I had pretty much of a sucky worrisome day yesterday with relief only coming in the evening after I returned home from work. As some of you who know me might know, I'm SO not a phone person. I only bought a cheap prepaid cell phone about eight years back because of the lack of pay phones as time went on. I do have a landline -- just a very basic one which even works in power outages. But I've had the same prepaid flip phone for eight years. It cost me about $20 back when I got it.
It is (was) a dumb phone. Yet, due to today's society and the fact that it can screen calls better than my landline, receive texts and more, I use it for almost all of my online stuff. The number for it is the one hooked into the intercom system to know if someone is at my apartment door for me and more. GAH! Without that number, I'm a bit lost. I also use it as an alarm clock and have stopped wearing a watch because I use it for the proper time.
The phone fell out of my pocket on the train going to work yesterday. I know I had when I got on the train. And, when I got off the train, as the train was pulling out, I went to check the time. OH NOES! It was gone! Now, if I were anyone else at my workplace, I could have either waited for the train to make its next run back to the station with that crew and retrieve the phone. If I worked in just about any other place, I would have access to the internet to at least suspend the service online.
But ... NOOOO. I had new employees coming in which had me going into work an hour earlier than usual on a Saturday morning. I'm the ONLY one there who knows how to do all the paperwork, the computer programs needed (Oracle and Kronos Workforce Management) and stuff to get them in the computer system and to do the actual orientation for new employees. The one other person who knows it, but does things a bit haphazardly if I do say so myself, is on vacation.
While I didn't have outright banking information or anything like that on the phone, the payment system for the phone is hooked to my debit card. I had just put more money on it and someone could go to town with calling stuff on the phone. I worried all day. And, instead of working an hour extra due to my early arrival, I went home an hour early after doing the orientation for the new hires and the accounting.
Now, it's been years since I bothered with the Verizon wireless web site. But I had made an account there and managed to get in to it from my home computer. The actual phone account is now suspended and I have a new phone ordered from Amazon set to arrive at my workplace on Tuesday. I can't have it come here as I would have no clue if someone rang my intercom buzzer! I need it by Wednesday as I have a Peapod grocery order coming and they text me. At this time, the worst case is that I will lose my contact list. With the new phone I'm getting (same number), my contacts will be stored on the Verizon cloud -- not sure of the old phone contacts or not. I'll find out.
The phone I'm getting finally puts me in the smartphone world. But I'm still getting a prepaid one. And, while I'll probably take advantage of some available apps, I refuse to be one of those people addicted to the phone. I'm buying the next to cheapest 4G Android phone (Samsung) I could find on Amazon with good reviews. It will still be more expensive than the one I lost. Grr. One reason I never bothered with a smartphone is because I'm cheap ... er, frugal. I'm just SO not a phone person and didn't need the extra expense.
But one pro to it is that I will be able to take decent photos and video and finally get to have an Instagram account without a bunch of software on my computer to act like I'm posting photos from a cell phone. My dumb phone had a camera, but it was a pain to upload the bad photos to the online Verizon site which is the only place I seemed to be able to make them go and the reason I even had an account on the Verizon wireless site to begin with! Plus, the new phone has a much better camera and I can take more candid photos on trains and such without pulling out the actual camera I carry.
One last thing about this fiasco ... NJ Transit really needs to get more professional staff answering the phones for lost and found. When you call a business representative, you really don't need to hear someone say, "We ain't got nuthin' turned in today." AIN'T GOT NUTHIN?!?! My own workplace has strict standards for greetings and handling business calls. It reflects on the business itself.
Wait ... one more last thing! (Really.) Because losing the phone was all new to me -- I don't lose things and even still have an eight-track player that works -- I did the chat bit on the Verizon Wireless site last night to make sure I could keep the number and suspend the service until I got the new phone. The person I dealt with in the chat was delightful -- polite, not just canned responses, friendly, spelling and punctuation were professional and she did exactly what I needed done. Oh, and she told me it was her birthday. Happy birthday again, Casey! We ended up small-talking a bit while we waited for the computer to bring up my account. She was such a gem!
Onto this week's photos ... clicking on an image will open it in a larger version.
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| Starling in its fall coat |
They go from glossy black with highlights in the sheen to spots over the seasons.
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| When you see tracks, always ... |
... think junkie. Er, um, train. Last night at the Plainfield Train Station as I arrived home from work. I guess I'm just too cynical.
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| Tiny flowers ... |
... in the weeds. Make me feel happy. Make me forget my needs.
Or something to that effect.
**CLICK THE 'READ MORE' LINK TO SEE THE REST OF THE PHOTOS**
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| Whazzat? |
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| Ah, there it is ... |
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| Yep, it's the gecko and GEICO |
A trivia bit that many know, but some don't -- GEICO is an acronym for Government Employees Insurance Corporation. They've obviously expanded past solely insuring government employees over the years.
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| Grr ... right as my train arrives |
Plainfield was having its first Fire Safety Parade yesterday and it was just hitting view as my train to work arrived. Well, they sounded good. I think (might be wrong) that it was the high school marching band I was hearing. Any other day the train wouldn't be right on time to the minute!
