adventures in phoning

So, after watching craigslist cell-phone ads intensely for the past couple of months, I leaped into the unknown two days ago. Here's the setup:

I have been on AT&T since my Enron days (my first cell phone). We have 4 phones on our family plan, so that makes switching to another carrier a challenge, especially with Dylan living in Ashland (we pay for his phone, in the curious hope that he will call us often - ha ha).

Furthermore, since I have been a customer so long, I am grandfathered into a situation where I am NOT required to purchase a data plan, UNLESS I buy a phone from AT&T and renew my expired contract.

I am generally quite happy to rely on WiFi for internet access on my phone (have had a 'smart' phone for several years). If I am somewhere where I absolutely need to get on the internet, I either find an open WiFi site, or ask one of my ubiqitous iPhone friends to look it up for me.

There are two significant benefits to this: I save $300/year on Data Plan charges, and email I send from my phone does not have the highly-annoying 'Sent from my iPhone' signature.

I was extremely happy with my Windows Mobile 6.1 HTC Tilt - it did everything very well, including taking pretty sharp photos and videos. It was set up exactly as I liked it, and was stolen in Costa Rica last December. No identify-theft took place, but I lost a bunch of photos and videos of Zacky.

I replaced it with a Tilt 2, running Windows Mobile 6.5, purchased from a craigslist person for an amazing $65.

Over the course of the past few months, I had it set up exactly as I liked, with effortless Calendar sync (using a 3rd party tool), a free WAP-enabled browser for my email service's very-lean-very-nice mobile interface, the (free) Freda eBook reader (populated with many free epub files, both downloaded from Project Gutenberg and created myself, using this wonderful web service which permits you to convert Word files to epub), and a cool Task Manager, to easily kill background processes that were consuming memory.

Really, I like Windows Mobile 6.5 on the Tilt 2 a lot. It also has an FM Radio and Google Maps, not to mention Word and Excel. Moving files to it (using ActiveSync via USB) is trivial. Managing files and editing the registry is easy. Vertical scrolling via a finger-swipe is smooth. Using a stylus to tap the keyboard is pretty fast and accurate. All in all, a pretty darn good phone.

The only drawbacks to the Tilt 2 are:

1) lousy camera - photos always out of focus
2) decreasing battery life over the last month
3) unable to see my home WiFi from places in the house where the original Tilt worked great
4) increasing problems with AT&T phone signals here at the house - did they change something?
5) beat-up case and somewhat-scratched glass cover (my fault)

So, moving to a new phone went onto my To Do list a couple of months ago - no hurry. I just knew I wanted a good craigslist deal, to maintain my don't-need-no-stinkin'-Data-Plan cheapness (and minimizing my internet-data-consumption footprint, unlike all you folks out there who are using the internet to listen to the freaking radio and continually update the current temperature, for God's sake, but don't get me started).

I knew I didn't want an iPhone, since, on principal, I must resist Apple fascism, no matter how good their products are (as you all keep telling me, ad nauseum).

That meant either an Android or another Windows phone. Since Microsoft is getting props for Windows Phone 7's innovative interface, I figured it would be nice to go that route, rather than get another Windows Mobile 6.5 phone.

So, as I said, I've been watching craigslist obsessively, and, on Monday, spotted The Deal. I met up with the guy Monday night, and bought his Samsung Focus for a pretty-darn-reasonable $100. It's running Windows Phone 7, with the Mango beta installed (the guy is a hacker).

