I snapped this photo of Red in a tree. I’m happy with it, especially the background, which I have no clue how it turned out this way!
I have noticed now I’m driving myself to Physical Therapy, that the maps app on my phone doesn’t work. Yes, I know the way there, but I like to check for traffic and the best route.
Then I turned on my Hallow App for the drive — and guess what? It didn’t work either!
My phone kept trying to connect with the car. Too much tech for me. So I turned off WiFi on my phone and thought it would use cellular data — and I’d get maps and Hallow. No luck. My phone is a brick when I leave the comforts of home.
Yesterday morning I left the house for a walk, listening to a podcast and the phone went dead once I was out of home WiFi range. I went through settings a million times and finally noticed my SIM was turned off. I entered what I thought was my SIM code. Next message said SIM locked. Enter PUK. What? What’s a PUK?
I called the customer service carrier number and my call failed. My phone was worthless.
What’s a PUK?
A PUK code, or Personal Unblocking Key, is an eight-digit security code that unlocks a SIM card when the PIN has been entered incorrectly too many times.
When you set up a PIN for your SIM card, it acts as a password to protect your phone’s cellular services (calls, texts, data). If you enter the wrong PIN too many times (usually three), your SIM card will lock, and you’ll need the PUK code to unlock it. From AI Overview
I used my husband’s home office phone and got a PUK from the carrier. I reset my SIM code. So far so good. I’ll find out when I’m out and about if my phone is more than a brick. At least the camera works!
What tech issues have you had lately? Do they make you crazy too?
Chipmunks like the birdseed, too. They especially like corn.
Friday I went to see my surgeon and she removed my cast! YAY! Then she put me in a heavy duty boot and told me to use my walker and walk around the house and outside with 50% weight on my right leg. The other thing she said was I could take a shower beginning Sunday with no huge plastic sleeve topped with saran wrap on my leg. WOOHOO!
It’s the little things like semi-walking and taking a shower that are making my days!
Part of my morning routine, after coffee and writing three pages, is to venture outside. I sit for about 45 minutes to an hour watching and listening to my birds. I also listen to the Hallow app on my phone. I’m listening to a podcast on it called “Bible in a Year.” I’m on day 180. I find this to be a peaceful and helpful way to approach my day. I was so over being laid up last Thursday that I didn’t want to do anything. Getting outside plus listening to this app and my birds has helped me over the hump.
Here are a few sights from my backyard:
Here’s a honeysuckle I took with my iphone while sitting outside.
Here’s a selfie of me in my sundress and boot with my walker.
Aloe in bloom next to honeysuckle.
One lone blossom on top of a saguaro.
What little things or moments in your day make it special?
While I’m writing this post, the words from my headline are staring at me from my new phone. There’s a gray bar above those words that hasn’t made one iota of progress. It should tell me how much time I have left. But it’s estimating…
I’m not one to get new phones. But, I cracked my screen two haircuts ago getting out of the car at my hair dressers. I could live with it.
Then my husband completely killed his phone. It would ring, but nothing on the screen worked. He couldn’t slide the bar to open the phone. I ordered a new phone for him and set it up. He wanted me to get a new phone, too. I finally agreed, after I bought him the wrong size protective case by mistake. I agreed to buy the phone that would fit the case, so I didn’t have to drive 45 minutes to the Apple store and exchange it!
I went through our phone carrier to order my husband’s phone online. They asked for my ID to verify who I was. I had to sit with my driver’s license in my hand and show it to a camera on the screen. It said it successfully verified me.
Then I got a series of emails and texts telling me the order was going to be cancelled unless I verified myself with an ID. I clicked on the link and it said verification successful! But the website with my order said they were cancelling unless I verified my ID. Such is the new world.
I called a human being at the phone company and told them of my dilemma. While I was explaining the continual loop I was stuck in, I got a text and an email that my husband’s phone order had been cancelled! While I was on the phone with the phone company!
Now I’m patiently waiting. And waiting. And waiting while watching nothing happen on my new phone.
What recent technological or company snafus have you experienced lately?
Waffles was barking like a mad man from inside the screen door. I looked outside and saw this. I had to share this bit of wildlife. This Javelina walked through a wash on the side of our house to the street with two other family members.
Fashion, vernacular and musical preferences aren’t the only cultural indicators of age. A digital wizard claims he can tell whether someone’s a boomer, millennial or Generation Z solely based on how they text.
“This is how you can tell someone’s age by how they type on their phone,” declared tech influencer Tyler Morgan in a TikTok clip with more than 2.7 million views.
Typing accurately with both thumbs is a habit that straddles both millennial and Zoomer generations, per the digital detective.
