New Phone

It’s been a real good Saturday. This morning Fred and I hooked up over coffee at HEB. He thought the coffee wasn’t bad at all. That was the first time I’d been back in the eating area of the store in quite a while. The wooden chairs are still just as hard on my bony butt as they used to be. The coffee’s still the coffee: sometimes it’s real hot, but usually moderately hot. That’s warmer than lukewarm, but not steaming. Oh, well.

After coffee he came over here and we traded treatments. Fred had a run-in with a ladder and got a black eye: a shiner that’s colored almost the entire right side of his face. Pretty gruesome looking. I put some healing on it, and we’ll see if he’s made any marked progress tomorrow at church. Then I worked on his larynx. He IS sounding better since I began treating his throat.

When I sat down, he began by putting his hands on my shoulders. I got an idea that I needed him to do my head – for the brain chemistry. Well, I think it worked: I’m a LOT smoother. We talked a bunch and laughed and he got up to go. I went in and took a nap.

We’d tentatively planned on my going out to his house to get an introduction to Excel. After I got up I rumbled around here, then called. He gave me directions and I was off.

He’s got this really nice house: lots of skylights. That’s a wonderful touch.

Fred took me through Excel in just a few moments. I got the gist of it very quickly. He loaned me a copy of Excel for Dummies, so I can read up on the finer points.

I gave Dorothy a treatment this afternoon. She really appreciated it. I told jokes and she laughed a lot.

I pondered some facts. I got my Virgin Mobile cell phone a year ago at Radio Shack, for $15. I put $30 worth of prepaid air time on it. Since I didn’t use the phone except for emergencies, that $30 has lasted. There’s still $10.50 of airtime left. This number has to be recharged at least $20 by the middle of September to stay active.

Vivian’s got knee troubles. She doesn’t roller skate worth a damn. So there’s a danger of her falling – especially when she goes up and down the ramps around here. I got worried about her knee giving out sometime when nobody was around, leaving her without any way to get help. I talked her into getting a cell phone.

We went to Radio Shack again. The basic phone was now $20. The basic plan for prepaid requires a $20 top up every three months. Well, as much as I see her using the phone – it’s for her to carry in case she needs help – that recharge plan will cost her a lot more than it’s worth. So I proposed that we swap phones. The $30 charge up on my phone will last her a whole year, at the usage level I can see, and I can begin to use her phone as a daily calling point – which will make the $20 every three months work just fine.

Thus I spent an hour today swapping and programming phone numbers. She’s happy with my old phone – it’s simpler for her to use – and I’m happy that she’s got a recharge cost deal that fits what she needs. Now all I have to do is remind her to take it with her all the time.

When I got home – to eat some dinner – I called Jim. He was exhausted. He’d been on the phone for 8 hours today, talking to a gal in San Antonio. He met her online and they have clicked on damn near every facet that eHarmony asks for. He’s jazzed up. He meets her tomorrow at a Unity church halfway between here and there. He said he’d call me tomorrow and fill me in. He sounds really gobsmacked. That’s wonderful.

It’s time to put this to bed and go visit Vivian. I’m looking forward to iced tea and conversation. I really enjoy her company.