I suspect that the solution I'm imagining to a problem I've had for years has already been achieved. So let me know if it has. Here's what I want: a mobile phone with a programmable ringer so that you can prevent late or excessively early calls from disturbing you, but still get the calls you D0 want once you are ready to be awake. Does the iPhone have this option? The Android? The Pre? Because my Blackberry doesn't seem to provide me the option.

Tags: advice
Current Location: 85704

Poll #1356321 Input Requested
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 18

Are polls a way to rev up participation in these parts?

Should I write more about music?

Should I post more photos?

Should I make startling confessions?

Is the problem simply that everyone is now Russian?

Does absence make the heart grow fonder?

Would a little more nastiness be a pleasant alternative?

Should I stay or should I go?

Tags: advice, blogging, poll
Current Location: 85704

I went for a long bike ride as the sun went down in an effort to decompress from holiday stress and to store up some relaxation in advance before dealing with more holiday stress. The sky was beautiful. My "alternative" playlist came up with consistently great songs in shuffle mode. And I got the workout I needed. But the ride ended on a sad note. While turning down my favorite nearby road, a dead-end, I saw a car ahead rolling towards me at coasting speed. At first I thought they were just lost or perhaps looking for a good spot to admire the view. But then the driver motioned for me to stop. It was an elderly man connected to an oxygen tank. He was very distressed.

I asked him what was wrong and he explained that he was looking for his wife's lost dog, which someone thought they'd spotted nearby, down in the wash, just north of La Cañada. He explained that she was a shut-in and that the dog was her constant companion. She had been disconsolate since she disappeared on the 23rd and refused to celebrate the holiday. Not being a dog owner, I'm not sure what the best approach would be to help this man.

For what it's worth, the dog is an eighteen-month-old champagne Lab that answers to "Molly." She's not that big, by Lab standards, and has a pink nose with a dark spot. "She looks a little like a pig," the man explained. What makes this tale even sadder is that the dog was severely abused before he and his wife took her in and might exhibit residual wariness around strangers. He has contacted the Oro Valley Police and the Humane Society, but I'm betting there's some social networking way to get the word out about this. Facebook? Craig's List? The man seems ill-equipped to make use of the internet and I'd like to help him. Any ideas?

Tags: advice, everyday, how-to, local, tucson
Current Location: 85704