In fact, Morgan declares that people stay at this “thumb tapping” age until their 50s — the threshold for most Gen Xers, born from 1965 to 1980 — after which they start typing with a thumb and index finger.
Here’s the bit about boomers:
Meanwhile, the elder baby boomers — those born between 1946 and 1964 — tend to do away with the thumb and just poke the buttons with their pointer digit, per the clip.
“You’re getting up there when you’re doing that,” declared Morgan of the “one finger tap” method.
I’ve also heard that boomers are more formal with their texts and use grammar and punctuation. Once my daughter asked me why I used a period at the end of a text. She informed me that I was coming across as angry or too strong.
Who knew punctuation was dated?
Also, boomers use a ton of emojis! 😅😅😅
How do you text? Do you text like a boomer with your pointer finger or are you a rapid thumb tapper?
Do you remember when phones looked like this? You might not be old enough, but I do.
I should file this under Public Service Announcement:
An article in the Wall Street Journal caught my attention. It was about iphones and a setting default that is “on.” It’s something I didn’t even know was on my phone. And I looked. Yes, it was on. I turned it off.
Here’s an excerpt:
Apple Turned On a Buried iPhone Setting. You Might Want It Off.
The ‘Discoverable by Others’ switch is on by default. Here’s what it does—and why it isn’t as scary as it sounds. By Joanna Stern
This creepy-sounding setting is leading people to think their name and location are being shared without their knowledge or consent. That’s not the case, says Apple, but you might want to turn it off anyway.
Last year, as a part of iOS 17.2, Apple released the Journal app. You can use it to jot down personal notes about your day, your life, what inspires you. You know, journal-y things.
You can turn on Journaling Suggestions. This recommends topics to write about based on things your phone (but not Apple) knows about you—music you’ve listened to, people you’ve called or messaged, photos you’ve recently taken, places you’ve visited, etc. You decide if you want to turn this on. When you first launch the Journal app, it will prompt you to do that. Those suggestions aren’t ever shared with Apple.
Here’s where it gets weird. When you go into Settings > Privacy & Security > Journaling Suggestions, you’ll see that Discoverable by Others is enabled by default—even if you never turned on suggestions. Under the setting it says, “Allow others to detect you are nearby to help prioritize their suggestions.”
I don’t quite get what this function does. The reporter of this story Stern reached out to Apple. They said it gives more suggestions on what to journal about, but doesn’t share info with others. That’s reassuring, but also confusing. What is Discoverable by Others anyway?
Were you aware of this journaling function? Or Discoverable by Others? Have you used it?
I wrote about weird coincidences on my iphone a few weeks ago HERE.
This is a photo of a diver from Jolyn’s website. Jolyn creates swimsuits designed for athletes.
FIRST THING:
Three coincidences happened over the weekend within one hour.
I was talking to our guests about Jolyn swimsuits after my friend asked about the Jolyn stickers on my Hydroflask.
I explained that when my daughter was in high school, Jolyn hit the scene in Southern California. Jolyn was immediately popular because the suits don’t come off in the ocean or swimming in the pool — yet they added some fashion flair. My daughter said their stickers were popular with her age group. Swimmers put the stickers on their water bottles, placed at the end of their lanes during swim practice. That was great advertising for Jolyn.
The minute that conversation was over, I was pinged a Jolyn ad on my iphone.
(My stickers on my Hydroflask came from birthday swimsuits from daughter. I asked her to order suits with their biggest behind coverage possible. I love my Jolyns.)
Next, my friend was baking my husband a belated birthday cake. We were all four talking about his age (which I won’t disclose.) Ping. My iphone sent me an article on how to celebrate a birthday of that particular age.
The final iphone thing was after I pointed out these two coincidences. The friend’s hubby said, “They are listening to your conversations. You need to turn off certain things on you iphone.”
Ping. Article popped up, “What Apple doesn’t want you to turn off.”
Those three things happened within one hour.
Coincidence? Or Not? What are your thoughts?
SECOND THING:
A text I received from my son. He introduced me to Wordle over a year ago and taught me his formula.
I texted this back at him:
Notice they are identical except my squares are black. It’s not a coincidence. If you want to know the formula, I’ll let you know.
THIRD THING:
This is a potato I discovered this weekend. I wanted to share it with Mama Lava from Mama Lava’s Back Porch.
This month she is posting 28 days of love that include uplifting messages, scripture and hearts she has found in nature. I wanted to post this potato on her blog, but WP wouldn’t let me place an image in her comments.
Do you know how to place images in comments? If so, please share.
What are your thoughts about my things posted above?
