Incommunicado

[clevermanka]

My plan to avoid interacting with people outside of the internet for 24+ hours is going swimmingly. More so than expected.

I dropped mckitterick at the airport late yesterday afternoon and by the time I got home, my old phone had deactivated. Okay, yes, we were expecting this to happen, but still. Let's just hope I don't need to call 911 for anything.

For those of you who aren't aware, I have rotten luck with technology. It's not just that I'm slow learning new tech (which I am), I have an amazing ability to fuck it up. Or for it to fuck up while in my ownership. People hand me their phones to take pictures and they turn off as soon as they're in my hand. The battery on my netbook didn't just die--it burst and exploded out the entire bottom of the machine. I have had a computer literally catch fire in my office. Luckily I was there at the time, although I wasn't the first to smell it. Did I mention the power supply in my new media computer up and died a couple weeks ago?

So I've been loath to get a new phone, but it was necessary since the voice function stopped working while I was in Vegas. The new phones arrived early this week but of course didn't activate right away since we were keeping our numbers (I've had this number since 1993 and I'll relinquish it when I'm lowered into my grave). About 8:30, mckitterick emailed to let me know the new phones were active and I wouldn't be able to use my old one again.

I was all WELP I hope nobody needs me this weekend that can't reach me by email! mckitterick (who knows better) waived aside my concerns. "Just check the text I sent you," he said. "It'll be fine," he said. So I tried checking the text. This was my next email to him:

GOD DAMN IT

So I tried to open that FUCKING TEXT of yours and this terrifying ALERT screen came up and said "Are you sure you want to authorize #SUPERUSER?" CONFIRM/DENY and I'm like WHAT? um, NO? And so I clicked the deny button and now I don't know what to do and THIS IS WHY I HATE NEW TECHNOLOGY

And the follow-up:

Oh great. Now it says "SECURITY ALERT: Unauthorized actions have been detected. Restart to undo any undesired actions."

So I'm doing that now and leaving this thing THE HELL ALONE until someone can help me with it.

I haven't moved it from the middle of the dining table since last night.

Comments

[stuology.livejournal.com]

Are you sure you want to authorize #SUPERUSER?

It sounds like your phone has possibly been rooted. Where did you get it?

I've had this number since 1993 and I'll relinquish it when I'm lowered into my grave


I only have the following phone numbers memorized:
Mine
Mac's
Yours
Pizza Shuttle

Dear gawds, DO NOT CHANGE YOUR NUMBER.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I'm sure it's been rooted. mckitterick bought it on eBay and we know the guy selling it (who decided on a different model) installed Linux on it because of another weird thing it did when we first powered it up. So this probably isn't all my fault, but it's still 100% typical.

I only have the following phone numbers memorized:

I can't tell you how much that warms my heart. Seriously. I have an irrational affection for this phone number. I've had it for twenty-two years and the fact that it's one of the original Lawrence land-line prefixes gives me ridiculous pride.

[1-rhiannon-1.livejournal.com]

Great googly-moogly, why on earth does technology hate you so much?! :( I think leaving it in the middle of the table is probably the best plan :/

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Great googly-moogly, why on earth does technology hate you so much?!

I have no idea.

I forgot to include in the post that I also have an unusual electrical field--those heart rate monitors and things like that rarely work reliably on me. I once had one flip back and forth between 62 and 115bpm near-continuously for a full minute before I gave up on it.

[pamelonian.livejournal.com]

I am hoping you won't need to call 911 for anything, too. You can call 911 with deactivated phones. It's a safety feature. They won't be able to trace your location, but as long as you are on the phone, you can tell them where you are. Even the new phone *should* be able to call 911. I really hope you won't need it!

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

ME, TOO. I've only called 911 once and that was my accident (I was trying to call someone in KC with a 913 prefix and it connected before I could hang up). Let us all hope that trend continues, for a host of reasons.

[redheadfae.livejournal.com]

argh, HOW ANNOYING!!!

I'm loathe to change phones, too. I've been using mine with a cracked screen for a month now, and I just cracked it again, enough that IT WILL CUT ME if I continue to try using it, so I'm off to BB replacement service.

PS.. I also have your number memorized, and I can't think of any others beyond my mum and dad, Jay and you.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I have an emotional attachment to this phone number, not gonna lie.

Sorry you've got to get a new phone, too. UGH.

[write-out.livejournal.com]

The same number for 22 years? That is awesome!

Technology shit aside, I hope you've been having a fantastic day off.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

It's been good! I'm a bit disappointed I only made three garments. But what I'm doing (re-fashioning stuff from thrift store clothes) is all new to me. It takes me quite a while to even figure out what I'm doing, much less how to do it. I'm not quite ready to make some of the designs in my head, either, and that's a bit frustrating.

BUT!

It was so nice to have *checks clock* 25 hours of not speaking aloud to another human being. And really, I'm being too hard on myself. Three garments (two dresses and a top) is nothing to sneeze at.

In any case, I think it's Clean Up The Sewing Room Time. Dinner's starting to sound like a good idea.

[seascribe.livejournal.com]

Oh my god. I wonder what kind of freaky force field you're emitting. It's like fictional trope levels of ridiculous. But hey, enjoy the human free time that sounds AMAZING.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

It's like fictional trope levels of ridiculous

I know. I mean, I have to laugh at it. I can't believe I worked (somewhat successfully) in IT for so long.

[write-out.livejournal.com]

Nothing at all to sneeze at! I think what you've accomplished is pretty damn awesome, especially considering this is all new to you. I hope you post before and after pics of what you've made.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Well, the before pics are....not happening. =D Anyway, they were just old thrift store tees and tanks. When mckitterick returns (late Saturday night), I'll have him help me figure out how to take pics with my new phone!

[kazoogrrl.livejournal.com]

That much not talking sounds amazing! Says the woman who gets grumpy if other hikers say hello on a trail.

I have no laptop mojo. Without using any fancy programs or adding many files they just fill up, get crashy, slow down, and CAN'T COOPERATE WITH ANY OF THE FOUR DIFFERENT BROWSERS I'VE TRIED!! And it's not a bug! Just obstinance.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Sorry to hear you're a fellow sufferer.

[pointoforigin.livejournal.com]

Yesterday at the Garrison Keillor concert, one of his fake sponsors was Fritz Electronics, "where everything you need is on the Fritz." Perhaps your phone was originally a Fritz product!

[sherwood21.livejournal.com]

Deactivated phones will call 911. The system may or may not be able to show your location within a reasonable range, but that applies to regular cell phones too.

Phones will connect to 911 first, before they connect to any other number - it's a safety feature, however, there's a glitch in the system that if you're in an area where cell phones are suppressed (like a prison), you can dial 911, hang up immediately, and then you have a tiny window where you
can dial out to a regular number, bypassing the signal suppression.

(Also, anyone who accidentally calls 911 should try to stay on the line and let the dispatcher know it was an accident rather than hanging up. Because it makes my life easier.)

[kazoogrrl.livejournal.com]

*Flips a table*

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I know that, now! Apologies to whomever I made extra work for that afternoon...

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Good lord, nearly every electronic device I've ever owned has come from there (with the exception of alarm clocks, which seem to work fine for me even though I don't need them).

[aprilstarchild.livejournal.com]

My current number ends in 2999. It came with the phone I had before this one, and I hope I keep it forever!

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Right?!??! It's such an odd thing to get attached to, but that doesn't keep me from being possessive about it.