Terror Telephone

[Symphony]

In recent days there's been news about the ten most hated inventions.

At the top of the list was...CELL phones.  *sigh*

Then alarm clocks; televisions.

In the entry for Alexander Grahm Bell, in my old Encyclopedia World Book, the article includes the reference that in his retirement years, the jovial Bell use to pound out favorites on the family piano, but found it very annoying being repeatedly interrupted by.......*sigh*..his own invention, the telephone!!

And that was one hundred years ago.  

How are you dealing with this??

Answering machine?  Voice mail?  Switch off the phone's ringer?  Take it off the hook?

Is it bad enough with just your landline phone?  

If you have/use a cell phone, are you glad you have it?

The telephone for me many days is a terror.  That's why I like dialup--it gives me a few minutes respite.  *sigh*   And I don't use a cell phone(yet).

And there's a new twist now, some companies offering Internet telephone.

[JudgeNot]

YIKES!
I’m going to go home and hide under my bed.  
(After I unplug my phones and turn off my cellular.)  

Really – why DO we have cell phones?  Is it because we are afraid we will not get bad news soon enough?  

I know I got my daughter a cell phone so I could “keep up with her” and so if she needed me she could call from anywhere.  (Of course – she sees it a little differently.)  

[michael_legna]

In recent days there's been news about the ten most hated inventions.

At the top of the list was...CELL phones.  *sigh*

Then alarm clocks; televisions.

In the entry for Alexander Grahm Bell, in my old Encyclopedia World Book, the article includes the reference that in his retirement years, the jovial Bell use to pound out favorites on the family piano, but found it very annoying being repeatedly interrupted by.......*sigh*..his own invention, the telephone!!

And that was one hundred years ago.  

How are you dealing with this??

Answering machine?  Voice mail?  Switch off the phone's ringer?  Take it off the hook?

Is it bad enough with just your landline phone?  

If you have/use a cell phone, are you glad you have it?

The telephone for me many days is a terror.  That's why I like dialup--it gives me a few minutes respite.  *sigh*   And I don't use a cell phone(yet).

And there's a new twist now, some companies offering Internet telephone.

I don't have a land-line any more, only a cell phone (my wife has one too).  We got rid of them to avoid the sales calls at dinner.

I come home the cell phone goes in the charger and I go down stairs to my den to read.  I do have a pager/watch I wear at all times but anyone who knows the number knows that they better be on fire if they call it.  

I have cable modem internet access and a wireless network in my home so I could be on line at all times if I wanted to (in case you were wondering about that), but when I am doing most of my work and study, for me personally, I work off line on a laptop or handheld.

My idea of vacation is to go off the grid completely and play golf or chess.

[sincereheart]

How are you dealing with this??
Voice mail for us. No answering the phone during dinner! I wish we could dump the landline, but my husband's work thinks that they should be able to reach him!  

Cell phone is for our use only! Since anything we need is usually an hour away  , my husband feels better knowing that I can reach him if need be. And I was stuck with a broken belt on the car and was might glad to have it!   But no one has the cell number except family~

JudgeNot - Isn't it amazing how teens 'think'? ROFL! If you ever need to get through, she'll be talking to a friend about really important stuff!  

[Symphony]

*sigh*  That's just it, judgenot, if I "run home" and hide under the bed, I have to explain WHY I didn't answer the phone.

Then, when I do answer it, they don't believe me when I try to explain.

Voice mail or answering machine only worsens it.  Then even the ones I genuinely miss, while away, I would then be read the riot act if I didn't respond.  At least with no answering device, I can "legitimately" miss a few calls.

Boy, this would make a movie.  Comedy? SciFi?  Horror?  Suspense?

No, definitely horror.  This definitely horror.  Like a very terrifying Bette Davis/Joan Crawford movie.  Just plain madness.

Thanks Alexander Graham Bell.  Thomas Edison.  I OWE YOU ONE!!!    

Oh, excuse me.  

Wow, thanks michael legna.  You seem to have figured out a solution.  I'd heard with the major power outage last summer, from the MIssissippi eastward, that actually landlines fared better--people couldn't use their cellphones.    

Boy but your arrangement sounds at least half-way sane.  You have control.

Ahhh.  That would be nice.  Control.  

Ahhh, sanity.  That would be so different.   I've forgotten what it's like.

And if I say anything, everyone starts screaming at me, "Why didn't you answer that phone?"   blah blah blah.  

So I don't know what to do.  I'll have myself committed for mental incapacity, a padded cell would be nice.  ARRRGH!!  Even THERE there's that evil word, cell.  


But I guess with just a cell phone, it allows you to pinpoint just exactly where your number is seen, or by whom, huh.  There's no major listing anywhere of your cell phone number, so that way you'd have good control over who's going to be calling.

I think I'll run away to Siberia or something.  Maybe in Russia the economy's so bad no one CAN AFFORD to have a telephone of ANY kind.   Ahhh.  That woudl be nice.  

That would TRULY be nice.  

 

[Whitehorse]

Well, of course they don't believe you when you try to explain. Who would believe, "I couldn't come to the phone because I was busy hiding under my bed"?  

[JudgeNot]

Who would believe, "I couldn't come to the phone because I was busy hiding under my bed"?  

I guess you would have to add to that the fact you have been living by eating dust bunnies while in hiding...

That would make it believable!  

