Technological Noisy Gadgets

I have a new Fitbit. 
Well, it's not really new. I got it for a gift from you know who last year on my sixtieth birthday. So, fourteen months later in April, I took it out of the box and registered it on Fitbit.com. It logs steps, sleep, heart rate, and more.

This thing is a little annoying. 
Sometimes it talks to me, but not vocally. I hear a little buzz on my wrist and a little note appears: It's step o'clock!; or Up for 151 steps?; or this desperate little ditty, Feed me!  Really?
It's a month since I started using it and I am getting used to the crying and whining. I'm thrilled with it.  
The thing gives me badge rewards for stepping. 'Boat Shoe' is where I step 5,000 steps in a day. Several of those have came me way. 'Marathon' is one that tells me that I stepped 26 miles...but not in a day. I got a badge and it took almost a month to complete.  And there is a 'Penguin March,' but I can't figure out what it is...but I got a badge for it too. Yay, me!

One time I decided it was rest time, so I sat comfortably until...Only 120 steps to go!  I ignore it when I need to.  
Wanna stroll? Really? While we're in church? I'll be in trouble! Maybe I'll skip out during the gospel, or better yet, the homily! It's gonna tell me that I Nailed it! or I'm Man of the hour! I think I'm gonna like this gadget!

Do you remember my new Android phone. 
You know who and her daughter (and mine) decided that I should get a better phone after a decade of dedicated service from my flip phones.

This new one takes pictures. Well don't ya know that my old flip phone did that!
I can text. Well don't ya know that my old flip phone did that?

I can call people and receive calls in the new phone. Well don't ya know that my old flip phone did that, too?
Now I have Google Maps! It talks to me, just like the Fitbit.
 You put the destination in and it knows where you are!
It will say something like Head South. 
What does that means? I know that South on a globe is down, and North is up. What the...? 

I drive. It tells me to turn around and go the other way.

Several blocks away the artificial voice tells me that Chichester Avenue is coming up. 
The voice says its a short i in Chichester. Chich-ester. Terrible! Chi-chester. That's better. Long i! 
How about Orange Street. The voice says Orange. O-range. Long a. Terrible! Orange with a schwa. It sounds like a short u. That's better! 
I'm remembering my reading assistant days fondly. But I think I need to teach the artificial voice a thing or two.

I got used Google Maps, finally. 
One day, there was no sound.. I was en route to see Jim, my brother-in-law, and his new place. My sister Lisa was visiting too. Everything was fine with the sound...except Google Maps. Usually the artificial voice would tell me to 'Turn here!' so I would turn. It didn't talk! I didn't turn! I missed several minutes of my journey. Terrible! When I got there, I studied the phone. Jim didn't know what happened with Google Maps. Lisa didn't know either. Finally, after a half hour, I found the problem. There is a little icon of a speaker crossed out on the map. I tapped it and cross went away. I tried a destination and - lo and behold - there was sound. Head northwest! Music to my ears! I'll find Northwest eventually, but its good to hear her annoying, artificial voice again!

I don't even want to talk about Bluetooth. 

Up until now, I thought that Bluetooth was a dental problem: a natural discolor of the teeth that needs dental attention. But NO! 

It is a wireless anything that can connect with something else. 

For Christmas I got a wireless speaker...a Bluetooth speaker! 

I could play music from my new Android!

Streaming. Music. Songs.  

Spotify? Amazon Music? Pandora? 

I tried all of them. 

I can't listen to an album in its entirety unless I want to pay. 

If I want to listen without paying there will be ads to listen to too.

My son John told me that I could get a little card and install it in my new Android and transfer my files of my cd's to it...so I did.

No streaming! My music! My albums! 

Back to the listening the way I want it to be!

I listened to streamed music with Bluetooth while playing Words With Friends. The dings and other sounds of my game made it impossible to listen to music without hearing the ticks and the dings of the game. I can still hear it with my music. 

I guess I can forego Words With Friends while I listen!

Noise, bad noise, good noise!

All in all, it's really good to get fit.

It's good to text faster.

It's good to go where I have to be.

It's good to have my music.

All in all, I like my noisy gadgets.

Good Gifts and a Lot of Trouble

I'm back, and I want to write again. It's still slow, but it feels good to finally put something down on the keyboard. I'd like to talk about gifts. I had another birthday since we talked. I am more than sixty now, and I have some nifty gifts, and a lot of trouble. So here's goes...

There was a celebration for my birthday and my daughter Karen's birthday. There was no time to bake a cake, so the boss ordered two cakes: one for Karen and one for me. She asked for writing on the cakes: one with 'Happy Birthday Karen' and one with 'Happy Birthday Joe'. Karen and I went to pick up the cakes. The line was very long. Finally, we approached the counter. There they were! Karen's was beautiful: Happy Birthday Karen! Mine said nothing. The cashier said that she didn't hear the second instruction, so only one cake was written on. We just wanted to get out of that bakery. We got home and the boss decided to write on the second cake. 'Happy Joe', and a exclamation point before my name! Woe is me...

