Texting

That’s funny! When my mom learned to text she started texting me all the time until it became overly annoying. haha. Our solution at the moment is sharing a phone since hers decided to take a bath. So now if I go out I have to use a friend’s phone to call her so she can’t text me all night.

I just got a phone this year where I could text–it isn’t a smart phone–refuse to get anything that is smarter than me! Texting is a whole different world–I’m sure the younger folks on here are having a good laugh with us oldsters trying to text. But I like that I can keep in touch with my sister who moved out of state this summer–makes me feel that she is sitting in my living room. There are some perks of technology that I like.

Believe me, we are. 😉

I got a Nexus 5 smart phone last year that I loved which was stolen unfortunately so then got a smaller Moto G phone with a touch screen which I really like. I don’t know about others’ but I like to think of my phone as a mini computer as I rarely even use it as a phone. If I have to make or answer a call I will but for the most part I use it to check my emails (because it’s easier than logging onto my slow laptop as everything just comes up on the phone automatically), check websites like this on on the go, check facebook messages and events and send texts once in a while. I was also excited to find so many cool free apps for my phone and games to play. I know a lot of others use their phones as cameras and music players too although I don’t really as I have a nice camera and tend to look up music online more than anything. Maybe it’s because I just absolutely hate talking on the phone that I don’t use mine much for a phone. I much prefer writing, sending e-mails and texts if I have to communicate with others. I would say if you always have stuff you want to check online that smart phones are awesome, especially if you have an unlimited data plan. If you just want to use a phone for calls and texts though, smart phones are unnecessary.

As long as we are lamenting (or praising technology) I am on the side of the fence of despising and appreciating them. I despise people that use them improperly. I appreciate what they offer.

I dodged the cell phone bullet until 6 years ago. Even then I only had a Tracfone (minute) flip phone and used it either for quick heads up that I was on route or emergencies; which fortunately never occurred. The phone became necessary 3 years ago when I had to ‘ring’ my boss every morning to come unlock the front doors.

Soon afterwards, my friends started texting me. Although I was patient with the whole flip phone, press, press, press, to get to a letter of the alphabet, I definitely realized how slow texting was on my flip phone and knew deep down that I had to ‘upgrade’ to the sliding qwerty style of phone.

Yes, I have had a few of my friends try and woo me over to the darker side of technology as they praise the power of their fancier ‘smart’ phones. My response has always been, “For that price?? Until that sucker can give me a back rub, it ain’t so damned smart. Thank you, no thank you!”

They also try and woo me over by telling me how ‘little’ they pay per month to have all that fancy stuff. I happily remind them that my ‘triple minute’, slider phone averages me $10 a month while they are billed $50 to have a bunch of fancy stuff that I will never access.

When they hear how little I am averaging monthly for my cheezy slider, they usually glance down at their over priced technology and I see a look cross their face. Oh yes, the look of indecision when they realize that they might be paying a little to much.

I also remind them, each and every time they have to plug theirs in to a charger, that mine needs to hit the recharger at max, twice a week. They’re like, “Twice a week?!?!” And I repeat, “At MAX usage, yes, twice a week!”

The funniest part of them trying to woo me over? When I hear them griping about something not working right, venting their frustration as they are trying to do something and their “Smart” phone is having a conniption fit and not working properly.

Oh yeah, I take that moment to nudge and jibe them, giggle a bit at their frustration and remind them, “And you hound me to buy in to that crap and it’s causing you this much angst and woe? Remember, I paid $30 for my POS, got the triple minute bonus with it, average $10 a month in total billing, barely need to recharge it and it works like it should.”

Less is more people, less is more!

I fault NO ONE for having one. What I do fault is rudeness.

If we are sitting at a place, having lunch, dinner, a drink, what have you & your phone goes off, excuse yourself if you MUST respond to someone else. If you don’t, I consider it quite rude, only because I would NEVER do that to someone.

Also, I have no idea what this is about, but I see it all the time nowadays. If you are sitting at a traffic light, squeeze up to the car in front of you, don’t sit 8 cars back while you glance at your phone. What in blazes is that crap? Traffic is super heavy and absolutely horrid around here. For someone to be sitting 8 cars back, that means others trying to get to a turn lane can not begin to get near it. And because that person was so far back, it caused a bunch of people to not be able to get through the intersection.

Again, what is THAT crap?

Yes, I have received phone calls and texts while sitting in bumper to bumper traffic at a red light and took a brief moment to see who it was or what it was about (txt) and then PUT THE PHONE DOWN. I do NOT respond to texts and unless it’s a quick call (it’s the person I am heading to, wondering what my ETA is) I also do not answer the phone aspect. If it is important, they will leave me a message and I will call them back as soon as it is safe to.

Fortunately, everyone that has my number operates the same exact way that I do. If we are driving and it rings/a txt comes in and the person does not have the blue tooth technology, none of us will answer or text back until we are safely parked somewhere.

Why oh why are people finding it SO hard to put something aside, forgo the immediate reaction to respond, until it is much safer? I just don’t understand. It’s like they feel that they are absolutely OBLIGATED to respond, the world will absolutely EXPLODE to oblivion if they do not respond, no matter how dangerous it is to them and the people around them.

Meh, what’s a person to do?

NOW FOR SOMETHING LIGHT!

