Unofficial Gossip

I saw her sitting chatting to another.  I walked up confidently and re-introduced myself.  I hadn't seen Julie for years, maybe five.  It was a long time.  I kept her amused asking about her job, her travels her family and personal memories of the last time we shared time together.  She had no qualms in answering me honestly.  She kept her inquisitive thoughts to herself.
We spoke for only a few minutes.  I reminded her of the last time, which was also the first time we met!
A few weeks later I spoke with Pat, a good friend of mine.  She laughed and said she had met with Julie a few days after I chatted with her.  Julie had been flabbergasted I had remembered so clearly about Julie's life in detail after only meeting her once.
I sat slowly still grinning.  I hadn't realised I recounted Julie's life in detail in only a few short minutes.
I didn't need to tell Pat, for she already knew!  All these years Pat has kept me up to date with Julie's life.  Pat has told me in minute detail all of Julie's travels, her job interviews and the positions she had been successful in.  I knew about her relationships and her friendships.  I felt like a good friend of hers, even though we had met only once.

Maybe Julie thinks I just have a fantastic memory but Pat and I know I've had a relationship with Julie all these years without her even knowing!
Pat rolled her eyes and said, "Oh, did I tell you about my cousin Ron and what he's up to now?"
My eyes sparkled with mischief, "Is there more news?" I queried....

iPhone 5s Debacle

Once again the caller hangs up on me.  I am frustrated.  My iPhone 4 is having a meltdown.  I can hear the person on the other end but they can't hear me.  I have unwillingly become a nuisance caller!

I start texting friends and family and Mel starts ringing me on my home phone.  Merv's community service provider rings me but there is no point in answering I hope they leave a message but they just try again later. 

Dustin has a damaged iPhone 5s.  It works well but he dropped it and the screen is smashed.  It is no longer used as he has a super new iPhone 6.
I weigh up the cost of replacing the screen or buying a new phone.   I am grateful when Dustin hands me the phone.

Then the fun begins. He has all his information and apps still on the phone.  When I bought his iPad from him a couple of years ago it was the same.  I changed his information to mine but iTunes still thinks he owns it.  One day I will wipe it and start again, one day.

Back to the iPhone 5s.  I plug it in with the charger to my home computer and tell iTunes I want to wipe it and restore the factory settings.  It at first appears helpful and I download the data to achieve this.  Half way through the download it times out.  I try it again and again.  This happens four or five times. That was five hours ago.  I try a different tack.  I check Google and find I need to disable my firewall.  I de-friend Norton for the rest of the day!  Three hours later I am the proud owner of a download.

The download then spits out the data and Dustin’s data is erased.  It is only then I realise iTunes is no longer partying with me. It doesn't want to download my data from my iPhone 4 to the iPhone 5s. Back to my friend Google.  It suggests the latest iTunes download.  Ok, another coffee break and a download later and the apple icon appears as by magic on my screen-shattered phone.  After thirteen hours I am finally ecstatic!

Then the fun begins.  It asks me to put in the sim card.  Easy I think and I take out the sim from my no voice iPhone 4.  I then take out the sim tray from the iPhone 5s and I squeal in disbelief. It is tiny, so much smaller than my sim card, which is micro.  Now I know what a nano looks like! 

It's after 8pm and there aren't any service providers open.  I resort to my own devices and hopeful good luck.  My trusty iPad finds a You Tube video on how to cut my sim card to size with the aid of a printed template.  I find the template on my home computer but I know my Brother printer is a perfectionist.  It doesn't like to print unless the colour cartridges are full.  I am empty of cyan and magenta but I am full of black and yellow.  I tease the printer and it balks at me.  It doesn't want to work with me.  Finally I trick it into a greyscale copy and it spits it out. 

The moment of truth comes and I arm myself with pencil, ruler and sharp scissors.  I execute surgery on my sim card and realise I don't have a corner.  Back to the template and the corner is created.  I forget to read the bit about filing the edges and shove it into the sim card tray and then bung it inside the iPhone.  I need a drink but I have nothing to drink but herbal tea and water.  The five year old brandy is for life and death situations only.

Shattered Screen but it works!

I wait in anticipation.  Firstly it says no service, then the circle in the top left hand corner goes faster and faster and presto I have service!  No one is more surprised than me!

I follow the commands of the phone and eventually I have all my apps, photos and phone contacts on the shattered phone.  I even have a recognised thumbprint to access my phone.

I give Merv the home phone and go to the other end of the house to see if after all this the damn thing will work.  My phone rings and I talk to Merv.  Yes he can hear me and vice versa! I am happy.

Tomorrow I am going to the repair shop and have the screen replaced.

I wonder if it would have been easier just to buy a new phone and save the frustration.  It has been a long day of techno stuff but I am delighted I have a working phone!