A Scary Package, A Recent Read and A Movie to See

A Scary Package

It happened again this week. I arrived home to discover a delivery company had tried to deliver a package but no one was home to sign for it. Only I have no idea where the pick-up depot was for this company and I wouldn't have a chance to get there until Saturday. But when I got home my neighbour had once again signed for it (nice to have retired neighbours!) and I got the package the next night.
She came in for a few minutes and at times I'm stupidly polite. I asked her if I could open it. She kind of gave me a strange look, laughed and said "it's you're house."
"Right!" I said. "I guess that's a dumb question." So I opened it. And what I found inside terrified me.
Nope - it wasn't filled with dead spiders - or live ones for that matter. It was worse. Much worse. It was a..........


Cell phone


The cell phone I currently have expires in May - analogue or something like that. The cable company sent me a notice that if I called a certain number I could get a new one free of charge or a different one for $30 and a three year plan. Well - who's going to go with option 2?
Now regular readers know that "Cable Guy" and I have a unique relationship. I call, he answers, I sound like an idiot and I hang up shaking my head over what I dufus I was (like the time I called because I couldn't get into my email only to discover I had the caps on). Then I'm sure he and all the other "Cable Guys" laugh at me. So I had Ryan call to order the new phone. He doesn't know about the unique relationship "Cable Guy" and I have so he gave me a strange look and called. He answered one question and then handed the phone over to me. I had to deal with "Cable Guy" and it went OK. When I hung up Ryan said "now was that so hard?"
Well after that brief explanation, I opened the package to see it was the phone I had ordered. It was later in the day and I was tired, but as I looked at the phone and read the instructions, I began to recoil in horror.

It text messages!
It interfaces with M3P players
It has games
It has call forwarding
It has call waiting.
It has 2 cable cords
It has different ring tones that I can customize
It does something with the internet (I couldn't read any further than that without breaking into a sweat)

Arrrgggghhhh!

I can only thank the stars above that it doesn't take pictures or movies. I was afraid that it might.
Now, most people (in fact probably everyone in the world but me) would think these fine things. But I still can't figure out how to work a simple basic cell phone. A few months ago, after standing in line for almost 2 hours to get a passport, I was finally at the desk to meet with the government passport lady to hand in all my stuff. I had forgotten to put down Ryan's phone number as contact person. I don't know Ryan's phone number. I don't know anyone's, in fact I'm lucky if I remember my own some days! I knew that Ryan's number was stored in the cell phone somewhere but I had no idea how to get to it. So I had to hand it over to the government passport lady to figure it out. Luckily she knew how to use cell phones and retrieved it for me - and surpringly enough they still gave me a passport after that embarrasing experience. It's not the first time I've depended on the kindness of others to get cell phone numbers out of it.
So now - with all these features in the new cell phone, well it's not a pretty thought! And scariest thought of all, it's going to take a phone call to "Cable Guy" to activate it.
Thank goodness Lisa is coming over tomorrow. Even though she's younger, she understands cell phones. And I don't think she's scared of "Cable Guy".

A Recent Read

Voices of the Night by Lydia Joyce

From the publisher:

Desperate to escape the underworld's treacherous grasp, Maggie of King Street finds a patron in Charles Crossham, Lord Edgington, who must transform a street girl into a lady to win a high stakes wager. Charles has never met anyone like the fierce and ardent Maggie, and Maggie's defenses are useless against the seduction of the jaded lord.Their association quickly ignites into a consuming obsession. But both passion and the bet are threatened by a ruthless villain from Maggie's dark past, who has plans for her that imperil everything she's ever cared for-and her very life.

I loved The Veil of Night, Ms. Joyce's debut book. I wasn't quite as fond of The Music of the Night although I applauded the author for her unusual setting. I haven't read The Veil of Night. That brings us to Voices of the Night. Sometimes I think I almost sound like a broken record or a Pollyanna or something, but again, I really enjoyed this one. Ms. Joyce writes an historical with such a breath of fresh air! The writing is intelligent and the stories are intriguing. At first you think Charles is a bit of a fluff cake, making odd wagers just to amuse himself and get back at his sister, but as we get to know him, he had a good reason for the wager of making a 'silk purse out of a sow's ear'. And it's great to see his consciousness level raise as he begins to realize the difference in the privileged life he leads as opposed to those less fortunate. And Maggie King was a real treat. Brave, vulnerable, strong, frightened, she was such a different kind of heroine that normally populate historicals and I found myself routing for her that she would show them all and somehow defeat the fear that haunted her.
There's a great review at AAR, but I think I liked this one even better than the reviewer. This one is very good.

Grade: 4 out of 5


And A Movie to See

I've become very picky (cheap) in my old age and there are very few movies that I want to pay the cost of popcorn for. It's not the movie price I object to, it's the pop and popcorn!! But this is one I think I'll gladly pay for - both movie and popcorn. In fact if I can't find someone to go with - Lisa, Janice, Deb - anyone? I'll go by myself.

(for those on dial up)

Amazing Grace
starring Ioan Gruffudd (I adored him as Horatio Hornblower)

Gruffudd plays Wilberforce, who, as a Member of Parliament, navigated the world of 18th Century backroom politics to end the slave trade in the British Empire. Albert Finney plays John Newton, a confidante of Wilberforce who inspires him to pursue a life of service to humanity. Benedict Cumberbatch is William Pitt the Younger, England's youngest ever Prime Minister at the age of 24, who encourages his friend Wilberforce to take up the fight to outlaw slavery and supports him in his struggles in Parliament.
Elected to the House of Commons at the age of 21, and on his way to a successful political career, Wilberforce, over the course of two decades, took on the English establishment and persuaded those in power to end the inhumane trade of slavery.
Romola Garai plays Barbara Spooner, a beautiful and headstrong young woman who shares Wilberforce's passion for reform, and who becomes his wife after a whirlwind courtship. Youssou N'Dour is Olaudah Equiano. Born in Africa and sent as a slave to the Colonies, Equiano bought his freedom and made his home in London, where he wrote a best-selling account of his life and became a leading figure in the fight to end the slavery of his fellow countrymen.


'til later