Well, so much for yodeling. Just when I was starting to think I might be on to something, the crap hit the fan… It doesn’t seem like there are any shortcuts, or useful talismans, or simple solutions to anything… Things started off not so good, then went downhill from there. Well, things didn’t exactly start off bad, but soon enough they hit the skids.

I got up early feeling great! I put the coffee on, cranked up this here portable smart box, did a couple of other necessary things… then went outside. It was still dark out, but I could tell, mostly by the absence of stars, that there were some clouds about.

This motel was right across the street from the railroad tracks, and there just happened to be a couple of railroad buildings there. The track maintenance crews were just starting up, back-up beepers on vehicles were blaring their warnings, muffled voices could be heard as they drifted across the road… Malta, Montana, was coming to life.

I went back inside to see what was going on in the world by peering through this wondrous electronic window, this absolutely astonishing miracle of modernity.  Hmmmm, Hillary had some more embarrassing (at least they should have been) revelations let out about her again, Trump put his foot in his mouth again, and the spin masters were busily telling us ‘how it really is’ again… “Their candidate is even worse than our candidate,” that were reassuring us, “so our candidate is the obvious best choice to lead America forward…” Sheeesh… politics!

I decided to keep an eye out for sunrise. Often when there are clouds around, the first shards of sunlight to peek over the horizon can produce some spectacular sights, and I do like to view them… The various color hues and the myriad variations of colors blend together into a mosaic unlike anything else, and… well, like I said, I do like to view them.

That’s when things began their descent into purgatory… I took my iPhone off the charger and turned it on, so I could capture what might be upcoming with the camera feature… I got a message saying that I was locked out, and that I had to enter my iTunes username and passcode to reactivate the darned phone.

I don’t care about any of that, I never ordered it, didn’t want it… Do you think I could just pass or opt out? Nope… had to enter whatever those codes are that apparently the salesman had put in there back when I bought the thing. I didn’t even know I had such an account, let alone had ever used any codes associated with it… I didn’t have a clue what they might have been, either!

I came to find out that Apple has this legal dispute thing going with the FBI and other agencies about privacy, security, etc., so they have strict as heck security and won’t give out any personal information to anybody for any reason for ever and ever and for all time, amen… or so I was told repeatedly. I tried several times online to get this sorted out… no joy. I decided to just go to the next Verizon store I came to. I didn’t get to see the sunrise, either…

I’m glad now that I had breakfast in Havre, MT, before I went to the store there… Otherwise I might not have gotten anything to eat! They weren’t actually a ‘corporate store’, rather those folks actually work for another company that in turn ‘contracts’ with Verizon… After a couple of hours of trying possible code combinations, talking to tech reps from both Verizon and Apple on the phone, waiting on hold while being transferred from one rep to another, nothing positive resulted. Again, no joy…

Long story short, I ended up riding to Great Falls, MT., to that store (a genuine corporate store), and I was basically blown off by the young guy who offered to help (I now seriously doubt his sincerity!). He suggested I go to a local independent cell phone repair shop just down the road. Really? I did, but… you know… The guy there told me that, unfortunately, without those codes I was holding a brick!

After spending a couple of hours standing around in various store lobbies, hanging on the phone with tech reps, yadda, yadda… I gave up. I’m going to visit the store in Missoula tomorrow and just get a new phone… NOT an Apple, though!

While their security is apparently top notch, it’s so good it locked me out and nobody seems able to get me back in!!! I don’t care how good their products are, if I can’t use them… I can’t use them!

That’s not all… A fuse apparently got blown during the ride down there, so the two Cobra spot lights on ALI aren’t working now… What’s next, will pooperosity strike again more viciously than ever before, and at a time when there is no TP available? Will grits producers stop making that entire product line? I’m so frustrated, I may never yodel again!

A seemingly long day that got rather hot by midafternoon… The ride that day was largely through some flat to rolling countryside with very few trees or anything particularly scenic or noteworthy. Still, our girl is running well, no peculiar noises are coming from her drive-train, and I didn’t have any ‘down below’ issues… I reckon an optimist would say it was a grand ol’ day indeed! Truth be told, except for all that phone business, it actually was a pretty good day at that…