Too stupid for a smart phone?

Cliff and I are latecomers to this “smart phone” thing, but we finally found an affordable deal with T-Mobile and decided to join the modern age.  Now, you’d think I’d have no problem using such a phone, accustomed as I am to using an iPad.  Probably if I’d purchased an iPhone, the problems would be less, but those things are expensive.  So I chose to buy the cheapest phone T-mobile had to offer, an LG model for under $200.  I’ve promised myself I’ll upgrade to something a little better for my birthday next year; meanwhile, my phone often warns me I need to delete some stuff.  Why?  Because it only has 16 measly gigabytes of storage.  Also, it’s as slow as molasses when I use it to surf the ‘Net.  Cliff’s phone works fine for him, but he isn’t computer savvy at all.  So strange things happen, things he refuses to accept blame for even though nobody touches his phone (or computer) except him.  For instance:  Yesterday morning I was enjoying a few rousing games of Words With Friends, comfortable in the recliner with my dog snuggled against me, when pretty music wafted it’s way from the direction of the couch, the area where my beloved husband spends a lot of his waking hours.  Surely he hadn’t changed his ring tone to something so quiet and pleasant; he can barely hear the tone he’s been using.  The music stopped, then began again.  Well, who wants that breaking into her thoughts at a crucial time of gaming conflict?  Not I.  Trying not to disturb the dog beside me, I slithered carefully off the chair to look into the matter and picked up Cliff’s phone.  The word “alarm” lit up and the song started playing again.  

Now, we haven’t set an alarm in 20 years, except for a few times when I was babysitting and knew Cora would be here before 5:30 AM.  Even then I was always awake much earlier, but I didn’t want to take a chance.  Cliff’s last years of being employed, he worked evenings.  So we just didn’t have to worry about getting up in time for much of anything.  Puzzling over his phone, I saw I could hit “snooze” or turn it off.  Of course, I chose the latter.  

When he got up, I told him, “You’ve somehow set an alarm on your phone for 6 AM.”

“No I didn’t,” he replied.  “I don’t even know how to do that.”

This is how it goes when he hits a wrong key on his computer, too.  I’ll hear a mild curse word, glance at him to see what’s wrong, and he’s scowling at the computer.  It’s never his error, of course.  It’s the fault of the &%!*)$ computer.  I generally tell him something along these lines:  “Oh, you mean somebody sneaked in this house and wreaked havoc on your computer while we were asleep?  We’d better put some security cameras outside and catch them in the act!”

Because what are wives for, if not to make fun of a husband’s lack of expertise?  

On another note, I just finished the book “Small Fry”, written by Steve Jobs’ oldest daughter telling about her life with him.  They had a very peculiar relationship indeed.  Sometimes she was in his good graces, sometimes not.  I did find the story interesting.  I never realized the genious who founded Apple was such a weird, sometimes not-very-nice person.  He left his wife so many billions, she’s now one of the richest women in the world, so I guess he was nice to her.

One thing I like about checking out digital books from the library:  Check out all the books you want, start reading, and if you see you aren’t going to like one, return it immediately and try a different one.  No charge.  I still marvel that I have access to all these books at no cost, and I never have to disturb the dog by getting out of my chair to do it.  

That’s all I have for today... simply small talk.  After that last entry where I shared a video of myself singing a song I wrote, I needed to change the pace.  

Sincerely, Donna