Logitech HD Webcam C525 (Product Review)

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Well, since we are working real hard to make it to 3,000 strikeouts on this glob before we retire, I figured I'd go ahead on and post #2996.

I didn't really intend to post this, as it was just an experiment I did.  But, it passed THE RETARD TEST, and seemed lame enough to be figured in the mix.

It's a V-log.

Sorry.

Windows 7 failed on me...

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Sigh...

Fortunately, I have both Carbonite, and an external hard drive that backs up automatically once a day.

Also, MOST fortunately, I had taken the time to create system repair discs when I purchased my HP not so long ago.

MOST fortunate....

Unfortunately, I've got a ton of programs to install...drivers to fetch...and I've lost at least the semblance of order that my desktop gave to my biniss, Dad's biniss, and to my life in general.

Sigh.

I shall be occupied.

For a while.

Why The Apple is the most valuable company in the history of history...(just some "inside baseball" junk for iPhoners)

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I have made NO secret of the FACT that I LOVE my phancy iPhone!

LOVE her!

But, she and I have had a little problem recently.  About 3 weeks ago, her cammer quit working consistently.  I would open up the cammer from the home screen, and would often just get the shutter.

Like this:
 

Said shutter would not open.  Then she'd go back to (wait a minute...I just realized that I'm referring to my phancy iPhone in the feminine...and it occurs to me I've never given her a name.  That sucks.  If you've got a suggestion, please leave it in the comments...what was I saying?  Oh yeah...)  working.

But, about a week ago, she (yet to be given an official name) just refused to take pitchers.  Period.  End of story.

I've been kind of busy...well...real busy, so it took me a week to call up AT and T, to lodge a complaint against her.  But, I did yesterday (even though I was really still really busy).  I swear...that Filipino woman I visited with transferred me right straight to The Apple itself.  And, once I got over to The Apple, another Filipino woman was more than happy to hep me with my problem.

It's a loooooong story...jumped through a lot of hoops (which I was expecting, because I had already looked at The Gooble about my particular cammer problem, and I KNOWED it to be a hardware issue from what Mr. Gooble told me.)

Anyway...I did the hard restart with the nice (very nice) Filipino lady...went through all the "settings" with her, and all was good.  Except the cammer didn't open up.  Finally, I told her that I had read an article on the worldwide computer that said it might work if I did a "restore" to factory settings.  

That was when she asked me if I mrinded being put on hole while she looked up some articles.  I said, "No problem."  About 5 minutes later, she resumed our little talk, and suggested that I go ahead on and try that.  But, I could tell from the tone in her voice that she didn't really think it would work.  

She informed me that if it did not get the cammer shutter opening, I should call back.

Which I did.

When I called The Apple back at their super secret phone number, the service rep gave me a service order #...gave me her name...and her personal extension!  Really. 

Really!  (And, she sounded American...I guess when you call back the third time you get a 'murican.)

Anne, (We'll just call her "Anne," because that's her name) could not have been more helpful!  When I 'splained to her that I'd gone through all the steps to get the cammer working on it/her (telephone to be named later),  Anne said, "Yes, I see...it's all in the notes from your previous calls."

Bitchin'!!!

The end of our conversation was that The Apple is sending me a brand new pHancy new iPhone.

No charge!!!

All I gotta do is send my current pHancy iPhone (yet to be named) back to them.  But...they're gonna send a box, and instructions to do it, and everything!

Lookit...I've got 4 PCs...and no complaints with any of them.  Well, not many...

But, these folks at The Apple are making me scratch my rapidly balding head about where I should invest my next 'puter dollars.

I'll let y'all know if The Apple makes good on sending me a pHancy new iPhone.  But something tells me, they will.

I got a G-Mail from them about it, and everything! 

Goodness Gracious!!!

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I just popped this little bitty deal in my new Sony Cybershot cammer.

So, I've never had anything with more capacity than 2GB in my old Kodak digital camera (3.1 megapixel).  I was curious as to how much storage this is gonna give me.


