Cell Phone and Cycling
Jun. 6th, 2015 05:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stormdogI called up my cellular service provider, FreedomPop, to address a few issues I've been having lately that have been making me crazy. First was the fact that my use of voice and text services was suspended due to, according to the message on the phone, insufficient account balance. My services include unlimited text and voice, so that was confusing. It turns out that minor use of data is required for voice and text services, so once I'm out of data, unlimited voice and text becomes no voice and text. Annoying, but it will work again tomorrow.
The tech on the phone spoke as though automatic top-up being disabled on my account was an error that he could transfer me to billing to resolve. No, I don't want auto top-up. Really really.
I asked about the fact that nobody can seem to hear my voice unless I'm using speakerphone or a Bluetooth earpiece, but he didn't seem to understand my issue. Either that, or he just wanted me to update my phone's firmware before addressing other issues, because that's what he wanted me to do. Unfortunately, the instructions he sent do not actually work; there's no system update option where there's supposed to be. Posi looked at it in Indiana and he couldn't figure it out either. I'll have to call back on that.
Googling led me to what seems to be a solution for the bad microphone issue. Crud gets in the microphone hole on this phone and other people have had success by sticking a pin up in the hold and wiggling it around. I did that and the situation seems to be much improved. My phone is a phone again! Mostly.
None of that helped, though, when I was driving around the terminals at O'Hare trying to pick Miriam up, forty-five minutes late thanks to rush hour traffic, not knowing which area she'd be at, not being able to contact her by phone, and freaking out that I'm running out of gas and that I'll stall in the middle of traffic and get towed and arrested. Fortunately I saw her during my first loop around. Once she got in the car I totally lost my composure at her. I hate dealing with O'Hare, and this was the worst experience I've had doing it.
All that aside, it was really wonderful to see her again!
I just did a quick 16 mile ride from Evanston down to the south end of the North Shore Channel Trail. More interesting early 20th century infrastructure, the channel was created shortly after the reversal of the Chicago River to help flush the north branch of the Chicago river down toward the Mississippi. The north branch of the river connects to the channel via a small waterfall. I explored the park around the junction briefly, seeing several fisherman and some large birds hanging out opportunistically.
It was a great trip. I wish I had more time to get to know this city by bike.
---
Danae's parents are in town for most of a week and I'm spending some time with them. They took us out for food at Walker Pancake House this morning, a place full of salvaged leaded glass windows and other architectural remnants. Their hotel has a strange sort of modernist aesthetic. The chairs in the restaurant are all plastic. Some of them are transparent, which makes the crumbs and other detritus piled up behind the seat cushions pretty obvious. I'm not sure they're a good choice.
It's nice to see people I care about who live far away!
There was a dog parked in a car outside the Pancake House. The windows were cracked open, but the dog looked overheated and the car was in directly sunlight. I was worried enough to call the police department. They did send a squad car around ten or fifteen minutes later, but the dog-owner had just left. I'm glad the dog's ok, but I wish people would think more about what they're doing.
The tech on the phone spoke as though automatic top-up being disabled on my account was an error that he could transfer me to billing to resolve. No, I don't want auto top-up. Really really.
I asked about the fact that nobody can seem to hear my voice unless I'm using speakerphone or a Bluetooth earpiece, but he didn't seem to understand my issue. Either that, or he just wanted me to update my phone's firmware before addressing other issues, because that's what he wanted me to do. Unfortunately, the instructions he sent do not actually work; there's no system update option where there's supposed to be. Posi looked at it in Indiana and he couldn't figure it out either. I'll have to call back on that.
Googling led me to what seems to be a solution for the bad microphone issue. Crud gets in the microphone hole on this phone and other people have had success by sticking a pin up in the hold and wiggling it around. I did that and the situation seems to be much improved. My phone is a phone again! Mostly.
None of that helped, though, when I was driving around the terminals at O'Hare trying to pick Miriam up, forty-five minutes late thanks to rush hour traffic, not knowing which area she'd be at, not being able to contact her by phone, and freaking out that I'm running out of gas and that I'll stall in the middle of traffic and get towed and arrested. Fortunately I saw her during my first loop around. Once she got in the car I totally lost my composure at her. I hate dealing with O'Hare, and this was the worst experience I've had doing it.
All that aside, it was really wonderful to see her again!
I just did a quick 16 mile ride from Evanston down to the south end of the North Shore Channel Trail. More interesting early 20th century infrastructure, the channel was created shortly after the reversal of the Chicago River to help flush the north branch of the Chicago river down toward the Mississippi. The north branch of the river connects to the channel via a small waterfall. I explored the park around the junction briefly, seeing several fisherman and some large birds hanging out opportunistically.
It was a great trip. I wish I had more time to get to know this city by bike.
---
Danae's parents are in town for most of a week and I'm spending some time with them. They took us out for food at Walker Pancake House this morning, a place full of salvaged leaded glass windows and other architectural remnants. Their hotel has a strange sort of modernist aesthetic. The chairs in the restaurant are all plastic. Some of them are transparent, which makes the crumbs and other detritus piled up behind the seat cushions pretty obvious. I'm not sure they're a good choice.
It's nice to see people I care about who live far away!
There was a dog parked in a car outside the Pancake House. The windows were cracked open, but the dog looked overheated and the car was in directly sunlight. I was worried enough to call the police department. They did send a squad car around ten or fifteen minutes later, but the dog-owner had just left. I'm glad the dog's ok, but I wish people would think more about what they're doing.
