100 HappyDays Day 2: iPhone for work

When I started working at my place of business almost 10 years ago, I was given a TMobile Sidekick  II for work purposes. It was an early precursor to the smart phones of today. I loved that stupid thing. Easy to use - lots of features. My hands didn't feel too big for it, I could hit all the keys...there WERE keys.  After 5 years, I still had my sidekick - in nearly mint condition, until TMobile turned off the Danger network. They got bought out by Microsoft or something and they no longer supported the sidekick network. I literally had the thing on until the moment they turned off the service one evening at midnight.

Luckily, I was in California, working at my corporate headquarters. Everyone in IT was snickering at me for being one of the last holdouts, but they seemed to understand my reluctance to change.  I was given a Blackberry Curve in exchange for my beloved Sidekick II.  It was not a love match.

Blackberry is small and has keys, yes. But it took me a long time to figure out how to TURN IT ON and OFF. Embarrassing, yes, but honestly, I tried everything and apparently, I just didn't hold down the buttons long enough. My fingers are too big for the buttons, so I never could really use it for sending emails or texts. Everything about it seemed like more work. And Blackberry didn't support AIM or if it did, it was too difficult to figure out. My love affair with smart phones was over.

Now, almost exactly four years later, I have been forced to give up Blackberry. For some reason, about two weeks ago, the phone decided to stop delivering any email messages. It still reminds me of all my appointments, but no emails. And texts are intermittant and randomly disappear for no reason. I have a weird text from a former student from 3 years ago, but an employee message from last week disappeared. No rhyme or reason to any of it.

When I contacted my IT guy and told him that Blackberry was acting up, his response was, "GAH! You STILL have a Blackberry? Let's get rid of that. I will send you an iPhone. What color do you want?"

I didn't expect a color option but I asked for yellow. Or pink. I thought those would be happy colors. After the iPhone was sent to the building we were in 5 years ago, it finally arrived today.  I was all prepared for my yellow iPhone - almost excited, but daunted by learning a new and foreign technology.  When I opened the box, I found this:

Although it isn't yellow or pink, I think it suits me perfectly. It is a toned down version of the color of my current handbag, just a little less...bright.

So, today, this is Day 2 of my #100happydays.

Lemmings and 100HappyDays

I generally avoid joining in the line of people leaping into memes or activities for whatever random reason, however, as I get older, I am coming to see that there is a beauty in participating in something that other people find useful, fun, beneficial, etc.  I also like having a bit of a challenge to keep me on track.

So, call me a lemming, I don't care.  A friend posted a link to 100HappyDays on Facebook today and it intrigued me - I think it was the Happy and the YELLOW!!  Either way, I'm going to try it. It asks people to use a hashtag, which I still don't really understand. What if no one else has the same hashtag as you? It seems like people are creating them all the time...  Well, I'm not letting that hold me back. I'm all over stuff that helps me focus on being grateful and happy in the life I have.

#100HappyDays Day 1 for Jean:

My February Snow Day List for 2014

Snowpocolypse 2014

Seems like every couple of years we have a snow "event" and somehow, I never learn my lesson.

They thought the snow was going to come in at around 3:00pm, but it started WAY EARLY.  I finally left work at 1:30pm and made it home by 6:30pm.  I had music, radio news, a good heater, a full tank of gas and lots of patience.  I just decided I would make it home safe and try not to stress out.

I drove from Vancouver, WA to my home via I-5 South to 405. I couldn't get onto Sunset Highway because the onramp was filled with spin outs after 2 hours sitting at a standstill on the top deck of the Fremont Bridge. Ugh.  When I realized that the Frement lane I was in was not moving (for like an hour), I moved over and then heard on the radio that there was an accident just on the west side of the tunnel, so no wonder!  So I took the 6th Street exit as it was getting dark out and drove Barbur Boulevard around to the Burlingham Fred Meyer and took that road up behind the Fred Meyer to go down to Beaverton Hillsdale Highway and then all the way home.

I have photos on my Blackberry, but the email function isn't working, so I'm trying to figure out how to get them transferred off the phone.  It was 16 degrees out when I got home. There were about 4-5 inches of snow and it was still coming down.  Tomorrow looks to be another mess, so we'll see what it looks like in the morning.

Be safe out there. I will be packing an overnight bag to keep in the car for next time. You'd think I would have already done that. Denial is a powerful thing.