Tekkie Schmekkie: Phone Apps a Snap!

   I’m always about five years (or more) behind on purchasing tekkie upgrades. I FINALLY chose a new cell phone: LG Mach Android.  I was due for a Sprint upgrade contract, SO, I got the phone for FREE. Chances are I’m still years behind on the up-tek. I don’t want to know, really, so keep your thumbs and your instant messaging to yourselves, por favor.

   In the last two years, I’ve recycled three, monster-sized television sets.  I’m hardly deprived of televised entertainment and streaming news, however. I subscribe to Netflix loaded on my spare, old laptop and I watch my favorite show(s) it in the late evening.

   My son, Juan, tunes in on his IPhone when he’s staying with me.  I have stereos, but most of the music I listen to is either on the car radio, on the Internet, my MP3 headset or BLUETOOTH SHADES when I’m running or riding my bike.  I’m still watching videos to figure out how to better download the music from my laptop to the sunglasses.

   The reason I replaced my old phone was to synch the music with the shades, which appears convenient.  I’m writing to take a break from techno-frustration. The matching, neoprene armband came with the phone, but I’m hard-pressed to wear such a cumbersome gadget on my arm. 

   I just went for a bike-ride-test-run and the chain came off the gears.  Fortunately, I was two blocks away from home, looking like a bike-riding fiend though walking my disabled mountain bike to the garage.  I’m headed to the gym after this post.  Back to basics. I’m going to listen to music with my itsy-bitsy, MP3 player. I don’t want to text anyone, chat with peeps, answer emails, nor scroll through messages while I’m working out.

   I downloaded some cool apps for tracking running and bicycling routes, though.  Seems the gadgetry I mess with the most during my workouts is twofold: my workout wear and the tekkie gear.  One or the other is often displaced by frenetic movement: an earpiece falls out during a run, a Velcro shoulder strap loosens, my Lycra yoga pant legs gather tightly behind my knees (biting me), the song on the player is erroneously on continuous loop.  It’s always something that can be easily remediated, but fixing those things puts a kink in my mental momentum – AS IF I’m on some kind of athletic roll to begin with. Who’s gonna win the race? What race? Really. Heavy sigh.

   I was planning on riding to Canyon Lake this evening via Menifee’s back forty.  I absolutely must have music, water, a towel and gum –and an operable bicycle.  If any one of the tools is missing, my work outs feel as though the Yin is missing from the Yang. OOOOOoooommmmmmm. For Karmic repose, the FREE APPS I downloaded can be found on the following links:  MY FITNESS PAL and  ADIDAS MICOACH.COM

   The truth is I want to shape up a bit.  I bought a new blouse at one of the outlet stores yesterday as opposed to purchasing a phone cover. I wanted wear the blouse to church this morning, but the blue chiffon, glittering garb is a petite size.  No, I didn’t try it on or read the tag. I held it up to the light and it sparkled in all the right places.  Hey! I was totally distracted inside of a store other than Costco -- all the BLING and the FRILLY, SWIRLY, GIRLIE STUFF.  Wowwwww!

   Besides, there’s certainly nothing petite about me, except maybe the circumference of my wrists.  I’ll give the blouse to my lovely, diminutive friend, Patricia.  When I, my bicycle and my phone/radio/sunglasses come together, probably by the middle of next week, it will be an indication that I’ve taken unencumbered, tekkie strides – or pedaling, as the case may be. Easy, breezy…

Lynda StarWriter is a freelance writer and public speaker.  lyndastarwriter@aol.com