Well, the ole Samsung Note 4 began biting the dust last week, so I placed an order for a replacement phone thru the insurance plan. This process took over 1.5 hours on the internet, after chatting with 1-800 India with AT&T and then the 1-800 Philippines with the insurance carrier.
The phone arrives with two day delivery. Time to run through the process of moving from the Note 4 to a Galaxy S7. With today's technology this should be a piece of cake! I look at the new phone. The back doesn't come off. What the heck???? I compare the simm cards and the newest one is smaller! Oh boy, I can tell this is gonna be fun!
I do an internet search, to find that you push a provided pin into a whole and that pops our the bracket that holds the smaller simm card and the sd card. Got it! In they go!
Next, I do the Google backup from the cloud, from the old phone to the new phone. After that was successful, I did the AT&T data transfer. So far all my contacts and applications have made it over. Winner! Winner! Chicken dinner!
Time to activate the simm card with AT&T. An internet search gets me to the right place, click I go! Whoops! AT&T does not recognize the phone as a new purchase. Now you click the transfer to activate an insurance replacement phone. Okee Dokee. I get to the screen that asks you what phone you are replacing. PROBLEM! Internet link tells me to call 1-800-AT&T. I get Joe the Plumber! American English speaking dude, awesome!!!
Joe the plumber and I go through all the hoops, then he says, "you now need to restart both phones" for me to activate the new simm card. WHAT???? Dude how are we gonna finish this???? Joe the Plumber tells me "you should have called in from a third phone". You gotta be kidding me......
I finally ask Joe the Plumber if I can finish this process at a retail store. Joe says "absolutely!" Off I go to AT&T retail store. So much for technology. So much for 1-800 AT&T! I get to the retail store, and explain my situation. The salesman had the biggest grin on his face and says "no problem!" He then proceeds to take the old bigger simm card out of the old phone, place it in a cutter machine, chop chop! He then inserts the newly sliced older simm card into the new phone, and says "all done!" I'll be dang! All that technology still hasn't replaced a Ronco Vegimatic veggie chopper!!!!!
Finally! two hours later, I am back in business with a new working cell phone! But wait! I now need a new tempered glass and Otter box too! It never ends.......
Retired in 2012. I'm trying to out run old age and boredom. So far, I'm winning the race!
Monday, April 17, 2017
Sunday, April 16, 2017
Oh NOLA, Oh How I Have Missed You
Being owners of a timeshare, we get to go and stay at lots of our favorite places. You have to plan ahead, often times 9-12 month out, but it has certainly worked for us. Plans were made months ago for a visit to NOLA this Easter weekend. This also worked out to be the spousal unit's birthday weekend.
We got a condo at the Avenue Plaza, on St. Charles, in the garden district. The streetcar line stops just several yards for the front door. This is a great place to stay during Mardi Gras, if you can manage a reservation. The goal this trip was to leave the car parted the entire stay until departure. You can get an all day (24 hr) bus pass for $3, and its good for all the streetcar lines and buses throughout the city.
The spousal unit got enticed to attend the owner's update meeting with a $100 gift card. It's their time to tell you how to get more out of your ownership by you giving them more money! NOT!!! The one hour time limit came and went, but finally we were out the door and streetcar, here we come!
We always try to do something different every trip. This time, we are on discovery for some new eating establishments to add to our favorite list. My friend Karlene had posted some pics at a french bakery, La Madeleine's Country French Cafe, months back and it had caught our interest. It's located at the bend in the track in the Carrollton section. One of our favorite finds in this area is a restaurant called Carrollton Market, also recommended by a friend.
This being the birthday girl's weekend, our next stop was Kendra Scott, on Magazine Street, for some bling bling! The streetcar stopped at Nashville Street. Time for a multi-block stroll to Magazine! Its interesting to take time to look at the old houses in New Orleans. In most, the living quarters are elevated, since the city is below sea level. The green spaces are so limited, with the houses on top of each other, but the homeowners do a lot with what they have. Flowerbeds have already been planted, and all the privacy hedges are trimmed regularly. Its a big job to keep these old houses up, and if you look close enough you can find where paint is beginning to peel here and there.
