Monthly Archives: July 2008

Wanna iPhone? “Pay In Advance!” & Twitter Tattler

General

Apple iPhoneYesterday was the Big Launch Day for the 3G version of the Apple iPhone. Twitter, FriendFeed, the blogosphere, and the news media were all about the millions of people who stood in line to buy the new iPhone. I heard on Twitter from people who had stood in line for hours and others who stood in line and were sent home because they wouldn’t get into the Apple store in time to complete the process that day.

I really want the new iPhone as well. I’ve been a Sprint customer since we came back to the United States from Japan in 1998, but Sprint has a poor lineup of phones with *maybe* a phone that might challenge the iPhone in September or October. It’ll be short, I’m sure, since none of the carriers have yet to figure out what people really want in a mobile device. Apple has it pretty well nailed, though.

So, this fine Saturday afternoon, after spending the morning and early afternoon on yard work, I decided to wander down to the AT&T store in Pocatello, Idaho (that’s where I live) to see if they had any iPhones in stock and what the individual and family pricing plans would be. My contract with Sprint has expired, as has Nina’s, so we can easily move networks.

But, the AT&T store in Pocatello, Idaho was mobbed with people. People buying iPhones! One of the big draws for the new iPhone is that it works on AT&T’s 3g network whereas up-until-now, the phone has only worked on their Edge network. Mind you, the 3G network is not available in Pocatello and might never be part of our landscape. Edge is the best that it gets around here. That apparently didn’t matter to the mob in the AT&T store. It doesn’t matter to me, either, since a good part of our travels puts us in 3G land.

Even more interesting is that the AT&T store here is sold out of iPhones. When I finally worked through the line and got to talk to a sales agent, the first thing he told me was, “We’re sold out. We’ve been sold out since before noon yesterday.” Further, he had no idea when they would get another shipment in, “but it’ll be at least a week.”

In response to my question about why so many people were in the store buying iPhones, I learned that they were setting up the contract and paying for the iPhone today. They were then put on a queue for the next shipment of phones and would be notified when their shiny new iPhone actually arrived. They would then come into the store for activation and to pick up the phone.

I wasn’t planning on buying an iPhone today. I was mostly interested in the pricing, particularly the family plan pricing if both my wife and I bought new iPhones. I did get some of that information, but because I wasn’t buying, he wanted me to go to the website instead so he could wait on someone who was going to buy.

As I left the store, I twittered: “Stopped at the AT&T store in Pocatello. The place is mobbed with people buying iPhones. The store is is out!” When I got home, my wife asked me if I had stopped anywhere. “Not really,” I replied. With a big grin she said, “Really? You didn’t stop anywhere?” Snagged. I told her I had stopped at the AT&T store for some info. “A secret spy told me you were in that store,” she told me. I thought through who was in the store that she would have talked to. Turns out it wasn’t anyone in the store…. My favorite brother had called from Green River, Wyoming and mentioned that I had been in the AT&T store looking at iPhones. No only would I have had to pay in advance, my wife knows about it well before I get home. Twitter tattle tales!

Home!

General

We arrived home about 9 p.m. this evening. We stopped in Blackfoot for dinner which made us a little later than I expected. The motor home is pretty much unloaded and most things have been put away. Email is checked, Twitter read, family blogs checked, so it’s time for a shower and bed. Happy 4th of July!

Driving Through Montana

E-Mail Musings

We’re about 25 miles west of Missoula, Montana on I-90 headed east. We’re following the Clark Fork river which goes past Heron, Montana where we started this vacation trip a couple of weeks ago.

Nina is driving. We’re holding the speed down to 55 mph to save gas. Hopefully we’ll get upwards of 10 mpg on the freeway. At these speeds even the ancient VW camper vans are passing us. I think I should make a sign to go on the back of the tracker saying why we’re going slowly. We’re going to take some more trips, including out to Daryl’s wedding in October.

The west half of Montana is quite pretty, even from the Interstate. I was expecting more traffic, though, as this is a holiday and the start of a three-day weekend. We’ll be home around 8 pm tonight. Another 7.5 hours to go.

Sightseeing In Sandpoint, Idaho … Tomorrow We’re Going Home!

General, Travels

Being In the BandA few days ago during Green River, Wyoming’s Flaming Gorge Days parade, my favorite brother tweeted about the lack of a band in the parade. Today we were in Sandpoint, Idaho walking around downtown when I saw this sign in the window of an establishment. I’m in full agreement that every parade needs a band. Congratulateions, Sandpoint, on figuring out a unique solution to this problem.

