Almost A New iPad

After a hike in Madera canyon in the Santa Ritas with Boonie, we headed down to the nearest coffee shop -- ten miles distant. There, Boonie with coffee and Wandrin Lloyd with tea, we continued our trail conversations of things and issues. The iPad was with me just in case we needed to get on the internet for answers. You just never know.

After an hour, it was time to move along. Outside the coffee shop in the parking lot was a farmers' market. I needed some nourishment (Boonie had a muffin at the coffee shop). Hot dog would work. Okay. Probably not grass fed. But I was hungry. So a hotdog it was without the bun. With extra onions and salsa, I was good to go. That was when Boonie pointed out the booth selling grass fed beef.

Holding the iPad in one hand and eating the hot dog with the other, it was darned near impossible to get my wallet out to buy some grass fed beef. Couldn't buy too much since the two cubic foot freezer was almost full. Paid the man for the purchase and went on my way with grass fed beef in a bag and the hot dog in the other hand.

Almost back home when I realized that I had left the iPad on the table at the grass fed beef vendor's booth. Pulled off the road at the first opportunity. Not a phone number on the package of meat. So I continued my drive home to get on the internet to find a phone number.

Before I arrived home, I made up end games for the loss of the iPad. A new one. Perhaps. Since the New iPad was out, I could certainly spring for an iPad2 at $100 off. Is there a way to register a lost/stolen iPad's serial number so that it could not be used again. Of course, there are probably hackers out there that could get around that little issue for a fee. Would I be able to restore from the backup of my iPad1 to a new iPad. Those are just the kind of thoughts that cause stress.

Got home. On the internet. Two phone calls. Soon I was talking to the guy who manned the booth. A short while later I was back on the road to where the guy was parked about twenty minutes away in Tucson.

The thought of a new iPad evaporated. Not that I really wanted one. Just what did the new iPad have. A camera. (There's always a camera with me.) Better resolution. That's all the new iPad offers. Not a very good reason to upgrade. My iPad is most frequently used as an eReader. In lieu of a morning newspaper, my news source is via iPad news apps. That usage certainly does not require an upgrade.

Whew. Escaped the purchase of a new iPad.

Epilogue... Many times I thought of pasting my fun card to the inside of the iPad cover. Never happened. Experience is a good teacher. That fun card is now there. If the card had been there when I left it on the table at the farmers market, the phone call might have beat me to the freeway.