Saturday 18 November 2017

A new gadget....

Lester is out hunting, but not for something which is of flesh and blood, oh no.
 
 
A big day in our household this morning.... our first mobile phone thingy arrived.
Never had one before, never wanted one, never interested.
However, Lester needs it for work, something to do with being able to download things relevant to the 'virtual office' in which he is working. Something to do with 'cloud' stuff. Dunno. Not got a clue.
 
Anyway, after days and days spent in researching phones, one was finally ordered.
It is a weird thing..... flat and thin.... an iphone. You all probably have one, and now we do too!
 
So it being the end of the working week, Lester has had time to have a look at it.
The words 'Boys Toys' springs to mind as I watch him explore the ins and outs of it. I am reminded of Christmas Day mornings and the magic of opening a box of Lego.
 
Meanwhile I carry on with writing music on the computer using Noteworthy. It is not music I have composed, but copies of certain Christmas carols sent to me from a friend via email. I am supposed to be playing these carols for a small choir, and apparently also conducting the little choir at the same time, a fearsome task even when one can actually read the music, which I can't because the print on these copies is too faint. This music is separate to the other choir I am rehearsing with. That one is going quite well, although the singers are now drowning out the sound of my keyboard even though I have the volume maxed out, so I am going to take an amplifier with me in future.
I am thinking that I need a roady.
 
The music I am working on at the moment is for another choir, one which has been created quickly, the intention being to sing carols for the elderly folk in three local Maison de retraites (care homes).
I will mention that the music is easy enough to write, but most of the words are in French, (which is not a surprise seeing as how we are living in France), and fitting those words into the rhythm of an English carol is fiddly, but interesting, and takes a lot of time up.
 
So why is Lester out hunting?
He is hunting for a phone signal because the signal is too weak where we live, he says, so he has taken himself out in the car to see if he can find one. Bless him.
 
It is an English phone we have bought because we thought it would be easier to understand how to use it because the instructions would be in English, and this was so up until the purchase of something called a 'sim card' which then made the phone go into French working mode.
.....
 
And he has tracked down a signal!
And I have had my first phone call from him away out in the world,
while I sit and chat with you.
Actually, he is only just down the road, in Plaisance. If we had been in the UK I would have instructed him to bring some chips back from a chip shop. I've been having a fancy for a plate of chips (plus vinegar, egg, tomato ketchup) for the last hour.
Something with being on the computer too long I think.
 
Off to switch the electric blanket on in our bed, and on the way I shall raid the kitchen. Meanwhile Lester continues to discover all that there is to be discovered on the iphone, and promises to train me in the use of it soon. I feel a fierce reluctance to get involved with that phone though. I don't want it to seduce me into messing about on it when I could be sitting and watching the flowers grow.
 
 
Bye for now,
 
Vx
 
 

14 comments:

Rhodesia said...

Ha ha Nigel has just also got a new mobile and it is taking sometime to sort out what is going on. We only had one mobile between us before and that is about 12 years old. It has no idea what a camera or the internet is. That is now mine and I am still quite happy with it. Take care Diane

Cro Magnon said...

Beware, you have probably now lost Lester for ever. From now on he will have earphones permanently in his ears, and will walk everywhere with his iPhone in front of him (telling him how to walk). He will bump into lamp-posts, never speak to you again, and revert to being 16 years old. I sympathise.

DUTA said...

Congratulations! Enjoy the new addition! Better late than never, as they say.

I'm not at all a gadget fan, but I won't leave home without my cellphone. One needs connection in case there's any urgency or emergency. The smartphone (i-phone) is a must nowadays. Of course it also has the functions of internet and photography, but the phone connection is its major value.

Vera said...

DIANE,...I would prefer to have an older type of phone...I like buttons to press, not a flat screen which I have to 'swipe', and not a gadget which has so many things on it which are only going to distract me away from doing more creative things!

Vera said...

CRO MAGNON, .....thanks for the warning! I shall confiscate the phone if he uses it when he walking....

Vera said...

DUTA, we would never have got a mobile phone if it were not for Lester's work, but now we have one we can see how useful it could be.

Dawn said...

I have a smart phone thinghy but its used only for calls and text occasionaly photos, I dont use any apps and half the time the phone is flat I use it so little I never notice it running flat, I never use it for the internet I have my laptop for that.

Vera said...

DAWN, I think that this is going to happen to our phone as well, once Lester has finished 'learning' about what it can do!

Lisa @ Two Bears Farm said...

Our signal comes and goes where we live, but it's much better than it was 10 years ago. Back then we were always having calls dropped. Now they only drop once in a while, lol. We have a better connection in the winter months, when the leaves are off the trees. Spring is the worst - you can barely get a picture to post online in the spring.

Vera said...

LISA. how annoying..... our signal is quite steady here, much better than when we first came here 10 years ago, the same as you!

Old School said...

We can use cell phones in the classroom where we live, thanks to the wifi connection from our computer, but not outside, unless we drive up the hill. And if the power goes out in the house, we have to drive out to call.

The iPhones are very cool – my kids have them – because they have really good cameras, and some interesting apps. One called Waterlogue is about $4, and does beautiful watercolor effects on your photos. Beautiful, like hang-on-the-wall gorgeous. I can imagine your garden photos (or the one of Millie (?) the cow), and they'd be lovely. Your brilliant stone buildings, too. Print them large, and hang them up!

You get used to "swiping" the screen if you pretend to be a mime or magician. Jazz hands!

Vera said...

OLD SCHOOL, Lester has found a way to use our wifi connection for the phone as well, but we too would have to drive out to make a call if our electricity went down.
What a good idea for making the iPhone more useful.... we need some pictures on the wall. But first I have to get over my fear of learning new technology!
.....so I should be able to 'swipe' the screen quite easily since I am a pianist!

northsider said...

I remember when I use to say to my friend I will ring you at 6.30 on Friday and there would always be somebody in the public phone box at the time. The Internet is great and I like writing emails but I haven't clue how they work and I don't want to. It's good to hear Lester can work from home. Great post!

Vera said...

NORTHSIDER DAVE, I can remember having to use public phone boxes as well! I am not a techno person either, but Lester is, and now is also becoming very attached to his iphone!