What's App With You?

One of my darling former students who had graduated to nephew status is now living in Berlin. He is working on his PhD is American History at an American university. I cannot remember which university, but if he reads this I am sure to be admonished; I will return to correct the details. 


The point of drawing attention to him is that he made me aware of a new smartphone application. Yes, he is a poor destitute university student, yet found hidden coins in the depths of his change purse to buy an iPhone. Now that I think about it strangely it was at the time he just happened to mention he did not have money for food for a week. What's an uncle to do? You think you raise them right and then...


Whatsapp messenger is compatible with the iPhone, and smartphones of the Nokia, Blackberry, and Android persuasion. They allow the user to SMS anyone anywhere in the world for free. Caveat emptor (Let the buyer beware), in this case, let the user beware, the app is free, but the receiver needs to have the same app on their phone. It takes two to tango or swap files in this case. The bonus is that you can also send unlimited images, video, and audio media. Using the same data plan as your Internet connection, the phone does not use the traditional SMS route of transfer.


At first I hesitated. How many people am I in contact with who have smartphones? Let me think! Oh, yea, one in Berlin. I told him I would install it, but he had better use it with caution. Any messages concerning his destitute finances will now require he SMS me a copy of his latest credit card and bank statement before I think about playing any soulful tune on my heartstrings. 


I easily found the app in the Android Market on my Samsung Galaxy i9000, the best phone decision I have ever made. Now we will have to see if this is the best app decision I ever made. For now, I am able to send SMS messages to and fro Berlin for free.


If you have a smartphone and download the app, send me a message to let me know. You need to use the + sign, country code, and then the mobile number. My number is
+36-70-315-8828. Happy texting. 


Related articles

• Android Apps Market May Overtake Apple Market by 2012- Study (globalthoughtz.com)
• Report: Android App Market Outpacing iPhone Apps (slashgear.com)
• WhatsApp - cross platform mobile messenger (janeknight.typepad.com)
• Use These 8 Apps To Ditch Your Expensive Texting Plan [Apps] (gizmodo.com)

Pin It Now!

Here Today, Gone Today

My computer came home today. I was expecting it to stay for an extended stay, but it had other ideas. It was just a teaser visit. Alec, the computer tech had me block out the day for his installations, reinstalling the back up drives, and other techie things I tuned out as my mind was cha-chinking the cash register. He e-mailed me at 10:00 to say he was picking up the computer and would be over by 11:00. One would think that if you had someone's computer, you would know better than to e-mail them. He could have sent an SMS. I already have his mobile number in my phone, so it is no dark force secret I will use to stalk him. They had to replace the C': drive. They saved all of my data and put it on the new drive. I left him in the living room and was doing tasks in the kitchen when I heard him talking on the phone in a mix of English and Hungarian. Without understanding all of the words, I knew from the tone, it involved me and it was not good news. After he was here an hour, he meandered into the kitchen like a child going to the principals office. He got it all set up and it will not start up, as in there is not chance that the computer realizes it is plugged into an electrical outlet and wants to the voltage pouring through it. Nothing, all plugged in and no one is home. The wheel is turning, but the hamster is dead. He said he witnessed it fully functional just this morning and shut it down himself. He had to take it back with him to the office to check it with a voltage meter. This is like a hostage situation a la the movie "Groundhog Day". With the parting words of the governor of California, "I'll be back" he drove off into the sunlight with my computer in tow at 12:30 assuring me to keep the afternoon free as he would return. By 4:30, I had that bait and switch feeling crawling about so I SMS'ed him. The response "read your e-mail". Well, duh, why did I not think of that? The bottom line is that someday, I will see my computer again. It will have gone under major surgery, organ transplants, lifelines replaced, brain transfers, but it will outwardly look the same as before. It is reassuring to know that the box I have come to love the appearance of under my computer desk will still look the same as always without my having to get used to a stranger sitting at my feet while I work. When that day will happen is still anyone's guess, but hope is everlasting.

Pin It Now!

Home again, home again

Having packed most of my things last night, the morning was free and easy, too easy. What could I do to fill the hours before leaving for the airport? By 10:00 am, I was showered, shaved, and ready to move my things downstairs on the way to breakfast. Due to the treacherous nature of the stairs, it was not worth risking a broken body part taking both the carry-on and the backpack down in one trip. I brought the carry-on down and left it in the hallway where luggage sits and waits. I dragged myself back up the stairs, did one last check of the room and grabbing the backpack said good-bye to my sleeping accommodations.

Of all of the personnel at the hotel, the one guy who worked the three day shifts, I like the least. He is not as service oriented as the others. Lest I be considered persnickety, I overheard others comment the same thing. He is not as quick to clean up the dirty tables as the others are and he is not as responsive about checking the coffee pot or the juice. Yesterday, one guest waited a good ten minutes while he sat at the desk. I thought I heard the sounds of an old fashioned adding machine, but could not see over the desk. In my mind, if you know you have a guest waiting and you are not working with a guest on the phone or at the desk, you stop what you are doing and give priority to the guest. The others seem to do this, but not this guy.

