Friday, June 27, 2014

7 Quick Takes {Take 45} I'm an idiot edition...

-1- Happy Friday everyone! And happy feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. :) It's a beautiful warm day here in western New York. I'm going strawberry picking this afternoon with Mike and the kids. And yes, it will be fun. I have to be honest and admit though, that I will miss my usual afternoon spot of alone time prior to the weekend. #introvertwoes But I'll make it. :) Dance class tonight, lots of festival preparation and costume fretting, oh joy!

-2-"So...how do you work this thing?!"

And here we are at the idiot part. I'm a little, what you could call, BEHIND when it comes to technological devices. I'm a bit thrifty (translation: I choose to spend my money on yarn and books instead, not that it goes unspent :0) and I'm married to someone who flat out doesn't like new technology and social media. We're talking, he only got a cell phone a few years ago and a *flip phone* at that, and has been on Facebook for approximately 12 months. This is what we're dealing with here, people. And so he doesn't exactly encourage me to purchase all sorts of new gadgets. But I finally reached a point wherein I couldn't take it anymore - I have good friends who are long distance from me, and I want to be able to video chat with them. I purchased a web cam.

*angels sing*

Well, they sang for a little while. Until I realized that the inexpensive USB plugin web cam that I purchased was pretty, you know, crappy. Picture it, at long last, I connect my video call:

"HEY!!!! Can you hear me?! I don't think this microphone is working all that great."

"HI!!!! What? Did you say that you are wearing a habit?!"

"Ha! I think this microphone is bad, oh dear. Can you see me ok?"

"Well, your forehead is cut off, but the picture is decent."

"Ugh, let me adjust this thing again, but it's so dicey.Whenever I touch it, it tends to fall of the monitor entirely. Let's see..."

*momentarily sees nothing but the ceiling*

And so, we have great fun, but I was concerned that the camera wasn't really good enough for what I needed it for, yet I hesitated to spend more money on equipment I know nothing about. Until suddenly...

-3- Even the dense ones have bright moments every once in a while...

I had a Eureka! moment. I have a new smartphone. I don't pay for data, so I've done anything more with it than text and occasionally call someone. But it has wifi capabilities. I don't know why I never put 2 and 2 together that this means that I can connect to the Internet when I have a wifi signal. I mean, I was able to do a texty chat Google Hangout on there, so maybe there is a way to do video too?

*slaps palm to forehead*

Of course there is. There is a little video camera icon right in the Google Hangout screen. I call her. We have a super enhanced video chat experience. Much squealing is heard throughout the land. We're planning a cocktail hour version sometime next week. :0

It would probably be best not to record that one...

-4-"Oh wow, so now I can, like...do stuff on here! Like normal people do!"

So...I finally downloaded the Twitter and Facebook apps, and maybe now I can actually post stuff to Facebook? :0 I was always so jealous of people who could just snap a photo and post it to Facebook or Twitter. Me? I had to use our big, clunky camera and then find the USB cord, upload the photo, usually the file size was then too big for Twitter, so I had to do this *ridiculous* Powerpoint manuever wherein I changed the file type and size...Is it any wonder why I rarely post photos? My new smartphone has a great camera in it. Of course, I can only take the photos holding the phone with the back facing me, so it might be a bit awkward. Maybe I could just twist a bit...

*slaps palm to forehead*

Right. The smart people know that there is a way to flip the camera view around, that's how they all take selfies (I loathe that word, but in reparation for my technological idiocy I will use it here). I had been wondering about that little icon of the camera with arrows pointing around it as if indicating a 360 directional shift. Yep. Friends are now being photobombed with selfies that I text:

The miracle of modern technology: I can now text and share on social media my bad hair days.
-5- "I won't play if I have to be evil."

So when I'm not making a mockery of 21st century living I've been playing a board game with Mike and Henry in the evenings called Talisman. I'm not really a big board game gal, but since both of the fellas love it so much, I agreed to be a sport and play a game with them. It's a good vs. evil type of game, which I like, so that helps. And rather than randomly having to pick a character (some of which are good, and some of which are evil), they let me choose between the monk and the priest, since those are the religious characters and they know how I roll. There is no nun, or believe me I would have been all over that. I chose the monk and pretend that he's a nun. I take my first turn and have to draw a card:

"Oh! I'm being visited by an angel and given extra strength. I love this, look how cute she is!"

*serenity fills my corner of the room*

*Mike and Hank roll their eyes*

On subsequent turns, my roll takes me to the chapel...:

"The chapel?! I definitely want to go there."

"Yes, if you're good, like you are, you can pray in the chapel and add to your strength."

"Oh! Oh my. Yes, I want to go pray, I love that."

*aura of sanctity permeates my side of the board*

*more amused eye rolling from Mike and Hank*

...but I also start to draw less savory cards:

"What's this? A goblin?"

"Yes, you have to fight him."

"Oh. I liked the angel better. What if I go this way instead...Oh. There's a demon card over there. Would I have to fight him?"

"Yes."

"But I would win." *righteous sniff*

...and come to the realization that my character could potentially undergo some changes:

"Watch out for Hank, because he can carry more spells than the rest of us can, and it's possible that he could turn you evil."

"WHAT?! I don't want to play if I have to be evil."

"It's ok, you can still win if you're evil."

"Well, I don't WANT to win if I'm *evil*!"

I doubt they're going to ask me to play with them again. :0

-6- Currently being read in the evenings on my Kindle...

Whispers of the Bayou, by Mindy Starns Clark:

Mindy has written a few Amish titles that I have read and liked, so I downloaded this given how much I enjoyed her other work. It's published via Harvest House, a Christian publisher, so this falls into the general inspirational category of romantic suspense. It's set in Louisiana and involves a mysterious house that the heroine is set to inherit. I'm really enjoying it so far!

-7- Book Club!

 This past Wednesday was Catholic Book Club day, and I reviewed Something Other Than God, by Jennifer Fulwiler. If you have read the book, be sure to check out my post and write in your own comments! Next month, on July 23rd, we have Pope Awesome and Other Stories by Cari Donaldson in the wings. Join in!

Ok, I'm off. Not sure if I can blog on Monday since we have the electrician coming to the house and I don't know what the day will be like. But I'll definitely be with you on Tuesday. *insert heart here* *using asterisks since Blogger doesn't like it when I actually insert a heart there* Make sure to head to Conversion Diary for more 7 Quick Takes!

4 comments:

  1. Have you tried Skyping from your phone? Depending on what type of phone you have, you may even be able to video chat from it. :D My best friend and I use Skype rather than call each other just because her apartment is in an area with awful cell reception. Since we both have wifi, too, it doesn't even use data or minutes, and the Skype app is free!

    (I sound like an advertisement, but oh well...)

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  2. And this is why, during dinner, my husband reminded me of this little clip from Wanderlust. That is totally you!!!

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  3. Most lap tops also have cameras...and tablets....I Skype with family. It's the only way to stay in touch.

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  4. One of my coworkers (at a construction company) recently upgraded from a flip phone so old he had to pull out the antenna. PULL OUT THE ANTENNA. Now he has a company-issued iPhone 5c. I don't know how well he has adjusted to this telephonic time travel.

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