 10:32 PM (xE2iU)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

Looks like the latest thing in the world of airport security is oft touted but outwardly ignored until now - "behavior watch". 

New Security Measures Tested at Logan

The relevant bits:

Under the new program, behavior officers will ask passengers non-intrusive questions and look to see how passengers respond.  Those who exhibit suspicious behavior like avoiding eye contract and struggling with answers will be pulled aside for more screening.

Posted by: Teresa in Ho-Hum at 10:36 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
Post contains 161 words, total size 1 kb.

I really really have to figure out a new filing system.  Or rather a new office configuration to make my filing easier.  David Allen of GTD fame was so so right when he said - anytime filing can not be done easily and immediately, it will pile up.

And thus I will spend a few hours this evening getting my filing done because I've been dumping papers in my closet... then telling myself I'll get it put away next chance I get. 

Right.

Out of sight is out of mind.  Well, until I walk in to set something down and the stack falls over. 

Ha - serves me right for putting it off.

Posted by: Teresa in Ho-Hum at 01:06 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
Post contains 114 words, total size 1 kb.

1 I hear you - and I have the same dislike for filing. I used to leave it for my secretary, but now that I work alone ... sigh.

Easier to just do it as it occurs. Darn it.

Posted by: Rev. Paul at July 29, 2011 04:22 PM (0DZhf)

2 That's it!!! I need a secretary!!! I wonder who I could coerce... Um... ask nicely... to take up the position and if they'll do it for free, quietly, and then just leave.  Heh.

Posted by: Teresa at July 29, 2011 10:20 PM (xE2iU)

3 I have less paper to file than ever, but now that it's mostly electronic filing, God bless that little entry box with the magnifying glass symbol.

Posted by: Bob at July 30, 2011 05:41 PM (nRsZr)

4 Bob I know I have less than I used to, but it's still there and it still needs to be filed and I really hate that because I'm lazy.  LOL.  But yes, I do love my online filing of stuff that is now non-paper. 

Posted by: Teresa at July 30, 2011 07:43 PM (xE2iU)

5 I have a nice big stack of papers and important documents...somewhere.

Posted by: Mr. Bingley at August 01, 2011 07:11 AM (OXWdU)

6 Mr. Bingley - at least they haven't cascaded all over the floor in front of you... that's when you have to rethink the whole stack thing.

Posted by: Teresa at August 01, 2011 09:52 PM (xE2iU)

7 I'd like to get one of those foo-foo scanning systems where you scan everything in and it organizes it all and you basically go totally paperless after that. I looked into it once, but I need to get on it for real one of these days.

Posted by: sheri at August 06, 2011 09:19 AM (nJv/i)

8 I use my old slow scanner right now, but would love to get one of the fujitsu snapscans for this.  Mine is just annoying. heh.

Posted by: Teresa at August 06, 2011 10:59 AM (xE2iU)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

Today the mystery water returned to the downstairs bathroom.  This time with a difference.  The shower tray was completely full of water.  The floor was all wet, the closet was all wet, the unfinished room was all wet... 

Time to call someone.

My husband suggested we start with the septic people instead of plumbers.  They very quickly got someone out here (I was impressed - excellent service).  And yes, it is the septic system. 

It was full of water.  Lovely.

First he had to pump it out - about 1500 gallons.  Then he scoped it out with a camera.  Turns out the pipe leading to the leach field had collapsed.  Water goes in, can't get out.   We don't know why - there is nothing heavy moving over that portion of the yard (even when the trees were taken down, they weren't near that section).  They may figure it out when they dig it up, or it may remain a mystery.

Thursday they come back to replace that section of pipe.  In the meantime I cleaned the bathroom, my husband got the unfinished part of the basement.  We'll have to call in Service Master to do the carpets properly since they had water in certain areas.  My husband did the shop vac to get rid of most of the water - but they should be properly treated.

As long as it's only the pipe with a problem, we'll have escaped pretty lightly.  If they have to do anything to the leach field... well that would be a really big deal.  We'll find out soon enough.

Are we having fun yet?

Posted by: Teresa in Ho-Hum at 08:33 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
Post contains 272 words, total size 2 kb.

A few weeks ago I was at a function manning a table.  Various people from our group had done this over a two day period.  That day it was my turn.  Oh goody. 

Posted by: Teresa in Ho-Hum at 09:12 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
Post contains 395 words, total size 2 kb.

1 "He wouldn't like the guy either if they met."

That's not a bad line. Reminds me of Groucho's famous answer to an invitation to join a country club: "I won't belong to any organization that would have me as a member."

Don't worry, T - the list of those who thought of a great line later, after it was no longer needed, is a long one indeed.

