Last month I had my head in the sand or something. This month I did so much learning that I’m publishing this post 1/2-way through the month, with the (always reckless) assumption that there will be more to learn in the second half of the month.
TECH
- My iphone is too old for a new battery because of planned obsolescence. It still worked but only charged intermittently, and although it is an inferior camera because of pixelation, it was able to capture colors and light better than my PHD (Press Here, Dummy) Canon Elph. Thus, I bought a “pre-owned” (remember when we used to say “used”?) iPhone 14 (the latest version that will work with all the portable charging equipment I just spent too much money for) to use both as a phone and as a camera (like normal people do). There is much to learn, since it has no home button, and things just work differently. Good grief, life is So Very Complicated.
2. The new solve-all-your-problems iphone goes straight to voicemail without ringing. When I asked the Duck, the first answer is that it can take up to 72 hours for it to be ready to ring (to “finish porting”.) To quote my Dad, “Humph”. (It fixed itself, so the Learning here was to just wait.)
3. When I told a friend about my tech decision and the need to find a used iphone 14 for photography, she told me about a site called Swappa. Have you heard of this? BestBuy in Visalia had the phone for $399; Swappa has them for $200-$400. Even in this decision, there are many more decisions to be made—14, 14 Pro, 14 Plus, 14 Pro Max.two lenses or three lenses? Locked or unlocked? JUST STOP ALREADY! (Is this why I frequently escape into fiction?) Forget it. I bought mine in person at Best Buy where 2 different very nice helpful and mostly knowledgeable people helped me. (and I read a library book while I waited for all the transferring to finish.)
4. I learned to transfer all the stuff from the old phone to the new one, along with how to set up email in the new phone (by carefully copying all the weird nonsensical answers used on the email account on my laptop, including everything that said “optional” because no, it’s not optional; you MUST fill in all the blanks.)
5. When emails arrive and say “This email has no content”, I can drag the message out of email onto the desktop and the text will appear. No one understands why, so I’m just glad I found this workaround instead of automatically deleting those emails.
6. Buy It Now is a way to put an easy button on my blog that takes people to Paypal to buy things. That’s great if the item is available. However, I learned (the hard way) that people can search out an item on my blog and the Buy It Now button still works in spite of no longer having the item. This meant that I also had to learn how to go through my PayPal account and delete every Buy It Now button.
7. Because of this Buy It Now button situation, someone ordered copies of Trail of Promises, which was out of publication. I learned that because I have the computer files for both the text and the cover of the book, it can be reprinted one book at a time (AKA Print-On-Demand) on Lulu.com. So, now Trail of Promises is once again available!
BOOKS
8. I learned about a book by some people called America’s Cheapest Family. If it is interesting enough (and if I remember), I’ll tell you about it next month.
9. Trail of Promises is available again after a several year hiatus, thanks to the marvelous print-on-demand services of Lulu.com. This book is a well-written true adventure story, my favorite of Louise Jackson.
10. The Visalia Electric Railroad also now available on Lulu.com. Even if Tulare County history doesn’t float your boat, I think the book is worth it for the photos. Here is my favorite one:
11. Kathryn Stockett, author of The Help, finally has a new book out: The Calamity Club. It is based during the depression and is a depressing story with a good ending. Hard to put it down, gave it 5 stars on GoodReads, but I don’t want to read it again.
MORE INTERESTING & MORE IMPORTANT
12. Davidson’s fritillari is a brand new-to-me flower in Mineral King. My new friend TC discovered it, marked the trail so I could find it, and then it still took me forever to spot it. What color would it be under in a wildflower book??
13. Restaurants, especially fast food types, have been closing because so many people are taking those appetite suppressant drugs. People are changing clothing sizes so quickly that stores are raising their prices to compensate for all the lost revenue that results from all the exchanges and restocking.
14. My friend Bill, William R. Winn, M.D., died. We spent 10 years working together on his two books, Tales of TB and Springville’s Hospital. When we met, he told me it was “hard to get through one’s eighties”. He missed age 90 by 3 months. I will miss him for a very long time. Such a fine gentleman, humble, kind, eager to learn, determined to not be beaten by tech or health troubles, persistent, focused.
4 Comments
Whew! You learned a lot!
1-4 I’ve been an iPhone user for several years, now, and have a fairly good knowledge about the various versions. I think iPhone 14 was my favorite, and yes, I was annoyed when the charger changed from lightning to USB-C. I wish I would have kept all my old lightning chargers so I could pass them along to you, but they all went to a good home to seminary students. But if you need help with configuring, let me know.
5. I think it’s because they attached their message rather than writing it in the body of the email. The opposite is troublesome, too–sending a photo in the body of the email rather than as an attachment (easy to download and save).
10. “Hey! You, there. on the tricycle! Why do you look so annoyed? Don’t you know scowling makes face lines?”
12. I’ve never spotted this flower before, but it is so intricate and beautiful! I would put it in the Yellow category. Or Pink. Hard to choose.
13. I should be so lucky!
14. I’m sorry to hear about Dr. Bill, but thankful he was able to finish his legacy of knowledge.
Thank you for all your input, Sharon. I too have only used Apple stuff; BestBuy sold me the right gear to do the lightning/USB-C stuff. The dependence on all that we do not understand is very frustrating.
About This Message Has No Content, there is no pattern.
Maybe the Davidson’s Fritillari will have to show up in separate chapters.
And yes, the frowny lines became permanent.
What a lot to learn is two weeks. I did a quick google search on your flower picture and found this… https://www.gardenia.net/plant/fritillaria-atropurpurea
Stacy, my head is about to explode with all the new information! Thank you for confirming the flower name. In the Sierra Nevada, it is known as Davidson’s fritillari, which leads me to ask, “Who is Davidson?” The learning never stops… nor do my questions.