Good grief!  My cammer tells me that it will store 2210 photos, if shot at 16 megapixels.  3315 if shot at 10 megapixels.  And, 4793 pictures if shot at 5 megapixels.


I think I'd better set this rascal on "5."  I don't want to run out of storage space!!!  (Of course, I did buy 2 @ $19.95 each...$39.90 total, so maybe I'll set it on "10").


It also notifies me that at 1280 x 720 HD (whatever that is), I can record 230 minutes of video.  Heck, that's like...hang on...3.83 hours.  Or, I can shoot in VGA (whatever that is) for 671 minutes.  (I don't even have to make y'all wait...that's a little over 11 hours).


Dang!  I could make me a full length feature film!


I think Imma get right on that...

My 1997 Mercury Sable (better known as "Black Beauty") has been giving me some trouble.

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I swear, I love the old black gal, and she's the best vehicle I think I've ever owned!


But, I need some advice from y'all.


(Heck...I was asking for help about cosmic appearances last night, and now I'm asking for technical advice/experience about my car.  Y'all are gonna get tired of Andy always "wanting something," so I promise I won't ask y'all nothing again for a while).


Okay...probably most of y'all will not know anything about the particular problem I'm having, so I'll put it in a shadow post for anyone that is interested in helping out.

The new "Microsoft Paint" for Windows 7 sucks!!!

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Editorial note:  This may not apply to any of our regular visitors, but I'm posting it anyway.  The Gooble Search© will find it, and help out thousands upon thousands of folks such as myself that truly HATE the version of "Paint" that accompanies Windows 7.

I use "Microsoft Paint" a lot.  Not every day, but often.  As y'all know, I got a new comprutuh, which runs Windows 7 instead of my familiar old XP.  No major objections...7 is way cool, and has lots of good junk I'm learning about.  But, I truly HATE the new p.o.s. "Paint" that Microsoft has come up with to run on Windows 7!!!  

The old XP Paint was clean, easy to use, and gave bitchin' results for even the most retarded amongst us.  I wanted my old "Paint" back.

Not surprisingly, while looking around for a solution, I discovered that there are multiple billions of others that share my confusion, disappointment, and curiosity as to how to get back the Old Paint that we know and love. (Well, not really multiple billions...but a bunch of folks).


There are downloads that you can get.  But to be honest, some of the warnings scared me...having a new comprutuh and all, I DO NOT want to get infected.  Sure, they are probably okay, but I've hung around the 'net long enough to know that if there is another way, I'd rather take it.


The best advice I found is exactly what I did.


Just go find any older machine running XP (The Mrs.' machine does).  Go in and use the "Search" function.  Search for "System32" on drive C:

  When you find that folder, open it.  Scroll down until you find "mspaint," or "mspaint.exe."  (The Mrs.' machine just showed "mspaint.")


Send that file to a thumb drive.  Put the thumb drive in your new computer that runs Windows 7.  Save MSPaint to any location from which you'd like to access it (I dropped it on the Desktop).

Sure enough, I GOT MY OLD PAINT BACK!

Works like a champ, too!

 That is all.  Don't bother to thank me.

I'm iz somewhat comfruzed.

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Okay, so I tore into the cardboard, and styrofoam, and destructions for my new HP comprutuh this afternoon.

A few observations:


1)  Computers run real fast now compared to the old junk I've been using.


2)  This is going to be JUST AS BIG A TASK AS I FIGURED IT WOULD BE!


c)  I'm somewhat confrused.


Good of it is that it seems everything is working properly  (Maybe).  Fired 'er up, installed AVG & Firefox first thing.  Then, accessed my Carbonite account...file restoration is in progress  (I know cause they sent me an e-mail saying it is.  They're good).


Now I plan to install the programs I gots disks for, and then go on up and download the programs I need that I don't have solid in my hands.


I'm pretty sure this is gonna be a long night.


Crud.


I am SURE hoping that Carbonite restores my Firefox bookmarks.  If I have to start over with that, Imma puke.  I think it will, because I think it did last time.


Well...there be mucho to do, and time short iz.


I'll let y'all know how it comes out.


