Smart Phone Angst

6:14

7:10

I was up way too early, 5:30 and couldn't stop thinking about my new Samsung Smart phone.  I have lots of questions about it as I have been used to a simple flip phone, easy to use, no bells and whistles. What a silly way to wake up on an overcast 40º morning, another Chautauqua gray day but no rain in the forecast and the heavy winds predicted overnight seem to have settled down.

Yesterday was organized around the arrival of our new phones.  We knew they were being Fed Exed to us on Tuesday, that we had to sign for them, but we were not sure what time.  So I took off in the morning, leaving Evie at home in case they arrived and I went to yoga class.  I then got home around 11:30.  Evie wanted to get in a workout as well as to do some shopping, so after my lunch of a leftovers from the previous night's dinner, Greek potatoes, chicken breast and asparagus, Evie drove off to Lakewood while I manned the fort.  I was worried about not being able to hear the doorbell if I took a nap, so I put a note on the door, telling the Fed Ex guy that I was home.  It wasn't really needed as he came around 1:30 when I was still watching another Wallander.

I was not sure what to do with the phones, whether I should start setting up my phone or wait for Evie.  I chose the latter, putting off the hassle and anxiety of setting up a phone, a good move.  So I read instead, took a nap and waited for Evie to arrive.  At 4:30, she drove up with a couple of bags filled with groceries which we quickly put away so we could get to our phones, Evie to her new iPhone 7 plus, which she was really excited about getting.

So from 4:30 to 6:30 we worked on setting up both phones, our moods changing from excitement to utter disbelief and fear, as Evie thought she had lost all of her apps from her old phone.  It took several telephone calls to our son, Tommy, for her to recover the apps by starting over again.  And now, it looks like everything is copacetic, phone wise.  For me, I actually had an easy time setting up my phone.  I just don't know how to use a touch phone very well and now I have both internet and email available on my phone. So setting all of these apps up, with passwords and user names is a hassle.  I still have to get my contacts from my old phone to my new one but this will have to wait until I visit a Sprint store in Erie, perhaps today.

By 6:30, things had settled down in our house, phones were functioning, so we decided to put them aside and have dinner, a rotisserie chicken, brussel sprouts, dressing and gravy.  We were both still on edge from our phone mania, so we hurriedly ate dinner, not enjoying it as much as we should.  We then watched another episode of American Crime, both of us with phones in hand, as we explored all the new options.  We ended the night with Vice News, as they played the scary scenarios which the Trump Presidency has to face, North Korea, China, and Syria.   For now, it seems as though Trump and his minions have no policy and little understanding of the complexities of foreign affairs because of the novices in most of the positions of power.   As I said, it's a scary time.  It was a relief to go to bed worrying about my phone, waking up thinking about it.