phone shopping – The Hermits' Rest

Phones. Can’t Live without Them. Wish I Could

Ok. I’m just about wiped out from my “day off.”I could use more wine but I hit my limit. I do want to sleep tonight, after all.

Empty glass, ready to watch Deep Space 9 and rest my brain.

I spent hours and hours today just trying to make my iPhone Air go away. It had good and bad points, but mostly was long. I spent the first 45 minutes or so chatting with Al, a Vietnam vet with 7 remaining fingers and an attitude that made Lee seem a dream customer. But I got him so settled down that by the time it was his turn, he pleasantly agreed tech support could help him out. I learned a lot about his preferred firearms, his friends with issues, and his precious great grandchildren. It certainly passed the time.

Then I discovered I had to wait an hour to deal with some theft prevention thing. So I went to the lovely Thai restaurant across I35 from the phone store. If you’re ever in Temple, try MeeMee’s Authentic Thai Cuisine. It IS authentic! It has an interesting menu, too.

I only had another hour or so after lunch to figure out every password I’ve ever had and make the proper incantations to the gods and goddesses of cellular networks. I finally have the phone I should have ordered three months ago coming my way.

Really all I want is the macro lens. No more blurry photos…speaking of which, all the sparrows came back today and I got blurry photos of them!

I had so much fun after I got home watching the sparrows bopping around, joined by two rabbits who didn’t care that I was there. That’s exactly what I needed after the stressful phone store ordeal. Nature to the rescue!

Too bad I need a decent phone camera to record all that nature? The joke is on me. I can’t live without them.

Positive Phone Store Experience

My kid’s phone no longer held a charge, so I decided to give him my current iPhone X, which isn’t very old because I replaced it recently. I always dread going to the phone store, but to be honest, we have had good experiences at the AT&T store in Temple.

Obviously I have a new phone, because I took this weird picture.

We went in, I told the guy what I wanted, he tried to sell me one thing, then he got to work doing what we asked. He was pleasant and efficient. He fixed all glitches. The cloud sent all my info over, and BOOM, new iPhone 13 Pro. It’s a weird shade of blue.

First new phone photo was also blue. Mr. Robotto.

Then, we quickly switched out my old phone for my son’s dead one. He doesn’t do the Cloud, but that’s fine, it still went fast. Besides, the main issue was that my watch took forever to pair and set up. WHO’s have guessed that?

As we were about to leave, I asked what to do with the old phone. Of course the young folks wanted to recycle it. The guy at the store said to wait, he was checking something. In a few minutes he announced we got a $300 or so credit for returning the phone in good condition. Who knew? I thought that was what new phones cost. Lee says they want to get the batteries back. Cool.

When we were done, after two long hours, we all agreed that it had been the easiest and least stressful phone buying experience we ever had.

Also, we had so much fun laughing and sharing stories on the way there and back, too. It’s so good to have a day when things work out, and the kids have sure needed one, too.

I’m looking forward to better nature photos soon. But look, flowers were blooming at Anita’s today!