He also irritated me when I went to put my backpack behind the desk. He was off somewhere and when he appeared he did not give the appearance of having been too busy. I did not go behind the desk, but put my backpack with my coat on a built in chair to the right of it, recessed in the wall. Rather than being polite, he came upon me and said “Excuse me, but what are you doing?” I turned and with an authoritarian tone that seethed with “I am a paying guest, you twerp” said “Theo told me when I checked in that this would be safer back here. It had my computer in it.” Theo was the magic word since he is the owner. However, he was still snippy enough to ask me when I would collect it and if my coat could live somewhere else. You would think it were the queen’s throne the way he was carrying on. I said I would collect my coat after I had my breakfast as I was leaving for a few hours until I left for the airport. He did not seem to appreciate this, but he did not refute it.

The breakfast room was almost full. At first I thought I would have to share the table with my new Costa Rican friend/neighbor, but one table was free, so I sat by myself. When a couple of French women came down, a table emptied, but it was still messed from the last guests. They stood there waiting and Mr. Attitude asked them if he could help them. If he were paying attention, he would have known they wanted a seat with a clean space. When they told him they were waiting for a table, he said “If you just wait, I will clear one.” Smack his face, why don’t you?

Now I was faced with hours to kill before getting the tram to Central Station to take the train to the airport. I did what I have been doing the last four days, I walked. I walked to the park that was designed by the same landscape architect as the famous gardens I spent the day at on Sunday. This park was lacking flowers, charm, and appeal. It did not seem to offer much except walking paths. After 20 minutes of a fast walking pace, I turned around and went back the entrance.

Finding a cozy bench in a canal, my book was a diversion for about 15 minutes, until my blue fingers caught my attention. It was decidedly colder today, feeling more like autumn than spring. The thought of walking to the Rembrandt Museum and tour the gift shop seemed like an idea I could warm up to.

From there, the coffee shop around the corner from the hotel was the next logical choice for some warm respite where I could read for an hour before collecting my luggage. When I returned to the hotel, Theo was there and I was pleased to see him. He is very hospitable.

On the tram, I was able to buy a one time ticket for 1.60 Euro and headed to the train station. My timing was excellent as the train was there and left within five minutes of my boarding. At the airport, I found Wizz Air and was checked in in a matter of 10 minutes. Now I am sitting in the Diners Club lounge with an hour to spare before I head for my flight. The DC lounge is not spectacular, but more than adequate. There is no WiFi access and the use of Internet is charged. They have drinks, but the snacks are limited to chips and small packages of cheese. It could be worse; they could not have a lounge at all, like in Paris.

Wizz uses the ‘H’ lounge, a kind of generic lounge with no amenities. The sign asks that you do not enter security until your flight is displayed on the screen. Once it has, you go directly to the gate and board. Other than the child behind me that screamed for 80% of the flight, it was uneventful, but efficient.

As soon as I arrived, I turned on my mobile and there were four SMS messages from students, then one actual call also from a student. For a minute, I felt like I had never left.

Pin It Now!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

The phone alarm was set for 9:00 am, but at 3 in the morning, the alert warning of an SMS pierced through the silence and my dreams. My immediate thought was that it could not be morning already, and it was not, just an SMS. It must have taken hours to reach me since it was from one of our booking agencies, yet they close at 11:00 pm. Delayed reaction in the phone service, I guess. In my sleep, I must have shut the alarm off in the process of reading the message, because it was off when I awoke at 10:15 this morning.

I felt like I was behind schedule, and then realized that I am on vacation and there is no schedule. I am alone and do not have to worry about anyone’s desires, but my own. Still I did not want to waste the day. I have this feeling that not being out in the city is a desecration of valuable time. The shower was uncooperative. There is a two dial system, one for water on and off, the other for hot water. The water went on fine, but there was no hot, just three degrees colder than iceberg. I could not force myself to the torture for more than two minutes, so my hair did not get washed.

Breakfast was similar to what we serve: coffee or tea, white and brown bread, three large slices of cheese, three of a lunch meat, peanut butter, and nutella. There were two Brits across from me, but they left shortly after I arrived, two women across and to the left of me, but they did not communicate except with each other. Two Americans wandered in and sat next to me, but were busy dishing two women they were traveling with, and one Brit single man on the end. Not much social intercourse happened outside of the established groups.

As circumstances would have it, rain was pouring down in buckets. The incentive for me to get out is to take pictures. However, when I have to consider juggling a camera and umbrella, my enthusiasm dwindles to nil. I took my time with breakfast, watched some news in my room, and headed out by 1:00. The sun was shining and it looked like it had never rained that morning.

Where to go, where to go, that was my decision for the morning. I had no idea. I decided to try the number 14 tram line, but started to get impatient waiting for it to arrive, so I walked the line instead. After walking about three tram stops, I decided it was not worth continuing. The outlook for something interesting was not promising. I turned back and went to Hard Rock Café to buy some pins. Walking the streets beyond the hotel, I found some interesting buildings. Since I love the architecture here, I was able to snap some shots.

