The Mysteries of the Iphone

A very kind friend bequeathed me his old iphone. It even has a lovely leather case, So far, so good!  I took some pix with it - impressive light gathering - I took some self-portraits - Jeez Wayne - never again- what an old hag!


Telecom couriered me a sim card, but it was too small.  I tried to fit it into the holder thingee anyway.  It was pre-coffee, what can you expect.
 The phone people said they couldn't courier a new one for 3 days - they don't do weekends (this was Friday morning). I said I'd go to the mall.
The girl in the shop said I'd have to pay $20 and phone and get the charge reversed.  This despite the fact that this was a freebie.  I told her I'd just go phone again and they could courier it.  So she got the manager, who decided he could miraculously supply the correct card free. He then discovered my old phone was still connected so he pressed lots of buttons on his computer. He asked me if it was prepay or postpay.  Naturally I said postpay as that was what my last phone was.  He tapped it all into the computer.- I was to wait a couple of hours but it started after about 30 minutes. This was a high point for Telecom!  What a saga - Some things I mastered real quick, but then there is the rest...

Why, when I have organised the address book and inserted all the new things (which took ages!), does it 'sync' and change everything.  Now I don't know which numbers are ok on pc & phone and which are old or wrong.  Will I ever find out?  Will I have to phone everyone to find which are correct  AAAArrrgggghhhhh!!!
I still haven't got itunes sussed out. The first thing it did was upgrade the firmware - this took ages.Then it filled the thing with hundreds of emails that were sitting unread in gmail inboxes. I had to spend hours deleting them and sorting out my gmail inboxes online - on the pc of course.

I decided to do internet - and there the trouble started.....  They said open wi-fi was free in hotspots but when I tried one, it demanded cash up front for data!. Telecom then said only some were free and you just have to try them out!  All a bit hit and miss.
I thought all libraries had hotspots so I tried it at Pakuranga when I went to change my books. They don't have it.  The nice lady said the ex Manukau City libraries were meant to get it for the Rugby World Cup but id didn't happen.  She looked rueful.

I couldn't get into my broadband at home to let the iphone into the network.- it locked me out - with a padlock!  The nerve of it!  After hours on the phone to Vodafone (God knows where most of these people learnt their English), I got someone who could communicate!  Hallelujah!   So I got it all set up. 
So here's the mystery... I turned the computer and router off at the wall then went to bed.  However, I got a sudden urge to tweet. So I grabbed the cellphone and tweeted.  The internet was there. Now how does this do this when the router is turned off?  If the phone is Telecom and the broadband is Vodafone - who will be demanding money for this?  Or is it mysteriously free?  Maybe my neighbour through the wall has an unprotected hotspot!

Then this morning, when the router was on, the phone refused to connect to the internet  and kept demanding username and password - well, who can think that up before breakfast? - do I even have one? 
I turned the computer on.  The broadband didn't work on that either - said there was a conflict between networked devices. I would have talked to my ISP, but their phone said there would be long delays (this after interminable requests by a disembodied voice to press this button for.... - you all know how it goes). Actually,  it seems they always tell you there are long delays, even when there aren't. To wait or not to wait? - that is the question.
Anyway, no-one ever answered.  Typical Vodafone. They tell you how valued you are but actions speak louder than words.
Eventually, both devices just decided to work again - all by themselves, as they do sometimes.

Then there is the voice-mail - which I had disconnected on my last phone - anyway, the damn thing is back. I don't do voice-mail.  Not at all, not on my home phone either.  I don't dare talk to Telecom because I got the post-pay continued despite at least 3 phone reps telling me I'd have to go on prepay when I came off the soon to be defunct CDMA network.  I'm avoiding them - post-pay is cheaper and much more convenient!  With luck they won't ever find out about it so I'm not tempting fate.  If they do find out, I'm going to 2degrees. I am! And quicker than greased lightning!

Feel free to leave voice-mail messages.  Say anything you like. Get it all off your chests. You can be secure in the knowledge that it will never be heard!