Tuesday, October 18, 2005

SusieQ's Everyday Thoughts (as opposed to her Sunday Best)

I felt compelled to enter a post (nothing fancy) tonight in case Meegan from Advice For Ladies drops by and wonders what ever happened to the story about my cousin Jimmie that I told her I was writing. I am still working on it. Unfortunately, I have encountered writer's block with that story.

In the meantime, let me tell you about my husband's latest techno toy, the Blackberry. For those who may think this is a fruit I am talking about, let me assure you it is not a fruit, although I think my husband is a fruitcake for deciding to get one. He knows both of us are technology impaired and haven't even mastered our VCR yet. But I digress. To continue. The Blackberry is a wireless hand-held device no larger than a small calculator which enables the user to go online, check his emails, leave emails, make phone calls, receive phone calls and I don't know what else it enables the user to do. One thing I can assure you it doesn't enable the user to do and that is take out the garbage.

So anyway, my husband Mr. SusieQ has spent nearly a full week of vacation getting acquainted with his new techno toy and he is still fuzzy about how it works and how to get it to work, consistently that is. First off, he doesn't understand the directions. But that might be because he keeps trying to read those written in Spanish. I haven't looked, but I am confident the directions are written in English as well. However, I bet they are written in techno English which is as good as Greek then.

My husband couldn't stop with just a Blackberry. He had to go out and get himself a Blue Tooth to go with it so that he could be completely wireless. I suppose there is some benefit to being completely wireless. I just don't know what that benefit might be. But I digress. To continue. For those who may think I am talking about the kind of tooth you have in your mouth for chewing purposes, let me assure you it is not the kind of tooth you have it your mouth. A Blue Tooth resembles an oversized hearing aid. It enables the user to be completely wireless when the user is making a phone call or receiving one with his Blackberry.

So, while my husband has been getting acquainted with his two techno toys, we have been doing this thing whereby he uses his Blackberry and Blue Tooth and, while roaming our house with both, calls our home phone to talk to me. This is how the exchange goes between us:

Mr. SusieQ: "Can you hear me now?"
SusieQ: "Yes."
Mr. SusieQ moving to another part of the house: "Can you hear me now?"
SusieQ: "Yes."
Mr. SusieQ moving to yet another part of the house: "Can you hear me now?"

And so it goes back and forth between us. I feel like we are doing a commercial for some cell phone company.

We went shopping a few days after he thought he had everything working properly with his Blackberry and Blue Tooth. So, I am sitting there in the car with him and notice that he has the Blue Tooth propped in his ear and the Blackberry hooked to his waist. "Get that thing out of your ear." I said. "It looks like a hearing aid."

Looking rather perturbed, he replied. "I am WEARING it....in case someone at the office needs to reach me."

"Why can't they call you on your cell phone?" I asked.

"Oh, I don't use that thing anymore." He responded as if I was old-fashioned because I still use mine.

It was at that moment when I began reminiscing about the good old heavy-duty phones we had years ago that came in black only, weighed a ton, and was the only phone in the house. I had an urge to return to those days of yore when, if you were lucky, you had a two-party line and got to eavesdrop and listen to juicy gossip. You can't do that with a Blackberry and a Blue Tooth, those good for nothing techno toys.

11 comments:

  1. Thanks for dropping by to my blog!
    I never thought that somebody's grandmother would enjoy it. People can surprise you every day. :)
    Good luck with your blog!

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  2. Mr. Susie Q sounds like Mr. BFC.
    I think all husbands are alike in the techno department.

    My husband bought a vonage telephone to connect to our computer to save money. To make a long story short, the reception is so poor, and the connection lost so often, that we end up using our cell phones, which actually cost more per minute!

    I guess we cannot fault them for trying.

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  3. Kelly, my interest in your blog does not extend to your posts about heavy metal music. Sorry if you thought otherwise. But I am interested in what you have to say about other matters especially pertaining to law. Thanks for paying a visit.

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  4. Barb, we love our men even when they try and fail.

    I was having some fun with this post at my husband's expense somewhat. If he knew I had devoted a post to him, he'd probably feel flattered.

    Seriously though, I find that many of the gadgets we use in our daily lives are counterproductive. These gadgets are supposed to simplify our living, make things easier to accomplish, save us time and energy and conserve our resources. All too often though, it takes more time and costs more to maintain them than is saved by using them. Not only that, they often just become part of the clutter that seems to be characteristic today's homes and offices.

    All of this is material for a post though. Better not waste it on a comment.

    Thanks for stopping by, Barb.

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  5. Hi SusieQ,

    I'm catching up on blogs today, after a week of being too busy. I loved this post and your humor! Your husband sounds funny. I'm with you, though, and can't get too excited about the latest technology. In another 6 months, the Blackberry will be old-fashioned. : )

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  6. Hi Meegan,

    I suspected the Blackberry would be history in six months or so. But I won't tell my husband. It would break his heart. Based on the progress he's made to date, he'll need at least six months to completely master the Blackberry.

    Thanks for stopping by. Hope you come again. Oh, and I promise that one of these days I'll have the cousin Jimmie story finished.

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  7. Okay, I look forward to cousin Jimmie!

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  8. As a kid, we would eavesdrop on the 'second' line... it was a big thrill. And I dropped the cell phone gig a few years ago,, have a land line only... I am what could be called a Techno Luddite?? I pick and choose my techno toys very slowly and carefully,,, they go out of style to quick and I am way to poor..

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  9. Scott,I've heard of others who have decided to ditch their cell phones.

    I'm hanging onto mine for emergency purposes. But I refuse to use it to chit-chat with somebody while I am walking up and down the aisles of the grocery store. I don't know why exactly, but it bothers me when I see someone doing that.

    Thanks for stopping by.

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  10. I can't stop laughing! I can just picture the two of you so clearly. What a hoot!

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