We were talking at one of my son’s game awhile ago about things we remembered from our childhood that our children can’t even begin to comprehend. Silly things like standing by the radio and waiting to press “record” when your favorite song came on and getting frustrated because Casey Kasem always talked over the beginning. We talked about the thing on the end table that moved the antenna on the roof… 3, 6, 10. and places in between. We also fondly remembered the silence at 2am after the national anthem… (or the snow) how you could finally turn the world off. And we discussed the excitement over reallllllly long phone cords, then eventually cordless phones which I assume led to the cell phones of today.
http://www.tv-signoffs.com/clips/KTBS-signoff-1975.htm ( awesome website someone took the time to compile of collections of old tv sign offs sorted by state -if available)
My first cellular phone was huge. It was in a big square box that sat in between the seats of my car. It was large and cumbersome and made me feel weird yet strangely special. I was just 24 years old when I got it.
That was almost 20 years ago (shutthefrontdoor..seriously!)
Exactly when I became so dependent on this tiny little rectangle that I now carry around, I have no idea. I don’t really know the why either. I am not a doctor. Or a world leader who needs to be reached as a matter of life or death. But I am. A.d.d.i.c.t.e.d. I simply feel lost without my phone by my side. I even sleep with my phone on. I have a nightlight app. I use my phone as an alarm, a calendar. I use it to read my email, for my medication reminder, my phone book. My phone doubles as a flashlight when I get up and roam around during my sleepless pain filled nights. I use it to text, to talk, to take pictures. To me, it is more than my brain. It also stores things and almost never forgets them. My brain can no longer do that!
Sadly, my “better than brain” is broken right now. And I am going through serious withdrawal. I have been through 6 Android cell phones so far this year. 6. That’s a lot of of phones. During this whole ordeal, Verizon has been more than good to me. When I call , they simply listen and always end up sending me a “new (read:refurbished) replacement” phone. I have had phones replaced with more “known issues” than you can imagine. I often wonder why if this particular type of phone has so many “known issues” why then are they still replacing mine with other new (read: refurbished ) ones only to have to replace them again with yet another new (read: refurbished) one in just a few short weeks/ months anyway? I suppose it’s still cheaper than simply providing me with an actual new ( read: non-refurbished) actual non- known issue phone. And I am too cheap to buy an actual “Free” Upgrade. (read: nothing is ever free.)
We have been Verizon customers for as long as we have had cell phones so they are always kind enough to remember to thank me for that before hanging up with me. My current Android stopped charging about 2 days ago. I could kind of wiggle the cord a certain way and it would “kind of ” charge. I even went so far as to clothespin the cord to my phone overnight thinking if I could keep the cord in that one certain spot it was sure to keep the charge. It wasn’t. I was hoping to prolong the inevitable. It didn’t work.
I have now been without my beloved cell phone for over 36 hours. There is a part of me that feels like I am stalking the Fed Ex man. There is another part of me that feels free. I am not obligated to respond to things I haven’t received. I don’t feel rushed or stressed over things I have to do that really aren’t life altering, though for some reason I have come to believe they are.
All I *really* need to do today is vote. After all, voting is pretty life altering. But you can rest assured as soon as that new phone gets here, I am going to charge it. No matter how much I kid myself that I don’t miss it. But what I do miss are the days when things turned off , even if it was only at 2am sometimes.
http://www.220.ro/desene-animate/13-Ballot-Box-Bunny/tJrHLV31Kl/
allsortsofhope 
I love this photo! It could be used like one of those photos where they put fun sayings and make it look like a postcard.
YAY! I’ve pleased you! actually, this is like one of the first pics I used with my self timer. Before I forgot how to use it ( the first time). Then it was also one of the first pics I played with in PS.
So it’s like from March ( ? maybe?) . Glad you like it.
Wait, you do mean mine, right? Not the pink radio? 😀
Gotta love that pink radio!
On a seperate but related note…I read a news story a few days ago about cell service being out for some residents of NY after the storm hit.
There was a nearby pay phone that was working but several young people had never in their lives used a pay phone and were not sure how to operate it.