How to take care of a sick kid #carelinesp

Second in a series of posts about the Careline Vtech phone review unit

What do you do when a parent and a kid are both home sick?    You wash your hands a lot, try to get lots of rest to keep your immune system strong, and try to avoid touching . . . . uh . . . . well anything they have touched.   And in my case, go to work to flee the scene.


So dad was  in one bedroom convalescing, daughter down the hall resting, and me heading out the door trying to figure out to get them connected.     I moved the   Vtech Careline Telephone Home Safety System  phone next to dad, and gave the pendant to my daughter, and solved my communication problem.


Hit one for mommy, two for daddy - so simple.    My daughter thinks it's her cellphone.

**I wrote this blog post while participating in a campaign by BOOMboxNetwork.com on behalf  of VTech Communications, Inc. and received compensation for my participation. All opinions stated within are my own.

Easy Speaker phone cuts down on the yelling #carelinesp

Have you ever tried to have a cell phone conversation with someone slightly hard of hearing?   And totally averse to technology?   I swear, by the time I finish one of these conversations everyone within two city blocks knows all my business.   And I sound like a total lunatic.

In my house, I now send my senior husband to the Vtech Careline Telephone Home Safety System.  The safest part of the system is that he can't lose it somewhere in the house.  We put the main unit  right by the computer where we already had a phone jack from pre-historic times when you used dial-up to get to the Internet.

 He was trying to look up information about seniors accommodations at Disneyland.   I was trying to tell him what to do as he kept putting the cell phone to write down what I said.   I suggested he use the speakerphone on the his iPhone.  (Don't get me started on how easy the iPhone isn't for him)  He couldn't find it and hung up twice.

So I went on the Internet to the Careline support site and pulled up the picture you see above.   This time when I called back  I sent him to the Careline phone by the computer.    Pick up the receiver.   Hit the orange button.   Put the receiver down.   Yeah!  No more yelling.

Making that button orange was a great design choice.    Maybe even a little bigger would be better.   As for the pendant . . . for us it might be good to have that orange also so it stands out against the snow.

Disclosure:  This post was written while participating in a campaign by Boomboxnetwork.com for the  Vtech Careline Telephone Home Safety System, and Momisageek received compensation for participation.  All opinions stated within are my own.  (Aren't they always!) 

Careline - back to the future phone #carelinesp

Careline is a new phone design from Vtech.   It has large buttons, simple controls, and retro styling.  I remember when it came out of the box a month ago as a review model.   I thought had done a little time travel back to the year 2000.

The phone was easy to set up, and I didn't have to get a magnifying glass to read the display.   The buttons, mentioned above, are not smaller than my fingers, so I actually get where I want to go the first time.   Finally it has four fast-dial buttons.   Boy, have I missed those!   Having to hit a combination of keys for "fast-dial" is way beyond what my technology-averse husband can deal with.    At least he put my cell on  button number one.     Besides the phone, there is a pendant that you can carry around the house that will call the base, or the first two numbers that are save on the base unit.

We tried to figure out the best place in the house for the phone.    In the kitchen?   By the couch where we watch TV?   Upstairs in the bedroom?    Nope - the new nerve center of the house is now the computer.    The speaker phone came in handy first.   My husband, a certified senior citizen and rabid technophobe,  had to spend some time on the phone straightening out some of his prescriptions.   He hit the speaker button, and was using  the Internet and talking on the phone.  

Then he went out to shovel snow, and left the Careline pendant in the house.   (He thought wearing it around his neck was too girly.)   He took a fall and managed to crawl back into the house.    When I got back an hour later  he told me about the fall - and confessed he hadn't used the pendant.   His cell phone was too complicated to use.    I rolled my eyes.   What can you say?

The next day we had more snow.   This time the pendant went with him.  It's Michigan - there is lots
more snow coming our way, and now the pendant is part of his snow wear.