What I like:

* I can now see my home WiFi from the in-front-of-the-TV couch, which is a mixed blessing.
* totally easy to sync my Google Calendar with the phone's calendar. This was absolutely essential. No need for a 3rd party sync tool (which they haven't ported to Win Phone 7 anyway).
* Word, Excel, and PowerPoint (can't imagine ever using this) are included
* two-finger pinch-to-zoom works great
* camera seems fine, with flash
* Win Phone 7 Marketplace seems full of good stuff, and installing stuff is easy - this is how it will be on all phones from now on.
* the interface is 'interesting', very responsive and seems well thought-out
* integration with my SkyDrive is, naturally, excellent.
* telling AT&T to not do any data-pulling is controlled by an easily-accessible switch, which I will leave turned off until I break down and sign up for a Data Plan, someday.
* word suggestions when typing text are amazingly-apt

Less than cool:

* it was easy to import my Sim Contacts, but Contacts that had multiple phone numbers (i.e. Home and Mobile) generated separate Contact entries, rather than one entry with multiple phone numbers. Dumb!

* the POP3/IMAP setup for my email was easy, but there is NO OPTION to leave mail on the server when you delete it on the phone. Grrrrrrr. So, I have my Gmail account set up to pull mail from my usa.net account, and the phone pulls in Gmail, which I can delete as I wish, without impacting my main mailbox.

* I miss the ability to mount the File System as a drive on my PC. I no longer have the ability to drag-and-drop files, and haven't quite figured out the best way to move files to the phone, short of emailing them to myself (clunky).

* My WAP-enabled browser (see above) has not released a Win Phone 7 version yet, although I understand it is in final beta now. Internet Explorer does not display my email very well, which is a genuine bad thing, for now.

* no 'Message Sent' confirmation when sending a text message. Anyone know how to turn this on?

* the 'Maps' program included is pretty good, but I'd like to get Google Maps installed (love the ability to tap a restaurant and get reviews). Does anyone know if this is possible?


That's where I stand, two days into the new phone. I am writing this to record my first impressions - let's see if my gripes are ever resolved.

In the meantime, call or text me anytime: 503-860-4514

the recession gets closer

A friend we've known for MANY years called Saturday morning, to tell us that his (or her) home has been foreclosed, and he (or she) needs to move out of the house immediately. We were truly shocked, as we had had no inkling that this person was in trouble with (did you guess correctly?) Bank of America.

This person just found out last Thursday that he (or she) had to get out NOW.

Anyway, we spent MANY hours yesterday helping with the move. We are storing in our garage a fridge, washer, dryer, oven, dishwasher, couches, bookcases, tables, chairs, boxes of books, etc. etc. etc. A giant garage sale is planned.

After moving all that stuff here, we ended up the long day moving bed and other necessities into the spare bedroom of another friend. It was 12 hours I had planned to spend in other ways.

This is the first person we personally know who has been directly affected by the double-whammy of drop in home values and loss of job. He (or she) is admirably philosophical about it, accepting the loss and preparing for the next phase in life.

All we can do is stand by and help as we can.

are they stupid or shameless?

First thing every morning, I run thru my list of Favorite web sites, to make sure that I get my initial dose of correct (i.e. non-GOP) thinking.

At the top of my list is Talking Points Memo. This morning, here are two stories (the links are live) that grabbed my attention:

Romney Backs Away From Climate Change Support

and

Rubio: Social Security Harmed America

So, are they simply pandering, to curry favor with their financial supporters (who certainly have agendas contrary to the Public interest), or do they actually, totally, believe these positions (i.e. stupid)?

The only alternative is even more horrifying: perhaps, it is a complete synthesis of both.

'Compassionate Conservatism' will go down in History as one of the most clever marketing slogans of All Time (or is that End Time)?

my clever son

It's great to see that my son has managed to be his own friend. The question remains, how the heck do you do that?

good-bye, Mitt

The gaffe about 'Corporations are People' is fascinating, for many reasons. Obviously he didn't mean it in the sense of the Citizens United decision (which, in effect, declared virtually exactly that). However:

1) The Media that seeks a good story ignores that context and piles on, ironically stoking the Progressives (as if we need any more reasons to roll eye-balls at Mitt). This is unfair to him, of course, but nobody cares since 'knocking off the Front Runner' is the chief sport at this phase of the race.

