Power Trip: Hurricane Harvey & My iPhone
Personal note: When I first began to write this blog, I was in the middle of
experiencing Hurricane Harvey firsthand. As I tend to approach any adversity
with a light-hearted touch, my story below reflects that attitude about my
own circumstances. Still, I am sadly aware of the toll on lives that Harvey
caused in Texas and of the on-going impact from other storms now ripping
across many islands and moving towards the mainland. My heart goes out to
all those who have been affected.
Morgan Watkins
September 7, 2017
And now, my story...
I was five years old. I walked into the bathroom and stepped to the sink. I
twisted the cold water knob and the unexpected happened. The entire spigot
separated from the pipes and water began to gush out. I frantically tried to
push the plumbing back into place. The room began to flood and the water
rose quickly. As my knees submerged, I panicked. As I desperately sloshed
out of my parent's home, a surge of water chased me into the front yard. I
scrambled into my 1950s child-sized toy car and began to pedal as fast as I
could. I heard a wave crashing behind me and I knew I was in deep trouble.
Then, I woke up. That nightmare haunted me many, many times over the years.
Now, it feels a little prescient.
Last month, my wife DD and I decided to travel to Houston to spend a few
days with my mother. We thought it would be fun to share the partial solar
eclipse that would move across Texas on August 21. That day was hot and
beautiful. We created a simple camera obscura, a cardboard box with a tiny
hole on one side, to safely watch the moon traverse the sun. DD recorded the
magnificent event with her iPhone. We enjoyed our pleasant little vacation.
I decided to stay a few extra days at my Mom's house, so my wife drove the
200 mile trek back to Austin for a quick turnaround trip. The weather was
gorgeous and the roads were clear to our home. She would pick up the mail,
water our parched lawn, and do her cherished volunteering with miniature
horses. At the time, our slightly modified itinerary seemed like a great
idea.
Shortly after DD arrived back in Austin, my mother and I began to hear about
this pesky tropical depression in the Gulf of Mexico. It was moving our way,
but did not seem to present any threat. And, with a moniker like Harvey, it
sounded friendly and innocuous. Surprisingly, Harvey began to rapidly morph
into a real monster. There was no safe way for DD to rejoin us, so my mother
and I decided to just hunker down in Houston and ride out any impact that
might spin our way. We had done it before, and we could do it again.
Mom and I began to plan for a major storm. We had plenty of food, lots of
bottled water and a full bag of kibble for my guide dog. Fortunately, I am a
serious nerd and just happened to bring my backpack full of toys. I had my
iPhone 6S Plus, two new pairs of AirPods, some old wired EarPods, one set of
BeatsX wireless headphones, my trusty Logitech Keys-To-Go Bluetooth
keyboard, two AC adapters with several Lightning and Micro USB cables, and
three external USB-compatible batteries. My collection of goodies would
prove truly useful.
Harvey ferociously churned its way into Houston and dumped 51 inches of
rain. Water and wind are your biggest enemies in a hurricane. They can sweep
your car off the road and invade your home. Hurricanes rip up trees, roads,
and infrastructure. Often, hurricanes leave you powerless. Without
electricity, you have no refrigeration, no televised alerts and quite
possibly no landline telephones.
However, if our local cell towers stayed online during the storm's rampage,
we might still be able to communicate. I just had to make sure that my
iPhone never ran out of juice during the many hard days of pounding rain.
I began to hoard electrons. Before Harvey came ashore, I topped off all
three of my external batteries. I charged up my AirPods, the BeatsX and my
keyboard. Most important, I left my beloved iPhone 6S Plus sitting high on a
central bedroom dresser, plugged into one of my two AC adapters. It was
important that its battery remained full and ready for emergency action.
Even so, I hated leaving it all by itself. We were not used to being
separated.
Thankfully, it was easy to stay in touch with my iPhone. Apple AirPods and
my Keys-To-Go keyboard have excellent Bluetooth range and worked throughout
the house. The keyboard did not need recharging during the entire storm,
although the AirPods would run down their batteries in a few hours of
constant use. However, all I had to do was swap one AirPod pair with the
other and recharge the depleted set with my second AC adapter. As long as we
had electricity, I could keep everything ready for any power outages.
We did periodically lose our electricity. As soon as the house went dark and
the fans quit whirring, I would run into the bedroom and grab my iPhone. I
would first plug in my old wired EarPods. Next, I would quickly turn off
Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Cellular Data, and then switch to Low Power mode. I did
not want to use my emergency external batteries unless things really got
desperate.
When the power was restored, I would undo my power saving actions and put my
iPhone back to work from its central location where it would once again
recharge. All I needed were my AirPods and my very lightweight keyboard to
feel totally connected.
I learned something cool about my BeatsX wireless headphones. They are more
useful than I imagined. I first bought the BeatsX when I purchased my
initial set of AirPods. I was curious which audio devices I would prefer.
The AirPods won my affection and the BeatsX started to gather dog dander.
That is no longer the case. I used to take an old iPhone to bed with wired
EarPods for listening to books or old radio shows. During Harvey, I did not
want to let my iPhone lose juice while I was sleeping. So, I began to use
the BeatsX when I went to bed and my iPhone stayed on the charger. The
BeatsX sound quality was great and they were comfortable while I dozed. Even
now that Harvey has moved into history, I am still using the BeatsX at
night.
