Unwelcome Change

I'm a creature of great habit. At best, I view change suspiciously when there's a choice involved in a change. At worst, I go kicking and screaming into change of the unavoidable sort. That might seem contradictory because I never motored on two wheels until two years ago and that was by choice, but I assure you that that was a noteworthy exception to what's mostly a rule. (Okay, Joe P., I know what you're thinking, but really - I'm set in my ways for the most part.) Thus, when the speaker in my trusted and beloved cell phone of the past two years stopped working yesterday morning, I felt like I'd been kicked in the gut because I knew that a significant change was inevitable.

I loved my Motorola V365 and when I was eligible for an upgrade last August I didn't even consider swapping it. It had all the features I wanted in a phone, and then some, and it had an unheard of talk time of nine hours on a single charge. I looked at what AT&T was offering every now and then, figuring that some day the V365 would conk out. Knowing that I'd be brand loyal when the time came, I studied the Motorolas, but none of them did anything for me - until the Tundra became available not long ago. I might have jumped on it, but I really wasn't ready to part with the old one which had served me very well. Besides, there was a huge and significant difference - the Tundra didn't have a 2.5mm headset jack and I'd grown accustomed to doing most of my talking with a headset. On the other hand, the Tundra's a man's phone. It's a substantial handful and I like that. It was the only phone I considered as a worthy replacement for the phone on which I'd spent 62 days' worth of talk time over the course of the past nearly two years.

After a full day of playing with it, there are some features I'm going to miss terribly that it doesn't have. The V365 was chock full of more options than the average bear would ever consider even trying. I probably tried every one of them and even on Friday when I had to part with it there were things I'd probably have changed again by way of totally personalizing it to suit me perfectly. On the bright side, I was able to find a variety of wired headsets designed to interface with the Tundra's mini USB port so the biggest change that I'd dreaded isn't a problem. It's going to take some getting used to, but I think I'll come to love it.

Oh! It takes a decent picture, too, for a cell phone. Here I am, through its eye, with the camera that's usually glued to my hip and with which I take about 98% of the pictures that make their way here.

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I was incensed when I came out of Wal-Mart this afternoon and saw this...

Not only was the handicap scooter parked behind the motorcycle and blocking it into the small space, but even as I sat there firing up the BV I watched a guy put the shopping cart right in front of the bike. (If he hadn't been much larger than I, I'd have said something nasty to him.) I'm really sick and tired of seeing too many of what I'd call "Welfare Mamas" who don't appear to be truly handicapped riding those things through Wal-Mart with their dirty little offspring running through the aisles throwing things around and acting generally uncivilized. While I'm on Wal-Mart have you noticed that they don't really care at all about customer service any more? They have 20 register stations and about four of them open on a shift regardless of the wait times. And, does there always have to be some kids' sports group huckstering its wares at the main entrance?

On the brighter side of things, I happened to roll into Sheetz for gas just as the big truck was filling the tanks. I like those colorful trucks of theirs. For some reason seeing one always puts a big smile on my face.

And even better than that? Getting to Krispy Kreme while the HOT DONUTS sign was lit and watching the little guys being made!

I suppose it's the ups and downs of life that make it interesting, but I do prefer those ups!