Dang...this comprutuh is fast.  But, I've already had to look around to see WHY all I had was a big ol' HP screen with fishy bubbles on it, when I was expecting the desktop (btw, HP, quit loading all that crap on the startup desktop, would ya'?)


BTW, I am pounding this post out on my Toshiba Netbook.  I know how to use her.


Y'all have a good evening, and I'll see y'all tomorrow.


Maybe.

It used to be lots of fun to get a new comprutuh...

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Just pulled the trigger on a new 'chine!

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HP


Intel Inside (i5)


8 GB ram


1.5 TB hard drive


Thanks for all the advisements, y'all!  Special thanks to Dadman (the Intel expert), who talked me up in processing.  I'm sure I will be glad he did.

I was actually hoping he would, and I got the advice I wanted to hear.


It is due in town on Thursday.


Sure hope this old gal I'm pounding on can hold out until then...

Need a bit of advice...

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Well, my cheapo e-Machine bargain basement computer (the gal has got some years, and MUCH use under her belt) has just about crapped out.


The only reason I bought her at $299 (with a nice 20" monitor) from The WalMart is because the horrid experiment gone wrong, known as Vista, was what the box sellers were loading...and she was the only one I could find handily (was badly in need, as my Compaq had crapped out...leaving me unable to take care of mine, and Daddy's business) that came equipped with XP.  All our business junk was set up on XP, and I was NOT in the mood to take my chances, or lose any more hair over a stupid piece of electronic junk.


She has done a fine job these years, but it has become evident that she's showing her age, and cheapness.  So, Andy is shopping around for a new comprutuh.  My boys have already given me the details about what processor, ram, hard drive specs that I MUST HAVE.  And, I'm pleasantly surprised that my Works 8 database & Office 2003 will (mostly) work with Windows 7.  


Pleasantly surprised.


Just one hiccup with my necessary programs from what I understand...but there is an Open Office deal that I can switch to which should work just fine.  So, I'm getting a new something.  Don't know what just yet, but I'll run it past the experts before I hit the "buy now" button anywhere.


The question I have for y'all is this.  Now, my current 20" monitor is just fine.  There's not a dang thing in the world wrong with it.  But, what's the fun of buying a fancy new comprutuh without a new monitor?


NO FUN, I tell ya'!  So, while I'm sinking bucks in a box, I'm getting a new screen too, because, because...well, just because.  What I'm wondering is what y'all think about me getting a TV instead of a regular monitor.  From what I'm finding, a very nice 26" TV with HD & HDMI plug-in junk is roughly similar in price to a monitor.  I was thinking that if I was gonna spend the money for a monitor, I may as well go ahead on and get a TV instead that would allow me to look at programs if I wanted to (like switch back and forth between the 'net, and college football games).  


Heck, the cable is right here at the desk hooked up to the cable modem, so that's no problem.


What I'm wondering is if any of y'all know of a problem doing that.  I mean...is the quality of the comprutuh image degraded in any way?  Will the video output of my computer match up with the screen size of a TV?  Will I be disappointed if I go that route, or will it be okay?


I figure some of y'all probably use a TV for a monitor, and just hope for a little input.


Y'all don't have to advise me publicly if you don't want to.  You can write your techno-retarded buddy at justandysplace@gmail.com if you'd rather.  I really would like to know if you've got pros, or cons on this.

BTW, if you've got recommendations on new hardware, I'm all ears on that, too.


Thank y'all!

Is the iPhone wrong?

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Maybe somebody can explain this to this dumb hick!


My phancy new iPhone has a World Clock button.  You can select different cities around the world, and find out what time it is there.  So, it's got New York on there, and I added Chicago (even though I don't know anybody in Chicago anymore, but it is in MY time zone...the REAL time zone).


So, I was thinking this morning that I ought to add Kabul, Afghanistan, seeing as Dean is stationed there right now (not in Kabul, but close).  And, look what the iPhone World Clock says.

Now, does that make sense to any of y'all?  Why the 30 minute difference?  Shouldn't it be the same minute, even though different hours?


