books, blabberings, and a life semi-common
I actually wasn’t sure what I was going to blog today. I thought about doing another Top 5 List but felt it was too close to Saturday’s list. Then the BFF at Sara’s a Rebel tagged me to do a sort of handwriting bit and I jumped at the chance.
So I answered the following questions on a piece of paper:
1. What’s your name / blogger name?
2. What’s your blog’s URL?
3. Write “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.”
4. Favorite quote?
5. Your favorite song?
6. Your favorite band / singers?
7. Anything else you want to say?
8. Tag 3 bloggers to participate. (I tagged 5!)
I wrote it out in a notebook then used the Genius Scan app on my iPhone to send it to myself.
If I tagged you (or even if I didn’t and you wanted to do this, too), leave the link in the comments so I can check out your writing!
One of the topics I missed last month asked what piece of technology I couldn’t live without and it had me thinking.
Once upon a time, it would have been a computer, preferably my own. However, as I learned toward the end of last year, I can handle not having a computer in my hands 24/7.
At one point, as a teenager, it was a DiscMan. Does anyone remember those? Mine came with me everywhere I went even though it skipped sometimes in the car. But music was (and still is) such a big part of my life that I needed it always. Stretching before a volleyball game? DiscMan. Want someone to hear a song? DiscMan.
But times have changed.
And I KNEW what my answer was.
Yes. My iPhone.
Obviously that particular photo is not MY iPhone. Alec is fun and has a clear case.
Anyway… This thing basically carries my life, which I’ll admit is a very scary thought. But its very true.
Hungry? I’ll look up a restaurant.
Lost? Let me check the map.
Too quiet? Time to use the iPod.
Missing my fam? Call ‘Em up. Sometimes even see them.
Important message? Hop on GChat to pass it along.
It’s crazy and probably terrible how much I’ve come to rely on the iPhone. I honestly don’t know what I’d do if I lost it. There was one day that I left it at home. Goodness, I felt so completely lost all day!!
I don’t know whether to be joyous that the iPhone was created… Or ashamed that it runs so much of my life.
For some people, the generic ringtones that come on any given phone is just fine. It sounds and they hear it so they answer the call. It’s a very simple thing, really. However… That is not the case with me. There is something exhilarating about creating a ringtone and assigning it to someone. Is this stupid? Probably. Is it what I do? Of course!
The important people in my life – I want to know when they are trying to contact me. And well, to be honest, when my phone rings, I want to know it’s MY phone that’s ringing and not someone else’s. So, this is what happens.
First of all, there are a few ringtones that will always stay the same. Right now, they consist of my parents, my siblings, and my siblings’ homes. Also, Amanda D. and Mike T. only because I can’t see them with any other ringtone than the one they have now (although Mike’s was just decided today). The family ones match the relationship and/or place.
Amanda D. is special because the only ringtone I will ever associate her with now is “Brand New You” from 13 the Musical. The thing is, Amanda is one of the few people who actually calls me and whose calls I pick up. She always has some sort of story to tell me so I tend to hear her ringtone the most. That being said, I think I’d just confuse myself if I changed it.
Mike T. was given “Letterbomb” from American Idiot. Mike is one of those guys I can’t figure out a ringtone for so I used his favorite song from a musical we both love. It’s a fun, dance-y part so it should be good when he calls me, which is actually more often than most people. We tend to call each other when we’re driving alone or bored. I think his ringtone for me is “Extraordinary Girl” from the same musical. That makes me happy.
Okay, for the other important people, there are steps.
See? Four simple steps to get the perfect ringtone for each person:
So yes. There is a type of art when it comes to ringtones on a phone. I actually somewhat cringe when I hear the generic tones of a phone call. It’s a shame. Truly.
What are some of your favorite ringtones for people?
OR
What’s your ringtone for me if that applies to you?
Did you see what I did there in the subject? A Tense & Tricky Situation = AT&T Situation. Okay, Anyway.
