My First Cell Phone

Forward

I just checked my last blog and I see that it clearly leaves the date that I have written it. So all know how many days behind that I am. Yes, I am in Paris now - and I love it, but more about that in a later blog.

Perhaps you have noticed. This blog will probably not be a list of things we saw or ate. They are my reflections on traveling. In fact the events that I seem to be relating are relativly minor, but I think will speak volumes on the ups and downs of traveling. A small example: I am not a great speller and I rely on spell check a great deal. Well I am in Paris now at an Internet Cafe. The spell check underlines just about every word that I type- obviously because it is set up for misspelling in French. So please forgive my spelling and grammar errors. I will fix them when I get home (maybe).

Friday, June 12

Donna left early this morning and I started out on my own through the Kesington Park. The beautiful day contrasted with the rain, the previous day. I had been inquiring about renting a cell phone. I heard that 30 Pounds ($1.90 now times 30) was a good price. I went to a cell phone store and found out that I could buy a cell phone for 20 pounds, a chip worth 10 pounds- and some extras like insurance and VAT and other things made the total price 35 pounds. You may imply from the title that this is my first cell phone and it is. Before I left the store, I called Donna, just to make sure it worked. -- INTERNATIONAL CODE-- 001--AREA CODE--707 and so on. And yes it worked.

For those who have noticed, yes, I was dialing an international call for my wife who was only several blocks away. ( will continue later- my internet time is up.)- I am back again. THIS PHONE THING: I am new with cell phones but I read up a little before I went on my trip. American cell phones are locked. This means that you sign a contract for a period of time- a year usually, I think, then have some freedom when you contract is up. Cell phones in Europe are unlocked. Of course you can sign up for a long term service but many people just buy a chip in the drug store and use it until it runs out. Donna successfully called me in England, but when we came to France, she has yet to figure out how to call me. I am still able to call her. This subject brings me to another problem- changing the phone. England has big funky plugs like nowhere else in Europe. I came with a whole range of adapters but still we are having problems finding the right adapter for the right plug. In addition Europe, including England and Russia have 220 current running through their systems. There is a danger that if one only uses an adapter and not a voltage transformer, a person can burn out their electronic device. Last night as I was trying to charge my ipod there was a strange buzz coming from the transformer and I was afraid that I was burning out my ipod as I was charging it. Also I bought an plug adapter for my phone in the rest of Europe today. It was 25 Euro- that is more than the cost of my phone. To sum it up. I am able to call Donna long distance, and I am able to call her Dad (who is with us, did I mention?) but they are still not able to call me. I still have not figured out my cell phone. Noone knows my number except Donna- and I have one message from her and five more from some mystery person (probably some kind of cell phone advertising)and I am still not able to retrieve my messages. But I am able to make a phone call if I get the right country code. Adios!!!

Postscript:
My tour of the National Gallery took in my favorite painters- the great Dutch of the 17th century including of course Rembrandt and Vameer. But in my evening stroll through the museum I came upon one of my favorite painters and certainly my favorite British painter- Wm Turner. At an early age I saw a certain painting of his and endeavored to paint it. It has a name like -Dragging in the Ship (What's its name?) for the last time. The effect is a spread- splashes of light and smoke and sun and water - all over the four foot by four foot canvas. The painting is really a plunge into twentieth century abstraction done by a man born in the early nineteenth century. I have always been quite taken by the painting, but staring at it closely, seeing the thick layers of paint and color exploding on the canvas - in three dimentions was a transporting experience. There were four of them there- similar style but all wonderful in their own way. I urge you to look them up - Google: Turner "National Gallery" London in the image mode. I am sure that you will find them.