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Things happen

August 24, 2008 in Blogging, Life in General, Technology, Travel | No comments

I’ll make this brief.  My hiatus from posting was due to equipment issues of two sorts: my back and my computer.  The outcome for both was positive, but clearly took my focus off of blogging. 

When I went to Toronto just 13 days after surgery, it was with my surgeon’s blessing.  In fairness, however, he did say that four weeks was usually his minimum.  I feel that being there was absolutely essential, so I have no regrets for boarding the plane.  On the other hand, I now understand why Dr. White usually has his patients wait a full month before airline travel — especially the 5-hour-each-way kind of flights. 

The day or two following our return flight, I began to feel pains that were eerily reminiscent of the pains that sent me to surgery in the first place.  I was scheduled to lead Stadia through Strategic Planning (Session Two) on Monday through Wednesday, but I knew that would only make matters worse.  Tom McGlinchey graciously agreed to lead the effort, giving me a chance to take Naproxen for the inflammation and to rest for three days. 

The good news is that the plan worked.  On Thursday I returned to work and had my first physical therapy session and since then the pain has virtually disappeared.  I credit rest and a return to a healthy, back-supporting regimen. 

No sooner was my back on the mend than my computer went on the fritz.  No connectivity at all, either wired, wireless or even broadband to Verizon.  I was dead in the water.  With the great help of our IT team, I was actually put in a new ThinkPad T61 laptop on Friday, which may tell you what I’ve been doing for the last 36 hours.  Ah, the joys of reconfiguring a new computer. 

So, I’m back online in two important ways.  If you are in the habit of checking my posts (or have RSS feed), you may reasonably expect more stirrings of life from me.

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One way to spend a day

July 14, 2008 in Family, Technology, Travel | No comments

Weeks ago I happily agreed to drive from Heidelberg to the Frankfurt airport to pick up my mother-in-law and two nieces from Arizona today.  Their flight through Philadelphia was to have landed at 10:20am.  In the middle of the night, AJ’s phone rang but we weren’t able to answer in time.  Message retrieval didn’t work because AJ always uses speed dial on her phone, and this is a global loaner.  Sooo, we assumed that the message was about a delayed flight.

You know the old saying about what happens when you assume, and that sure happened this time.  I dutifully raced to the airport and planted myself outside customs.  Sure enough, the Philly flight was 35 minutes delayed.  After waiting for 1 full hour after the delayed arrival time, I was the sole greeting party in Terminal 1, Exit 3 from customs.  No mother-in-law, no nieces, no joy!

It was then (and only then) that I decided to check my own phone.  To my surprise, I had never turned it on this morning.  Once power was applied, voila…a voice message dropped in delivering the voice of my travel-weary mother-in-law informing me that they missed their Philly connection and got re-routed through London Heathrow and would not arrive until 4:30pm. 

After all my work to keep us globally connected with loaner phones from Verizon, the one step I forgot was to turn my phone to the “On” position.  That always helps!

So here I sit in the American Airlines Admirals Club in Frankfurt Airport, eating cream of zucchini soup and a hard roll, typing this update on a public computer.  If my accomodations were commensurate with my level of techno-intelligence on this day, I would be sitting on the hard floor mooching packets of free mustard from strangers.  Thankfully I am enjoying comforts that help to take the sting out of my stupidity. 

Now I’m just hoping they said Frankfurt and not Munich!    

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Free Global Phones for Travel Abroad

July 5, 2008 in Technology, Travel | No comments

I never thought I’d be able to write “free global phones,” but the day has finally arrived.  In anticipation of our trip to Europe, the best I was hoping for was a disposable phone I’d buy there or a rented phone from the U.S.  I’m happy to report that Verizon Wireless was way ahead of me this time.

It turns out that for existing customers they have a Global Travel Program where they will send you a loaner Motorola Z6C World Edition cell phone for up to 30 days of use for just the cost of shipping.  Even that is impressive since $9.95 covers both FedEx 2 day shipping to your home as well as your FedEx return label. 

Here’s how it works.  Sometime before departing, you simply activate the loaner phone.  Until you reverse that process after your trip, the loaner phone is now your cell phone whether at home or abroad.  Until you leave U.S. soil, your calls are just part of your regular monthly plan.  Same minutes, same network, same everything…just a different phone to talk into. 

Once you set foot on foreign soil, things get interesting.  You’re now able to initiate or receive calls instantly connecting you with Aunt Abigail in Albuquerque or the U.S. Embassy in Ecuador.  What changes is the rate plan.  Forget unlimited calling or free nights and weekend.  You are now on a “pay as you go” plan, so be aware of the cost to converse or text.  Rates vary by country, but they range from $1.29 to $2.49 per minute talked, so keep it short and sweet.  Text messaging is a different story, and you’ll spend $0.50 for each address sent and $0.05 for each message received.  For more details, click here to go to Verizon’s Global Travel Program.

Since we have three personal phones in our family, I was able to get three global phones for the price of shipping.  Now when we are running around Heidelberg, coordinating pre- and post-wedding activities, we can connect with each other for as little as $0.55 cents per text message.  That’s a real bargain.  If some circumstance requires a one-minute phone call between our family members, I’m willing to spend $2.58 ($1.29 x two) to work out some important last-minute arrangement.  If I see a call coming in from my Aunt Abigail in Albuquerque, I’ll have to decide how much I like her!  I can always let her call go to voice message and pick it up later.

Sorry Aunt Abigail.  Nothing personal.

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