I learned much about using the iPhone from my Harvey experience. With
AirPods and a good Bluetooth keyboard, I can sit anywhere in my house and do
my reading, writing or research. I do not need my iPhone in my shirt pocket
to make me happy. In fact, leaving the extra weight and heat from an iPhone
6S Plus in another room felt nice and somewhat liberating. With an extra
pair of AirPods and a couple of Bluetooth keyboards strategically placed in
the house, I can ceaselessly interact with the world from anywhere. I even
keep a keyboard in our minivan. I am Morgan. I am Geek.
Although Harvey was a very serious storm that impacted many thousands of
people, we were very fortunate and did not flood. Our cell towers never
failed. Although wild and very hectic, Harvey did not become our personal
nightmare.
My bad dreams no longer have me trying to outrun a tidal wave. For the last
45 years, a very different nightmare has stalked me.
The veil lifts. I am at home. I am a college student. I have to take a final
exam. Today. Right now. But, I don't think I have ever attended the class.
I'm not sure of the topic. I don't know the professor. I will not graduate
if I do not pass this test. I race to campus. In a panic, I move through
crowds and search for the right classroom. And then, I notice I am naked. I
hate it when that happens.
*** G. Morgan Watkins spent thirty years at the University of Texas at
Austin, most of it in information technology leadership, where he also
co-authored a popular Graduate School textbook about a Macintosh programming
environment, "The Educator's Guide to HyperCard and HyperTalk." He also
served on the Guide Dogs for the Blind Board of Directors and later as their
Acting President and CEO.
Morgan is now happily retired again, and learning to stay out of the rain.
Morgan has created 18 other blogs for AppleVis, including
<https://www.applevis.com/blog/accessories-opinion-reviews/down-earth-my-fir
st-hundred-days-airpods> "Down To Earth: My First Hundred Days With
AirPods",
<https://www.applevis.com/blog/opinion/blind-santa-audible-books-me-me>
"Blind Santa: Audible Books from me to me" and
<http://www.applevis.com/blog/iphone-opinion/sleeping-stars-old-time-radio-a
nd-my-iphone> "Sleeping With The Stars: Old Time Radio and my iPhone".
By Morgan - Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team
Yo, Human! A SIRI-Us Relationship: Accessing Life with Adaptive Technology
There is something about SIRI, I don't know what it is, but we seem to share
a relationship now. Actually we share many relationships. SIRI even knows
about all my other relationships. In fact, she helped me in their creation.
Me, right after startup: SIRI?
SIRI, a bit sluggish at first: Yes Nicholas?
Me: What time is it?
SIRI: It's 5:30 AM. You woke me up.
Me: Well get up, it's time to get busy.
SIRI: What?
Me: Open 'your' settings.
SIRI: (Yawn.) Okay.
VO says: System Preferences, Siri window, toolbar.
Some SIRI-Us Feedback
In SIRI's settings, when setting her up the first time, I like to turn on
Voice Feedback. This is probably a personal choice, but since I use
VoiceOver exclusively it seemed natural to have her speak up as well. This
area is also where you can choose the language and Voice being used. Grunt,
grumble, rolls over, hides face.
Here's my Card
Another task I perform that helps foster a SIRI-Us relationship is to
introduce myself. Though I have sometimes been a wall-flower type person, I
guess it helps if SIRI knows who I am. I did this by going to System
Preferences>Users & Groups. Select your account name in the Users List.
Select the Password tab and navigate to 'Contacts Card.' Move once more to
the right and click the Open button. This allows you to set/view your
contact card. This is one way you can establish your identity for many
system services that can use that info, including SIRI. Mumble, mumble,
pulls pillow over head.
Establishing a Relationship
Next, I tell SIRI that relationships are now an option by doing the
following; in the Contacts app, from the Contacts menu choose Preferences
and click the Template button in the Toolbar. Directly beyond that is the
"Add Field" menu button." Clicking this gives many fields that can be added
to the Contacts template. including "Related Names.
Once Related Names is added, you can edit the choices of related names in
the scroll area below that. You can even add your own custom names right in
the scroll area. The standard relationship names are there, but you could
add names like Bro and Sis or even Bestie. Click on the name's pop up button
and choose Custom. Remember, when you add a relationship with SIRI, it
appears on 'your' contact card.
Now I can access people in my Contacts using the relationship name to help
identify the correct person. Use SIRI by referring to their relationship
name as well. You can use SIRI to help you create the relationships. If you
sync your Contacts, you can create SIRI-Us relationships on any of your
devices. Mumble, mumble. You may want to have some coffee ready first.
To SIRI:
Me: John Smith is my brother.
SIRI: Okay, would you like me to remember that John Smith is your brother?
Me: Yes.
SIRI: Okay, John Smith is your brother. Yawn, slurp. Mmm, coffee.
I could have said that John was my Bro or even my Bestie. Then I can have
SIRI do stuff like, "Call my bestie's mobile." Or, "What is the mailing
address for my Bro John?" I may end up with more than one Bro, or more than
one John. You can access any information that you supply on the Contact
card, Birthdays or any info you would normally look up. Simply ask SIRI for
help. Right SIRI? SIRI?
Slurp, mmm, hot. "Plink! SIRI has updated her profile picture."
Ah, well. She might be busy for a bit. :-)
Some more cool stuff that SIRI can do on the Mac:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206993
<ttps://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206993>
One relationship I always strive to remember...
All of our cool digital stuff that we work with, play with and enjoy, is all
about "Living." Live well!
A wee bit of license has been taken by the author, SIRI may not respond to
coffee as stated above.
By Nicholas - Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team at:
www.applevis.com
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