I phone Follies

This is a tale of my exciting experiences with my I phone!

Everyone loves the I phone, right?  Well...I like it in theory but in practice is another story.  First of all I am still hating the touch screen keyboard.  Every 4th character is a mistake on my part....which means a correction and a time waster.  I can't figure out how to go to the mistake exactly...so I have to use the back delete button until I get to the mistake.  That means I spend ALOT of time re-typing words!  I miss my Blackjack button keyboards.  Everyone says to give it a few months and then I would be a pro!  I am still messing up and I have had this phone since April!

I also miss my Blackjack BACK button.   The iphone doesn't have one on the main screen.  Just certain pages or Apps have them.

I do like the picture quality and the ease of accessing FB and Twitter.   Also...internet is faster and alot easier.  I have been able to do email with ease on the phone.  There are some great qualites and features on this phone.  It is just the features that I can't figure out that annoy me.

Like:  how come I can't get my email contacts on my phone?  Everytime I try to sync those lists, it points out that if I change a setting, it will mess up the MobileMe setting!  What does that even mean?  Tutorial is no help. 

And backing up the phone:  if you own a PC, which I do, you may as well throw in the towel.   Can't find where it backs up the phone; if it even really does the backup.

Started having a software glitch!  Weird cause I thought that the Apple Products were superior to PC products....at least that is what that commercial portrays.  And that is what the Apple Store team believes and preaches.  They even have the "I am better than you cause I own a Mac" attitude routine perfectly learned. 

So, I go to the Store for help with my glitch.  Have to tell me story to three 15 year olds and watch them smirk and roll their eyes.  I can hear them sigh:  ugh...PC!

My phone needs to be restored to factory set.  That is fine with me but it will wipe out the phone and basically I will start from scratch.  That is fine too since plugging the phone into the laptop will restore all of my stuff to the phone from the backup!  BUT no one can tell me where my back up is!

I am fine with resetting as long as I am assured that I do have it backed up.  No one at the Apple Store can tell me that.  None of my mac friends know the answer either.  So..I am stuck.

What to do?  What to do? 

I think I am gonna take a workshop class for Iphones and see what happens.  Maybe someone will know the location of my backup!

What do you think?

Playing with the Grands is so GRAND!

I really enjoy when I get to be with the grandchildren.  We always have so much fun  whether it is going to Chuck E Cheese, swimming in the pool, or just watching a video.
Here are some shots of what we do:

Savannah loves playing at Burger King

Savannah at Chuck E Cheese

Rylie at Chuck E Cheese

Savannah , Rylie, and Ethan Swinging

Ethan on his #1 bd

Ethan and Rylie in the pool

Fun is the name of the game!

China Not So Delightful

This is a restaurant review!Y U C K

Larry and I ate at the China Delight Restaurant in Heber Springs last Sunday night.  We had eaten there before and really enjoyed the buffet. 
This time was different.  All of the food was tough like leather.  It looked tasty but was tough like shoe leather.
The desserts were displayed with lots of eye appeal.  But again, they were either dry as sand or tough to cut.  The beautiful sponge cake tasted like a dish sponge full of dirty dishwater. 
So, of course, we lied to the cashier when she asked if everything was good.  We said"oh yes"!  Why do we do that?
We had to get rid of that terrble taste in our mouths so we went to McDonalds to get a Diet Coke.  That took care of the Chinese food disappointment.

Vacationing with the Griswolds ( Us)

Sometimes we feel like Ellen and Clark Griswold.  We have such high expectations of everything we do and rarely do we reach those expectations.

Expectation #1:  Purchase a new boat, after much research, and expect it to run properly.

We bought our boat in 2008 and it came highly recommended.  The first year, the console had to be replaced:  under warranty.  The 2nd year, we had another warranty job done on it.  Which brings me to this year.  We ALWAYS do all the maintenance work on everything we own.  So, after being checked out and de-winterized, we thought we were good to go.

Right before July 4th weekend, Larry and I took the boat out for a leisurely ride.  We were about 20 minutes from home when the boat quit running and would not start.  We had to be towed in , which took about an hour because you have to go slowly when towing.  I think it was about 94 outside with heat index of 105.  Nice...baking in the beautiful sun.

The mechanic determined the problem and only took 5 days to fix it....hahaha that is an eternity when you were expecting to use the boat.  So, once repaired, Keith and Aundrea and her family were able to use it and have alot of fun.

Larry and I went to Heber Springs this past weekend and decided to take the boat out as we hadn't driven it since the repairs.  This time we were 15 minutes in to our ride and it died again.  Same exact scenario....dead in the water.  Only this time a storm with lightning was coming.  We were towed AGAIN to the closest marina,  Mechanic met us there and told us this time it was the ignition coil.  Off to the shop the boat went.  Another week and it should be ready for our next trip this weekend. 

Expectation #2:  2 well kept Sea Doos should be in working order!

Right after the boat was hauled in to the marina, Larry was out on the Sea Doo and it messed up!  Fortunately, the hull protector was causing the problem.  So that was an easy fix. 

Expectation #3:  When you pay off all of your credit card (3) balances every month, you should never get declined at the check out.

We had a Visa denial in 3 different stores while in Heber Springs.  After calling and getting a human being, we found it was blocked due to suspicious activity.  Turned out that the suspicious activity was Larry buying worms from a vending machine!!!  Finally, that was all cleared up. 

So, the question is:  wanna go on a vacation trip with us?  Never a dull moment!

Here is me waiting at the Marina after being towed in.

Newly painted room

Hey friends,
Here is a virtual tour of my newly painted living room.  I need to place my piano somewhere but could use some advice.  All ideas are welcome.

Funny noises #1

I was standing in a store talking to my cousin, when we heard it!!!

A POOT!  

In mid sentence, I said...."Did someone just fart?"  She heard it too and then we got hysterical!

There was this lady leaning against the recycle bins at the exit and she pooted and it echoed off of the bins.  It was so loud and it made us laugh til we teared up! 

So...that store exit sound will forever be etched in my mind.

Bye Bye Exxon Credit Card

Oh my goodness!  I am so over Exxon.  We have missed 2 paymnents on this wonderful 'PAPERLESS BILLING SYSTEM".  A CITICARD message has been harrassing me daily with a message to call about our private Citicard account.

WE DON'T HAVE A CITICARD ACCOUNT!

Today, I finally listened to the message and called them back.  Guess what?   Citicard took over Exxon's billing.  Who knew?  Since we have never had a Citicard, all mail from them goes to the trash.  Any emails from them are promptly deleted.  So...somewhere in the mix, we missed 2 billing cycles and are now on the delinquent phone call list. 

Exxon should have sent something with their logo announcing the changeover.  The voice message should say "concerning your private Exxon account"  not concerning your private Citicard account.  I am not a mind reader....I can't deduce from that voice mail that it was really Exxon.

So...we will pay it off.  My goodness:  it is only $178.54 balance and that included 2 late fees.  I would think they could look at our 32 years of paying the balance off EVERY month and give us a personal courtesy call to see what is up.  I am really sure that there are BIGGER amounts that are outstanding in the Exxon billing department.

So visualize me cutting up the Exxon card and throwing away the speed pass keychain device.  After of course I express my feelings to a real person at Exxon or Citicard or whatever.