Heroes

Image by laobc.

When I think of heroes, I often think of famous men, legendary characters, historical backdrops, and sweeping epochs.

This evening I'd like to mention my heroes from today.

Occasionally this is the bus driver who waited an extra minute so I could get on, or the man with the most fantastic moustache I've ever seen. (Eat your heart out, Mario and Luigi!) One of my heroes is certainly Marissa Pielstick, a patient, kind, wonderful, and intelligent woman whose boyfriend I have the pleasure of being.

Tonight it was four people in a truck...with a sofa in the back.

I have been ill for a couple of days; while the weather has been unseasonably warm, a brisk, chill, rainy wind in the face makes the 11-block walk home harder. Don't get me wrong--it's totally worth Marissa's company.

Well, tonight I had my head down and my hand up to keep my hood secure against the wind-driven sprinkles and the northerly gusts. I probably looked like quite the character. Walking past Wendy's, about half-way home, this truck rolls down its window and the driver asks if I'm doing alright and if I want a ride.

It took me a minute to process. I almost walked past.

A ride?

Heck.
Yes.

For the two minutes it took to get home, I had the pleasure of meeting Vanessa, Camille, Austin (our esteemed driver), and Levi. I had crossed their paths during a midnight Wendy's run while they were enjoying a large bag of fried delectables. I didn't learn much more than that about them, as they asked what I'd been up to and they got to hear about Marissa. (Sorry guys.)

They were willing to give me--a complete stranger, and in a crowded truck no less--a ride home.

This makes them my heroes today.

aPod Touch Thingy

Last winter I got a new dumb phone.

I broke the dumb phone.
Last summer I got a smart phone.

I am presently using the dumb phone's predecessor, the hardy (if quirky) Motorola W755. It does what I want for the price I want.

The smart phone was from a friend of mine. It was used. I called Verizon and was informed that it would take an enormously expensive (to me) dataplan in order to use the oldest Droid in existence.

Did you know these things have pretty good Wifi support? Apple does. An iPod Touch is basically all of the computing power and sensory equipment of a smart phone without the "phone" aspect.

I hereby coin the term "aPod Touch" to designate a phoneishnessless Android smartphone. It's actually kinda fun to have a pocket-sized Internet-capable computer handy even when my laptop is out of battery. Instead of Googling certain classes of things, I find apps that are specialized in that field (ElectroDroid comes to mind). It's battery lasts around 36 hours, a lifetime no laptop I know even tries to match.

So when you see that I have a smart phone, "Mr. Richy-Rich" is a misappelation. When you see that I have two phones, realize that the "inferior" one is the better one, and that I'm liking abusing the poor "superior" phone as a poor replacement for a laptop.