No More Fudging

Alternate title for this post:
Even Dumbed-Down Smart Phones Know Some Tricks

I got a Nokia E73 for Christmas, thanks to my son's bonus points. I wanted a smart phone because of the calendar and camera, but I refuse to buy a data plan. Hence, a dumbed-down smart phone. The camera is great, I love the qwerty keyboard, and the other features are mostly good. I'm still exploring and tinkering.

Today, I realized that there are GPS capabilities on the phone, even in its limited no-data state. Hmmm... And there's a trip odometer that shows distance, average speed, maximum speed, and elapsed time. Hey -- I could use this for walking!

The good news, after one trip, is that it works. The bad news? I can't record my mileage based on how tired I feel! If I use the GPS feature, I've got to believe the data it gives me. Today, I went a little farther than what I thought was the halfway point for a three mile walk. When I took out the phone, though, it said I wasn't there yet. I kept going until I hit 1.5 miles, then turned around. But when I got back to the car, the odometer was stuck on 2.9 miles rather than the full three miles (or more!) that I know I walked. Oh, well. My average speed was 2.8 miles per hour -- no surprise there. I've had a rotten cold with associated impediments for a month now, so anything is better than being home on the couch coughing. Although we made a couple of stops along the way, Polo and I were on the trail for 53 minutes. Not bad.

The real benefit of this GPS thing is that it feeds my competitive spirit. Now I'll have something to pit myself against! Even though I can't fudge my stats anymore, I'll be able to know for sure when I improve or surpass my last record. Yes, strive I will, because it's fun to compete with myself, and because I'm really tired of being totally out of shape.


**MONDAY UPDATE**

We were able to go out again today, on a different route and with no stopping to chat. Total 3.1 miles, average speed 3.7 mph, 50 minutes. Yay! And again I say, YAY!

Colors of the Day

Who said today was all about black? The Rufus and I enjoyed a very colorful walk in the melting snow. I can't edit these photos, but hope you'll appreciate them anyhow.



Rufus assumed every photo stop meant a sniff stop. A couple of times, he thought he was right on top of a critter. I couldn't get him to hold his snout-in-the-snow or pointing poses, but did catch this angle:

There are Appointments and APPOINTMENTS

A misunderstood schedule... taking the scenic route... trying to avoid most of the traffic... an appointment with fate?

We were going to pop down to Tacoma to get my husband's overseas immunizations. Yes, in the mid-afternoon, on a Friday. Mega traffic. Ugh. You know how it is -- the traffic clogs up, crawling for a while, then opens up again. Lather, rinse, repeat.

And then...

I remember when log trucks were an everyday sight. Back when I was on the school safety patrol in the 1970s, we tried to get the truckers to blow their airhorns on the highway in front of our school.

There aren't many log trucks here in 2010. But there was one today, on the freeway, trying to merge. Merging toward a little car. Still merging. Merging! The car was boxed in, the trucker didn't see her. MERGING!

Fortunately, the damage was minimal. Truck clipped car, side mirror flew off car, traffic made a hole, car pulled to shoulder. Truck kept merging, not stopping. He never saw her.

Turns out, it was two ladies. The driver was totally shaken. The passenger, despite having had the wheel of a loaded log truck just inches from her shoulder, was okay. We stopped, called the State Patrol, and waited until a trooper came. It's what we hope someone would do for us in that situation. Just. Be. There. Oh, and their cell phone battery was dead. Mark and I both had our phones in hand, ready for action.



P.S. Oh, the immunizations? By the time we got to our destination, minutes before closing time, we were told that that pharmacist doesn't work on Fridays. "We need to change our recording." Um, please do. Now that we helped those ladies, Mark's ready for his shots.

I Need to Write, But...

The other night at a 12-step meeting, I bemoaned the fact that I haven't used up even a quarter of my personal journal pages this year. In 2009, I filled a whole notebook, and it felt good to know I had written (and processed) that much "stuff". I like to journal; I like the feel of pen on paper, the look of my words on the page. It's a great way for me to mull over the half-formed thoughts blobbed in my brain.

