Friday, June 5, 2020

It's A Plot

It seems that the world, at least the technical world, has taken advantage of the shutdown to update everything.  Aarrgh.  Truck was low on gas and that was a good excuse to take Michael (and me) for a ride in the newly operational A/C.  We get down to Mt. Aukum and what have they done?  They upgraded the gasoline pumps.  The instructions were simple:  remove the nozzle, insert card, push the button and go.  The problem was that I don't use credit cards.  I'm old school.  I write checks.  I went into the store to ask the nice lady, for whom English is a second language, for help.  She came out with me and showed me exactly what the instructions said.  "Yes, but I don't have a credit card."  She looked at me like I'd grown a second head.  She puzzled over that for a minute and finally came up with a solution.  "Is okay now.  I'll fix.  You can pump," and left.  Yeah, well, except that, even following her directions, no gas flowed.  I went back inside for more help.  This time she sent one of the guys out.  He did exactly what I had done and, of course, the blankety-blank thing worked.  I felt the need to look in a mirror and see if I really had grown another head because he gave me the same look she had.  This ain't my first rodeo, kids.  Back in the dawn of time, before there was self-serve, I even pumped gas for a living.  That was before updates.  It's a plot, I tell you.

I have another problem.  My cellphone has lost its voice.  I can do everything I had before, but it will not ring to tell me that I have a call or message coming in, there are no clicks when I push buttons, and it won't even buzz.  I know how to set the system and have checked it multiple times; all is as it should be.  I've turned it off to reset the system.  Nothing.  I've become one of those people who constantly checks their phone, not that I get that many calls or messages, but I'd hate to miss it if one came in.  It's bad when your phone won't talk to you.  It probably needs an update.

We went into full summer mode yesterday:  whole house fan, spray bottle at the ready, ceiling fan whirring, taking walks only when there was shade.  I have to keep telling myself that summer isn't as long as winter and that this, too, shall pass.

Stay safe.  Be well.

1 comment:

Kathryn Williams said...

I have 2 suggestions for your phone's voice but you might already have checked, and I'm not sure what # iPhone you are using: slide your finger up from the bottom of the screen so that you see all the shortcut to the settings: airplane mode, flashlight, camera, etc. Is the phone icon rectangle (with rounded corners...mine is far right middle) showing all white or is it dark gray with a line drawn thru the horn icon? If it is, slide your finger up the rectangle and it should turn white with no line thru the horn. The other thing to check is the small button above the 2 volume buttons on the left side. You either flip it down (toward the back of the phone) so silent mode is on, or flip it up toward the front of the phone and silent mode is off. Hope this helps.