...such as when I attempted to "top up" my Ozzie mobile this afternoon after a successful day of teaching over in North Sydney. So the thing is, you have a 30 day account with a certain number of dollars but you have to recharge. They say you can do it online. Easy-peasy. And mine doesn't expire til tomorrow. I know this because I've been getting text message from SysAlert to that effect for the last week.
4:00 I'm on the terrace, comfy with computer and USB modem and credit card info and strong decaf and a way-delayed lunch sandwich, having shared the 230 toward Mosman Wharf with at least four separate gaggles of oh-so-cutely-uniformed school students mosh-pitting amongst the other riders
4:03 Logged in to Vodaphone's recharge interface
4:06 Successfully entered all the numbers and my name and pressed "continue"
4:07 Get an error message "There seems to be a problem, call 1555 for assistance"
4:14 After some serious chirpy robo-voicemail ("I'm not following. I'll transfer you") I get said-such human being, in Bangalore.
4:15 I learn that the Vodaphone billing system ONLY WORKS WITH AUSSIE CREDIT CARDS
4:16 I gently and courteously inform Bangalore person that this might possibly be something that could be put in writing ON THE [EXPLETIVE DELETED] WEBPAGE!
4:20 I decide to try the PPoD (Pink Phone of Doom) itself and use the handset method, expecting the worst
4:21 The PPoD, being a Motorola acquired three years ago, is Much Too Antiquated to have its numbers actually recognized by Vodaphone, once a phone number has been dialed (as in, "press 1" I press 1. "press 1" I press 1. etc. Dozens of 1s are appearing on my screen but I am typing into a void)
4:25 I decide to walk up the street to pay a visit to smooth old Sam the Vodaphone man, away up near Spit Junction.
4:28 I leave for SJ, admonishing Alex to turn the TV off and do a bit of reading and the last seven problems from his stateside Algebra 'cause he says he has no Ozzie-math homework. I'm an optimist.
4:38 I arrive only slightly sweaty at the tiny store, proud of having discovered and executed my shortcut without getting killed crossing any of the streets
4:40 I begin getting confused by the array of options outlined by Sam, both for my phone and for recharging the now-working-fine USB modem
4:44 Sam sells me the $30 voucher, for the phone and another USB starter kit, minus the modem dongle, for $29, which gives me an extra GB of data for less money because this is a special, though this means I will have to swap out the SIM card and reinitialize. He offers to do it next time I pop round with my computer. My heart sinks as I remember the gyrations it took to register / activate / change temporary password etc. And at the moment I do know the new password and can ascertain how much or how little data I have used
4:48 Sam offers to do the voucher thing right there. But then we both remember the PPoD and its keypad impotence. He assures me I can do it online
4:54 I spend a few minutes jawing with Sam about the American economy and its prospects. He remembers to ask about Alex. Smart businessman. He tells me Amelie has been in that morning to recharge her card, after only two weeks, because there isn't a lot of data on that original plan and she is iPhoning it now, not using a crank-the-handle PPoD stone-age relic. She's changed her plan, he hopes.
5:00 I depart, wondering do I stop at the IGA market to buy hot dogs for Alex or offload the chore onto Amelie. I opt for stopping, figuring this may curry favor with the boy, and besides, Amelie isn't answering her phone as I walk.
5:10 I successfully drop $20 on staggeringly few items in my basket
5:16 Arrive home after my fast walk down Raglan Street. I peek in the window from the sidewalk and am stunned not to see the TV on
5:18 I congratulate Alex on having a bash at the problems. A quick glance reveals only four of the 7 have signs reversed or arithmetic errors
5:23 I log in to vodaphone's site
5:25 I log in again, thinking there must be some mistake. No, I'm right. You
can't use a voucher online, you have to use the phone's keypad.
5:28 I attempt one more time with PPoD (as I said, I'm an optimist)
5:29 I begin a 4 minute process of learning I cannot enter the voucher numbers orally/
5:34 Alex pulls off his headphones and stops watching
Top Gearand asks me if I am OK. What a sweetie.
5:35 Incredibly, Alex sets down headphones, gets up, gets his phone, pops the back, removes the battery, pops his SIM, puts in my SIM, re-places his battery and closes it up. And gives me a lesson in his bizarro LG keypad.
5:40 After only two attempts resulting in start-overs (too much delay in finding the microscopic # key after double-checking the 12-digit voucher number) I am successful in using keypad method to recharge. Hosannas.
5:55 all phones back together with their proper SIMs.
No worries, mate. Yeah right.
It’s strange to try to do some of the same things I always
do, in a new setting: for example, for my first short assignment I always have
students bring in hardcopies and then tape these to the walls so that everyone
can look at each others’ submissions and reflect on what they see in others’
work that they didn’t do themselves, and what they’d do differently on
revision, and why. I don’t have
them write anything on their colleagues’ work, just their initials, and then
after they’ve had a chance to read at least ten others’ pieces, they take their
own down and write out comments on the back--these comments can become the
bases for my own critique, as in “You’re right, Jacob--you can include X and Y,
and bump that other paragraph down a little,” so that the whole process becomes
less completely directed by me.
The classroom is not ideally laid out, as the chairs don’t have tops,
but there are half a dozen small tables that the early arrivals lay claim to so
they have a writing surface.
But Lorraine’s approach was informed, lively, well-paced, and
thoughtful, and I was heartened to overhear so many students saying “I want to
come back here later and see more.” That's not always a given with these things, and I appreciated how well paced the whole tour was--none of that overstaying one's welcome or feeling you were being yanked away, and even with some street crossings we kept the group together pretty effectively. That said, every field trip or other excursion is for me a stressful occasion, and my sleep has been affected by the anticipated problems, the need to remember lists of phone numbers, etc. 
