Daily Archives: January 25, 2014

GeekWorld

Adrift Somewhere in Colorado

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Winter                                                               Seed Catalog Moon

Expensive mistakes.  My phone, adrift somewhere in Colorado, not answering calls has moved beyond my reach.  Of course, Verizon was happy to replace it, demanding only a blood price and a new 2 year contract.  This phone contract business is great if you’re the phone company, for everyone else (most of us) not so much.

They did have a four propeller, camera equipped drone though, controllable from the phone. Would be fun.  But, I think for me, it would be a like a Christmas present of days gone by.  Used a lot for a while, then not at all.  Shaun Chenoweth, our Verizon salesperson, said realtors use them to show roofs and farmers use them to manage their land.  Both uses make sense to me.  Could help us find lost dogs but we have homebound canines at this point.  Still.

A smart phone is a great companion, especially once you have some reading material on it. That’s a generational attitude, I know.  All others have music.  Check e-mail.  Send texts. Take photographs.  Keep up with my Instapaper reading.  Keep notes.  Look up saved information in my Evernote account.  Even read a book if I want to.  Find the weather now and the forecasts.  Get warned about heavy weather.  A lot of work for one handheld gadget.  But wait.  There’s more.  You know, Internet, voice activated search, the flashlight, that chess platform, the calendar.  And on and on.

So, the phone is dead; long live the new phone.

Family

Bonded, Dutiful

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Winter                                                             Seed Catalog Moon

Kate and I talked about Denver, about the grandkids, about dogs, about our home here. 1000IMAG0466 We’ve decided, for now, to remain here.  When we’re down to one dog and/or, have smaller dogs, we might consider a move.  If we end up in a situation where we have to vacate this house for physical reasons, we might consider a move.

We also discussed ways we can be more actively engaged in our grandchildren’s lives over  a distance.  In the past we’ve said we want to see them at least four times a year for a week or so at a time.  The Stock Show, their birthdays, which, thankfully, are close together, a time in the summer and a time during Holiseason, Thanksgiving or Hanukkah for example.  We’ve done regular skype times, but those grew pro forma, too routine; so we need to come up with ways to communicate with them regularly, but in different ways.

As a man of German cultural influence (though with considerable Celtic influence, too), there is a strong sense of duty when it comes to family and it got triggered this last visit to 1000IMAG0475Colorado.  These kids are not just Jon and Jen’s responsibility, but mine, too.  Kate’s, too. While the American mobility patterns of the last few decades have separated us physically, the bonds are no less strong and no less real.

It’s up to Kate and me to figure how to remain in Gabe and Ruth’s life.  We’re not alone in this, I know.  Again, any thoughts from any of you out there will be appreciated.