2) It reveals the world in which Mitt lives, where he honestly does hob-nob with fellow Rich Guys, who all own corporations. He just simply sees them as the People who make up Corporations. Ergo, Corporations ARE People.

3) Didn't John McCain use the 'my friend' rhetorical gimmick a lot, too? Just sayin'.

4) Either Mitt was oblivious to the consequences of such an off-hand statement (which calls into question his qualifications to speak as a President), or he knew what he was saying and didn't care how folks reacted (which calls into question his qualifications to speak as a President), or he honestly subscribes to the notion of Corporate Personhood in its fullest sense (which calls into question his qualifications to speak as a President).

I don't see any way he can escape being branded with this for all eternity. This is Mitt's 'I can see Russia' event, and this fodder for ridicule will scare supporters.

He obviously has enough personal wealth to pursue the goal, but once the common meme is that you are a doofus gets established, your political prospects are in jeopardy. Think Steve Forbes.

Of course, there are exceptions - a former Texas governor comes to mind, although I believe there was eventual consensus reached on him (unfortunately, much too late).

I gotta go.

obama's sinking poll numbers

Let us remember.

During his first two years, when there was a 'kinda' Democratic majority in the Senate (but not the magic '60'), the GOP Senate launched a record number of fillibusters, intended to deny Obama any of his progressive measures (had he taken the trouble to fight for them).

Thus, he was 'forced' to cripple the Stimulus bill, by accepting a ridiculous amount of 'tax-relief', which was certainly enjoyed by the folks who benefited (hint: not you).

The Health Care overhaul that, from the start, was missing a Public Option is another story - don't get me started.

Then, after the 2010 elections, we see the crackpots in the House dominating the show, preventing any reasonable compromises (except for the ones Obama made - that's another story).

So, do I blame Obama? Kinda, but let's keep in mind the reality that the GOP decided from Day 1 of his administration that nothing meaningful (i.e. counter to the GOP philosophy that 'give good stuff to the Rich and everything will be OK) will pass Congress.

Add to this toxic mix the corrupt, utterly disgusting Supreme Court majority, and this explains why an argument can be made that the Obama Administration failed.

Oh yes, there's the unpleasant memory that the GOP ran on 'jobs, jobs, jobs', but I've heard nothing but crickets from them, on this issue. And yet, the media (ah, the Media) covers the Horse Race as if it mattered.

Very sad. Our Republic is in bad shape, and I know where I place the blame.

The Backmann candidacy is the one bright spot in all this. I am hoping that the seemingly-endless bamboozlement of the American public will reach a tipping point with this. Certainly there can't be enough Evangelical idiots to actually propell this woman to the White House. You read it here.

I gottta go.

is blogging dead?

I gave up on Twitter, as being too superficial.

I like Facebook, because I can tell, at a glance, what my 'Friends' are thinking about, and there is always someone posting something of some interest. It's not quite as superficial as Twitter, and often leads to some valuable links.

I used to love blogging, since it gave me unlimited space to rant, post photos, and link to sites I find valuable.

Now, these days when I am consumed with the sense that we are seeing general Collapse (climate, economic, social, you name it), all I can think of to write about here is that stuff, and who needs to be reminded?

Today I am taking my 100 year-old mother-in-law to the airport, so she can fly back to her current home in Santa Cruz. She's been with us for two weeks, and it has been alternately inspiring and infuriating. She is a character and, despite problems with sight, hearing and memory, constantly shows that not only is she quite engaged, but has retained a zany (hence, infuriating) sense of humor.

So, the tomatoes are coming along nicely, the beans are beginning to blossom, there is chard to pick tonight. I should have no complaints.

But today is Recall Election day in Wisconsin, and I hesitate to write to my brother, hoping that he gets out to vote for his local Democrat, because, after a number of conversations and forwarding-to-me-of-inflammatory-emails-about-Obama, I simply don't know who he would vote for.