Posted by: Rev. Paul at April 06, 2011 03:42 PM (0DZhf)

2 What a beautiful capture!!  Stunning!

I never think of witty retorts until well after the incident.  Sucks.

Love Groucho's quote... but I'd never remember it...

Posted by: pam at April 06, 2011 06:16 PM (i3Kno)

3 Well, there's always:

"I don't know.

I can tell you what our group does, but after that, you'll have to decide for yourself whether you should join and why."

Learned that one from a city bus driver in Vegas, who would say something along these lines to riders who would ask "is this the bus I want?" or "Should I be on this bus?".

Most entertaining bus ride ever, by the way.

Posted by: Harvey at April 10, 2011 07:40 PM (pTueD)

4 Well, the longer version of the story (the part I left out)... while he was being belligerent, he was holding forth on how all the places he goes he sees the same presentations and he wants to see something "new and different". I had to bite my tongue to keep from telling him I couldn't read his mind and therefore had no idea what he would consider to be "new and different". You'll notice at no time did he ever volunteer to join us and help create better meetings... no he'd like those handed to him so he doesn't have to be bothered.

Posted by: Teresa at April 10, 2011 10:25 PM (xE2iU)

5 I have had that happen.  I'm not very good at sales.  My standard line is, "You shouldn't" and I stand there smiling sweetly.  Let them walk off... I don't want trouble makers in any group I'm involved with.

Posted by: Bou at April 13, 2011 08:47 PM (wEvt/)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

For anyone who stumbles across this looking desperately for a fix.  If it is in relation to a service like SMTP in IIS, the short answer is:

Go to Computer Management --> Services and check to be sure the service is not "disabled".

The long winded or winding story of the is answer is below the fold.


more...

Posted by: Teresa in Ho-Hum at 11:39 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
Post contains 1076 words, total size 6 kb.

But ended up working until about an hour ago (that would be about 10:30pm). Now I'm too tired.  My boss is still working and since I'm remoted into the session I'm still watching him try to tackle a very stubborn mail server.  Gah there are days I hate computers.

Posted by: Teresa in Ho-Hum at 10:36 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 54 words, total size 1 kb.

/begin curmudgeonly rant

I’m so tired of all the “time hopping” can we just pick a time and stick with it? My preference would be for year round Daylight Savings Time, but at this point I’ll take Standard Time if we can just stop all this back and forth.

Yeah, yeah, yeah... I'll reset my clocks tonight. *sigh*

/curmudgeonly rant

Posted by: Teresa in Ho-Hum at 05:08 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 64 words, total size 1 kb.

Yes we have arrived at the mid-February blahs. I dislike February. It’s the middle of winter. It’s cold. The prospects for warming up in the next 2 months are almost nil. It makes doing anything at all feel like a long slow slog up hill in cement boots.

Work. Exhausting unfulfilling work at that.

Valentine’s Day… meh. It does nothing for me.

One thing I saw yesterday did make me very happy. Kristine Rusch announced on twitter that her Retrieval Artist series of books is being reissued. She’s created The Retrieval Artist Website to keep track of the releases. Plus she has more stories coming soon! Excellent! I love this series of books and I guess I’m not the only one.

Like Orson Scott Card (read his review at the link. He has a terrific overview of the stories and it would be silly of me to try and rewrite it) I came across this series on Audible.com as my first free download. It’s read by Jay Snider who does an outstanding job on all the books. The man is a storytelling artist. The voices stay true to character through the entire series of 6 books which I find amazing.

Now they will be reissuing the books in paperback for those who prefer to read a “real” book. The Disappeared has already been issued. The series is out on Kindle (possibly Nook too although I haven’t checked). And new books are coming soon. That almost makes February okay. Yes, I’ve even gotten hold of the short stories on Kindle to read. Definitely worth it.

In his review Orson laments that the books aren’t numbered. I was able to figure out which order they were published without too much trouble, but Kris has the order listed on the new website to make it easy for people who don’t want to try and figure it out. I liked listening to them in order even if it isn’t strictly necessary. The back story does build through each book even if the books themselves are stand alone.

Orson mentions this, but I think I should too… If you are an aspiring writer/small business person - I highly recommend Kris’s Freelancer’s Survival Guide. I’m not a writer and I never will be, but her advice on the business side of writing is worth reading. It’s even worth a look if you are interested in starting some other type of small business. And she’s put it all out on her website for free. Pretty incredible.

So if you’re looking for some reading material to get you through the rest of this winter. Check it out.

Now I think I will listen to this series again. It’s that good.

