Texting

Well here we go again. This time we get to earn .5 hours of training for learning how to text message on a cell phone. It's nice to know that you can also text message for free on-line. The only thing is, it would be totally appreciated if you know if the receiving person has a text message plan or if they will have to pay for the text you send them. Doesn't even matter if they open it or not, they will have to pay for it without a plan. Initially we did not have a plan, but we do now. My two daughters and I text the most with each other...occasionally with my 2 sons. The other thing we have been involved with more is Facebook. Both of these programs have had an good influence on my relationship with my kids. But another influence, maybe not so good, has been that sometimes i forget to use capital letters when i'm writing...it just takes too long to capitalize names and the beginning of sentences. Some of the short "lingo" i use are: lol, ly, ly2, omg, otw, ttfn, and :) and :0 and many others. I took a Gregg Shorthand class in highschool, but none of those symbols are on the phone...lol...and my kids wouldn't have a clue anyway.

I watched the video, but didn't really learn anything new. I read the NY Times article, and what does "flummoxed" mean again? Maybe that's how my husband feels when i text him and he doesn't know how to open it. Well, actually, i think he can open it, he just doesn't know how to send one. :) I have texted while driving and don't like it at all...no close calls or anything, just anxiety while trying to text and drive...not worth it. California is trying to curtail the problem, but there aren't enough cops to catch them all. Traffic is bad enough without texting pile-ups.

All this new technology can be frustrating especially when it seems like people are becoming less considerate of others. When someone is talking on the phone and you are trying to serve them at the desk...well, be patient...they will eventually let you know what they want, if you haven't already figured it out yourself. Be polite, and wave goodbye.

Facebook

I decided to work on the iHCPL again with the unit on Facebook. I opened an account back when we were introduced to it on iHCPL, but didn't do much with it until recently when my daughter invited me to be friends. And now I think I have over 20 friends. I check the site from home every other day. I updated my privacy settings. I'm just hoping it didn't do too much to change things...if so I'll just go back in and change them again. I forwarded the link to my kids in case they didn't know about privacy settings, and/or how to protect their profiles and pictures.