Don't get me wrong. I still love my iPhone. But before going on our honeymoon to Costa Rica, we decided to really make sure we knew what we were doing. We've heard the horror stories of the huge AT&T cell phone bills. One guy went to Europe and got a $4000 phone bill afterwards because he was charged for every single kilobyte of data his phone downloaded. Another family of three went on a cruise, had their cell phones turned off, and came home to a $3000 phone bill because apparently even while the phones were off, they were collecting information.
I know that in the iPhone's last update, a feature was added so that we can turn off this data roaming; our cell phones won't download stuff while we're abroad. But, because I am smart, I decided to call AT&T before we left anyway to ask what we can do to avoid any unexpected charges. We wanted to at least have our iPhones to watch movies on the airplane.
I explained that we were going to Costa Rica and wanted to have our iPhones in case of emergency. What could we do to avoid charges?
The answer is to not turn them on at all any time we are in Costa Rica. Because if we turn them on and our phones receive voice messages, we'll be charged $3 a minute for that usage. Yikes! Then I asked a lot of other questions, but she couldn't really answer them because she's unfamiliar with the iPhone, and suggested I call Apple. Of course, I could call Apple, but ultimately, they won't know the answers to any of my questions because AT&T are the ones who bill me, so all billing questions should be referred to them.
What this means is that Murray and I will bring one phone with us. We will not use it to watch any videos because as soon as we cross any boarders (even on the plane with the phone in airplane mode, the AT&T rep seemed to indicate, which doesn't make sense to me because in airplane mode the phone shouldn't be transmitting any information, but then she confessed that she doesn't actually know what "airplane mode" means) we'll start getting charged for random, unexpected things. It will simply be in the off position the entire time, unless we have our own emergency and want to make a $1000 call for help.
This means that if someone back home dies in a tragic car wreck, wild fire, bull fight, or volcano while we're on our honeymoon, we just won't hear about it until we get back, okay? And that is our right as honeymooners and iPhone owners.
My Really Good Halloween Costume
Sometimes it's fun to be the only one who gets my "joke."
Take, for example, the "Halloween Costume" that I wanted to have this year. It is still just an "idea" because we haven't had time to do anything like celebrate holidays during the "final stretch" of our engagement. Also because Murray's "best" friend didn't put on his annual Halloween party after all, so we had no chance to dress up.
But if I had been able to dress up, my costume would have been so "nerdy" that no one would have gotten it. Still, I would have enjoyed knowing that my "costume" was actually very funny and very clever. Here's what it would have been:
I would have been "Scare Quotes." I would have put little quotation marks on either side of my head (with wire, coming from a head band or something). And then, any time anyone asked me what I was, I would have said, "I'm scare quotes. BOO!"
And then, unless I was at an editing party with editors only, the person would politely laugh, even though they didn't get it. And I would laugh. But maybe then I would get tired of the fact that my geniusness was not being appreciated by anyone. And I'd have to keep explaining (after my joke) what "scare quotes" are. Or maybe I just would hand out this excerpt from The Chicago Manual of Style before saying, "I'm scare quotes. BOO!"
"Scare quotes." Quotation marks are often used to alert readers that a term is used in a nonstandard, ironic, or other special sense. Nicknamed "scare quotes," they imply, "This is not my term" or "This is not how the term is usually applied." Like any such device, scare quotes lose their force and irritate readers if overused.
Definitely not okay.
Phone conversation between me and Murray 30 seconds ago:
Me: Hey.
Murray: Hey. (Kindof echoey.)
Me: Where are you now?
Murray: I'm actually on the can.
Me: That's great. Where are you on the can?
Murray: At work.
Me: I'm hanging up this phone right now.
Me: Hey.
Murray: Hey. (Kindof echoey.)
Me: Where are you now?
Murray: I'm actually on the can.
Me: That's great. Where are you on the can?
Murray: At work.
Me: I'm hanging up this phone right now.
Down for the count. No really.
Wow. There's so little time left before the wedding. We've got a game plan set up, and several very important people have volunteered a lot of their time to help out, for which we will be forever grateful.