After I filled the Bird Buddy AI bird feeder and birds were stopping by, these two hawks decided to hang out on our fence. All the other birds left immediately. (Photo has nothing to do with story except the hawks prey on weaker birds and animals than them.)
Yesterday, I attended a lunch with a women’s group I belong to. Our mission is to help victims of sex trafficking. We support the Phoenix Dream Center, a residential facility for victims that offers counseling, medical care, a safe place to live, ophthalmology, gardening, food, clothing and worship services if desired. They are changing their name to the Phoenix Dream Center Where Hope Lives. I’ve written about it HERE.
The guest speaker was from Arizona Anti-Trafficking Network, named Nate Boulter. He works with the Dream Center along with other organizations including government, police departments to train and save the victims of human trafficking.
One organization he belongs to is called CEASE Arizona. From the AATN website about CEASE:
OUR MISSION
The mission of CEASE Arizona is to train and educate employees of Arizona cities and counties, including first responders (law enforcement and fire/EMTs), to recognize, report, and respond to incidents of human trafficking in their communities thereby disrupting demand for commercial sexual exploitation. CEASE stands for Cities Empowered Against Sexual Exploitation.
Here’s a bio of our guest speaker from the AATN website:
NATE BOULTER
Program Director, Cities Engaged Against Sexual Exploitation (CEASE)
Nate joined the AATN team in July 2022. Nate retired after over 22 years as a law enforcement professional, having reached the rank of Sergeant with the Mesa Police Department. During his career, Nate has worked in plain clothes and undercover assignments and has been involved in all levels of investigations in Gangs, Street Crimes, Drug Interdiction, Special Investigations, and Human Trafficking. He was an AZPOST Instructor, having amassed several thousands of hours of specialized instruction, and is a qualified and certified subject expert in the Arizona Court System in Drug Trafficking, Prostitution and Sex Trafficking Investigations.
As the Mesa HEaT (Human Exploitation and Trafficking) Sergeant, Nate successfully planned, carried out, and assisted in numerous major operations in Mesa and across the Valley to combat sex trafficking. He created and hosted training for undercover decoys across several Valley law enforcement agencies, and established a partnership with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office to better prosecute sex trafficking cases. He has worked to influence the revision of state statutes and city codes to better respond to the very real victimization of people in The Life.
Nate received numerous awards, citations, and commendations during his tenure at Mesa PD for his work keeping the community safe and “smashing bad guys!”
I was seated at his table for lunch and asked him about our border crossing in Lukeville that is closed to legal crossers like myself to get to Puerto Penasco, our beach getaway, but has an influx of single men from throughout the world coming through.
He explained that it’s a staffing issue. Without the budget dollars being passed in DC to address our border issue, they can’t hire enough people. They have no idea if a position would be funded full time or for one month, so they are having a tough time filling positions. He also explained that Mexico has a zero immigration policy. They are bussing the immigrants to the border crossing to get them out of their country and into ours.
His words to describe the situation at the border: “It’s radical.”
Later in his talk to our group, he explained there is a difference between sex trafficking and human smuggling. Human smuggling is happening at our border. It’s a crime against our border, but it’s willful by those being smuggled. Sex trafficking is completely different and it’s a crime against a human being. Some of the people crossing the border may find themselves human trafficked at a later date, but that is a separate issue and crime.
According to Boutler most of the people sex trafficked are young girls from age 14 to 27. They are US citizens. Many are groomed online by someone they fall in love with, although some may be trafficked by family members. Like any abusive relationship, the victim believes things will change and that the trafficker loves her.
Boulter said “Nobody who loves you will sell you.”
One shocking statistic is the quota. A victim of sex trafficking may have a quota of $1,000 a day. Taking out days for illness, etc. one girl may make her trafficker $300,000 a year. If he has three girls, he’s making close to a million dollars a year.
The relationship is one of control. The trafficker controls what she wears, where she lives, when she can eat and he may dole out drugs to her. Her ID and credit card are in his possession and she’s been cut off from support of family and friends. Her phone will have an app on it where the trafficker can track her, listen to her calls and read her texts.
Boulter talked about “Force, Fraud and Coercion” which is used by the sex trafficker on the victim. He gave us things to look out for in public — like a huge age difference in a couple. Also, if the girl has her head down and cannot look the trafficker in the eyes. He also said parents need to take phones out of their kids rooms at night. Phones are the way most teens meet their sex trafficker.
He gave us a local number to call if we see something suspicious and said the best number to call is 911.
As parents how many of us were or are aware of what our children are doing on their phones?
Do you know if your area has a problem with sex trafficking?
Yet another reason to be grateful for the lives we have!