This is one of the more fun moments that have occurred because I carry a cell phone, that would have never have happened ‘back in the day.’

I was heading in to work. It was 6:30ish in the morning and I was standing on a Ferry Barge that takes me across the Potomac River from Maryland over to Virginia, which is where I worked.

I was enjoying the sunrise, sipping on my coffee, standing outside my vehicle, just soaking in the moment and preparing myself for work when my hip rings. I think to myself, “Who in blazes is calling me at this time of the morning?”

As I flip it open, I see that it is my boss. Why is he calling me that early? Because he wanted to catch me before I got to the building so that I could drive over to the Post Office to pick up the live baby chickens.

Yes, in case you did not know this tidbit, newly hatched, peeping like crazy, extremely hungry and confused baby chickens COME IN A CARDBOARD BOX THROUGH THE MAIL SYSTEM. How else do you think those huge hatcheries get their ‘goods’ to people?

Oh yes, I could not help but laugh at the strangeness of it all.

I am in the middle of the river, halfway between two states on a VERY OLD, barge system & lo and behold, technology catches me in my quiet moment of sipping my coffee, enjoying the sunrise that mother nature has to offer, so that I may go and pick up a box of newly hatched baby birds.

Here’s another oddity that happened with my phone.

PLEASE NOTE: Trust me when I say that I am not making this up!

We had company and I didn’t have anything defrosted to cook. So I finally decide, after being back here for almost a year, that it was time to order in a pizza from town and go get it.

Sorry, it’s way to small of a town for deliveries and technically I am on the back side of town, so am excluded from any possible deliveries. No biggy, it’s a 6 mile drive with zero traffic at that time of night. Yay for small towns! Yes, I am very used to the small town way of things, which includes no deliveries.

So I give them a quick ring to place my order. I then head in to town to pick it up. Just as I am sitting down and handing out pieces of the delicious pie to everyone, my cell phone receives a text.

My first thought was, “Figures, just as I am about to plow in to my pizza!” My next thought was, “Huh, who the heck can that be, it’s almost 8:30 at night, I’m not expecting contact from anyone I know.”

I open the text and again, I am NOT making this up, it is from some random pizza delivery guy and he is desperately trying to find his customers correct apartment number, so that he may deliver their pizza, because the one that he has is most definitely NOT the right apartment number.

I stare at my phone in absolute disbelief, glance over at my pizza, which is ready for me to plow in to and just start laughing.

I responded to the individual that he not only has the wrong apartment number, but that he also just texted an incorrect cell phone number and yes, I let him know that I already had my pizza in front of me. Now to get to gnashing on it!

Ah, life in the modern world. Such strange things have happened to me as a result of having a phone on my hip.

ONE MORE!

As much as I hate the thing, I did get in the habit of wearing it on my belt throughout my day. So I figured it would be a smart move to set the sound to vibrate while I was at work, just in case it did go off. A few days pass by and my phone is it’s normal quiet self, just hanging out in its holster.

As if picking up live chickens didn’t give it away, yes, I do a lot of odd things at my job. One them is that on occasion, I have to go outside and exchange a bottle of welding gas. Some are basic gases that are non-explosive, however, some are highly explosive.

I’m not exactly a timid individual when it comes to doing stuff, but I am definitely aware of what a bottle of explosive gas this size could do to me if it ignited. Ok, so don’t smoke around the darn thing, easy peasy. If it’s not leaking and there is nothing to ignite it, no harm. But, I definitely have it in my mind, as I start to handle them, just how dangerous these items are if the wrong conditions occurred.

So yeah, this was a relatively new task for me. I unlocked the cage and opened it wide, it took me a moment to recognize the proper gas and bottle size that we were exchanging. As I reached forward to grab it, of all moments to have it happen, my phone vibrates for the first time ever.

I had yet to feel what it would be like for my phone to vibrate me and yes, because of the exact moment that it did it, just as I was almost touching a highly explosive bottle of gas, it scared the begeezus out of me!

I did the classic jump out of my skin, had an audible, “Oooo!” escape my lips and yes, my hand froze and refused to go near the bottle, that is, until the brain kicked on and over rode my fear of what the hell that buzz I just felt was.

Since I had a very obvious, visible AND audible reaction when that thing decided to tickle me, the individual looked over at me with concern in their eyes and asked if I was ok.

Ahhhhh, HA HA HA HA !!

I couldn’t help myself, I started laughing like crazy.

As I composed myself, I explained what had just happened.

Yeah, he got a chuckle out of it too.

Life has always been fun and full of surprises, but I had no idea how much my cell phone would add to it.

~Hoofer

I like to think of my phone as a mini computer

Exactly. That, and the ultimate Tech swiss army knife- I use the GPS Navigation app, Flashlight app, Compass app, etc. all the time.

I use to think smart phones were unnecessary in my life, and I even withstood the teasing about my “dumb” phone for years. But 2 years ago I got a smart phone, and now I understand the fun and usefulness of carrying around a little computer/swiss army knife everywhere I go. And it makes calls too!

Does make me sad to see moms’ at the bus stop with a phone glued to their ear or texting, instead of having a conversation with their young kids. But that doesn’t make a difference if it’s a smart phone or not, both allow you to ignore your kid.

That video I think is a good wake up call for people not to text and drive! Also, Hoofer I liked your cell phone stories!