I guess I could gooble it, but I'm too lazy, and figured somebody out there might be able to solve this mystery.  


(Plus, I just learned that I could take a screenshot of my iPhone, and wanted to try it out.)

My trip to the AT&T Store (Andy got a new iPhone)

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(Editorial note: This post contains cute pictures of Tucker...so ya' might want to hang in there.)

Hey y'all, hugs, kisses, yada yada yada...


Well, it's a long, long story that I shouldn't bore y'all with.  But, as coincidence would have it, within two days of my cheapo AT&T Nokia phone crapping out, The Mrs.' contract with Sprint (which sucks) ran out.


Now, she had a really good Samsung Rant telephone that she just loved!  So, in an effort to keep her phone, we went to The Sprint Store.  Our intent was to finally let #4 son have a cell phone (I'm still not sold on it, but The Mrs. insists that it's time), and get them on a two line plan. The folks were nice, but JEEPERS!  Those folks are awful proud of their voice/text only plans.  


Seriously, it was WAY TOO MUCH for their monthly plans.


Now, my telephone service is a piggyback off of #3 son's AT&T plan.  And, cheap.


So, we all got our heads together and went to the AT&T store to see what we could do.  Turned out like this:


I bought a new iPhone 4 (or 5, not sure which, because, well, because I'm not sure, but it's the newest one you can get) for $99 & added the mandatory data plan.  We piggybacked The Mrs. phone number (she will use the AT&T LG Encore that I had purchased for myself a few days ago...dang good little phone, too), obtained a free Samsung phone for Paul (well...10 bucks).


Total monthly cost added to #3 son's AT&T bill:  50 bucks.


Yep!  50 bucks, and we're all set for communications.


Now...I had never really understood the big deal about the iPhone.  

Until I got one.


This thing is cooler than the other side of the pillow.  I'll admit to being a little overwhelmed when I saw what must be a 482 page instruction manual.  But this thing is so dang user friendly that I've barely looked at the book (actually, I got it on .pdf).  Plus, it seems that every other person I run in to has one, so I've just been able to ask folks how to do such and such...


It's cool.


I'm extremely happy with the outcome.  And, Tina at the AT&T store on East Texas Street is the bomb!


So, we were left with one decision to make.  What to do with The Mrs.' old Samsung Rant telephone???


Well, I went online to Gazelle.com, thinking I might get four or five bucks for it.  Nope.  Not interested.


So, we decided to transfer usage of it over to Great Nephew Tucker (The Mrs. thinks he's ready for his own phone, too).

I think he's figured out how to text.

But, he's having a little trouble with the voice call process...

Hey, Tucker!  You're doin' it rawng!!!

So, I am officially Appleized!


Hey, if y'all iPhone owners have any suggestions for Apps (free ones preferably) that I might find handy, please feel free to suggest.  


This thing is cool...

Just in time for Christmas gift giving! (#3)

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Hey y'all!  Hugs, kisses, yada yada yada...


Have I got an idea for you!?!?!?!?


Yep, indeed I do!  And, it's not something retarded like a butt-wiping extension wand, or a stupid canine DNA swab test deal.  Nope!  This is something y'all can give with pride!


It has always been a problem keeping up with the remote control in our living room.  There's a couple of reasons.  One reason is that the TV up there only gets watched during College Football Season.  I don't watch much TV outside of that, and The Mrs. has her nest kinda' built back in our dark mauve bedroom.  So, she rarely ever looks at the TV in the living room.


Every once in a while the boys will come visit, and they'll look at a show, or a film on DVD up there (which is usually when the remote control disappears into the couch, or my recliner cushion, or somewhere else).  But, the boys were not at fault this time.


Nope, 11 month old Tucker was the culprit this time.  On his daily rounds of pilfering the entirety of Andy's Place, it seems that he got hold of the living room TV remote on Thursday.  So far, I have found one half of it, and one of the two batteries.  I certainly hope he didn't eat the other one...probably didn't, or we'd have known by now.


