Telephone, ACLU, Bush, Conway, and Knitting

LIFE

Life was not good this morning in Harmony Cottage. The morning began with me deep into my reading and Old Husband at the dining table working word puzzles. The phone rang. It was on a table near my chair so I glance over, do not recognize the number, and glance back at my reading. Old Husband goes into panic mode so I answer. It was a wrong number.

All would have been well if I could then have gone back to my reading but no, that wasn't going to happen. "Who was it" he said, "Wrong number" I said, "Who did they want" he said, "I don't remember" I said, "What do you mean you don't remember," he said, you get the point.

The phone has now been moved to a table next to the dining table where he sits. He has a phone next to his chair in his room. I have resigned phone duty.

I may send him to live with our sister-in-law. She's just like Old Husband when the phone rings. They couldn't live together because they'd both dive for the phone, butt heads, and knock each other out.

Reminds me of the days as a child when we had party lines. On our party line was an old woman who wheezed something awful. She might not have had enough breath to talk but she had enough to make it to the phone every time a call was for us. We could hear her wheezing while we talked.

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POLITICS

The ACLU Is Taking Its Trump Fight From The Courtroom To The Streets

I smiled when I read this article about the ACLU. In my past life as an Evangelical Christian I was taught the ACLU was one of those nasty liberal organizations. Years pass, life happens, and since January 20, 2017 I've become a donating member of the ACLU. Who would have thought it?

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Former President George W. Bush Speaks Out

Thanks President Bush for speaking out. We need your voice.

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Kellyanne Conway's Oval Office Photo

I try not to be disrespectful but this one just struck me as too funny. Pete Souza served eight years as the official White House photographer for President Obama, and took millions of photos to be archived for history. He was a master at being in the room and not seen by anyone. I can only imagine what he thought when he looked at these photos. If President Trump has an official photographer perhaps someone should speak to Kellyanne about making herself scarce when photos are being taken. No doubt these will make it to the archives as well.

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KNITTING

Yesterday I wrote about my concerns knitting this yarn using #1 needles. Not wanting to rip out I had decided to push on to completion. That did not work out well. That night I was in much pain through my shoulders and upper arms. 

Morning came and rip went the sock. I dropped the stitch count to 56 stitches and am now using #2 needles. I have such a hard time making myself knit socks with anything but #1 needles. I'm learning though, yes I am.

Constant Companion

Meet my constant companion.  I've never experienced an addiction quite like this one.  It's profound.

Oddly I seldom ever use it as a phone (I hate phones). If it rang I wouldn't know how to answer it. I use it occasionally to call home to check on Bob, and I have to think about it when I do that.

I have the iPhone 6 which has a bigger screen.  Absolutely love it.  Highly recommend it.

1)  The camera is great and easy to use.

2). I use the Blogger app to post to my blog.  The only thing I haven't found a way to do is attach a link.  If I need to use a link I write my post on my phone and use the desktop computer to add the link. 

3). Read books using the Kindle app.

4). Listen to books using the Audible app.

5).  Listen to library audible books using the OverDrive app.

6). Do banking through my bank's app.

7). Facebook.

8). Twitter.

9). Instagram.

10) Read blogs.

11) Variety of news apps.

12) Jigsaw Puzzle app.

13) WordSearch app.

14) Simplenote app where I keep all our medical information, medical history, list of surgeries, list of prescription and OTC drugs, and the names and phone numbers of all the doctors we see. Very handy for medical appointments.

15) Pages app that allows me to do word processing.  I wrote two letters just the other day.  Don't write a lot of letters anymore.

16) Pinterest 

17) Email 

18) YouTube app

19) Podcasts app

20) Text, I'm in love with texting.

21) NASA TV app

22) Calculator

23) Glucose Recorder app for tracking my glucose counts.

24) MyFitnessPal app for tracking calories and carbs.

25) Garden app for identifying flowers, plants and butterflies. I learned about this app from Kay at Musings.

26) Panda app for music

27) TuneIn app for radio

I do not use it for my calendar.  I'm hanging on to my paper calendar.

I also have a mini iPad that I use some but not a lot.

I'd like to know what you use on your phone that I have not listed.  I'm always looking for new apps.

Phones Annoy Me

This thing sits on a table by my chair to annoy me.  It has no respect for my privacy. I am greatly annoyed by it.

At our house the phone ringing means everything comes to a halt, you climb over furniture, walk over people, or whatever, but you must answer that ringing phone.  Bob doesn't hear so well so I'm the primary one to answer the phone.  I don't agree that the world has to stop just because the phone is ringing.

If I'm listening to a book and I see the caller ID is unknown to me I do not answer it.  That means Bob will appear by my chair in a matter of seconds to say, "Who was that?"  I then have to remove my ear buds to explain why I did not answer.  He picks the phone up then to get the number and heads off to the computer to see if he can find who called and why they called.  That annoys me beyond belief. 

Our son and his wife give the phone no respect at all.  Call their number and it is highly unlikely they will answer.  The problem is they are very bad about not listening to voicemail.  That annoyed me until he finally got an iPhone.  Now I just text him and quickly get a response, problem solved.

Our daughter in Texas is a professional woman and very busy.  More times than not I call at a bad time.  Texting is the way to go with her also.  Usually on the week-end I get a phone call from her when she has some time to visit. 

A sister-in-law checks on all incoming calls and I don't mind that.  I do mind that she then reports to me who was calling, what they wanted, and what she is going to do about the situation.  By that time I have forgotten what we were talking about.

By the way, do not call me on my cell phone as I have never learned to answer it.  Text messages are always welcome.  Now I just have to wait until the world catches up.