New Phones and Online (My Costco Trip)
God, yes, I love online!
So we recently broke down and got new phones for the house. We needed them pretty badly, frankly. Not one of our phones worked worth a damn. The only decent phone from before has a battery that can't hold a charge more than an hour or so... (sigh)
We deal with a serious issue here, anyway. Our house -- and several houses right around us -- are in a 'dead zone' for telephones. (That means portables and cell phones -- but as we have no line phones anymore, well...)
Thankfully, since getting my new cell phone I've had far less trouble with this! But Marilyn mistressmarilyn still deals with it all the time with her cell phone. (She needs a new one!)
(The same has always been true of our portable phones, too.)
Anyway, during the recent trip to Costco, I bought the new phones. One base unit that we put in our living room and another non-base (doesn't need a phone line -- is just plugged in) here in our office.
I wonder where that slip for Costco is... ???
Found it! The Costco trip was exactly one week ago (Monday, May 7). Wow, it seems like it was weeks ago! That how much we're currently packing into every day, I guess... The phones were $59.99, which I think was a great price, by the way.
We've never had a phone set up in our living room since we moved in here, believe it or not! When we moved in here in 1994 (wow, it's been 12 years!!!), there was no phone jack in that room. But back when we were thinking of getting TiVo, we had one put in -- and then never used it, until now. I set up a small table that is just big enough to hold the phone -- and is near a chair where you can sit if you want.
Prior to this we've always had our answering machine downstairs in the family room, so it's taking a bit of getting used to. (Not surprisingly, after a decade of having it set up differently!) Anyway, this morning I wanted to change the number of rings before the answering machine kicks in. The default 'four' wasn't nearly enough! But could I locate the damn instruction manual? Of course not. It's no wonder, we all the stuff we have here for work right now, I guess. But frustrating? Hell, yes!
Then I thought, 'why not check online and quit wasting time hunting?' -- so I did just that! The phones are Panasonic (great phones, by the way -- our best 'old' phone was a Panasonic, too), so I went to the website. There I found the pdf of the manual and just read it right on the computer.
I also discovered that we can pick up our messages from the handsets!!! I had no clue that was true! So I don't need to actually go sit in the living room to do that -- I can just use the handset here in the office.
How cool is that?
So far my favorite feature is the built-in speaker phone, which I use almost constantly. There's very little distortion and I love being 'hands free.' That way I can work (type or cook) while I talk, which is perfect! (I used to try rigging up dozens of other ways to be 'hands free' with other phones -- using ear jacks and headsets and so on -- but they never worked worth a damn, frankly.) Well, I've no clue what I did with the manual. I'm sure it's right here under my nose. But no matter! I love online. I really, really do...
In other news, I have my Cake Mania back!
Okay, I'm sure most people would think it's a very stupid game. But it's mindless and I enjoy it, so what the hell. (I got it last November and play it every now and then.) I was bummed that I couldn't get it loaded again, after my crash -- but I wrote to the company and they fixed me up pretty quickly, actually! Good deal.
Unlike my experience with Corel regarding Paint Shop Pro PHOTO XI!
I plan to slam both Corel and this product at every opportunity, just so you all know.
And considering there are thousands of members in the PSP communities I help moderate, that gives me many, many chances to do so...
I'm more burned than I can ever say that I didn't hear back in response to my large and detailed letter to the company. Marilyn mistressmarilyn bought me the software for my birthday the first part of December (2006), and I've had nothing but trouble messing with it ever since.
Too bad Jasc sold out to Corel! I love Paint Shop Pro, but clearly won't be supporting Corel from here on out...
Well, I can't put it off any longer. (grin) I really must get to work!