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| Brief and beautiful |
The skies to the west looked like this last night as I made the cabbie by the train station wait a moment for me to take the shot. I told him the colors would be gone by the time we hit my apartment. I was right. They were grey in just a few minutes. Nature's beauty can be so fleeting!
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| Not as close up |
This is the same starling as in the earlier photo, this time in its entirety.
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| Same vantage point |
Different day, possibly different starling. One bird or another usually claims that perch.
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| Tuesday night's almost full moon |
This week marked a late Full Harvest Moon -- it usually comes in September, not October. It wasn't actually full until Thursday. But I wasn't out at night on Thursday. I was out Tuesday evening.
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| The Fireboys? |
Um. I don't quite know what to think of this new statue/fountain near my workplace. First off, it doesn't really make sense. Is the fire up in the air? Are they extinguishing the flag the one at the top is waving? Huh? Second, I know I'm sounding a bit PC, but I'd rather it be Firekids with at least one girl in there. After all, in reality, many women are indeed firemen these days. Third, while it's nice they put up the fountain and benches for seating, when the wind blows it sprays the benches so you can't sit on them! The whole thing seems a bit strange to me. But I didn't pay for it, so ...
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| Let me sleep |
Vincent knows the camera is on him. Sometimes he sleeps so soundly that the shutter won't awaken him. But not this time. He was only napping and started to peek at me rather annoyed as I took the shot.
8 comments:
Wow! Can I ever relate to your phone problems! Except that I know much less than you do. I have a tracfone and can make and receive calls. I receive texts but can't respond since I can't figure out how to do that. Love the photos as always.
You and I have (had) the same phone! I also bought mine about 7 or 8 years ago. Samsung, flip/clamshell, 1 3/4" wide by 3 1/2" long, by 1/2" thick. Tiny. It makes and takes calls, people sometimes send me texts but I don't know how to reply if it requires more than one word, and it has a camera, but getting the photos off is a pain so I've never used the camera. I've never replaced the battery, and it needs charging (less than an hour) about every week to ten days. It's all I need and all I want. I love it, and I live in fear of it getting lost or broken.
Always enjoy your Sunday blog and pictures. Ha!! Tracks... :))
One of the little Starlings looks like he's been porking up for the winter!
AAAK!!! A lost cell phone is always such a worry.... until you've made the phone inoperable so calls can't be made, and personal/financial information is safe. In any case, welcome to the 21st Century... even if you had to be dragged there kicking and screaming! :D
Like you, I don't much like talking on the phone and try to keep conversations to the point. Thankfully, most calls are business-related, so those are short anyway. As for family and friends...almost everyone chooses to send texts these days.
Enjoy the new technology! I think there's many features available that you'll enjoy on your new phone. Talk to Text happens to be my favorite because it's so much faster/easier than trying to type on those small keys, especially on moving transportation.
When Texting, the sentences always appeared 'run-on' until I discovered... hey, punctuation happens when "period" or "comma" is said. YAY
Talk to Text can also be used in the (yellow-colored) Note app you'll find on the phone.
Google also has a Talk microphone that can be used to quickly search for information.
The new phone I'm expecting does have the Talk to Text. It's also a Wifi hot spot and my tablet or computer could use it for the web. With the dumb phone, I did sometimes reply to texts or even initiate a few. But I'm not into texting either. Years back I would often block AOL messaging just to avoid it. At least the new phone will also have a keyboard to it -- the dumb phone was set up so I had to press numerous times to get a letter with the same breakdown to the letters/numbers as a push button telephone.
The button pushing was one of the reasons I always refused to text anyone.
A plus: you'll also be able to block unwanted calls/texts now, which wasn't a feature on older phones.
Fair warning: you will probably start getting calls showing the caller with your Area Code and the first 3 digits of your phone number... normally Spam.
If I don't answer if I don't know who's calling... then get on White Pages and check out the phone number because it will often show if it's 'spam' or 'suspected spam.'
When traveling or visiting, it's a good idea to try and switch onto any available wifi because it should keep from using your available data allotment. Must help because I've never come close to using up my allotment.
Good luck with your new 'toy' and lifeline!!
I would look into storing your contacts on Google. Verizon cloud is far from perfected. I would think Verizon should be able to restore your contacts, since your dumb phone was before the Cloud. I really don't know exactly but nothing is ever lost out in space. Hopefully you can find a Verizon tech to get you set up with the smart phone.
Have a good week!
m~
Though it can be crazy getting used to a new phone, it's good that it is off now and you have the same number... Samsung phones are noted for their camera, so for you, that's a good thing.
On a different note, I received a complaint from Vincent that if you keep disturbing him when he is napping, you will have to buy him extra catnip. He said that he knows he is one handsome cat, but really feels that he should be better compensated for his modeling career...
Sharon - I already get those calls with with numbers starting like mine. I never answered them. I don't answer from numbers I don't know. And, I don't know ANYONE with the same beginning as my number! I usually look up unknown numbers later. If someone actually knows me and wants me, they could have left a voicemail on my old phone.
Monica - I'm not all that worried about setting it up. While I had a dumb phone for so long, I'm rather tech savvy with computers and other electronics.
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