Addiction Story #14, Bleeding Heart: Broken iPhone Leads to Chicken Potpie

I turned to the chicken potpie in the fridge this afternoon and then, after a one-inch slice, I stopped. Here is #14 in my series — writing in real time about putting down the food and toppling sugar addiction.

Isn’t the Old-Fashioned Bleeding Heart a beauty? We have some we ignore, back by the driveway, but in spite of that, the plants deliver blooms every year. Image from Gardens Alive!.

If the car overheats or a tire goes flat, I might be tempted to raid the nearest vending machine while waiting for roadside service.

If the nine-hour ride home from Maine is stressful — four of us in our four-door Toyota — I might look longingly at the Fritos at the rest stop.

It’s hard to ride out stressful, uncertain, uncomfortable times with patience and trust, not food.

Cars matter. They get us where we’re going.

Machines and gadgets matter — the microwave, the clothes dryer, the hot water heater.

This morning, my iPhone 12 Mini froze….it has been useless all day, though fully charged. Even the cordial young man with the Southern accent on the Apple Support line could not unfreeze it.

I can’t stop the daily reminder alarms I have set. They keep going off. I can’t open or read the 27 new texts the Mini said I have. I can’t turn on Skippy’s phone apps (we have screen time limits, and she is at her Mimi’s). I missed the message from the electrician, who was…