Tumbled Words

The Atlantic ocean was kicking up yesterday and I tried to get a photo while riding through Palm Beach. How on earth my iPhone took these next two pictures this way, I will never figure out. These are untouched, though in reverse order. As I clicked the button, I saw the photo split, both times, how strange.

The next photo after these two came out normally.

Twin View

Wind Split

And this is the real peril of this wonderful, though still warm, wind we are experiencing, our view through the car windows:

Salted Windows

Hope your view of the world around you is clearer than ours today.

Tags: Photos

After playing nobody there with GPS, we arrived at a Walmart. Oops, smells like urine inside. Walk over to bank inside, realize it is a different bank than in the other Walmart. Can’t use it. Run out of store.

Head all the way back to the mall area for the Target to get the Hepa Filters. See one on the way, walk in store, almost like an air freshener of some kind, but got the feeling it was powdery, bothers eyes and sinuses. Walk quickly, find filters and needed lamps, try to find another air cleaner, but none right for us. Hurry out to fresh air, trying to ward off headache.

Stop at Staples next door, thank goodness, not too bad air in there. Spend too much time and money there. Head for original Target we had driven past seemingly hours ago, go in, smell so strong, almost like they had just done the floors, turn around and walk out. My system had had enough!

Head North for Apple store to get portable scanner we need before Wednesday. We never thought to call store since they had them online. Of course, they didn’t carry them in the store. They did however replace our laptop cord even though I did not have a receipt or the serial number or the credit card number we used to purchase it. They thought twice about it, but did it anyway. Now, that is customer service!

So, happy we walked out of their store with Altec Lansing speaker for the iPhone so we could have music again. It cuts the music when the phone rings. Perfect! Yes, we could have gotten it cheaper at Amazon, and had planned to order there, but after Apple employees were so great about the cord, why not just buy it there. Besides, with Hannah heading this way, the delivery would probably be in its midst.

Next stop Starbucks, yummy, then AT&T where Leon found a case for the phone that is much sturdier than the one that broke. Maybe it will stay on when he leans over this time.

To cap off the day, our long detour to find the elusive Walmart(s) — meant we got home in the middle of a band from Gustav, had to sit in the car to avoid the driving rain and the winds buffeting the car.

Now to see what Hannah is going to do. Sure hope GPS is not her driving force.

And for those of you in Gustav or Hannah’s path, please, be careful, your safety and that of your family are important.

Tags: customer service, shopping

I’ve never trusted the paths of hurricanes, and it seems like that in spite of technology advances over the years, nature wants to keep it that way (or that mean Mr. Murphy of law fame). It just feels like more often there are surprises in the path or strength of a storm.

In my mind, GPS would be reliable, though the path chosen to the end location could be a bit erratic in its chosen path. Today, I found out just what Google, its information, and GPS could do as a team. Now, I’m wondering if they are not steering the storms.

We merely wanted to find a Walmart.

Before we left the condo, we had found one on the computer and put that address in the iPhone. It had the bank in it we needed. Grabbed the iphone, keyed in the address to the Google Maps application, told the GPS to find us and headed out.

Followed the little blue ball, wait, we passed the address, it was back there several blocks.

Turn around, go back, oops, past the pin again, realized there IS no Walmart there.

Search in iphone see one right over there, click for directions, follow blue ball toward red pin, try to find it, drive past the “pin” for blocks, come to the conclusion since there is a huge mall across the highway from the pin, maybe it just showed up on the wrong side of the interstate.

Click to search Walmart again, puts the red pin somewhere ELSE! Look by the mall anyway, nope. Drive past the mall, turn down street toward the missing Walmart.

Nope, nothing there. It showed Walmart in at least four different places in the same general part of town, and they were not there!

So, we give up and go eat, yummy, Chipotle! Brave searching again, but this time call. Happen to know where that address is, drive there. GPS, Google, and the online search info for Walmart proved as reliable as some weather forecasts.

And the search for what we went out for turned out no better.

Tags: forecasts, GPS, iPhone