It's all so complicated, but the main thing I wonder about is, with the rising tide of hooliganism (just who was Hooligan, by the way?) in Britain, what will it take for the copycats to think this would be great fun here, too?

sick of it all

The Washington Circus is so damn distressing that I can't deal with it anymore.

The 2010 voters sure picked a crop of outstanding citizens to represent us. The only satisfaction I am getting, and it's minimal, is knowing that the Chamber of Commerce plutocrats who pushed the Baggers on us are now watching uncomfortably, as the idiots pursue their uncompromising idiot dreams, which are now counter to the interests of the Big Boys.

Time will tell whether Obama has been truly suckered or is truly a Machiavellian genius.

Time will tell whether the barely-paying-attention voters will blame the disruptions on the Baggers or the Black Guy. I am beginning to sense a shift in the Media Guys narrative, who are just loving the 'Civil War in the GOP' angle.

Bah! It's just another symptom of a crumbling Empire, where, once again, the Super Rich have overplayed their hand. Happens again and again.

delayed gratification

As an after-thought, we planted some teeny garlic starts last Fall. Haven't done anything with that patch except some casual weeding and pinching off flowering tops a few weeks ago.

Dug 'em up this morning - will let them dry out a bit then braid them. Then, we shall see how they taste!

the Netflix price-hike

It's a no-brainer for me. We sometimes keep our one-DVD-at-a-time for weeks before watching it, and I have found MANY gems (umm, and a few duds) streaming on-line. We will be cancelling the DVD service.

But, I don't get it, from Netflix's perspective. By maintaining both distribution methods, they are not saving money. The cost of supporting the aquisition, storage, and distribution of physical media is not going to be reduced - as long as they still have customers paying for that service, they need to maintain the entire infrastructure.

A few months ago, KPOJ was playing frequent (!) commercials inviting entrepeneurs to get in on the DVD-rental-kiosk franchise business and I scoffed, thinking that that was already a business that had peaked. Now I'm not so sure.

Do they really think that most subscribers will elect the hybrid option, in THIS economy? I have to believe that most will choose one method or the other, reducing Netflix's monthly take by $2 per subscriber. Great business plan. What am I missing, business school graduates?

why the American republic failed

We never voiced discomfort when the News Media collectively decided that any knowledge or mention of History was now considered irrelevant.

Instead, we permitted Media to get away with (out of laziness, or fear of antagonizing Corporations?) speaking only of today's or this week's controversies, with a total absence of what a little historical reflection might add to the presented picture.

That is why I am awake at 4 AM today.

I woke up at 3 worrying about a purely domestic issue relating to freshly-painted closet doors (don't get me started), and found myself plugged into NPR Morning Edition for an hour.

They reported on the 'impasse' between the President (more about him later) and that consistently-infuriating Mitch McConnel (don't get me started) and then actually mentioned statements by several members of the consistently-infuriating Republican presidential challengers, mostly along the lines of 'no new taxes'.

There, for a brief, crystalline moment in time, was the opening for a voice to quickly remind us of the devastating Bush Tax cuts for the rich, two VERY expensive wars of our (well, the Republicans') choice, the horrendously-expensive Medicare Part D (GOP written), and other major Corporate concessions/malfeasance, all of which brought us to our current National Debt situation.

But, no. Instead, NPR devoted a healthy (sic) segment to a review of the offerings on the new Oprah network, from a male perspective.

So, I ask, if historical perspective is banned from the media, what's the point of pretending that this Republic is possible to salvage? Without an audible voice to put the daily bloviating into context, we are doomed, and the Bachmanns win.

Obama, I like you and so wanted you to succeed. But you caved when we would have supported you standing firm against the Greed (single payer, repeal of Bush tax cuts, Afghanistan, etc.), and you were silent when you should have gently, firmly reminded Us that the Republican economic philosophy of 1980 was the beginning of the End of the America we thought we posessed.

I don't think I will be able to go back to sleep.

Gore Vidal's term for us is totally apt: the United States of Amnesia.

help me, please

I am behind the times, in the cell-phone world.

