Post by Charlie: Of course, anyone can tell we are tourists, our unstylish American clothes to start with and on from there. Still sometimes it feels funny to be standing around looking at a map. I got an app for my iPod Touch called CityMaps2Go for $2 you get access to thousands of maps from all over the world. You can download the ones you want and access them offline. We have one of Toledo. So I can stand around looking at my map but look to all the world like some guy checking out his phone, as people do for hours at a time. Plus the kindle app has eight guide books downloaded to it.
Of course, if I had a real smart phone I would have all that integrated but that is too 21st century for me, and there are no monthly charges for this. I was thinking of getting a GPS attachment for my Touch but decided against it, maybe next time.
Speaking of phones, we have a limited sample but it seems like there is less use of phones at meals here, definitely some but less. I haven’t seen any cases of two people sitting at dinner and both staring at their phones. Not that there is anything wrong with that, it just indicates that we have entered a new era in interpersonal relations and I wonder a lot exactly where it will all lead. Some communication requires a lot of “wasted” time around it before you get to the really good communication. With a phone there there is no need to put up with any “wasted” time because there is always something else you could be doing.