Yikes

This seems to be my month for Major Problems with electric things.

Two weeks ago it was my Nook, which I think just needs a new battery, but I'll find out as soon as I can get to Barnes and Noble, which is not happening quickly because...

...I need my electric trike to get to Barnes and Noble, and last Friday the trike got recalled. I'm still waiting to hear from the retailer, which is not going to happen by phone today because...

...my excessively cheap smart cell phone died on me today. This was the one thing I did see coming; I was just hoping that I could drag it out a few more months. No, said the phone firmly today, sulking and refusing to turn itself on. (This also means that I've probably lost almost everyone's numbers; in the unlikely case that you really, really think I need it for whatever reason, go ahead and email me.)

I'm afraid of even looking at the iPad right now. Perhaps in July.

The timing of this also means that my tentative plans of upgrading to a better cell phone/cell phone plan have been cancelled, since even with the refund from the recall I will still need to shell out some money for the new (more expensive) trike.

Also this week: medical appointments Thursday and window installation Friday. So if I am grumbly, bad tempered or slow to answer emails....you've been warned.

Trike update

(Yes, I'm obsessed with the trike. This isn't new.)

After much discussion at the bike store today, here is what we are doing:

1) Current trike of awesomeness is getting repaired for free and should be available next Friday (not this week, next week). Just having a timeline for this has soothed my nerves somewhat, but I still hate being without it. Just hate it.

2) Since, as some of you have noted, this is not exactly the first problem I have had with the trike of awesomeness or its manufacturer, I am going to be upgrading to a new level of a trike of awesomeness: different battery/engine system (which should also make it easier for me to charge the battery/replace the battery); different trike style (I have things to choose from and then I can pick some elements); and a few other things. We have a lot of options -- more than I thought -- so I'll be spending the next couple of months thinking about said options.

I realized, not for the first time, that it's not exactly my trike of awesomeness that I love, but just the whole electric trike thing itself. I love riding it; I love going places on it. The wheelchair, the mobility scooter, the cane -- all of those are a constant reminder that things have changed, a constant sense of difference. On the trike, though -- I'm normal, I'm together, I'm awesome, I'm me. Whole. Complete. Real. Me.

So getting an even better trike of awesomeness -- and moreover, one that doesn't rattle as much and where we can adjust the handlebars to hopefully reduce the hand swelling a bit (we think) and maybe even one that I can actually pedal without assistance and get some muscle tone back into my legs which would make my doctors happier (maybe; the store is a bit worried about my ability to balance and wants something stable for me, which usually means heavy)....yeah.

Having said that, however, barring an unexpected financial windfall, this means no WorldCon or DragonCon this year, though so far, World Fantasy is still on.

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Cell phone note: I'm actually quite happy with my current plan, which is a pay per month deal, no contract, which lets you select from a number of different phones from decent to excessively cheap. For purely financial reasons, I just went with the excessively cheap phone, and definitely got what I paid for. So I kept thinking, hmm, next time, get a better phone....and, today, when checking online to see what would be available, found that my cell phone plan will be allowing me to have a lovely iPhone 4S --

"Soon."

Not, like, now.

Oh well. Another excessively cheap cell phone it is, then!