Anyway, I came in to the market for a new multi-function remote control.  Now, I had had my eye on one for a good little while.  But, I didn't just want to make an impulse purchase without a real need.  But, said "need" had arisen, so I went and got me just what I've been wanting.


I think it would make a great Christmas gift for somebody on your list, too!

 It is a chink made "JUMBO UNIVERSAL REMOTE!"  I have no idea what brand it is, but it's made in China, so it must be good.  And, it controls up to 5 devices, too!


Now, when it says, "JUMBO," they ain't lying!  Just for perspective...

Dang, it's big, huh?

I was so excited to finally get me one of these.  There is NO WAY the boys are gonna be able to lose this sucker, and I can even use it without having to go find my reading glasses!


And, can you believe that this sucker runs on just two AA batteries?  Really!  I mean, that's just 3 volts like the little bitty one we only found half of.  That has got to be an EnergyStar saver deal, or something.


I'm doing my part.  

Man, I like this thing.  It has an automatic "Code Search," too, so you don't have to look at that tiny little print on the instructions trying to find out the numeric code to make it work with your particular equipment.  


I have a Sanyo (code 139).  Not sure what kind of DVD player I have, but it don't matter.  "Code Search" will handle it.  Those chinks are good.


Anyway, I've got a couple of old geezers like myself on my list that I'm gonna get one of these for this Christmas.  And, if you want one, you can get one too.


I bought it at Fred's Super Dollar.  They probably have 'em at a Fred's near you, too.  And, don't worry about the money.  I paid exactly TEN DOLLARS!  Really!  Just 10 bucks for the ultimate problem-solving universal remote.

Go get yourself one, and one for EVERYBODY over 50 on your list.  They'll love you for it.


(I know it ain't good to brag on your personal possessions and all, but every once in a while I make a purchase that I just must show off to y'all.)

If I can figure out how to put this on my cellular telephone (which has a camera in it, too), I'm gonna do it.

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Stolden off Woody.  Just go look at it at that link, and if somebody knows how I can get it, and put it on my cameraphone, please advise.

How to increase blog traffic Tenfold...

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Well, I got in from work, and checked the glob traffic. I actually haven't done that in a while, because...well...because I forgot about Sitemeter. But, I saw it in my "favorites," and looked at it.


Seems that traffic is about ten times normal today. "Hmmmmmm..." says I. So, a couple of clicks later I discover that my "product review" of my The Roku® is being hit like the fat kid in a round of "Smear The Queer."


Lookit!  The Gooble is back loving me again!  Just like the old days when it loved me...

As you click on this, you'll notice that we are ONLY #6 in the search term.  I don't count the junk at the top because it's all company stuff (probably bought and paid for).  But, #6 in this term seems to draw a crowd.

It also just tickles the fire out of me that we come in above "pcworld.com."

Nyuk...


So, the moral of the story is that if you want to have one brief moment of exultant blog traffic induced joy, post a review of a product that is being hammered up hard by one of the big boys that gets millions, or maybe billions of visits a day.


I think I'll go to bed now.  Long night at work...almost didn't get home due to stalled trains, and flooded underpasses.

But, I'm home.  Life is good.

Andy got a Roku! (Product Review)

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Hey y'all!  Hugs, kisses, yada yada yada...


If you're interested in a piece of equipment that allows you to play streaming video from the net (The Netflix®, Hulu, NHL games, Pandora, Amazon junk, etc.) without the need of a pc, then The Roku® just might be for you.

Now, this is not a paid endorsement, nor will I get one red cent if you click through the link I'm gonna give y'all.  I'm doing this product review just as a service to humanity.


It all started like this.  I am quite possibly the last human in North America to purchase a flat screen television set.  Well, maybe not the last, but one of 'em anyway.  Yep, the old 19" RCA in #4 son's room cratered about a month ago.  Nyuk!  When I hauled it out of the house, I looked at the manufacture date.  It was built in 1983, so I reckon we got our money out of that one.


Anyway, I put our old 19" from the bedroom in there, and went down to The WalMart, where I purchased a flat panel Sanyo 26" TV. I noticed all these plugs on the side, and come to find out that it has inputs for about a million sources. So, I began to download pirated movies to my Toshiba netbook, and hooked it up to the TV to look at.


