kevin m. wrote:
I almost got rid of my T.V. last year too.
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about six years ago i gave the television man a ring,
it had a bad picture and i was sick of that television,
but when he came in, he said he wanted money to take away the tele,
i said i still had some explosives in the house and i'd rather blow up the f****** thing,
to my surprise he changed his mind and took that tele away for nothing
I've got one.It is probably the most immobile mobile phone in the world as I only ever take it out in the summertime when on a 50/60 mile bike ride so that if I have an accident I can get help. Luckily I have never needed to use it.
Gotta agree with Emm though about mobiles and teenage kids...very handy for keeping tabs on them.
Slan,
D.
And many a poor man that has roved,
Loved and thought himself beloved,
From a glad kindness cannot take his eyes.
I just remembered this. One time while sitting at a bar with a friend of mine his mobile went off. He picked it up,listened for a minute and then - honestly-asked the caller "How did you know I was here"
We had been sitting at the bar for a few hours I hasten to add!
Slan,
D.
And many a poor man that has roved,
Loved and thought himself beloved,
From a glad kindness cannot take his eyes.
We have one. I never use it. My wife uses it to talk to her daughters when we are on the road. We bought it to be used in an emergency. We once had the clutch and transmission go out during a blizzard about 20 miles west of Rawlins, Wyoming. There are some places more desolate but not many. Fortunately I had my 2 meter radio and was able to get help. Now we have the cell phone. I personnally don't like any telephone. I think that Alexander Graham Bell was not a friend of man.
I have an older motorola contraption that I keep in my pickup for emergency purposes only. I have used three time in the last ten years. I will not get a personal mobile phone as I simply do not want to be THATaccessable. They annoy me, and scare the living s*** out of me when I see folks chatting on them at 80mph+ swerving all over the road.
The most important thing people need to learn about their cell phones is how to turn them off (particularly when driving). It's amazing how useful and un-annoying a cell phone can be when used judiciously.
Cheers,
John
Giles: "We few, we happy few."
Spike: "We band of buggered."
I don't mind other people having one, so I can find them. I just don't want to have one more link to responsibilities. One of the reasons I leave my classroom, or my house, is to be out of touch with the busy, buzzy world.
Living without TV was also one of the best decisions I ever made. Going on... let's see, eighteen years now without a television. I don't miss it.
I have one, but only if I'm out and my daughter is babysitting and she needs to get a hold of me (she's not quite old enough to be going out on her own). No one has my number except for her, and therefore no one calls me except for her. I like the fact that she has a way to contact me if something happens. Other than that, I don't even know how to use the thing. I have no idea how to text message, and I don't know if I'd even know if I got a text message.
I honestly do hate the whole "cell phone" mentality. You go out, and everyone is talking on their cell phones. There is no such thing as quiet anymore. I miss quiet....
On another note, just last week, some lady almost ran me down as I was walking across the parking lot to get into the grocery store. She was too busy gabbing on her cell phone to see me. I don't even think she cared that she'd almost hit me, because she was so engrossed in her conversation.
Someday, everything is gonna be diff'rent
When I paint my masterpiece.
I finally got one this past summer. I am on the road a minimum of 5 hours a day, usually more, on my mail route. Some of this is in very isolated areas. My justification is that I once spent 45 minutes first plugging a tire, then finally relenting and changing the thing and NO ONE drove by. That's what I mean by isolated areas. At least with the cell phone, I could actually call the office and let them know why I am running late if I break down or have other trouble.
But forget the monthly bill. I got a trakphone. I never turn it on to recieve calls, heck, I don't even know what the phone's number is. It is truly only in case of emergency. It does give me a bit of peace of mind though.
It irritates me too, when I see folks who can't seem to even interact in their life and surroundings at the moment- they have to have that phone to their ear at all times. I just don't understand it.
"Let low-country intruder approach a cove
And eyes as gray as icicle fangs measure stranger
For size, honesty, and intent." John Foster West
Those of you plagued with telemarketers need only invest in a Zapper! Mine eliminated virtually all of my calls within a week,and I had been getting 10 or 20 a day. They're well worth the price. Easy to install, too. They just go between your phone jack and the line.
I do not have a cell phone. My disgust with the behavior of those who have them has reinforced my opinion that they will ruin my life. I'm not about to get one until I have to spend time on the road, and even then I doubt if I'll tell anyone I have a cell.
Manners have sunk to an all-time low regarding cell phones. Not only am I plagued at work with contract employees who leap up and run outside every ten minutes to chat and plot their next job assignment (we had to ban them from doing it inside due to the disruption), but I actually had a college student (several of them, in fact) who, while sitting with me for a morning of internship training, interrupted me in mid-sentence to answer her phone. And then got up and walked out into the hallway with it. Several times.
Every one of them was praying that we'd hire them.
I have decided that the electronic emanations have an adverse effect on some folks' common sense, as well as common decency.
Last Saturday, I took a particularly odious 8-hour certification exam. The proctors began by reading a long list of instructions, including a demand that all cell phones be turned off or else.
Several hours into the exam, a phone began ringing. Well, playing loud, obnoxious music. The owner jumped up in her chair, snatched a huge bag up off the floor, dug through it to the bottom to find the phone, then turned it off after reading all her accumulated messages. She then looked around the room and apologized . . . "SORRY! SO SORRY! I FORGOT TO TURN IT OFF! <giggle> IT'S OFF NOW, THOUGH! SORRY! WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN!" Then, to all four corners of the room, "SORRY! SORRY! SORRY! SO SORRY!"
And you'd think that the remaining cell owners would perhaps check to see that they were turned off?
No. The next one to go off played some kind of Confederate battle charge. The owner shot up out of her chair, dug about in HER huge bag, then . . . amazingly . . . sprinted out of the room with the phone! She came back some ten minutes later, apparently having had a nice yakk, to loudly announce her apologies and an explanation that it was a real important call.
The proctors looked a little surprised, but they didn't do anything about either person. They'd hardly let me out to pee--as if they thought I had a cheat sheet in my underpants--but they had no problem with this woman.
I have not only one cell phone, but two. One I carry all the time, usually on, unless I'm in a nice restaurant, theater, or hospital. I do hate to see people driving with one plastered to their ears. I usually find a pull-off to have a conversation -- or have a passenger answer the phone if someone calls. It's for security and so my 80 yr old parents can find me if they need me. Too bad we have poor coverage for part of our area -- the terrain is too hilly and too sparsely populated to rate enough cell towers. The second cell phone is a 'loaner' for family members that don't have one. It helps to not have to look for payphones in unfamiliar areas.
But don't send me any text messages -- I wouldn't know how to answer at all!
I've got one, although I don't text, email, photo-email or video-email anyone with it. I don't think I ever use it for actually phoning anyone. I use a PC for online communication, and so the only time I use my cell phone is when I play some games while waiting for a bus or a train.
<><
Tak
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<b>"Nothing can be yours by nature."</b>
--- Lewis
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