Posted by: Teresa in Ho-Hum at 05:16 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 456 words, total size 3 kb.

That's what I have after scraping the driveway yet again yesterday.  Didn't get the entire thing cleared before the subfreezing temps set in, but did get enough to get the steep parts dried out.  OTOH it hurts to type.  

Some winters you just can't win.

Posted by: Teresa in Ho-Hum at 10:56 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 47 words, total size 1 kb.

Ask the right question.

Or

To get the right response when doing an internet search...

Search for the right thing.

Of course it helps if you have some idea of what that thing is. 

I have spent a week searching for the solution to a problem we were having with some servers.  I found the answer by accident yesterday when something I read finally got me asking the right question.

One problem down - on to the next.  Yes, I'm now searching for the answer to yet another irritating problem on our work servers.  I keep poking at these search engines hoping I will find something worthwhile.

What I find are a myriad of people with the same problem along with a whole bunch of "helper people" who have no clue, but are throwing out all kinds of weirdass suggestions to solve things.

Reading all this crap reminds me of a time years ago when I stumbled across a forum where someone was trying to get rid of a file left by a virus (back when viruses were more benign than they are now).   The file attributes were set so it couldn't be deleted using windows explorer. 

The helpful "tech" guy went through a long involved explanation to get rid of said file involving rebooting in to safe mode among other things.  As I sat reading it, I was shaking my head wondering if the kid (had to be a kid) giving the tech advice even knew what a Command prompt was.  And that all the person had to do was open such a prompt, change the attribute on the file to +w and they could then delete it - all within about 10 seconds.  No booting into safe mode or any other time intensive idiocy.

It's a jungle full of muck out on the net.  At technical meetings too... Many people full of self importance and "good advice" most of which is to spend money for some software we don't need.  There is a very high testosterone level in this field. All these guys marking out their territory of "this is the way to do things - this way and only this way will do!"

Everyone thinks they are 1000% right and everyone else is wrong. Not to mention the software they like is 1000% better than anything else out there and everything else is complete crap.

All this cruft takes up search engine result space and must be waded through to find the one answer I'm looking for.

That's what I've been doing and it makes me tired. 

Posted by: Teresa in Ho-Hum at 12:36 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
Post contains 435 words, total size 3 kb.

But after this last week and a tremendous lack of sleep accompanied by far too many hours at my computers... I think I'll pass. 

Posted by: Teresa in Ho-Hum at 11:50 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 29 words, total size 1 kb.

Another 5-6 inches of the white stuff today.  More blowing and more shoveling.  Now the temps will be dropping over the weekend. Oh yay.

My hands hurt. 

I am officially dis-inviting Mother Nature to any and all events for the rest of the winter.

***

Oddly, sidebar comments are messed up. Not sure why. Pixy fixed it and it was fine for half a day, now it's back to picking random past comment times.  Oh well. 

Posted by: Teresa in Ho-Hum at 12:18 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 78 words, total size 1 kb.

So I have a cold of sorts for the first time in I don't know how long.  It's a strange one - all post nasal drip and coughing. Oddly enough I can breathe just fine.   

It's cutting into my sleep of course.  You know it wouldn't be so bad if one could go to bed and just sleep it off.  But going to bed and then having a coughing fit just doesn't work so well.

Oh well, time to go make some hot tea and see if that helps.  Then maybe to bed early.  Not exactly what I intended to do for today.  But there's always tomorrow and maybe this will let up a bit. 

Posted by: Teresa in Ho-Hum at 07:27 PM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
Post contains 116 words, total size 1 kb.

1 If you insist on hot tea, add some blackberry brandy to it. Personally, I prefer hot toddies to battle the chest congestion. In any case, either will help a lot.

Posted by: Omnibus Driver at January 03, 2011 11:12 PM (Rgb5b)

2 Hate colds. Hate, hate, hate. I bet some sneezing snotty-handed inconsiderate jerk spored all over stuff out in public and passed the germs along to 100 innocent people and you just got caught up in the net. That's how I always picture it happening, anyway. It doesn't make the cold any better, but I need somewhere to place the BLAME. I officially hate the jerk who gave you this cold, on your behalf, because you wouldn't have had it BUT FOR the spore-spreader. No way. Hating on all the spore-spreaders now. Yes I am. 

Posted by: sheri at January 04, 2011 06:23 AM (zRG4u)

3 Hope you feel better soon, Teresa.  Colds suck.

Posted by: pam at January 04, 2011 09:13 AM (i3Kno)

4 Leslie - I wish I had some blackberry brandy. LOL.  I don't have any liqueurs at the moment mainly because I don't drink them.  I think we have Makers Mark upstairs so I could make a hot toddy... but sadly I dislike the taste.  I'm not a good "patient" when it comes to these things. I dislike most all the remedies either folk or medical.  I think that's why I don't get sick much - I'd drive everyone insane.