My birthday has come and gone, and now I have a new hair trimmer from my son and his family - not the kind that you cut your hair with, but a little device that cleans up your nose and ear hair. SHOCK is the word that comes to mind when I turn it on and begin trimming. There is a bright light on the tip of the device that shows me everything, and it's a wasteland in there. I love my trimmer, but there is work to be done. See you in about an hour! 

I have a new gift - a tea towel with the Liberty Bell on it. I love the Liberty Bell. I hope I have a Stay-cation this year with Karen so I can see it again. I love the tea towel, too...but look at the tag! Girls Can Tell! ? I think I'm losing the tag before I lose my masculinity.

Sometimes I don't listen when someone talks. I don't mean to not listen, it just happens. I could say the strokes made me not listen, but I didn't listen before the strokes. So now, I have a gift - an appropriate new pair of socks. Selective Hearing Specialist - I have a new title, and I like it!

I love to spoil myself sometimes. It's a birthday gift to me to periodically check the cd's in Goodwill since they are a rarity these days. Sometimes I strike gold and other days its next to nothing. I found the album, 'Ray Charles - Genius Likes Company' for a dollar, and brought it to the cashier. He was pleasant enough as I put my find on the counter. Then he said, "I see you are a 'senior', so this will be eighty-five cents." You know me, and you know that I love a bargain, but you also know that I am NOT that old. I should have told him that sixty-five is the legal 'senior' age...the little dirtball!

There are many blessings coming my way. Seeing everyone gathering together makes me nostalgic. I remember the gatherings for my father on his birthday. I remember his face when we were all together. I smile. Good gifts, tangible or not, are a blessing...

...and a whole lot of trouble!

Philly Stay-cation, 2017

Jackie went to a convention in Dallas, Texas. I went Karen's house. So began Philly Stay-cation July 2017! My tenure as a flip phone owner is over. I have a new Android with a camera that takes selfies. My grandchildren were there for the first three days. My children visited. This stay-cation was different from last year's. This year Karen was off for the summer, and I didn't fix anything. I played!

The activities were plentiful. The kids painted birdhouses, and Karen was the last to finish. Brian visited that day. Jeffrey listened to music just like his Grandpop! We went to a park with floor fountains. Of course, there was a skyline in the distance. Everything was good!

We visited Spruce Street Harbor Park at Penn's Landing. There were hammocks to try, giant toys to play with, history, and beautiful scenery to look at. Across the river you could see where the 76ers practice. The USS Olympia and the Moshulu were there. Its been years since I've seen them.

Karen thought it would be fun to see a movie at City Hall. The film would be Beauty and the Beast. We got there and brought chairs and blankets and parked ourselves. After a few minutes, the heat was unbearable. After a few more minutes, there were people in front of us sitting on tall chairs. People were talking, and there was faint sound from the projector. Long story short, There would not be a movie for us. What we did was go over to the floor fountains. The kids loved it and it was cool enough to enjoy standing and seeing the lights on the trees and seeing City Hall. Everyone had a blast!

Sunday brunch was delicious. Eggs, pancakes, potatoes, bacon, and everything! The family was there! After the meal, it was time for the little munchkins to go home. It was sad to see them go, but what memories!

On Mifflin Street, there is a building called Bok. It used to be a vocational school. Now it is a bar on the top floor of the building. You can see the city and Camden from the bar. I was mesmerized looking at the skylines and the tops of the houses. It behooved me to take a selfie on my new phone!

Jackie was delayed in a layover in Chicago due to the weather. The stay-cation was supposed to end on Sunday evening. Jackie arrived Tuesday morning. A bonus Sunday evening and Monday for me! Tiring day for Jackie...

 Passyunk Avenue has been revived in parts with restaurants and stores, and the sides of the buildings beautified with murals.

It was the next morning. I got up at six o'clock and made some coffee and sat at the table and chairs on the front of the house.  Peaceful! Reading, drinking my coffee, and not ready for the day!

There is a bench and coffee table in the backyard built by Karen for me to relax after I am finished with the front! 

The fog was terrible in the morning. The skyscrapers looked like they were a smoking mess until the sun peered.

Finally, we went to Independence Mall and looked around. The Liberty Bell is one my favorite attractions. I have a new phone and it behooved me to take a selfie, again!

Where do all the hippest meet?

We finished with Independence Mall and went to South Street.

We strolled and looked at all the markets, shops, and Jim's Steaks. Huge Cheese Steaks with onions and mushrooms - the diet will have to wait. Wow! Surrounding the place were autographs of hundreds of stars that were there over the years, like Tony Bennett, Halls and Oates, Billy Joel, Peter Paul and Mary, James Taylor, and Pat Sajak. 

In 1963, the song South Street was a hit. The record and cover were on display. I remember it from that time, but I haven't been to South Street until now.

Where do all the hippest meet?

South Street, South Street!

Off South Street, there was a thrift store named Philly AIDS Thrift. There were thousands of CD's! I have to go back and look at all the CD's I haven't looked at! Evening Scrabble was a nice way to end the day and unfortunately, the Philly Stay-cation...

Family, food, selfies, pictures, music, activity.

Another Stay-cation, please!