Planning and Preparing

Fiorella is packing for her trip to Ohio. She has a list and is checking it twice, but knows she'll forget something vital. But one thing she won't forget is La Senora Isadora de la Computadora. You'll be receiving daily updates.
*
Minnesota son helped her buy a NEW CELL PHONE for the trip and sent it to her overnight, and of course, as she's already mentioned, Daughter will be accompanying her on the trip. To top it off, Bastrop son will be checking on his father daily while Fio is gone. So proud of all three of them.
*
This will be Fiorella's last trip to Ohio so she'll be taking a lot of pictures. She's especially interested in getting a picture of her daughter sitting on the same glacial rock that Fio has  photo of herself sitting on when she was about seven.

All the News That's Fit to Print

Fiorella is determined to post a picture of a nascent bluebonnet patch with the heading "A watched bluebonnet never blooms, or at least it seams that way," a clever little observation she made when she first started trotting off to Verizon to get her newish phone set up. Actually, now, five days and three trip to Verizon later, there are four bluebonnets starting to bloom around the driveway, but Fio doesn't want to lose such a good  line so if you're reading her FB posts too, please don't give her away.
*
La casa has been taking a couple of hits lately.  Some of the electricity is out and the alarm system went wacko.
*
The local newspaper covered Fio's four-person march quite nicely, and Fiorella's planning to photocopy the page and preserve it for posterity. But first she'll probably wag it in the faces of everyone she knows.
*

Passing Fad?

Fiorella has albums full of photos, boxes full of photos, drawers full of photos, even cabinets full of photos.  She knows what her grandparents looked like because of these photos. Her own life and her children's lives were documented in these photos.  But no more.  Not since the cell phone camera arrived on the scene. The newbie was fun to aim and shoot, a novelty--but few of the photographs were ever printed.  And when the cell phone died, the photos died.

History became oblivion.

Lost Cause

Nine years ago, Fiorella's primary form of communication was her cell phone, and she even knew how to enter names and numbers into her directory.  Then she moved to the country, to five-plus acres on a dip in the local topography.  Yes, a cell-phone dead area--unless, of course, you walk to the top of the driveway next to the road or lean off the second-floor balcony.

Cell phones have changed a lot in the past nine years, but Fio, because she's home most of the time, is way behind the curve.   Husband uses his cell phone to take pictures, look up information, do calculations, record and play videos, monitor his stocks, check the weather, find a road map, even read a book on his cell phone. The only thing Fio knows how to do is charge the battery.

Another case of use-it-or-lose-it.

Personal Loudspeakers

One thing about cell phones--they've got us sharing our private lives with other prople, whether we mean to or not.

Like the teen-age daughter of a friend of Fio's, whose phone accidentally dialed home when she was in a pal's car discussing how much she'd had to drink at a party over the weekend.

Like the two women in the post office this afternoon while Fio was buying stamps from the automated teller.  One woman was just getting started on an animated discussion about her grandchildren when she was vocally challenged  by another woman talking to someone about finding a place to park her trucks, apparently a fleet.  It was like a two-person new music duet.

Fifteen minutes later, Fio stopped by HEB to pick up some steaks for supper and, while walking toward the check-out, heard a woman with a phone to her ear bite out, "I'll get you for adultery!"

Fio paused for a second with her mouth open and met the eyes of a woman who had just passed the speaker.

"That was interesting,"  Fio commented.

The other woman nodded.   "Did you hear it too?"

Of course, Fio did.  When it comes to cell phones, the whole world hears everything.