Walking With Freddie: The Bet I Won ... and Lost?

Tiko and Craig (or anyone else who happened to be in the VRC Trophy Lounge the day the bet was made) — if you're reading this .... I've caved. I am now the owner of an Apple Stupidphone. Technically, I did win the bet. One year after we shook on it, I hadn't gone anywhere near a "mobility" store, hadn't signed on to any kind of plan, and had only the vaguest understanding of how texting worked. Technically, then, you do still owe me that bottle of Mount Gay rum. :-)

But I wouldn't feel quite as virtuous and triumphant in accepting it as I would have a few days ago.

[Curtis, the Telus guy helping me, was, I'll admit, great.]

[This dog came into the store while we were there, and Freddie managed (mostly) to hold his down-stay and watch.]

I don't plan to give my number out (or to make a point of learning it myself).

I don't plan to text, or Tweet, or check Facebook, or transfer music over from my iPod Nano, or abandon my little Canon camera.

The only person I expect to call on this device is Paul, and then only under unusual or emergency circumstances.

The main reasons I acquired the thing? Work and Car2Go. The work-related uses are boring. Re. Car2Go — after several futile and frustrating attempts to locate a car by wandering up and down streets, Paul and I realized that full use of the system really does require a mobile online device.

And how's it working out?

This morning we thought we'd try a Car2Go journey to Acadia Beach (UBC), followed by a hike to Wreck Beach Trail 6 (a route that will be verboten for dogs come March 1) ... but laptops and apps were no help; there wasn't a car to be GPSed anywhere near us. We should have just hooked Freddie's trailer up to my bike and cycled there, or taken the bus, but we'd left it too late (Paul had an appointment to get to).

We did our regular local beach walk ... and had a fine time in the sunshine. When we got home, Freddie alerted me to a low. Who needs technology?