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December 9, 2014:

THE RELAXING AND PEACEFUL BIRTHDAY

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, I had a very nice and relaxed birthday yesterday.  As always happens after a Kritzerland show, I only got four hours of sleep.  I finally got out of bed around ten, did my morning ablutions and then moseyed on over to Café 101 to meet our very own Rob Stevens for an early birthday luncheon.  This jernt is kind of a hipster coffee shop in terms of the people who hang out there, but the food is excellent, at least my BLTA was.  Rob went right to the dessert and had their brownie waffle sundae, which he really liked.  I had a taste and it was very good indeed.  They make the brownie in a waffle maker so it looks like a waffle only it’s a brownie waffle hence the name of the dessert.  Then they put ice cream and whipped cream and oodles of hot fudge on it.  We had a nice chat and I’m happy to report that the Robby Awards, a staple in LA for decades, is coming back on February 9 at the El Portal Theatre.  I’m helping out with things and it should be really fun.

After that, I came right back to the San Fernando Valley, picked up one little teeny-tiny package, then came home.  I somehow managed to “like” the over seven hundred Facebook birthday wishes – we topped last year’s 500 – I couldn’t believe it, really.  That’s the one thing that Facebook does right – birthdays.  But even better were all the lovely wishes right here at haineshisway.com, for which I am very thankful.  I relaxed for a while, and then the helper came and took me to a place called Bow and Truss, one of those tapas restaurants.  So, we had little finger foods and plenty of ‘em and they were very good.  Afterwards, we drove to the Apple Store and I got the new iPhone, which they finally had in stock.  AT&T has a new plan where a little money is added to your bill for a year or so and you don’t pay anything for the phone up front, and it also enables you to upgrade after a year, so that’s what I did.  They set the phone up for me, but as always when it came to the Cloud, we couldn’t figure out the password and I had to change it again.  It happens every single time and it’s because on this here computer the Cloud address is a me.com address that can apparently never be changed.  The people at the Apple Store don’t seem to understand this.  So, we changed the Cloud address to match the Apple ID at iTunes and did a new password.  That was all fine until I got home, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

We got all the e-mails in, got the Voice Mail set up and they said I could either get the Apps I have from the Cloud or from restoring from a back-up of the old phone.  As it turned out I did it from the Cloud and that worked perfectly.  Then the trouble began.

I couldn’t get the old phone to back up, but that’s because the new version of iTunes is so bloody screwy and ridiculous.  I finally figured it out, got the phone backed up, and then, because the Apple Store people told me to do it, I restored from the back up.  Bad idea.  It put everything back the way it was on the old phone, including the old Cloud address.  But the old password for the old Cloud address won’t work anymore, and the new password won’t work with the old address.  And I can’t change it on the iPhone without deleting the Cloud.  Maddening.  So, I would really like to take it back to the store first thing, but I’m concerned I wouldn’t get to Dr. Chew in time.  I may try, however, and if need be I will just leave it there and let them get it back to the factory presets and start all over again, but use the me.com address for the Cloud and a separate Apple ID for iTunes.  But it means redoing all the e-mail addresses and the voice mail and getting the contacts in from the Cloud – I just am sickened by how difficult all this is when it’s supposed to be so easy a child could do it.  Well, bring me a child because it’s beyond me.  I should have just left it alone and not done the restore from the back up.  But I wanted my old text messages to come to the new phone and I wanted what was in my iRecorder to come over, too.  So, when I’m there, I think we’ll do those two things one by one so that the other stuff doesn’t come over.  I want the look of the new phone – the new icons (which all disappeared when I restored, the new wallpaper – well, you get the idea.  Totally frustrating and annoying.

Today, I shall be up by nine.  I may call Apple Care and discuss this with them and have them talk me through things, or I may just go to the Apple Store right at ten.  If I get out by eleven I’ll still make the Dr. Chew appointment.  Otherwise, I won’t be able to go to the Apple Store until about one-thirty because I have a twelve o’clock lunch in Sherman Oaks.  It’s only five minutes from the Apple Store, though.  Then I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, and then I’ll relax and choose some songs for the January show.

The rest of the week is meetings and meals and a birthday dinner on Friday night with the Staitmans.  Not sure what’s happening on the weekend.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, call Apple Care, go to the Apple Store, see Dr. Chew and get my permanent porcelain cap, I must have a lunch meeting, I must hopefully pick up packages and I must relax.  Today’s topic of discussion: What was your worst technology nightmare, whether a computer problem, phone problem or some other device problem?  Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have had such a lovely, peaceful birthday.

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