Sheri - I KNEW I could count on you to hate the spore spreaders for me.  Right now I'm too tired to actively hate them but I will recover. 

Pam - thanks much

I bought some cough syrup today. I dislike the stuff intensely since it makes me feel queasy, but we'll see how it works this time. heh.
 

Posted by: Teresa at January 04, 2011 10:47 AM (xE2iU)

5 Have you been hanging with my son?  That's the exact cold he has!  He was just commenting today on how it was the weirdest cold he ever had, he could breathe, but sleeping was a bear.  Lots of odd coughing...

Posted by: Bou at January 04, 2011 10:29 PM (wEvt/)

6 My youngest is coughing just like that.  Driving his asthma crazy.  Hope everyone gets well soon.

Posted by: vwbug at January 05, 2011 07:59 AM (FPOeI)

7 I came back from vacation in November with that same thing; I thought it was a reaction to tropical pollens or something ... until it lasted five weeks.

It never got worse, nor better, and few medicines made any difference at all. It just finally went away on its own.

I pray yours doesn't last nearly so long.

Posted by: Rev. Paul at January 05, 2011 04:35 PM (0DZhf)

8 I hope your cold is better by now. Your symptoms describe perfectly what I had for a good month. The weirdass wracking coughs, especially at night. Horrendous. Just don't let it turn into a secondary infection. Be well.

Posted by: Kim at January 07, 2011 09:33 PM (VMO+T)

9 Thanks Paul and Kim - feeling better today just tired not bleh feeling.  A bit hoarse, but the Robitussin cough and pseudoephed  let me sleep last night.   So getting better.  Hope to get out and walk tomorrow and that will help a lot. I have done NOTHING this week and it doesn't sit well.  heh.

Posted by: Teresa at January 07, 2011 11:49 PM (xE2iU)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

Have had a low level headache for the past several days after an initial migraine day.  This means no real ambition to think of anything.  Here's hoping it decides to finally move along.  It's been a while since I've had to deal with a continuous headache I'm a bit out of practice. 

Posted by: Teresa in Ho-Hum at 09:25 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 57 words, total size 1 kb.

Cell phones.  The bane of my life.  Like printers I have yet to have one that works the way I think it should for longer than a year.  Very frustrating. 

In the last month my cell phone has been acting as if it's possessed.  I lock the keyboard, put it in my purse, just as I've been doing since I bought it. I pull it out when I get home and at random intervals it is in the process of doing odd things.  I believe I've noted these before. 

-- Sent an empty text message to someone I work with
-- played one of the default tunes at random
-- tried to add new Contacts several times
-- opened the Contact folder several times to a random person. 

So far it hasn't done a random dial, but the year is still young.  I can not reproduce any of this no matter what buttons I push while the keyboard is locked. 

Again this morning I pull my phone out of my purse and the keyboard is locked, but the contacts are open.  I decided I have had it - time to head to the Verizon store.

I looked.  And looked. I don't like anything. Yes, I looked a them all and nothing appeals to me. I went around the store about 4 times thinking maybe I missed something.  Nothing says "buy me and I'll make you happy for the next year at least!" 

You all know I love new toys - it's very disheartening to go shopping and not find anything I like.  It's as bad as trying to buy clothes!

So I talked to the guy at the store.  My contract isn't up until May and maybe something new and shiny will come along in the meantime.  The guy at the store tried reproducing the random crap - also without results.  Then he suggested buying a case... 

Well, it might work.  Far less hassle than changing out the phone.  We shall see.

Posted by: Teresa in Ho-Hum at 10:07 PM | Comments (13) | Add Comment
Post contains 336 words, total size 2 kb.

1 My Bride's phone is very long in the tooth...I'm not thrilled about the upcoming trip to Verizonlandia. All I want is a full qwerty texting. I don't want web access or data plans or nuttin' else.

blech.

Posted by: Mr. Bingley at September 23, 2010 06:48 AM (OXWdU)

2 Mr Bingley if this case thing works then I can recommend the phone I have or even its previous version if you can find it (the LG ENV2 or ENV3). 

It is a phone first, a texter second and I don't have a data package on it.  Other than this pesky random crap it decided to pull lately, it really has been okay.  

Posted by: Teresa at September 23, 2010 08:19 AM (TeQXy)

3 Hope the case works!

I have a very old LG, just for voice.  It's been dropped more times than I can count and though scarred, works just fine.  Thank goodness.