[NateyCakes]

I agree. I think the whole Cell Phone epidemic (as I see it) is out of control to say the least! They literally are everywhere! Even in church service which is SO wrong as far as Im concerned.
I was @ a revival here in Fla. and we were all praying and this womans cell rang, Unbelievable loud she answered it & was talking! I thought that was really rude. Your phone & conversation (Which you could tell wasn't an emergency) is more important then your time with the Lord in prayer? I dunno, seems wrong to me.
I do have the simple answering machine...No voice mail. The voice mail provided was like having to have a Harvard degree to understand how to check the messages, delete them, etc. lol...too much for this 25 yr old. Hehehe
Ps...What happened to ppl writing one another? NOT via internet, lol. I loved having penpals! Wish I still did!:)

[Symphony]

Thanks, Nateycakes.  Welcome.  


Yes, I've thot about even just an answering machine.  Gives me the willies thinking about it.  At least with nothing there, you don't have to 'splain everything as to why you didn't return a call.  

Wow, that lady does sound impolite or unthinking.  Yikes.  

Who would believe, "I couldn't come to the phone because I was busy hiding under my bed"?  

Actually, Whitehorse, maybe I'll just make that my stock answer.    

[2nd Timothy]

I was @ a revival here in Fla. and we were all praying and this womans cell rang, Unbelievable loud she answered it & was talking! I thought that was really rude. Your phone & conversation (Which you could tell wasn't an emergency) is more important then your time with the Lord in prayer? I dunno, seems wrong to me.

Hmm, that does sound bad.  Maybe the Lord wanted to speak with here person to person...LOL!  

My wife and I both have a cell phone, but she and I are the only ones that know each others number.   Aside from that, we have voice mail which I really like.   Caller ID is a must these days too.  That way, I know if the call is worth answering.   Being a HAM, I also have a few radios which is a fun hobby.  Also great for emergencies.  So I guess one could say, I am very connected, but I do not allow any of that to distract my family or prayer time.

Grace and Peace!

[Symphony]

Hmmm, a HAM.  I was wondering 'bout that, today, Tim'y, with all the alternative technolgies.

I was sort of thinking maybe HAM was no longer much of an attraction.

With all the alternative technolgies, why still HAM??

[Tibby]

What gets me are the guys in class. People will answer and take on their phone WHILE the prof is still talking! Most will turn off the phones, a few of them keep them on vibrate and walk out to talk, but some of these arrogance dorks will just be carrying on a conversation. Now, I’m not talking about in lecture hall, we could be in a regular class room and people will still do that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is insane.

[2nd Timothy]

Hmmm, a HAM.  I was wondering 'bout that, today, Tim'y, with all the alternative technolgies.

I was sort of thinking maybe HAM was no longer much of an attraction.

With all the alternative technolgies, why still HAM??

Yes Symph, sadly it does appear to be a dying hobby.  I have always been interested in electronics, and wanted to get my ham liscense for years.   It wasn't until another interest of mine, "severe weather", gave me more of a reason to get my liscense.   Although some view it as boring, I find it quite thrilling to put a signal in the air and talk with a perfect stranger 100's or 1000's of miles away, whether that be by voice or mose code.  I will say, that ham radio is probably the most reliable means of communication during emergencies.   Most people are not aware of this, but during times of major disasters i.e. 9/11, hurricanes, earthquakes etc., ham radio plays a major role in communication when land lines and cell phones become overloaded or inoperable.   It still has its place during these times, and ham's in huge numbers are willing to donate their time and equipment to help out when needed.

For those folks living in tornado alley and are all too familiar with those tornado warnings....there is usually a ham radio operator "ground truthing" and communicating what your local NOAA weather personnel are seeing on radar, which in turn brings about those watches and warnings.   Ham radio also played a very large role in the Columbia disaster, helping search and rescue personnel scower the country side where communication was very limited.

So while it may seem dull to some, Ham radio helps in many ways that most people are not aware of.  Aside from all these purposful uses, It can also be a heap of fun.   I can be driving down the road, pick up the mic, and order a pizza from my favorite pizza joint all without having a phone.  How cool is that?   I listened to Columbia astronaughts communicate with mission control during some of their experiments before the disaster.   I can listen to radio broadcast from various countries around the world, and sometimes hear news items before they are even reported to mainstream news media.

Its a load of fun, highly useful, and helpful in many ways.  So yeah, Ham radio might seem geeky, but until one realizes what can be done with it, its hard to realize how rewarding and enjoyable it can be.

Grace and Peace!

[Symphony]

Oh, I see, Tim.  No, I didn't see it as geeky, or realize it could still supplement in emergencies.   I see your point.

I've known a few, and seen all the equipment.  Never done it myself.

I guess I was thinking with the new satellite technologies, that even if landlines, cells, etc. were down, that that would be the alternative.

Glad to see it still around though.  So, you have a mobile unit in your car; you radio a pizza order, it gets picked up over a landline, then the pizza place gets your order over their telephone, but you're doing it from a mobile ham?

Yeah, Tibby, I guess they're just showing off, still.  Cell phones still enough of a novelty that it's "chic" to be seen talking on one?  Rather juvenile.

But it seems like a prof. would just prohibit that.

I took in a pocket recorder once, and was setting it up near the prof's podium, near an outlet for the ac adapter, when he walked in.  Rather embarrassing.  He didn't want to be recorded.  I won't do that again.  I should have asked first.  I just assumed...  

[Tibby]

Yeah, now everyone has a cellphone. I don’t think there is a kid on campus without one. I mean, they may be starving, but by god, they sure play off the bill for their Cellphone PDA on time.

Most of the Profs get pretty upset by it. Then again, if you are going to do that, you really don't care about a passing grade, do you?

I was surprised, no one uses recorders any more! I saw one guy who used his digital recorder, but that it all. Everyone has their laptops and Cellphones and PDA's and MP3 players and electronic day planers and Gameboy advance and CD players and digital cams and all this crazy stuff. College ain't what it used to be. I think we are just making up for back in highschool when all this stuff was banned.