My iPhone went black this morning

My current iPhone was an older model when I bought it, because I needed a quick replacement when my previous phone lost the ability to hold a charge.

So between that and the planned obsolescence of the iEverything world, it’s not a shock that my phone is limping along, if not on its actual last legs.

I have resigned myself to and am preparing for the day when my phone’s race is run, but my reaction was completely different the first time I thought it had crapped out.

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How to make a customer really angry

Thanks to the perspective I’ve gained over the past couple years, I promise that whenever I’m able to travel again, I won’t complain about stuff like this that is actually rather inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.

<<Narrator>>: He’s lying. Of course he’s lying. I know he’s lying. He knows he’s lying. We all know he’s lying. But he would like to travel again sometime soon.

I heard Facebook and Instagram were down …

I mostly missed the great Facebook/Instagram/WhatsApp Crash of 2021 because I was out all day, but I would have felt pretty “meh” about it if I were around.

Although Facebook is pretty all-encompassing, I don’t use it a ton anymore and ignore or get rid of the stuff that annoys me most, to the point where the feature I enjoy most is probably Facebook Memories to remind me of things I’ve done, which I then sometimes write about.

I like looking at photos and videos on Instagram, and although I share blog posts there and on Facebook, losing them (or WhatsApp, which I don’t even have) doesn’t hurt my ability to make money, because I’m not looking to make money from my blog.

Oh yeah … sometimes stuff is just funny

There’s a local bank here outside of Boston — we think it’s this one — that has an ad where a mother asks her daughter about school that day, and the daughter replies that someone from the bank came to speak to her class.

Mom is surprised that an actual human being would come to class, and the ad (which I couldn’t find online) goes on to talk about the bank’s personal, human touch separates them from the competition.

Since I love picking apart commercials — which I’m sure would be awesome to break out at parties if I ever actually tried it — I started wondering what it would be like if an automated phone system paid a visit to the classroom.

All about the details

The president of my alma mater recently sent an update on the school’s reopening, and it’s so far … so good.

According to the report, after a week’s worth of classes, there had only been four positive COVID-19 tests, and two of those had been “safely resolved.”

Contrast that with another local college, where they’ve already suspended in-person classes for two weeks, and the governor has sent a “SWAT team” to help deal with the situation.

Transitions

I originally posted this Friday, July 3, 2015. It mostly has to do with moving day, but since it leads off with needing a new pizza place, we had a preferred place for a while, but now we rotate when we get it Thursday nights. 

I broke off a relationship recently.

Actually, “relationship” isn’t really the best word for it. For the longest time, although the young woman involved knew it was me every time I called, I didn’t know her name for months. I just called her up on Monday nights to let her know I was coming, she did what I needed her to do and I left.

Waiting to go home

Ten years ago, I went to Canandaigua, New York, to spend a few days in one of our company’s offices as part of a management-training program.

I enjoyed my time there. Everyone was friendly. The work was interesting, and the town was lovely in the evening.

Plus, they took me to lunch at the Wegmans food court, which may well have been life-changing.

A fear I managed to overcome

I thought of this, originally posted May 17, 2017, after seeing Michael Portillo visit Montmorency Falls in Quebec, including a zipline across the falls, which is still a bridge too far for me.

When I tell people I don’t believe in “bucket lists” because I don’t want to die, they laugh at me.

Of course, it’s going to happen someday, but I’m terribly afraid of it … not just the “dying” part, but the “being dead” part. I’m inclined to believe in the afterlife, but what if this is it?

Remembering the silly stories

There’s no great reason to revisit that there are apparently different versions of yodeling that are at odds with one another, and there is only one solution as far as I’m concerned.

An old cat learns a new trick

The ants have returned, which means Sasha’s food is back on the table in the dining room.

As much as she likes that, she’s always looking for more.