The results were pretty dang good. But, I got to feeling a little guilty about stealing the intellectual property of others. Also, the quality at The Pirate Bay is hit and miss (and, I downloaded two trojan horses, which AVG caught, thankfully).


So, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I signed up for The Netflix®. Instead of the "All You Can Watch Online" program for eight bucks a month, I opted to splurge the extra two bucks a month to also be able to get movies mailed to me that are not available for streaming (there are MANY that are not, so you might want to look in to that if you're considering joining up with The Netflix®).


Now, as y'all know, I am not a big film watcher. But, The Mrs. enjoys looking at movies, and I can tell you that our The Netflix® membership has paid for itself big-time. We were using my netbook to access The Netflix®, and playing it on our new TV.  The problem comes when I take my netbook along with me somewhere, and she's stuck at the house wanting to look at a film or something.


So, I went looking for a cheap way to access The Netflix®. I do not have, nor did I want an X-Box. I certainly didn't want to buy another small netbook just for that. And, even though we have a pc in the bedroom, it is about 10 feet from the television, and the video cable would have to run across a doorway...be plugged up, and unplugged each time it was used, etc.


The Netflix® was promoting The Roku®, so I took a look at it. I figured, "What the heck! For $59.95 (plus tax & shipping), it's worth a shot. Plus, they give you 30 days to return it if you don't like it." So, I bit!


The Roku® arrived just as promised a couple of days after I ordered it.  Dang! It's a little bitty thing, too.


See!

(Our bedroom is not Pepto Bismol pink, regardless of what this picture shows.  That would be gross.  It is a beautiful muted shade of something like a dark mauve, which everyone that passes through that room wants to paint their bedroom like it, but I digress. )

The set-up is very easy.  It comes with RCA cables to connect to your inputs. (You can use an HDMI cable, but TheWalMart is awful proud of those, so I decided to go with what came with it).  It begins setting up immediately after you plug it in.  The setup prompts you to connect to your wireless network (which I had to call #3 son for the code to do it).  It then goes through a search for software updates, restarts, and then prompts you to go to your The Netflix® account, register The Roku® to your account, and it's done.


Well, not completely done. You do have to provide a credit card, or a PayPal account in order to activate the machine. There is no monthly charge for using it, but a payment method must be in place, should you decide to stream some type of premium content from the worldwide computer. (I used my PayPal account, even though I don't ever intend to charge anything. But who knows?)


Then you're ready to get to looking at films. The main menu is very user friendly, and navigates easily. There is an on-screen keyboard that you use to type in the name of a film, or television program available on The Netflix®.  It helps you, too.  As you start to type in letters, it provides a list of possibles, and narrows the list as you type more letters.  That's nice of 'em.  As with using your pc on The Netflix® you can add selections to your queue. If you need to pause for a while you can. Or, if you have to go do something productive, you can just shut it down and it remembers where you left off looking.


I haven't tried accessing Hulu, or Pandora, or anything else yet, but I'll give 'er a rip, and let y'all know if there are any hiccups. You know, I've found myself watching movies again, now that I can look at good films that I like from years and years ago. Most of the crap made recently ain't worth warm spit, but I've enjoyed watching films with The Mrs. You know...good stuff that we looked at years ago, and wanted to look at again.


Heck, last night I was over at The Mayor's pitiful blog, and he featured "The Jerk" as some movie that was supposed to be hard to guess, or something. Nyuk...


I thought, "Man, I'd like to look at "The Jerk" again." So, I did. (Well, at least about the first 20 minutes of it until I fell on off to sleep. But, it was pretty cool to just be able to dial it up at will).


Is this an amazing time, or what?


So, to wrap this up and put y'all out of your misery, I'm gonna go ahead on and give The Roku® two thumbs up, and recommend it to y'all.  You may already have a setup you're happy with, but one of these little things may come in handy in another bedroom, or family room, or wherever.

