Well, dear readers, some days are just plain loco en la cabeza and yesterday was such a day. It was pretty much a comedy of errors from beginning to end, but it all worked out fine, but getting there wasn’t half the fun. I only got about five hours of sleep due to some text dinging things coming in at seven-thirty, which was forty-five minutes before the alarm would have gone off. So, I got dressed and went over to Gelson’s to get some Windex, which I forgot to buy. I came back and she of the Evil Eye arrived and danced a jig when seeing the Windex. I answered e-mails and then moseyed on over to Jerry’s Deli for my light breakfast of matzoh brei and fruit bits. That was just right. I hung out there for about ninety minutes. Before I left, I bought a little container of chicken salad, four pieces of rye bread, a pickle, and some cole slaw – I’d already decided that’s what I’d have for my main meal.
Then I picked up some packages. It was still to early to come back, so I decided to go to the Apple Store nearby the home environment. I couldn’t remember the last time I was there. Because of the way I got my last iPhone, the 7S, I was eligible for a great upgrade. It took me a while to decide on which phone and I was there for over an hour but we couldn’t complete the purchase for a specific reason, said reason completely annoying. So, I came home and decided to get it through AT&T since that’s how the upgrade works. I already knew the Apple Store was giving me three hundred bucks for my old phone, which was in minty-fresh condition, and I hadn’t realized I had over three hundred dollars left on a gift card from my previous phone deal. That took care of all taxes and fees AND Apple Care for two years AND a new magic trackpad, as mine wasn’t holding its charge correctly – something it’s never done but I just never brought it back. The new one works perfectly.
So, I spent an hour on the phone with the AT&T guy – first doing a different plan which lowered my bill by twenty bucks. Then I told him of the Apple Store problem and he said we could do the purchase over the phone. So, I told him what I wanted and he did all that paperwork but was very slow about it. He then gave me the surprising news that the phone would be delivered to me by three pm. Apparently AT&T partner with a company called ENJOY, and they have the phones, set them up, and even have some accessories for them. I was assured that the issue that arose at the Apple Store would not be an issue. The delivery person texted me immediately and told me how it would work when he arrived and of course the issue WAS an issue. But he was great, figured out a workaround, and all was well.
In the meantime, Sandy Bainum came by to pick up some CDs and we had a lovely chat. Then the two delivery fellows arrived and she went on her merry way. I got the iPhone XR Max, which is the size of my iPhone 7S (a tiny bit smaller, but the screen itself is bigger), in gold, and it’s really so beautifully designed. They told me they’d get it all going then it would complete by itself. I told them they’d be staying until it had completed – they liked me and thought that was funny and they did stay. They were great. The set-up is so easy, because they just tell it to back up the new phone from the Cloud – and the old phone had just done its own back-up so was completely current. It had to do an immediate update to the latest IOS system, which just came out two days ago – that actually took the longest, about eight minutes. The actual transfer of data took all of two minutes – I couldn’t believe it. All passwords came over, so that was great, save for the two gmail accounts – had to manually enter those.
They left, and I went back to the Apple Store to complete the Apple Care thing and get my new magic track pad. I came home and set that up. The one thing I hadn’t done in the set-up of the phone was the new face recognition thing, which replaces the thumb ID. In fact, there’s no home button on this phone – some people hate that, but I don’t mind at all and got used to it very quickly. This has a better screen, 5K resolution, OLED, and long battery life.
Then I sat on my couch like so much fish and girded my loins and finished watching The Big Fix. It really is bad. Dreyfuss is doing all his tricks from Jaws, Close Encounters, and The Goodbye Girl – like Ricky’s Greatest Hits. Using his Academy Award clout, he was one of the producers. He has a Jew-fro as Moses Wine, former dissident and rabble-rouser turned PI. I thought the writing was terrible, the score by Bill Conti is ridiculous, veering from comedy scoring to Rocky-type scoring, to maudlin scoring. The mystery is convoluted and its solution is so perfunctory and of the “who cares” variety. The only saving grace of the film are the LA locations, although the director, the very bad Jeremy Paul Kagan, doesn’t shoot them especially well. But I’m glad I stuck it out because two-thirds of the way through we got the money shot – Dolores Drive-In on Wilshire near La Cienega and a regular hangout of mine. There’s no purpose to the shot, but it’s just great to see it. Can’t really recommend this one and the transfer via Universal is not so good.
After that, I listened to lots of music, and then took a shower. I spiffed myself up and then set up the face recognition. It took me a while to get the hang of what it was asking for and when to turn and where to look, but I got it done. So, I shut off the phone, let it be off for a minute so it could lock, then swiped up but it was still on. I couldn’t understand it. I tried it three more times and it wouldn’t seem to lock. I researched on Google and came up empty. Then I tried it again and I realized it WAS locked and when I woke it it recognized my face and unlocked. That is just amazing. I tested that theory by putting it to sleep then stepping to the side so my face wasn’t near the screen and voila – locked and safe.
Today, I can sleep in, then I’ll eat under 1000 calories – have no idea what but I will stick to that for the rest of this week and the next. I have to be strong about this. Then the main goal will be to get the commentary written and then I’ll find something to watch.
Then it’s a week of meetings and meals and going and doing and doing and going and a work session and whatever else that needs doing.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, sleep in, eat, write the commentary and then find something to watch. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s free-for-all day, the day in which you dear readers get to make with the topics and we all get to post about them. So, let’s have loads of lovely topics and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, after a loco en la cabeza day.