9.02.2005

RetroTech Update...

1) Scan eBay for a replacement pda. Only real needs are calendar and contacts. Budget, $25. Quit laughing.

2) Locate, bid on and purchase Handspring Visor Deluxe in retrocool translucent blue. $24.50 with shipping.

3) Seller admits he lost the stylus and springboard module cover but will make it up to me with a nice carrying case. I brace myself for disappointment

4) Unit arrives intact. Seller told the truth. Killer leather case more than makes up for lack of stylus and makes lack of module cover a non issue. I immediately chuck my wallet for this new style man-purse.

5) While scribbling in Barnes and Noble, a fellow Palm user sees me writing with my finger nail and gives me the stylus from her Tungsten on the spot, telling me "I have three more at home." Many blessings upon her.

6) Try and sync. Fail. Try and reinstall Palm Desktop. Fail miserably....into the wee hours of two mornings. Get torqued. Recognize the irony of the fact that it's the new software that's failing, not the five year old PDA. I find answers like "Keep hitting install...after the sixth time, it worked!" I find these sorts of answers entirely unacceptable. And unlikely.

7) Search the web for a fix. Find a New new version of Palm Desktop linked from an independent discussion board...with no clear path from the Palm website to it's own latest version. Download it. Hit sync button on funky clear plastic sync cradle. Say Hail Mary's and fiddle with my rosary.

8) Four cups of coffee later, unit finishes syncing...first sync can be like that. And it works! Subsequent syncing takes only minutes.

Who says $24.50 doesn't go far any more?

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