Years ago … more than I want to count … I was in the marching band in Soda Springs High School in Soda Springs, Idaho. I played the drums, usually the base drum. Every year the High School Marching Band would march in the 24th of July Parade in Soda Springs. I don’t think we ever marched in the 4th of July parade because the Veterans handled that parade. We wore woolen red uniforms with full jackets and tall hats with a plume on them. By the end of the parade, which was only about six blocks long, I was drenched inside that uniform. The high school band no longer marches in parades in the summer time in Soda Springs and the Veterans don’t either. It’s definitely a loss. Perhaps Soda Springs should adopt the Sandpoint solution, I’m thinking.

This is our last day on this vacation. The map says we can be home in about ten hours if we drive 55 on the Interstate. We’ve decided that’s just fine and we’ll leave here in the morning and park the motor home at our own house tomorrow evening. That’ll give us Saturday to put things back in order so we can go to Soda Springs on Sunday afternoon.

Our granddaughter Kendra is in North Salt Lake for a few days. She flew down from Seattle a couple of days ago and will fly back next week. She’s staying with our daughter Heather and family. After Church on Sunday, Heather and the kids are driving up to Soda Springs and we’ll meet them there. Thanks, Heather, for making this possible. All the more reason to head for home tomorrow!

Back In the USA

General

DSC02931055This morning we broke camp in Crawford Bay, British Columbia, loaded the motor home (towing the Tracker) onto the ferry, and made our way through Nelson and Salmo, across the border into the U.S., and then south through Metaline, Usk, Cusack, Newport, and into a campground on the outskirts of Post Falls, Idaho.

As we drove south the scenery changed and became much more like what we have around us normally in Idaho and consequently, less interesting. We bypassed the planned campground and a couple of others as they were just too rural. There was also no cell phone service and no internet service. That was just too isolated. So Nina went through the campground directory and found this reasonably nice campground in Post Falls, Idaho. We’ll be here tonight and tomorrow night and will start back home on Friday morning, the Fourth of July.

The border crossing back into the US was quite different than last Friday when we left the US and entered Canada. Going into Canada, the agent asked us where we were going and how long we were going to be there. He wanted to know if we had anything we planned to leave behind in Canada. After writing down the license plate number and entering it into his computer, we proceeded into the country.

Coming back home, however, was significantly more complicated. In addition to a series of questions, the agent went through the motor home and the tracker, had me open all the compartments so he could check them out, spent quite a while on the computer entering information, and then sent us on our way. We were there about twenty minutes. This must be Department of Homeland Security at work.

We’re glad to be in the land of $4 a gallon gasoline prices, though. It’s also nice to be in an area where we can quickly get to a store if we need something. That was never the case where we were staying in Canada! The local store closed at 6 p.m. in the evening.

We’re having a grand time and Nina’s now making a list of the things we need to make sure come with us on our next adventure. We’re also talking about where we want to go next and how soon we can make the trip. This has been a lot of fun!

Wrapping Up Our Canada Visit (For This Trip)

General

Wild West In CanadaWe have really enjoyed our time on the Canada side of the International Selkirk Loop. On our way back to the motor home after a full day of sightseeing, we started listing the things we really liked about this part of our visit. Here’s my list:

* Going to Church at the Kootenay Lake Branch. It was a great experience and one that we will remember for a very long time.

* Riding the ferry across from Kootenay Bay to Balfour and back. So far we’ve made three round trips and tomorrow we’ll take the motor home (towing the tracker) across. The ferry is “free” (paid for out of gasoline taxes) which is a good thing as most of the places to go were on the other side of the lake.

* Visiting the Glass House, a house constructed from empty embalming fluid bottles. It was definitely one of the most quirky things we’ve seen in quite a while.

* All the really little villages along the route. We have really enjoyed these little towns and Kaslo is a particular favorite. These little towns have real character and charm.

* The really friendly people. Everywhere we’ve been the people have been friendly and helpful. They also have an accent that’s fun to listen to.

* The waterfalls. Along our drives have been an abundance of waterfalls. There have been so many, in fact, that Nina finally got enough pictures of waterfalls for this part of the trip.

* The mining towns. We’ve stopped at a couple of old mining towns and have learned some of the history of the mining past in this area. I had no idea that there have been so many silver, lead, zinc, and gold mines in this area and many are still operating.

* The rock murals in Salmo. These were very interesting murals and pictures will eventually show up in the picture album from our stop in that town.

* Mars candy bars. For some reason, we don’t have these candy bars in the United States. The Mars Caramel bar is especially good.

* Much cooler temperatures than in Pocatello. The high temperatures here have been in the mid to upper 80’s. In Pocatello they’ve been in the mid to upper 90’s. I like these temperatures better right now, although I suspect in the winter it gets to be bitter cold here.

* The much longer daylight. We’re about four hundred miles north of Pocatello and the sun is up at least an hour longer than at home. That means more time to play before I realize how late it is.

There are probably many more things, but I’m tired and the fireworks are going off not far from here. It’s time to publish this and pay attention to other interesting things.