I, like thousands of other people, wanted to order the new iPhone 4 this past Tuesday, 6/15. I actually forgot about it until I was staring at Demetri2.0 at the bus stop and though, “Huh… I’m still on the 3G. I should change that when I’m eligible for an upgrade.” BING! Memory regained, I checked online on D2.0 if I was eligible. I was because of that whole “anyone eligible in 2010 will receive the lowest price” shiznet. Technically, I think I was supposed to wait until November but that’s besides the point.
So I waited until I was at work. Around 8:30, I tried to pre-order through the AT&T site. Someone had mentioned to me previously that I would need to go through AT&T because I had a company discount, rather than go to an Apple store where I wanted to use some gift cards. Again, I digress.
Wouldn’t you know – I actually got through to that final-look page, the one right before the confirmation page. Then I got that god-awful UNAVAILABLE page. “Okay,”I told myself. “No big deal. I’ll just try again.”
So I did.
And then again.
And again.
And then one more time.
I decided to see if the Apple site would be any better. That one timed out just attempting to get my information from AT&T. In my haste to get the iPhone 4, I also forgot that I should have been pre-ordering from the AT&T Premier site because of the company discount. So I headed to that child-site of AT&T and got the same stupid message about the system being unavailable.
Meanwhile, MT and I were texting back and forth. He had already pre-ordered his, the lucky SOB! I wasn’t surprised, of course, but what about me? Haha. I’m not saying I’m more important than anyone else out there but it was starting to get annoying. At this point in time, I hadn’t heard about the complete system fails that AT&T was experiencing; I only knew that I was having a difficult time getting through and so were some others.
Finally – finally – I was able to pre-order from the AT&T Premier site a little bit before 1 pm. Yes, it was about four-and-a-half hours of failed attempts before I could say that my iPhone 4 was set. Woo! Celebrate good times, come on!
I forgot about it after that. That is, I didn’t think any more of it.
Then yesterday happened. 6/17 was a pay day which meant I was paying my bills and setting up payments for the upcoming week. I decided to check my AmEx even though it wasn’t due yet.
Hold up. Wait a minute. Why do I suddenly have over $600 pending instead of the $317 I was expecting?!?!
I checked the status of my order on AT&T. I had two orders placed. I didn’t get it. How could this happen? Only one pre-order was allowed per phone line to begin with. But wait, it was under the same order number so what’s going on?
The AT&T rep’s name was Wanda. Wanda was really nice. Surprising? Not so much. Helpful? Uh, yeah, surprised me to all hell. I mean, this is AT&T we’re talking about. Their customer service is hot and cold all the time. No one ever knows if the person on the other end is going to be nice and helpful or bored and dumb. Luckily, I got the former of those two options.
Turns out… They have two different order numbers for me. We got into this long-ass discussion about what might be happening and what could be done. I was put on hold and let me tell you, AT&T hold music sucks. Her manager gets in on this phone action that’s happening <smirk> and basically tells me that only one should ship so I shouldn’t worry.
Wait. But how does that explain anything about what’s been charged on my AmEx?
Ho-hum, um, let’s see here…
They can’t tell me anything. They don’t want to cancel one because then I might not get any iPhone next week and that would defeat the entire purpose right? However, Wanda was cool and, after we hung up, she actually called me back within the hour with more options.
So this morning, I called AT&T Premier. It took two tries and a combined effort of about 20 minutes of waiting in a queue but I talked to another awesome lady.
Are you ready for this? Because seriously, I can’t make this shit up.
Their systems automatically duplicated my order. I only received one confirmation email for one phone but it duplicated over wherever they are. $634 was pending on my credit card for two iPhones. Both were actually scheduled to ship – as noted on their systems.
How the fuck I managed to get away with that, I have absolutely no idea.
So I canceled one. I realize that I could have possibly kept the order and sold it to a friend who wasn’t able to get a pre-order in but seriously? That is some space on a credit card I’d rather have free.
Simply put – this week was strange and fucked. Thanks a bunch, AT&T. You’re lucky you have the iPhone. I probably would have kept my crap-service at T-Mobile otherwise. At least they don’t have these buying issues.
An Ordinary World 