As you can expect, I hardly have time to post anything, but I thought a series of pictures I've been collecting on my iPhone should suffice for today.
El Senor is replacing me with a couch. Probably this one. The couch he'd previously purchased was a little too stiff and not great for tv watching. I'm sad that he'll use my last rent check to buy this, instead of buying me an extra huge wedding present. Sometimes, I just don't know where his priorities are.
Me on an over sized, useless piece of furniture. I'm wearing the coat that Murray brought me back from his trip to New York. Yes, I'm a spoiled, spoiled woman.
Me, on a different day, on another piece of over sized, useless furniture. Only I think that if I had a gigantic house, I might actually be able to make this gaudy thing into a successful piece of interest. I'm not willing to buy it (a thousand bucks) to try it out though.
The line outside the Apple store for all those who wanted to get Leopard. It was released at 6:00. The funny thing is that due to a shipping error, Murray had already received Leopard, before the release time. If I'd known that when I took this picture, I would have enjoyed the sight of everyone lined up that much more.
And this brief story has no picture, but it happened this morning. I got a phone call from a blocked number. When I picked up the phone, I heard the voice of an older man:
Man: Good morning. Sweetheart.
Me: [Trying to place the voice, deciding to make him talk a little longer to see if I could figure out who it was, but seeing as I knew it wasn't my dad or Murray and I couldn't think of who else might call me sweetheart, I figured it was a wrong number.] Good morning.
Man: [Waiting for me to say more...] Uh... who am I speaking to?
Me: This is Cicada.
Man: Oh. I think I may have the wrong number. I was calling for Rowena.
Me: As much as I would love to be your sweetheart, I'm afraid that's just not me. But good luck finding the right number!
Man: Thank you! You have a good day!
As you can expect, I hardly have time to post anything, but I thought a series of pictures I've been collecting on my iPhone should suffice for today.
El Senor is replacing me with a couch. Probably this one. The couch he'd previously purchased was a little too stiff and not great for tv watching. I'm sad that he'll use my last rent check to buy this, instead of buying me an extra huge wedding present. Sometimes, I just don't know where his priorities are.
Me on an over sized, useless piece of furniture. I'm wearing the coat that Murray brought me back from his trip to New York. Yes, I'm a spoiled, spoiled woman.
Me, on a different day, on another piece of over sized, useless furniture. Only I think that if I had a gigantic house, I might actually be able to make this gaudy thing into a successful piece of interest. I'm not willing to buy it (a thousand bucks) to try it out though.
The line outside the Apple store for all those who wanted to get Leopard. It was released at 6:00. The funny thing is that due to a shipping error, Murray had already received Leopard, before the release time. If I'd known that when I took this picture, I would have enjoyed the sight of everyone lined up that much more.
And this brief story has no picture, but it happened this morning. I got a phone call from a blocked number. When I picked up the phone, I heard the voice of an older man:
Man: Good morning. Sweetheart.
Me: [Trying to place the voice, deciding to make him talk a little longer to see if I could figure out who it was, but seeing as I knew it wasn't my dad or Murray and I couldn't think of who else might call me sweetheart, I figured it was a wrong number.] Good morning.
Man: [Waiting for me to say more...] Uh... who am I speaking to?
Me: This is Cicada.
Man: Oh. I think I may have the wrong number. I was calling for Rowena.
Me: As much as I would love to be your sweetheart, I'm afraid that's just not me. But good luck finding the right number!
Man: Thank you! You have a good day!
Down for the Count
Well, it's getting closer and closer. Murray and I and our families are pretty busy for sure. But Murray sent me this yesterday and I thought it was pretty cool---it's a bunch of the photos that he's using of me for our slide show, all showing on his desktop. Want a slide show preview? Here it is!
Also, in addition to being busy with wedding stuff, Murray has started to blog more frequently. You might want to check it out. He's got some good stories, if I may say so myself...
Also, in addition to being busy with wedding stuff, Murray has started to blog more frequently. You might want to check it out. He's got some good stories, if I may say so myself...
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