Our Verizon contract is up, but neither of us needs a new phone, so I'm not rocking the boat...

Posted by: pam at September 23, 2010 08:31 AM (i3Kno)

4 I feel for you, T. Oh, to be a geek and understand things. See, I know I would walk into a store and think, "Ohhhhh, that one looks really cool," and  I'd buy it (or ogle it) regardless of  what it does or does not d -- just 'cause it's purdy. I was never one to see the big picture (or ask the important questions, for that matter). Sigh.

BTW, when I see you in November, please, I beg you, can you figure out for me how to disable the touch screen on the Treo while I'm on the phone? It's so friggin' ann-OY-ing.

Posted by: Erica at September 23, 2010 09:20 AM (P3Z8e)

5 There was supposed to be an "o" after the "d" here: "d -- "

Posted by: Erica at September 23, 2010 09:21 AM (P3Z8e)

6 Two words. iPhone. Well, okay that's one. Eye Phone. There. I loves mine so much I would have it's babies. But not really. You know what I mean though.

Posted by: Laura at September 23, 2010 12:24 PM (ua7hq)

7 Laura - when it comes to Verizon I will be so there!  Until then I refuse to use AT&T due to past very bad experience with them. (I know every carrier has these issues - but mine was with AT&T and Verizon has yet to stick it to me so I'm sticking with them until they do)

Posted by: Teresa at September 23, 2010 12:38 PM (TeQXy)

8 Re: cell phones, I have two rules:
1. Avoid AT&T like the plague on humanity it appears to be, and
2. Use one that makes decent phone calls w/o issues.
Everything else is secondary.

Re: AT&T, even their in-store service is horrible. I needed a charger for my old phone; found it easily enough, and stood in line behind a little old cat lady and two others who apparently spoke Sanskrit, for 15 minutes.

When I got to the counter, the lady asked for my number. "??" I replied; she pointed out the "take-a-number" device -- on a stand, 30 feet away on one side of the store, NOT near the entrance -- which neither I nor the people behind me had seen.  I asked if she'd not seen me standing there for the last 15 minutes; didn't matter because, she said, "Other people have numbers and they get waited on first."

I left my items on the counter & walked out. 10 minutes later I had a charger from Radio Shack and was in my car, leaving. (Sorry for the rant; it's been one of those days.)

Posted by: Rev. Paul at September 23, 2010 03:24 PM (0DZhf)

9 My husband has ATT and an iphone. I won't do ATT. WILL.NOT. I have another provider and it will stay that way. He loves his iPhone, I don't like it. I don't like the touch screen. When I txt off his phone, my fingers touch other letters. I hate that. So I want a touch screen phone, but a pull out keyboard, which is what I'll get when this phone is near death... ... which is soon as it's a blackberry and I don't love it. I'd never buy another. Great camera. Love the keys. But because its an exposed keyboard, the slightest moisture sends it off the deep end. Don't run with your blackberry... unless it's in a case. Don't put it in your pocket. Add to it that sometimes... it just does funky stuff.

Posted by: Bou at September 24, 2010 11:18 PM (wEvt/)

10 My birthday was back in April. I just yesterday got a "new message" from my nieces and nephew sing HB to me. I have no explanation for this, but it happens more times than you'd think with Verizon. My brushed-chrome-pink razor phone is practically a dinosaur by now. I killed ALL text messaging which is why I no long post pics on my blog. But it rings about 4 times a month, so it's all good.

Posted by: Joan of Argghh! at September 25, 2010 06:53 AM (mKTqP)

11 The hinge on my cell broke - just did, no force or anything. The boy is now on a rowing team so he needs a cell to contact us when he needs picking up (he has been after us for his own phone for the last few years) but our contract is not up until early January so he and I will both have to limp along the next few months.

Posted by: patti at September 25, 2010 01:52 PM (BMAwY)

12 I'll probably jinx myself now. Mine has been fine... except when it decides to "freeze" and I have to take out the battery and re-boot it. My son, who also has the same phone, says I should just routinely do that once a day. I refuse. I'm lucky if I remember to do it every few days ... and then usually when it beats me to it by freezing. Sometimes I think the more technically sophisticated they get, the more stuff they have to go wrong. 

Posted by: sue at September 27, 2010 09:22 AM (0K+AI)

13 Sue - the more gadgetry on a phone, the more it will do things like freeze.   When I used my treo and my blackberry I popped the batteries on those babies every day.  Then I was not worried about it freezing at the wrong time - LOL. 

Posted by: Teresa at September 27, 2010 11:39 PM (TeQXy)

Hide Comments | Add Comment