This year has been different. I still have a lot of stuff to process. But I'm talking about things a little more, and Rufus and I have been walking a lot. We try to get out at least three times a week for about an hour of fast walking. It's a great time to be a little closer to nature as we walk on car-free trails. I'm working on remembering the plants my Gramma told me about many years ago, and I hope to learn to identify more bird songs. But mostly, it's relaxation for the minds and exercise for the bodies, and the Ruf and I love our walks.

I guess I'm a frustrated photographer. I love to capture the moment, but a cell phone camera isn't the best tool. Many of my attempts fall short. Once in a while, though, I hit on something beautiful. When I get a really good shot, it often ends up either on my computer desktop or on my cell phone screen. Here's what I've got on my phone right now:

And this is a shot I took tonight, now blown up on my desktop:


Back to writing about writing, as my title suggested. I'd like to leave a legacy in words, a written account of my journey. But these pictures represent the song of my heart. Maybe I'll write more and explain this more fully later.

Coming Soon -- Better Photos!

We've got good news and bad news. Shall we dispense with the bad news first? Actually, the bad news is mostly over now. We didn't have an Internet connection for about a week, so there was no blogging. The good news is that, thanks to a son who upgraded his phone and some creative trading between family members, I now have a GOOD camera phone! It's not the best camera out there, but it's so much better than the free phone I'd had for two years. The photos are fantastic, and I can't wait to share them here... as soon as I learn how to get them off the phone.

The other big thing I've had to learn this week is how to use the new-fangled predictive text tool. I was used to spelling out every word, letter by letter, not using the T9 or whatever it was that was available on my old phone. But this new device has a better system -- and a QWERTY keyboard, too. Argh! The first few days of texting were painful, but I'm getting the hang of it now. I've got to remember to proofread my texts before sending, though. There are a few words that use the exact same keystrokes ("are" and "see", for example) and a message could be meaningless if not corrected. You know, my sons hang on my every word, whether spoken or texted. Yep.

I'll work on the photo thing this weekend, and hopefully will be able to put up some good stuff for you, my loyal reader.

Alternate title for this post: Teaching the Old Dog.

Even Texters Get Wrong Numbers

Last Saturday as I was furiously trying to finish NaNoWriMo, I received a text message on my cell phone. Thinking it was from one of my sons, I opened it right away.

Aye do yu know the white girls lindsey number
(signed) The King

Huh. Somebody fishing for responses? Prank text? I ignored it and continued writing. An hour later, another text.

We have to go back to the libary and ditch myles. i dont want him with us
(signed) The King

Apparently this kid -- I mean, The King -- thinks he's texting someone else. I should correct him, but I think it's nice that he goes to the "libary" now and then. So many kids (my sons, specifically) never darken the door. I replied, trying to sound as cool as possible...

Dude, you're texting a wrong number. Good luck ditching Myles, I guess.

I mean, is it right to encourage this King kid to abandon someone? And will Myles be following them to the library only to be left high and dry, or are they escaping Myles by entering the library? Does Myles know the wealth of opportunity that awaits him inside his local public library? Forget this King dude, Myles! Go dig up something interesting on this rainy Saturday afternoon!

Who is this then
(signed) The King

Now I begin to wonder, is King texting a friend who's right next to him? (You've seen it. Kids text instead of whispering, right?) But if his compatriot is right there, how come King isn't grasping the fact that the buddy is not receiving these messages? I initially gave King high marks for using decent grammar and adequately complete sentences, and these indices inferred above-average intelligence. Was I overly optimistic? I'd better set him straight, anyway. I need to get back into my NaNo novel. Unfortunately, I'm still trying to exhibit my coolness...

Nobody you know. I'm a mom. It's unlikely we move in the same circles.

What do yu mean
(signed) The King

Yep, I went right over his head. If anything, maybe I sounded too cool at first, calling him "Dude" and everything. Poor King doesn't get it, and he's in the midst of a mad dash to the library anyway. I've distracted him and now he's flustered. Time to be direct.

Wrong number.

Sorry
(signed) The King

Well, King gets good marks here for concluding our conversation with an apology. He's not such a bad guy after all. Lots of people can't spell "library" without stopping to think about it, and it is a lot faster to type the two-letter "yu" than to spell out the whole word. Although, if he were using T9, wouldn't "you" come out correctly? That means he might have been spelling everything letter by letter, as I do, and that brings his score even higher.