Cell Phones, Cruel Shoes and Hurricane Tracks

Cell phones are the work of the devil.  I have an HTC phone that I bought in 2016.  It's paid for.  It will no longer give directions in GPS.  The start directions button doesn't work.  The guy at the Verizon store said I'll probably have to do a factory reset, which deletes everything.  So pictures need to be backed up - requiring Google Photos.  Downloaded that, it won't run.  My operating system is too old.  Apparently, Android operating systems don't get upgraded much after the phone is about a year old.  It depends on the brand, and I guess HTC is one of the worst.  Jim has a Samsung (which he hates) but it still gets updates.  I was last updated in 2016, so I guess my upgrades occurred never.  It's just aggravating, a new Pixel 3 costs almost $500.  That's just stupid expensive.  The whole thing just irritates the living snot out of me.  Yes, it's a first world problem, but it's aggravating.  There is an interesting article here if you're interested in the nitty gritty details.

Moday we did some more retail walking.  We need to stop doing that!  Macy's had everything on sale, so we did partake.  We acquired a cast iron skillet for using in the grill.  It was inexpensive, if we don't like it, it won't hurt to 86 it.  I got jeans.  I've been looking for jeans for awhile.  All of the ladies' jeans are full of spandex and to me, they feel awful.  I miss the way button fly 501s used to feel after they'd been washed a lot.  I ended up with men's 514 jeans.  They're only 1% spandex and they feel much better than the women's.

While we were walking in the mall, we did visit the Nordstrom shoe department.  I swear I have lost touch with my culture.  These boots, which I think are just hideous, are $850.  Who spends that much money on hideous boots?

The hideous black boot on the left is $1400.

These beauties from Balenciaga are foot crippling.  Who does this to their feet?

I guess there is now enough tech money in Bellevue to support these prices.

There is a new snack bar in the mall.  It's the Happy Lemon.  They make bubble waffles.  Look on the left, mid photo in the vertical dimension, that is a chocolate bubble waffle. Previously I was unaware of these, but after a web search I have discovered that you can buy bubble waffle irons for home use.  They originated in Hong Kong.  You can read more here.

You can get toppings.   This place is packed, there is always a line out the door and into the mall.

I'm seeing more people on the interwebs wondering about the state of the president's mental health.  Today was just bizarre.  Over the weekend he tweeted that Alabama was in danger from Dorian.  NOAA put out a tweet saying that Alabama was not in the path and never had been.  Apparently the president just can't let it go.  Today he trotted out this week old map with an extra lobe drawn on which extended into Alabama.  Falsifying or misrepresenting an official forecast is an illegal act which carries a fine and/or 90 days in jail.  The Washington Post has it on the front page of their on line edition.  If he had not kept talking about it, it would be out of the news cycle by now.

Who's following UK politics?  I miss most of the finer points, but I thought this picture on twitter was pretty good.  The current prime minister did not have a good day.

That's it!  That's all I've got.