Disclosure:  This post was written while participating in a campaign by Boomboxnetwork.com for the  Vtech Careline Telephone Home Safety System, and Momisageek received compensation for participation.  All opinions stated within are my own.  (Aren't they always!) 

iPad Mini - Very good things come in small packages

Not being a rabid Apple fan girl I can usually resist the Apple hype.  But the iPad mini - it really hits so many of the features of my ideal tablet I had to try it.

I do own a "new" iPad, occasionally known as the iPad 3 to everyone except Apple.  Calling the third in a series of products the "new" iPad has to be one of the most ridiculous naming decisions I have ever heard.  It  almost seems like Apple wants people to be confused about what they are buying.    And what accessories are compatible with what.   I am happy to have a retina display, and the last version  of iPad with a 30 pin connector which connects to EVERYTHING.

But the size of the screen keeps me from truly loving it.   I just can't take it everywhere like I can my Kindle Fire.    Plus doing simple things like putting my photos into folders requires an app.  (at least there is one now  available)   And putting a mixture of files like documents and powerpoints and music and pdfs in to a folder so you can access them together - very complicated.    I would like to occasionally to use the iPad as a large USB drive with screen attached, and editing capability.    All those cutesie apps and games are not where the value is for me with the iPad.

Enter the mini iPad.   Now I have something I can hold in one hand.   Unlike the Kindle Fire, 3G access is available (at cost of 125 bucks, but at least I have a choice).    As much as I like my Kindle Fire, I hate that the smaller version has no 3G, and I am always searching for wifi to move content to the device.   It is better than having to use iTunes to move content, but still a hassle.    The original Kindle was the first tablet style device to let me buy or down load a book anywhere.   The Fire was a throwback to the bad old days having to plan ahead and load the device with content.      I hate having to track free wifi in strange cities.    Airports and hotels have wised up - data access is as big a moneymaker as dessert and soft drinks at a restaurant.   (And you though they really cared that you saved room for dessert!)

So my new mini is on order . . . the 3G version doesn't ship til mid-November, and I can't wait.

Binders full of women - is this so bad?

Mitt Romney has been the butt of many jokes for his turn of phrase "binders full of women" as a solution to workplace equality.

Maybe I'm too much of a geek, but I didn't see anything wrong with the comment.    Based on this turn of phrase, I am thinking that

1. He and/or his organization are researching competent women as part of a hiring plan for his administration.  
2. He recognizes that you should be planning ahead and assembling sufficient information to be able to provide a solution.  
3. He and/or his organization groups  the information into meaningful units for better analysis 

How is a bad thing?  Wouldn't we want a future president to do this?

As for the comment about a binder being "old technology",  I still think of my electronic groups of files "folders" in "binders."   Hey, Mitt . . . put me in your binder.     I need a job . . .

 

Making a List, Checking it Once - the Christmas rules

Though I am not ready to start hearing carols yet, I have started the list.    Actually it started last Christmas, so you know I am way ahead of the super moms

As I simplify to reduce stress, I realize we have evolved to a few Christmas rules that totally streamline the process.

1. Three or less presents a person.  For kids, they can't play with that many items, and only one will be the favorite.   The others might as well not be there.  Of course, there is the pressure to hit that one, so . . .
2. Fund a family outing as a present to all of you.  And sell that it is a present.  For example:
• a favorite waterpark hotel that is kind of pricey
• go to the movies at the most expensive time and buy anything you want for snacks
• see a live show at a local theater
  
3. Let the stockings flaunt rules 1 and 2 as needed. Big things can come in small packages, and don't underestimate the power of a gift certificate.

And new pajamas for Christmas Eve.  

Christmas List OneUpManship

Do you have that friend who always has their shopping done earlier than you?   And no matter how early you finish, they are still done first?

Do you ever exaggerate how soon you got your shopping done ?  (done a week early, a month early, mid-July, or even, last year?) 

Do you wonder it's a contest to get done first?   And why you care?

I wonder.   I need me some Christmas rules to reduce the stress.