Technology

 I carefully wrote many blog posts ahead of time. I put a reminder on my calendar to post them every few days. I thought I was opening the draft and clicking publish. I was surprised and disappointed when I opened the blog and saw that they had all posted within a few days of each other. Sigh.

On the positive side of technology we tried a new cellular provider and it worked while we were on vacation. It was great to have access to maps, to share pictures, and to buy new plane tickets because our original air carrier was on strike (they already sent a refund!).

Dauntless

People gave me kudos for getting out on the ice, but the brave one was D.

R. was working on a college application and computer crashed.  After rebooting it shut down.  Again and again.  They searched online for do-it-yourself fixes.  They didn't fix it.  We joined the Christmas crowds and bought a new hard drive, which D. and R. installed.  Now that takes bravery.

Ta da!  Even better than new!

R. would like to remind each and everyone of you to back up your computer often.

Talent

Being able to replace an entire light fixture, even a small one in a closet, is a talent I don't have.  I am lucky that D. is talented.

He also replaced the garage door keypad.

I did call someone else to deal with our house's only section of gutter.

Life in Threes

The first strike was having D.'s folding bicycle stolen from the bike rack outside the new building.

If you look carefully on the far left you can see that the old bike rack was right by the door, reached by rolling your bike up the ramp or carrying it up the stairs.

The new bike rack is about where the pickup is parked, which means it is right next to the street.  This makes sense in terms of ease of parking, but I worry that it also makes it easier to pull up, cut a lock, and drive off with a bike.  Or maybe it was a one-shot deal and it was bad luck for D.

The good news is that somebody else won a bike at a 5K race and didn't want it.  He had the receipt and was happy to sell it to D.

The second strike was the loss of A.'s iPod touch.  Last year at cello camp his sessions were at 9a, 10a, and 11a, meaning he was done at noon with no breaks.  This time his sessions were at 9, 11, and 1p, which left a lot of time to fill.  Some of it was filled with digital entertainment, which I held onto during when he was in class.  I kept the ipod in a special pocket where I also kept earbuds.  I must not have zippered it because it was no longer where it was supposed to be, but I didn't realize it until Saturday.  I sent many emails and people said they didn't have it but they would look.  I was distraught because A. had saved up his money to buy this.  I was amazed how calm he was, asking if he could go without it for a year and then get a phone as a gift in a year.  Not what I was expecting to hear!  I was so impressed that he was accepting of my huge mistake that I told him maybe.  Imagine how disappointed he was when the camp director told me it had been found and that we could pick it up today!

The third strike should have been the easiest to solve.  After doing laundry I was missing a pair of exercise shorts.  Maybe they fell out of my bag at the health club?  They would have been smelly but the person in the changing room said they would have been washed and sent to the front desk.  Nothing!  Well, they were several years old so it wouldn't have been terrible to replace them, but the company no longer sells the same kind.  I looked at the brand I used to wear before that and the reviews were awful!  I will look around the house again and look in the lost and found again, but I need to shop a bit more.  Bummer.

At least the three strikes have passed and now we can look for three good things to happen.

Three Really Good Things

I don't know where I first read the head of Zappos asks potential employees how lucky they are in life using a scale from one to ten.  He claims seven is the right answer because ten indicates you have been handed everything and a lower number is unlucky, which doesn't match the company vibe.

I won't say my life is a ten (why tempt the evil eye?), but this week (way more than) three good things happened.  I am lucky!

Growing up in Cleveland I listened to baseball on a transistor radio (smaller than this) with my mom.  While I was in town this week I had a chance to listen with her again (still on the a transistor radio) and heard a bottom of the tenth inning two-out two-strike grand-slam homerun.  It was even better than being at the game.

My glasses had some sort of fogginess damage that is similar to what is shown above.  I took them to them to the place of purchase and they claimed to have never seen anything like it, but for a couple hundred dollars I could get new lenses.  Pass.  I lived with it until I went running in the rain (not in Claremont, obviously!).  I could barely see so I wiped them on my shirt.  By the time I got home there was almost no visibility left.  "What would D. do?" I asked myself.  Search online for solutions that have worked for other people.  And there it was!  All I had to do was use some sunscreen with titanium dioxide (according to D., whom I consulted since I trusted his knowledge of material science or adhesives or something).  And it worked!  Bliss!  Joy!

The last good thing was bad at first.  My charger had been damaged and fixed, but because I was trying to maximize the wifi at my parents' house I damaged the same area and it wouldn't work at all.  I could make it until I got home, but it would have been convenient to use it.  I went about the day doing the important things, like deciding which Shelly Berman and Allan Sherman records I wanted.  While I was looking I noticed a charger near the printer.  It turned out to be from a laptop my parents no longer owned.  And it was the right size.  Now that is good luck!

There were way more than three really good things during my time in Cleveland, but these stick out in my mind.  Plus, I don't want to make it sound like my life is a ten in case I get an interview at Zappos.

Beta Tester

Look what D. got to check out of the library!

Not being an iPhone user and not having a data plan made it a challenge for him to use, but it was good (?) for taking pictures.  This is a small sampling (and excludes the self portrait with the urinals in the background)!

We each had a chance to try it and the youngest was definitely the most adept.  We have no plans to purchase it at this time.