What's New?

Well we finally did it--we purchased cellphones, or mobiles as they are called here. Actually, it was my pushing the issue that got us to the purchase point. I kept thinking about all the backroads we love to drive on. As part of our car insurance, we have very good road recovery coverage (the equivalent of AAA) but what good would it be if we broke down or had some mishap out in the boonies and couldn't contact anyone to come rescue us? I have been talking with Don about this for a few months now and so we eventually decided the time had come.

Don did online research into the sort of phone we'd want (no need for another digital camera just a basic pay-as-you-go phone would do) and came up with the make and model that would be best for us: the Nokia 2310. We went to Perth Friday afternoon and ran a series of errands, the last of which was not only to purchase the phone but also to find the network that had the best coverage in Comrie which is spotty because we're in a valley surrounded by hills. (Out of the 4 networks available to us in Perth, only 1 had good coverage.) So we are now possessers of mobiles. That isn't to say we're mobile users--yet.

As the photo above shows, we are in the process of learning to use our phones. Unfortunately we are so last millennium, that is to say, way behind the learning curve! All the instructions assume you have just bought your 2nd, 3rd, or nth phone and already know the cellphone basics. I read all the instructions that came with the phone then went through all the Nokia 2310 online tutorials and still had to do a Google search and scan about 20-25 websites before I found one that would tell me how to type on the damn dinky keypad! Excuse me but it is not intuitive that you should have to hit the "mno" button three times in succession to get an "o" and two times to get an "n"! After about 2 hours of reading instructions, doing the online tutorials, doing the Web search, scanning through Websites, and a lot of trial-and-error, all I had to show for my time was that I had managed to (a) type in Don's name and mobile number, (b) assign him an icon to add him as a contact on my mobile, (c) change my display from red to teal, and (d) run my phone battery down so that it needed to be recharged because I had turned the damn thing on and off so many times!

Then, like an intelligent chimpanzee, I taught Don what I had learned and he went onto the Nokia Website and managed to do in about 15 minutes what it had taken me all morning to do. He actually added 2 contacts on his phone--my mobile number and our home phone number. That's likely to take me a mere hour to do tomorrow! (I'm taking today off.)

We've done quite a bit of socializing this week. On Wednesday evening, we had Helen and Gordon Rae over for a meatloaf-and-mashed potato supper and then watched a DVD of the original film "Arsenic and Old Lace." It holds up very well and kept us laughing throughout.

On Thursday evening, Trish and Haig Hamilton and we went into Crieff for dinner at the Thai restaurant. They have been wanting to try it and I suggested that we go together. Trish had hosted our book group on Thursday afternoon so that evening seemed the perfect time to go. We had a good meal and enjoyed our time together as ever.

Last night we had Lorna and Syd Peedle over for a meal. These are the couple I stayed with outside of Glasgow last May when I went to the Loch Lomond Quilt Show and then stayed over for a workshop the next day. They also are the people who own Comrie Cottage which we used to rent when we came to Comrie on holidays before we moved over. They were in Comrie this weekend doing a changeover at the cottage and so we took advantage of their being in town to have them over. Don made one of his best roast briskets ever with a deep rich gravy. Mmmm. I made The Best Peach Pie, a recipe from Nora Ephron's book Heartburn and truly the best peach pie recipe I've ever tried. We had an enjoyable evening catching up with them.

Speaking of Nora Ephron, Robbie Innes has loaned me her copy of Ephron's latest book, I Feel Bad About My Neck, a hilarious series of essays about women's issues having to do with aging. I frequently find myself laughing out loud while reading it. I highly recommend it.