The Saga of the Cell Phone and Other Stuff Complicating my Life

I’m not a cell phone user.  I have one but it crapped out months ago and wouldn’t charge up again.  And I can’t say I really cared or noticed.  I had taken a few pictures and was just learning how to text, but for the rest – well, I couldn’t even really figure out how it worked.  But since I’m headed off to NY next week for RWA *happy dance* I need it again for its texting abilities and I decided I’d best start looking on how to get it fixed.  I scoured the internet – at work – for someplace that could fix it, tried a few numbers but they were asking an arm and a leg.  I finally got hold of one place that was reasonable and had been around for a while.  I drove quite a distance after work to take it there.  They took one quick look and told me it was obsolete and they didn’t have any parts for it.  Come On!!  I’ve only had the phone for about 3 years.  How can it be obsolete this soon!!

So I drove a long ways once again to my local Rogers thinking ‘the heck with it, if my phone is outdated, I may as well get another one and Rogers is the provider.

 

Well, I hit another nasty snag there.  I’ve had this plan I’m on for so long now, that I would have to get a new one if I were to get a new phone.  At present I pay $15/month, which for me is too much since I’ve gone months and months now without using my phone.  But if I were to get a new phone the monthly cost would jump to $80/month!!  And that’s not even with internet capabilities.  Well dang straight if I’m not getting my money’s worth at $15/month, I’m sure not going to pay $80!  So then he said the only other alternative was to buy a phone outright and transfer the info.  The lowest priced phone they had was $300.  I hate Rogers, hate them hate them.  I know they are in to make a profit and I don't begrudge them that. But what they do is highway robbery!!  

I looked at him, blinked a couple of times and then said “well, I don’t like either of those options”  I think I rather stumped him.  I was on my way out of the store thinking to myself ”shit! Shit, Shit!” when a young mother stopped me and said she overheard the conversation and said she had gone through the same thing and ended up getting a real good phone for a real good price on Amazon.  I thanked her but inside was thinking (I do a lot of thinking inside my head – and cursing too) “but I need it by Friday.”  I looked on Kijiji and Amazon last night but as for the most part I can’t even figure out how to answer my phone, knowing what to look for was beyond me so I quit in frustration and went on to watch So You Think You Can Dance.  It was rather funny as one of the peeps I tweet with sent me a private tweet asking if my phone number was the same as she’s going to RWA also and that’s the best way to connect.  So I’d hit the wall on the phone issue.

 

BUT

I was telling one of my co-workers yesterday about the problems I was having with the cell phone and she looked at mine and said she thought her son had almost the same one on his desk – several cell phones before.  And lo and behold didn’t she bring it in this morning for me just in case I needed it.  Bless her heart!!  I took out the charger to plug it in and get it charged up after changing SIM cards so all my info on the other phone would be in this one – including the phone number so she said and wasn’t it so not the right phone charger.  I don’t even know where I got the one I was carrying around.  And since I thought it was the right one for the phone, which means I’ve no idea where the correct charger is!  So I have a feeling my next hunt will be for a phone charger.  

*sigh*

Last time I went to the States to visit my sister, I somehow managed to get pulled over by New York States finest somewhere around Buffalo.  While I’m a very law abiding citizen in general, I do seem to have a need for speed when I’ve been a way for a while and I can almost smell the American/Canadian border and home.  I saw the flashing light and moved over the outside lane so he could pass me to get to the real criminal, only he didn’t pass me.

*sigh*

I was being pulled over for speeding.  Now this is where it gets strange.  He gave me a ticket but the ticket didn’t say how much I owed.  I was to enter my plea and sent it back.  Being a mostly law abiding citizen – except for my need for speed – I pleaded guilty and mailed it back.  And I’ve never heard from them since.  That was months and months ago.  Now I’m crossing the border again and in the back of my mind I’m terrified I’ll get stopped at the border for the criminal I am.  I tried calling yesterday so get it sorted out but talk about voice mail hell!!  Yikes!  By the time (20 minutes later) I got through to the proper place, the office had closed.  I did learn though that they closed the DMV in Buffalo which is where I would have gone.  And that you can pay on line with Master Card but I have Visa.  I’m just keeping my fingers crossed now that they are busy at the border and backed up and they’ll just waive me through.

 

I have On Star.  I love On Star – one of the reasons I haven’t worried too much about not having a cell phone.  In case of emergency I can phone them through my car and if my car crashes and air bag deploys, they call me.  But the last couple of times when I’ve headed home, for some reason they can’t download directions home.  And I don’t remember exactly the route – it’s an 8 hour drive to my sister’s place.  The last time it was almost funny if it wasn’t so nerve racking.  I had a live OnStar person talking me through Troy New York while at the same time I had happened to have an old GPS that I ended up using too.

 

The live On Star person could hear the Garmin and was saying “yes that’s the way you go,” or “no, don’t turn that way” 

 

 

By the time I got onto the I95, it’s no wonder I was stressed and started to speed.  I just wanted to, like ET, go home.

 

 

'til later