Now, I gotta warn y'all that it is chink made.  So, if you hate the chinks you might not like that aspect of it.  Just sayin'...

Let me know if you have any questions, and I'll see if I know.

Somewhat good news out of Boston...

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Well, for the second year in a row, my #2 son has finished in 2nd Place at the Eastern United States Nerd Convention!


Yep, he and two friends traveled once again to Boston to compete against other nerds for the Nerd Champeenship last weekend.  

PAX drew over 69,000 visitors to the Boston Convention Center.

(That's a lot of nerd under one roof)

Yep, last year Ross got screwed out of the title of Top Nerd by an equipment malfunction.  Seriously, that ain't no lie.  I saw the video...he was miles ahead in the final round of competition when a power outage halted play.  According to nerd rules, the final round had to be restarted, and he froze up...I guess his pitchin' fingers were wore slap out.


I haven't gotten the story yet about yesterday's final...just a text from one of his buddies saying, "Ross made the finals, but lost.  Again."


The Boston Globe had a nerd photo gallery of the event.  I had to laugh!  The two young men on the left in this photo are his buddies (the one on the far left is the young man that has been living with us for several years).

Nick, and Matt...y'all are famous!

I pick at #2 son about his "gaming," but I guess it's as harmless a hobby as any.  And, he's beginning to make a name for himself in that world.  Maybe it'll turn into a career or something.  Though it's not my cup of tea, millions are in to it.


Dunno.


Regardless, congrats Boy!


Daddy's proud...

This is pretty cool!

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At the end you find out who this guy is.  Thanks, Cowdad!

Yep, I'm in there!

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And, most of the info is correct...

They even have a picture of my house with my information.


Does it bother me?  Not really so much.  But, it is kinda telling of where we're headed.


Pat Austin, over at And So It Goes in Shreveport, alerted me to a site called "Spokeo."  Go check out her post, and then check to see what Spokeo knows about you.

IT'S A MIRACLE!!!

No, it's not a real miracle like the Toasted Elvis, or even the Corn Flake that looks like Indiana, or anything really astounding like that.

Well, maybe it's not a miracle after all.  But, it is well worth noting that a significant event in the history of telecommunications has taken place today!

Y'all are gonna laugh...

The last living adult American under the age of 83 has finally got hisself a cellular telephone.  Yep!

I have resisted getting a cellular telephone all these years for several reasons.  One being that The Mrs. has one, and we never go anywhere without the other...oh, maybe running errands and such.  But we've worked together in our business for so many years, and always travel together, so there just really didn't seem to be much of a need.

Another reason is that my land line has a US/Canada Toll-free number attached to it that my customers can use to place orders, or make inquiries.  That is a big part of my business, so I needed to keep that in place, and couldn't justify the expense of another telephone I'd likely not use much, or at all.

But, we are in a real time of transition here at Andy's Place.  Our business, and work situation is changing, and I'm not going to be around the office all the time to field calls.  Plus, I'll be needing to stay in touch with The Mrs. while I'm "out."

So, I got the bright idea of calling my long distance provider, and asking how much trouble it would be to transfer my incoming toll-free number from my current land line to a cellular telephone.  The answer was, "No problem, Andy!  I can do it for you right now."

Now, that was easy, huh?

It's weird.  I got my first "place of my own" in the Fall of 1978, and for those 32 years, there has never been a time that there was not a hard-wired land line hooked up to Andy's Place. Except for a few days, or a couple of weeks while we were in between houses, there has always been a solid hook-up.  So, it felt pretty funny talking to the nice lady at AT&T the other day, and telling her that Andy's Place no longer had need of their service.

It felt funny.  But, at the same time, it felt kinda good.  Liberating.  Like "Thoroughly Modern Millie Andy," or something.

I would write down my new number for y'all, but I read things about not putting out too much info on the worldwide computer, so I won't.  But some of my non-virtual friends won't be able to call me on the old line, so if you want it, G-mail me at justandysplace@gmail.com, and I'll shoot it to you.

Anyway, let's just suffice it to say that I feel very 90's!

Dang, there's a lot of buttons on this little thing...