We finally reach Magazine Street, and just two building down, there is our destination, Kendra Scott! Armed with her $100 gift card, the spousal unit was ready to shop! I found a chair in a corner by the door and quickly claimed it as my own. The spousal unit was delighted with all the jewelry items on display, and I got all excited over all the eye candy manning the store! These gals were working hard for their commissions. Sitting in the corner, I was able to spot all the security cameras that were mounted on the ceiling and walls, losing count after 15! The eye candy had their routine in place. When one would begin helping a new customer, another would work her way to the front hallway, to monitor the customers trying on the jewelry. It worked like clockwork, one would move in for the kill (commission), and another would man the monitoring station at the hallway. Spousal unit made her selections. She made a comment about being here for her birthday weekend and they gave her half off on her most expensive item! The bookkeeper in me smelled a big markup on the prices!
With bus pass in hand, our next stop was the Quarter. If you've got the time, you have to take a bus ride along Magazine Street. The people that ride this bus route can't be found anywhere else . I love striking up conversations with them because you never know where it will go! We get off the bus at Canal Street and are headed to the red line streetcars when this couple that was on the bus, asks me how do you get to the French Market? I ask, "do you have an all day bus pass?" She says "yes! thank you Jesus!" I reply "follow me! But my name is Bill, not Jesus. He comes tomorrow!" We take the Red Line to the end of Canal, then on to the River Line. We exit near Cafe Du Monde, and say goodbye and point out the next stop to our new friends.
Cafe Du Monde is a major tourist stop, with everyone wanting beignets, coffee or a coke. There is always a line, either for a table, or for the takeout window. Knowing a few secrets, we were seated and had our treats in minutes. I began staring at this cutie pie in this dark blue dress. As we left I told her I couldn't believe she didn't have any powdered sugar on her!
A walk around Jackson Square is always fun. On a Saturday you can usually spot a bridal parade around the Square. Its interesting to look at what some call art, some of it looks like paint splatters. There are plenty of palm and tarot card readers to occupy some of your time. I love listening to the sketch artists talk as they are putting the finishing touches to one of their renderings for tourists!
Time for dinner! Unfortunately the place we picked out, Red Gravy, near the J.W. Marriott, closes at 2, so it will get a visit later in our stay! We ended up at The Redfish Grill on Bourbon St. Its owned by the Brennan family, so we knew it had to be good. We went into the bar while we waited for a table. We ended up being offered a seat at a table by a family from New Jersey. They came for the Carnival Cruise. I suggested some items that they might like to try off the menu, but made the mistake of telling them what was in it. We did get the lady to try an specialty oyster, it was hilarious watching it go down! The waitress said the funniest thing to her is the tourists that think boudin balls must be alligator testicles!!!!
There was this guy next to us, in a wheel chair, with a brace on his knee. He was surrounded by friends, including a lot of pretty women, tending to his every need. I commented, "you know, if I was in a wheel chair, with all these pretty women tending to my every need, I might have to take advantage of the situation! Ya'll didn't notice that the knee brace was on his other leg before he went to the restroom!" Those ladies looked at each other, and then the laughter exploded!
The ride back to Avenue Plaza on the streetcar brought more interesting people. We loved the short little couple from Seattle, I swear he looked like a leprechaun! He said he still hasn't found that pot of gold! Turns out we were staying at the same place! I invited them for a nekeed swim, they said, we could get arrested! I said, not in NOLA!!!
Can't wait for what tomorrow brings! Happy Easter!
We got a condo at the Avenue Plaza, on St. Charles, in the garden district. The streetcar line stops just several yards for the front door. This is a great place to stay during Mardi Gras, if you can manage a reservation. The goal this trip was to leave the car parted the entire stay until departure. You can get an all day (24 hr) bus pass for $3, and its good for all the streetcar lines and buses throughout the city.
The spousal unit got enticed to attend the owner's update meeting with a $100 gift card. It's their time to tell you how to get more out of your ownership by you giving them more money! NOT!!! The one hour time limit came and went, but finally we were out the door and streetcar, here we come!
We always try to do something different every trip. This time, we are on discovery for some new eating establishments to add to our favorite list. My friend Karlene had posted some pics at a french bakery, La Madeleine's Country French Cafe, months back and it had caught our interest. It's located at the bend in the track in the Carrollton section. One of our favorite finds in this area is a restaurant called Carrollton Market, also recommended by a friend.
