Days 73 -79 Technology Hell

August 23rd - 29th 2013

We moved from Cape Cod back to Minuteman Campgound in Littleton, Ma one of our favorite places to stay in the Boston area.  You never know what site you are going to get there, some are better than others. This time we had one of the best!  Behind us was the woods, the lot was flat and quite roomy.  Plus, we had the bonus of a campfire!

Our lovely wooded site.  Mosquitoes and all!

We quickly were reminded of the huge and hungry mosquitoes here, and the TV news reported West Nile Virus in the area ( a mosquito borne illness ).  Since we really didn't need the threat of disease to dissuade us from quenching the thirst of these miniature vampires, we unfortunately spent the evenings mostly inside.

On Sunday we went kayaking with Norm's daughter, Jackie, on the western portion of the Charles River.  It was a beautiful day, and we had a great time.  It was so good to spend
"quality time " with her.  At one point we were near the local shooting range, and it was rather nerve-wracking; hoping some stray bullet didn't venture our way. I don't know how soldiers do it.

Wow!  Our first "rapid"!  We are soooo brave! ( not!)

Norm and I on a portion of Boston's
 Charles River

We went back to the house, and had dinner with Jackie and her husband ( just married June 1st if you remember ).  We looked at all her wonderful wedding photos, and enjoyed once again, an incredible meal! Joel is quite the master of the grill. 

Over the last last couple of months, things had been going pretty smoothly.  All the technical problems we had early on pretty much mysteriously solved themselves. Not a lot of play time was lost speaking with technical people from far away places, struggling to understand what we think might be the English language.

All that was about to change. 

Apple store in Nashua, NH

We discovered my iPad was using an incredible amount of data, without my even having it with me! After arguing with Verizon that I was NOT streaming movies day after day,  I took advantage of the nearby Apple Store, and set out to find why this was happening.

Norman stayed back at the campground and did a few maintenance things.




After nearly 8 hours of help, the Apple folks realized my iPad was sending out data all by itself! They could not believe it! It was "possessed"!

Thankfully it was under warranty, so they gave me a brand new one, and I went happily, albeit tired and brain fried, on my way.

I returned to the RV to find that Norman was having problems of his own with his computer.  He had spent the better part of the day with” Hamid” in India.

That was just the beginning.  Norm spent  2 ½ days, around the clock, ( enduring many shift changes ) with Best Buy’s Geek Squad ( and other technicians doing a poor imitation of the English language ) inside his computer trying to figure out why it was crashing.

While Norm patiently waited for the departure of the technicians who had taken up what seemed like permanent residence inside his computer, I went to my daughter’s mother-in-law’s so we could work on the plans for the Baby Shower.  One project I have been very excited about was making a motorcycle Diaper Cake for the shower.  ( Both she and my son-in-law are motorcycle instructors ). It took more time than I thought, so I finished the diaper cake back at the campsite.

The wheels are diapers, handlebars and the thing his feet are on are
receiving blankes, the headlight is a baby bottle, a pair of socks on the
handlebars, and of course the fenders are bibs! You can do anything
with YouTube!  Even in the middle of a forest!

A few weeks back, I had spent hours shopping on line for the various items needed.  Finding the perfect animal for the “rider” was very difficult to do on the world-wide-web.

 Without being able to touch and feel, I just could not make the decision!   I was up till the wee hours of the morning searching for that sweet-faced, adorable animal that looked like a potential “biker”.

One morning I called the Gund factory ( my favorite stuffed animal manufacturer ) and asked them to take various measurements;  Butt to head, length of leg.

 After the really nice girl in customer service looked online at the motorcycle diaper-cake I was about to make, she got really into it, and went to search out the best character!

 Norman could not understand how I could take so much time trying to decide on "a damn bear".  I finally chose " Sophie " the bear, and arranged for shipment.

I got together with Laura's Mother-in-law, Bev, and we worked on the baby shower arrangements and started to put together the diaper cake.  I finished it back at the campground.  Cute, eh?