My current phone, an HTC Tilt 2, runs Windows Mobile 6.5, and I bought it used for $60 (craigslist) after my prior Tilt was stolen, in Costa Rica last December. I do NOT have a data-plan, and am grand-fathered in at AT&T so that I am not required to have it.

I am quite happy with it, but it's been a little flaky lately, so I am looking to replace it.

I use WiFi to sync my Web calendar and Web email with the phone's calendar and mail clients, and browse the Web with a very lean, free, WAP-compatible browser (UCWeb). I don't really feel deprived, not having always-on Internet - WiFi only works generally fine for me.

It's got Word and Excel, which I use.

I don't use it to listen to music (have a teeny, dedicated MP3 player, that also has an FM radio).

I don't use the camera, since the camera stinks and I have a nice camera.

I have a free eBook reader (Freda) and have loaded several books on the microSD, which is very convenient. Therefore, I don't need a dedicated eReader (although I am very intrigued by the Nook Color).

I have resisted buying into iPhone world, mostly because I feel the need to deprive Steve Jobs of the satisfaction.

Here are the features I want in a phone:

* Sync my calendar
* browse the web
* read eBooks
* Google Maps
* word and excel, or equivalent
* calculator, notepad
* standard Phone stuff

Here's what I don't need:

* Twitter, Facebook, and myspace integration.
* GPS navigation
* fancy games
* movies

I am looking at Windows 7 phones, and Android phones. Anyone have any suggestions?

the relative importance of having been Ernest

Thankfully, the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Hemingway's suicide is over, and, despite the general admission that the man wrote English prose in a notable manner (i.e. using only one-syllable words), can we please acknowledge that he was a nasty bully, who demeaned his many women, and aggressively terrorized poor Scott Fitzgerald?

A little Hemingway goes a long way. The novels are mostly ultimately laughable, but, I must admit, the short stories are frequently stunning.

I never want to meet Robert Jordan again, but will continue to say hello to Jay Gatsby every few years. Also, I have no need to attend a bull-fight.

laugh at your own risk

A friend (you know who you are) forwarded me an email from Newsmax.com, inviting me to respond to a poll whose questions were so skewed to be anti-Obama that is was (almost) laughable.

Now I am on Newsmax's email list, and just got the first one, entitled: 'Bachmann Lived on a Kibbutz, Staunchly Pro-Israel', and contains this sentence: "Today, Bachmann is a member of Christians United for Israel and one of Israel’s strongest supporters in Congress."

This woman, unlike Newt and Sarah, has a team behind her that is highly focused. She is not going away, and ridicule, no matter how richly deserved, will not decrease the effectiveness of the campaign that will continue to propel her to the front of the (dismal) pack.

We must be very careful here, although, to give you an idea of Newsmax's audience's concerns, here are the links that accompanied the email:

Vinegar Secrets: Heal the Heart, Brain

Doctor Cures Arthritis With Antibiotics and 3 Nutrients

Reverse Type 2 Diabetes. New Strategies Show How.

A Tiny Bit of B12 May Cure Your Brain, Heart Ailments

I get the feeling that many Newsmax/Backmann supporters are on Medicare.

home again, after a few days in LA

Pasadena, to be exact.

Sure was hot down there, and our tomatoes here in Portland are doing fine. Unfortunately, our fruit trees (apples and plums) are producing virtually nothing this year.

Potatoes are flowering - should be ready to dig in another few weeks. Raspberries still about 2 weeks out.

Big party planned here for 4th of July - lots of mowing and weeding to be done before that.

Have gone out to eat dinner every night the past week, with various family members. Odd being the youngest at the table.

There's no place like home.

The long sunset

9 pm PDT, somewhere over the western US.

It's about 24 hours since we woke up in Paris, and just over an hour until we land in Portland.

Long layover in Charlotte, NC - the price to be paid for the great fare that Dave got, last January.