This being the birthday girl's weekend, our next stop was Kendra Scott, on Magazine Street, for some bling bling! The streetcar stopped at Nashville Street. Time for a multi-block stroll to Magazine! Its interesting to take time to look at the old houses in New Orleans. In most, the living quarters are elevated, since the city is below sea level. The green spaces are so limited, with the houses on top of each other, but the homeowners do a lot with what they have. Flowerbeds have already been planted, and all the privacy hedges are trimmed regularly. Its a big job to keep these old houses up, and if you look close enough you can find where paint is beginning to peel here and there.
We finally reach Magazine Street, and just two building down, there is our destination, Kendra Scott! Armed with her $100 gift card, the spousal unit was ready to shop! I found a chair in a corner by the door and quickly claimed it as my own. The spousal unit was delighted with all the jewelry items on display, and I got all excited over all the eye candy manning the store! These gals were working hard for their commissions. Sitting in the corner, I was able to spot all the security cameras that were mounted on the ceiling and walls, losing count after 15! The eye candy had their routine in place. When one would begin helping a new customer, another would work her way to the front hallway, to monitor the customers trying on the jewelry. It worked like clockwork, one would move in for the kill (commission), and another would man the monitoring station at the hallway. Spousal unit made her selections. She made a comment about being here for her birthday weekend and they gave her half off on her most expensive item! The bookkeeper in me smelled a big markup on the prices!
With bus pass in hand, our next stop was the Quarter. If you've got the time, you have to take a bus ride along Magazine Street. The people that ride this bus route can't be found anywhere else . I love striking up conversations with them because you never know where it will go! We get off the bus at Canal Street and are headed to the red line streetcars when this couple that was on the bus, asks me how do you get to the French Market? I ask, "do you have an all day bus pass?" She says "yes! thank you Jesus!" I reply "follow me! But my name is Bill, not Jesus. He comes tomorrow!" We take the Red Line to the end of Canal, then on to the River Line. We exit near Cafe Du Monde, and say goodbye and point out the next stop to our new friends.
Cafe Du Monde is a major tourist stop, with everyone wanting beignets, coffee or a coke. There is always a line, either for a table, or for the takeout window. Knowing a few secrets, we were seated and had our treats in minutes. I began staring at this cutie pie in this dark blue dress. As we left I told her I couldn't believe she didn't have any powdered sugar on her!
A walk around Jackson Square is always fun. On a Saturday you can usually spot a bridal parade around the Square. Its interesting to look at what some call art, some of it looks like paint splatters. There are plenty of palm and tarot card readers to occupy some of your time. I love listening to the sketch artists talk as they are putting the finishing touches to one of their renderings for tourists!
Time for dinner! Unfortunately the place we picked out, Red Gravy, near the J.W. Marriott, closes at 2, so it will get a visit later in our stay! We ended up at The Redfish Grill on Bourbon St. Its owned by the Brennan family, so we knew it had to be good. We went into the bar while we waited for a table. We ended up being offered a seat at a table by a family from New Jersey. They came for the Carnival Cruise. I suggested some items that they might like to try off the menu, but made the mistake of telling them what was in it. We did get the lady to try an specialty oyster, it was hilarious watching it go down! The waitress said the funniest thing to her is the tourists that think boudin balls must be alligator testicles!!!!
There was this guy next to us, in a wheel chair, with a brace on his knee. He was surrounded by friends, including a lot of pretty women, tending to his every need. I commented, "you know, if I was in a wheel chair, with all these pretty women tending to my every need, I might have to take advantage of the situation! Ya'll didn't notice that the knee brace was on his other leg before he went to the restroom!" Those ladies looked at each other, and then the laughter exploded!
The ride back to Avenue Plaza on the streetcar brought more interesting people. We loved the short little couple from Seattle, I swear he looked like a leprechaun! He said he still hasn't found that pot of gold! Turns out we were staying at the same place! I invited them for a nekeed swim, they said, we could get arrested! I said, not in NOLA!!!
Can't wait for what tomorrow brings! Happy Easter!
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