Before I do anything else today, I want to wish Kay Peterson, one of the finest ladies I have ever had the honor of knowing, a very happy birthday. For those of you who don’t know Miss Kay, she and her late husband Joe founded the Escapees RV Club, which in my opinion (and that of tens of thousands of other RVers) is the best organization for anyone in the RV lifestyle, be they fulltimers, wannabes, or weekend warriors.
When it comes to the RV world, Kay is the undisputed Queen. And anybody who has ever met her can tell you she is one of the sweetest, most gracious people who ever lived. Unlike a lot of people, famous or otherwise, who are looking over your shoulder to whoever else is coming toward them, when Kay speaks to you, you are the center of the world and you get her full attention. Besides her many other talents, Kay is an accomplished author with several books to her credit. If you would like to learn more about this incredible woman who overcame seemingly impossible difficulties in her life, check out Kay’s biography, Beating The Odds. It’s one of the most heartwarming and inspiring stories you will ever read. Miss Kay turns 90 today, but trust me, she is one of the youngest people you will ever meet.
I also need to make a correction to yesterday’s blog, where I left out the name and address when I was talking about a website to help you sort through all of the Go Fund Me online scams. It is called Go Fraud Me and the website is http://gofraudme.com/
It’s been way too long since we have had a chance to have our Sea Eagle kayaks in the water, so the other day we took them out of their carrying cases and inflated them in the garage to make sure they were still in good shape. I don’t know why I bothered, because of course they are. These things are not cheap toys and they are just about indestructible.
We got them from Tim and Crystal Ryerson at Inflatable Boats 4 Less and have paddled them everywhere from the Florida Keys to Midwest rivers and lakes, to the Gulf of Mexico. They are very stable, comfortable, and the perfect solution for RVers who don’t have room to carry traditional hard kayaks. Here is a video to give you an idea how much abuse they can take. It’s been pretty windy here the last couple of days, but as soon as the wind dies down, we plan to get some paddling done.
I spent much of yesterday writing and knocked out about 2,500 words in my new John Lee Quarrels book. I’ve been away from it for a while, working on the March-April issue of the Gypsy Journal, and I was surprised at a turn the story is taking. John Lee sure has himself a real mess this time around and I’m eager to see how it all shakes out.
About 4 o’clock we drove into Daytona Beach so I could go to the Verizon store and see if they could figure out some problems I’ve been having with my Samsung S5. I got the phone about three years ago, which seems to be about the lifespan for a smart phone these days, and over the last few months it’s been getting progressively slower and slower, dropping calls, not ringing when people call me, and all kinds of irritating things. Then, in the last two or three days, every so often when I look at the phone the date has changed to December 31, 2016 and I have to reboot it to get the correct date.
Lately it hasn’t been synching to my email account, which is a real hassle for me because I get well over 100 emails a day, and if I wait until I’m at my computer to sort through and deal with or delete them, they pile up really quick. The phone is set to automatically sync every 15 minutes, but it’s been several days now since it did, and it won’t synch when I try to do it manually.
I went online and researched the problem, and did several things like resetting the Master Synch settings, deleting things, running an app that cleans up memory, turning off power saving modes, and taking the battery and sim card out and cleaning the contacts with Strike Hold. None of that worked, and even my buddy Greg White, who knows about all things technical, has not been able to come up with anything that helps.
I could get a new phone from Verizon on one of their special deals, but then I would have to give up my old unlimited data plan, which is very different from the new data plans they are offering these days, and not something I’m willing to do.
Unfortunately, the trip to Verizon did not prove fruitful. The young lady I talked to there gave me a tech support number to call today, with the hope that they can talk me through fixing the problems. But since I’ve done that twice already, I’m not real hopeful. She told me the same thing that several other techie people have told me, it’s probably time to bite the bullet and pay full retail for a new phone. The businessman in me who needs a phone that works all the time reluctantly agrees, but the cheapskate in me really doesn’t want to do that if I can nurse the dumb thing along for a while yet.
Thought For The Day – There is no elevator to success. You have to take the stairs.
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Bite the bullet and buy a new phone Nick. I had the exact same problem with my S5 back in September and fought with it until December and by then it wasn’t much more than a paperweight. I think they build them to last long enough for your 2 year contract to run out and then they self destruct. And it’s not just Samsung. My wife’s Iphone did the same thing. It sucks but what else can you do? At least you can write yours off as a business expense. Wish I could.
You might want to look at the moto G4 play phone on Amazon. It comes unlocked so you can use it on any carrier. If you are an Amazon prime member you can get it for about $100. I have had the phone for about 6 months and it has worked flawlessly.
Wishing you well and hope you can get those Sea Eagles out on the water soon. Sea Eagles do best when wet! I always travel with two kayaks so that I can invite other kayak wannabes to join me. I helped Tim and Crystal sell two boats this winter alone. And remember you are in FL. My window of comfortable kayaking is between 60 and 80 degrees…… Go before it gets too hot and steamy out on that water.
Sam’s club is giving you a $200 gift card if you buy a new phone.
Well if you’re happy with your S5 go online and buy a new and unlock one,, swap Sim cards solution solved
I agree with Mark, look at the Moto G4 series and see if one will work for you. You do not have to get one that has Amazon ads, those only save you $50 on the price. The G5s are coming out in March, so if you can wait….
You may be grandfathered in with your data plan. Bring that up when you bite the bullet. Also, I’m sure you know, th e military gets a discount
I agree with you about Miss Kay’s book, Beating the Odds. It’s a must read book, especially if you know her. It’s hard to believe she survived all she did to be where she is today.
Have you looked at Verizon’s new unlimited data plans? Several people I know have come out ahead when they switched over from a finite date plan to this new one. And I’m hearing rumors that Verizon is going to stop ALL of the old “grandfathered” unlimited data plans in the near future — cold turkey.
When I called about it, the sales people were really nice and spend a lot of time going over the options. So maybe between them talking to you about a new plan, you might be able to weasel a phone out of the deal, too.