Stay with me on this story. I will circle back. I use my phone as my GPS when I’m on the bike. My phone is a 2 years old Google Pixel 5a. The battery was not lasting as long as my ride. I was eligible for an upgrade, so I took it. The new phone (a Pixel 7a) came in today. Google did a fantastic job of making it easy to switch phones. Every thing was up and running in less than half an hour. One of the nicest features is that I can stream audio from the phone directly to my hearing aids. Way cool.

We took Mom out for a belated birthday treat. We started out with a fabulous concert at the Charlestown chapel. We heard an 11-peson brass group called the “Barclay Brass”. What a great concert. The group is composed of very good brass players, mostly retired from an armed forces band. The chapel’s acoustics did a great job of making an excellent group sound even better.

Just before the concert started, they asked that everybody turn their phones off — not quiet mode, off. I punched the “off” button. My phone did not turn off. I tried push and hold. No joy. I tried double-pressing. The phone changed to camera mode. The concert was starting. The only thing I could do was to put the phone away. During intermission, I connected to the guest WiFi and looked up how to turn off the phone. When I want to turn thge phone off, I now have to press two keys at the same time. How embarrassing. With the phone safely off, I enjoyed the second half of the concert even more than the first.

I didn’t get caught. We had a great time. After the concert, we went to Catonsville Gourmet restaurant for a very nice dinner. There’s no need to switch to the website. I managed a quick snap of most of the group. It’s right here.

I hope this finds everyone doing well.