I know I complain a lot and we have a lot of odd things happen to us. This week has been a pip.
I have a traditional Blackberry phone (not Android). It is 3G. I use it for texts, telephone calls, and checking things on the Internet. Yes, it is not the newest or coolest thing, but husband was able to make it sync with my computer Organizer software so I like it and have been happy with it. Last Thursday (a week ago) I went to look up something online and got a message that it could not connect and that if this continued I should contact my service provider. Okay, I never saw this before - but, again, it is not the latest fastest thing. I was in our house and turned on the wifi in the phone and accessed the Internet that way. No problem. Must be a glitch.
This problem continued over the weekend. Now, I don’t watch movies on the phone or use large amounts of data. I mostly use it for things such as “what else was the actress in the movie we just saw in?” Or “what does “X” mean” when we see or hear something we don’t know about.
So yesterday (Tuesday) I contacted my service provider online and had an hour and a half chat with an employee. We reset things that I did not even know my phone had. We reactivated the phone. We reset the phone. No change. Finally she told me that we had to reload the “service books”. I had no idea what the heck these were, but if we needed to reload, let’s do it. She comes back. They do not have the service books for my phone. I have to contact Blackberry. She assures me that Blackberry will have the service books. I thank her for her time and help.
I then go to Blackberry’s website (or I am guessing, one of them). I find tech support. I put in the required info from my phone - it is rejected as invalid. I try again - same result. I then try entering a hex version of the number which is on the phone - same result. I find a contact form for tech support and wrote and explained the problem.
Meanwhile on Monday husband had his email program updated - he did not update it - it did it itself. He then had major problems with his email program and accessing his calendar on the Internet which was coming in through his mail program. I don’t know all the details - there was something about the program was not recognizing his correct passwords and that he could not find some of them in his records of all his passwords - as I was barely listening to him as I was playing with my phone, hoping that it would magically start working again.
He needed to get rid of the update program and go back to an older version, but he was sure he would not be able to find one. I pointed out that I had an older version on my computer and we had reinstalled it last fall when we installed a new hard drive on mine. He installed it in his computer. Now the program and computer are downloading thousands of old emails into his computer. He has trouble with settings for the accounts - I use my computer to find how my email accounts are set.
He started looking for a new calendar program. There is one commercially available (at a reasonable price) that will not only solve his problems, but claims to also work with my old Organizer - if so, I can move on to a newer cell phone (which I don’t want to do, but it would make him happy, and there is this problem with mine right now). He downloaded a trial version of the calendar program. He has been having trouble with same and is not sure it does what is needed for either of us. Their tech support has been very accommodating in helping him to try to resolve the problems.
Today I had an email from Blackberry (at least it was quick and polite). The site I contacted was not correct and I needed to telephone “this number”. I send back a thank you.
I telephone Blackberry. I get through to tech support and it wants the same number - I know it will not work, but enter it anyway. It is rejected. I get a choice to try it again or speak to someone. I pick the latter. I explain my problem and situation. She needs the same number - I give it to her - it doesn’t work. She asks for another type of number and that works. She then asks me - twice - each of the points which I told her when our conversation started. She suggests I contact - yes - my service provider. I repeat (for the 4th time) that the provider referred me to them. She goes away and comes back.
I am not entitled to support. She does not say why, although I do have the phone for a number of years and I assume it because it is off warranty for a long time. I have, therefore, three choices. First, I can pay them “35 United States dollars”. Second, I can go to “this website” (a support website). Third (ready for this), I can contact my service provider. I elect the second choice.
I also make an unrelated telephone call to the NYC Police Department for a question that has come up with a client’s business and I have to leave a voice mail.
We go out to lunch and to run errands for a couple of hours.
I start checking email and seeing if have to pay bills, etc. Ok, I was avoiding trying to fix my phone. Husband comes up and starts his computer. He asks for the website. It is a list of problems and solutions (lot of help - right). We actually find the problem listed. We just cannot really figure out how to do what it says to do. Husband is worried that if we do it wrong I will lose the telephone and text functions and the phone will no longer be able to go on the Internet using wifi. We both poke around at stuff to try to figure out what to do.
One thing that husband is concerned about is that the company whose system my phone uses (my service provider does not have a system - depending on the phone one has, one uses one or another of the major cell phone systems) has announced that they are going to discontinue 3G service and husband is concerned that they have done so here. No one seems to have heard of this. I am presuming that since the phone says “3G” it is receiving same.
Just for fun along with all of this, my eye started hurting the night before last and still hurt when I woke. We figured out it must be a sty, so I am putting hot compresses on my eye several times a day - at least that seems to be working.
Then last night when I was washing up after dinner, my attention wandered and I cut a finger on a the lid of a soup can. Not a large cut, but it would not stop bleeding for awhile as I did the dishes. (It hurts, but is fine now.)
So this has not been a productive week. Our unit did have a reenactment event last weekend, at least that went well. The weather was pleasant. We did not have huge crowds, but steady ones and people who were interested and stayed around awhile. I got a bit embroidery done and was able to talk to people (mostly women) about same. So at least we had a chance to actually relax a bit.
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK -
No matter how upsetting things are (and I know in the greater scheme of the world these electronic problems and injuries are so minor) one has to try to go with the flow. One can only do what one can do. Magic rarely happens.
In the United States this coming Monday is Memorial Day. For those of you who are elsewhere - this is a holiday to remember those who have died in military service to our country. It started after our Civil War (1860s) as Decoration Day, when ladies would go to the graves of those who died in the War and decorate them with flowers. If you are here - I wish you a pleasant Memorial Day.
For anyone who might have had family or friends injured or worse in the incident in Manchester, UK, my greatest sympathies.
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