Stuff

 On Friday Kate and I both have to go to town so we get guests set up for day's activities and she takes Linny's Jeep and I the beater truck Ford 250. That monster weighs 2500 pounds more than my 150 has incredible power but if you can't fine tune it, more like a bucking bull. It's a bruising experience to get to town and it has no traction. I've named it Constant Impact.

I didn't have my camera but Kane Creek was flooded with 30 feet of mud on both sides. I just touch the top of the mud going down the hill, hit the brakes and slowly slide down the hill into the mud and I'm stuck. Nations gets there in about 45 minutes and pulls me across but everyone else, including Kate is stuck on either side and it takes the county two more hours to clean it out. Jax got trapped on the Kate side but I head to town to get stuff done and after doing all my errands ran into Kate just getting into town as I was heading back and retrieved Jax.

About 5pm Friday evening suddenly my right back lower tooth shoots into excruciating pain. I can hardly function. I get hold of my dentist at an emergency number and he says he can get some people together at 8pm. I have been one door from his office that afternoon with no tooth pain. I get there at 8pm and they say they'll have to yank it. I'm back at the lodge about 10pm.

The little place where you plug your phone in to recharge it on my flip phone broke and I couldn't charge it. So while I was in town at Verizon on Friday they gave me a new upgraded phone, same model. I took it back to to the lodge, charged it, and put it up on the shelf where my old phone of seven or eight years worked. It doesn't work at all. No signal whatsoever for the upgraded model versus the old no G's model, was actually on the X1 network.

I drive back into town to find a way to get my old phone fixed. Arches Electronics can't do it. Walker has no idea so I go to Radio Shack. There's an interesting looking Hispanic kid in there all customized like the youth of today except for earings he has paper clips. I say, my phone is broke can you fix it and hand it to him. He gets a little eyepiece out and stares at the broken plug in side. He says I think so. He's going to try and weld it. I say "Are you the guy that hits on my niece Linny when she comes in here? He doesn't look up. I say any other Hispanics work here? He keeps looking down then says "No." I say "No what? You're the only Hispanic guy or you're the guy hitting on my niece?" He says "Maybe." He says "What's her name?" I say "Linny." He has a little smile. I say "You him?" He says "Probably." I say anybody else go out and open the door to her Jeep when she pulls up? He says "That was probably me."

He says "Wait, I got it." Walks over and grabs a package off the shelf. Takes the battery out of the back of my old phone, stands it up in the package he got off the shelf and it's charging my battery. He's says "Got it." His face lights up. I say "What are you doing in Moab? He says "Taking care of my grandparents." I say "I have heard Saturday night is dance night at your house." He says "My grandma still got it. She can cut a rug." He says "Your phone works again just take the battery out and charge it with this." I buy another battery plus the package on the shelf charger, it's $50. I give him another $50 for solving a big problem for me. He writes his name and number down on the receipt in case I need something else.

I go back over to Verizon and say transfer everything back to the old bland dumb phone and take your smart phone back. They do. When they go to make a call it doesn't work. They call somebody who says once the old system is gone you can't go back. They are phasing it out and it's not possible to get back on it doesn't exist. They have me call that person's supervisor who says the same thing, once you disconnect from the old system you're gone. I explain the new systems sucks and is worse than the old one and they say in some aspects but not most. But to me, no reception is a possible death sentence for somebody that gets hurt out there if I can't call. My old dumb phone worked at most of the accident scenes while all the smart phones didn't. They send me to Verizon Tech Support where I argue for another hour. Nobody is budging. I still don't have service and it's been a week. Yes if I had a smart phone I could call out on wifi but wifi is broken while we wait for a technician and it doesn't work at accident scenes. Another whole story, another time. Hey Linny in San Diego, he likes you, the Radio Shack guy, and he's pretty funny. Miss you my friend.