Phone Upgrade and Pictures

Since the fateful day in 1987 when my parents got rid of our party line in favour of a private telephone line, I've only really upgraded my telephone service and plans twice, and one of those times...when I started working for someone else and they handed me a mobile phone the size of a small suitcase.....wasn't of my choosing.



In the intervening years, ever since I had mobile phone technology unexpectedly thrust upon me, the only thing that has really changed in terms of my personal cell phone is the size of the package surrounding the handset. What was once the size of a small suitcase now comfortably fits in my shirt pocket. And if all I needed to do with a cell phone was make phone calls, I assure you I would be the last Luddite in Middle Tennessee with a basic plan and a phone that did absolutely nothing more than make phone calls.



Unfortunately, running a growing small business that has a client base which is international in scope in 2011 requires considerably more effort than making or receiving an occasional phone call. Both Melissa and I were spending hours answering emails and other enquires as well as sending photo updates to clients each night after we came in the house. We were also getting sick of packing multiple gadgets around the farm with us every day in order to capture the videos and photos that have become such an integral and necessary part of our business life. Amazingly, with our recent phone upgrade, we got all the tools we needed to run our business packed into one small gadget that (amazingly) fits in my front pocket ! All this and a high speed internet connection that works virtually everywhere ! Unfortunately, the learning curve on our new gadgets is very steep; more so for me than for Melissa, and I am still very much trying to figure everything out. The neatest thing I've found so far is that we can now compose and send texts and short email messages strictly by voice, which saves a ton of time typing messages out ! When I finally figure out how to add pictures to my voiced over emails, I will be in heaven !

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Believe it or not, all the pictures below were taken in the last ten days. In my experience, the first one and the last one are a lot more typical of January in this area than the middle two.

My muddy boots drying out on the barn floor after an unexpected three inch gullywasher on the morning of January 3rd.


Photo entitled, "Waiting for Spring", taken this afternoon.

Looking in from our front gate. Given that this was the second largest snowfall ever recorded here, I might (hopefully) wait a very long time for another shot like this.



Looks kinda like spring, doesn't it ? Photo taken January 1st in the woods beside the barn. The outside temperature was 73 degrees.