I walked through the flower market and took some pics of the flowers for sale. This was insurance if I do not see what I hope at the tulip growing area. The water on the cellophane was either from the rain or they were freshly sprayed for freshness. Some of the colors are amazing.

From here it was on down to the Dam, where the Royal Palace is located toward the Central Station. As I approached the Dam, there was a demonstration in process. There was a woman giving a speech on two huge screens projecting her image from the stage. There were red and white balloons floating in the air, with words that escaped my understanding. As I was snapping pictures, a young man offered me a paper, but I said I could not read it. Then I questioned him about the purpose of what was happening. He explained it was a demonstration about illegal rent increases. When I responded that I thought it might have been something about the immigration issues, he smiled and said “Not this time.”

I walked to the Central Station and then was going to walk around it, but there is a highway there. I was in search of a coffee shop that my friend Earl and I found when he and I were here. I was turned around for a minute, but then realized where I needed to turn. It was about 45 minutes of walking that I found the coffee shop. It was filled with people and there was not a seat to be had. I kept walking for another 30 minutes before turning back to try again for a seat. When I returned, there were a few seats available. I had a picture of this coffee shop from the last time. They have one wall with built in containers of rainbow colors along the wall, each filled with coffee beans.

On the table, there was a flower arrangement. One of the lilies in the vase was just above my eye view, so the pollen falling out was obvious. It seemed like such an interesting shot to be called “Spilling the seed”. I took a couple of shots of it hoping one would turn out since it was such a close up. Then as I was looking up, I noticed the lily in bloom along side of a branch of a plant just getting ready to bud, seemed so significant that it needed to be photographed also.

From here I went to the Magna Shopping Center. The building looks like a royal building, so I am curious of its history. It is a splendid building and the last time I was in it was with Ron is 2001 when St. Nicholas was holding court for the children. Even without the Christmas décor, it is a magnificent building to spend some time in. A constant battle was playing out in my head. One side was saying well, you are not doing anything important, so why not go back to the hotel and read. The other side argued that the sun was shining, the air was clean, stay out and enjoy it. So, I walked, looked, and wandered down streets I had never explored, went into stores never ventured into, and checked out the urban shopping centers. It seems that you can learn much about a culture from their shopping centers. The architecture is usually unique, but also the stores that are housed in the center give the curious mind just how far globalization has spread. It pleased me that in these centers uncovered today, there were no stores that could be labeled American.

Thus far, my transportation pass has been more of an insurance policy than a useful tool. It has lived in my jacket pocket all day today, not once getting a chance to be displayed. For 9.30 Euros for 72 hours, it is not a great waste.

One discovery that was unexpected, especially for me was a church. Amongst the urban jungle of shops, full scale stores, and shopping centers, there is a Roman Catholic Church. I know I have passed by it dozens of times in past visits, not to mention the current one, but it has never called out to me before. Perhaps this is the first time the doors were open, I do not know, but I went in. As churches go, it is not outstandingly beautiful inside. It is rather plain and the statues look like cheap quality reproductions. The sign said that the renovations have just been completed, but the organ is still silenced, please donate to give it sound once again.

As I walked to the front, I found it curious that half of the church was filled with pews, while the rest has chairs toward the front. What really caught my eye was the stained glass on the left altar window. The colors sung out and I heard their call. Stained glass and mosaics always interest me. The altar was beautifully carved, but again there was nothing else to make this church distinguishable. Then I noticed a large board with note up toward the statues of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. The English explanation was that during the reformation, Holland followed and Catholicism was illegal. On the space where the church is currently, was a house where Catholics met clandestinely to worship. The only identifying fact was a street tile in front with a parrot on the tile. Hence, this church is named the Church of the Parrot and there is a parrot hanging in the back of the church.

On the way back to the hotel, the thought of fulfilling Ron’s wish of having an order of French fries with curry sauce, ran through my mind, so I went to my favorite place for them. Okay, check! That is done. Whew, what responsibilities are involved when traveling.

At 6:00, one side of me won the battle and returned all of me to the hotel for some reading and a nap. I conquered the hot water and had a long shower when I woke. Now it is 9:50 pm and I have yet to eat dinner. I was tempted to return to the Chinese all you can eat in one hour place that Ron and I ate at in 2001. It is still here and still you only get one hour to chow down, but at this late hour, they most likely are closed. There are a number of places with sandwiches and slices of pizza, so I will grab something. What has been interesting for me to observe about myself it that there are a number of places where normally I would love to stop to sample food, like the bagel shops. It seems that each time I come across one of these types of establishments, I question whether or not I am hungry, realize that I am not, and then move on. My only sampling today was an apple pastry in a cheese shop. Now I am hungry.

The plan for tomorrow is to find the tulips outside of Leiden.

Pin It Now!