It's been a constant sunset on this entire last leg, but now darkness is taking over and some distant city lights appear far below.

Was just listening to old Beatle songs on my player, and the last ones to come up were 'Long and Winding Road' and 'Two of us (on our way back home)'.

End of trip.

It's getting very near the end, but...

Amazing things keep happening.

When Dave was in the neighborhood doing laundry the other day, he spotted an attractive, old restaurant, that had a signed photo of Woody Allen in the window.

We went there for dinner, and, of course, this restaurant was in the movie we saw this afternoon.

By the way, the Polidor was fabulous - successfully feeding Parisians since 1845, they also fed us thoroughly and deliciously.

Also, the Polidor's menu solved a mystery from the night before, when I ordered the evening's specialty, and could not manage more than a couple of bites. What I thought was andouille sausage (in all fairness, the waiter DID ask 'do know what it is?') was, in reality, sausage filled with tripe (and covered with a grainy mustard sauce), that probably evoked tender memories in all French folks. For me, not so much.

We walked that meal off, with a big circle thru the neighborhoods surrounding the Pantheon, with the distant Eiffle Tower anchoring the sunset, and a crescent moon hovering above the Odeon as we turned into our street, entered the hotel, and are now preparing for bed and an early departure for the airport.

A final Paris evening.

Home, in our own bed, with our own two cats, tomorrow night.

Stranger things have happened

After the post-catacombs refreshments, we parted company with Sandy and Dave, planning to meet for dinner, three hours from now.

On the first day in Paris, as we wandered without a specific goal, we came upon an antique book/art sale in the plaza in front of St. Sulpice. A couple of things attracted us but we didn't buy then, so we returned, only to find all books gone, and the antique dealers moving into the same space.

We strolled back towards the hotel, and then came to an antiquarian print store, which is what i was hoping for at St. Sulpice. It took but a few minutes to find the perfect memento - a small, authentic (he said) 19th century engraving of Sainte-Chapelle. I am very pleased.

We walked back to the hotel neighborhood, and popped into a quick sandwich place, buzzing with Parisians, and bought and devoured panninis.

Since we still had the entire (rainy) afternoon ahead, I happened to check out the theater next door, and saw that the new Woody Allen film was playing, in an hour, in English, with French subtitles! Even stranger, the film appeared to have 'Paris' in its title.

We walked around the block for a half-hour, then went into the theater.

A lot of commercials were shown, and then the movie started.

Unbelievably, it began with a montage of the very places we have been, the past four days, including (I swear!) the VERY THEATER in which we were sitting.

Not only that, but this is not the first time this has happened, but that's another story.

The film was loaded with places we have just been, including the Monet water-lily murals at the Orangerie.

The film itself was surreal, but so much more so as it ended with Owen Wilson walking in the rain in Paris, and we then walked out of the theater and walked in the rain, in Paris.

None of this was planned. Honest.

Last night in Paris coming up. Can I manage to spend my last 100 Euros in the next 16 hours?

No problem.

I see dead people

We had an early breakfast and headed to the catacombs tour, arriving at 9 for the 10 am opening. We were not first in line, but close and, by 10, the line stretched around the corner.

Creepy and fascinating. You start out descending 100 or so steps, to dim stone-lined passages.

Eventually, you reach the ossuary area, chamber after chamber of neatly-stacked bones and skulls. Millions of them, identified by source cemetery.

First awe-struck silence, then the inevitable 'humor' burst forth.

Since we were the first party in that morning, we were mostly alone. Actually, as with yesterday's Eiffel Tower visit, it was (wait for it...)wall-to-wall people.

Last mango in Paris

Tuesday morning in Paris-when-it-drizzles.

Heading out for breakfast shortly, then to the catacombs, for what should be the final organized tour.

Tomorrow morning we leave for the airport and home.

We made a pledge last night: no more churches, museums, or long walks.

Being a tourist is hard work.

But a great trip is worth the blisters.