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Monday, April 12, 2004
Cell Phone Blues  My first cell phone was the cutest little thing. I loved it for about nine months until the microphone stopped working. I could hear the people that I was talking to, but they couldn't hear me. Sometimes I could tilt my head a certain way and solve the problem. I was obviously jiggling wires inside and making a connection that had come undone. Anyway, when I called T-Mobile and told them what happened, they said that my phone was under warranty and that they would send me a new one... of the same model. So the switch was effortless, I loved my "new" phone and things were hunky-dorey...
Until about nine months after getting that phone. Then, the same malfunction happened. So I called T-Mobile to complain. This time, since they had sent me a refurbished phone, it wasn't under warranty. And the rep politely informed me, "This is a common problem with these phones, but we don't offer a warranty on any refurbished merchandise." (Mind you, I didn't know that I had received refurbished merchandise.) At the time, money was tight and there was no way I could afford a brand new phone when they weren't going to give me a break on it. While still in the honeymoon phase with my cutie patootie new cell phone... on a night out in Syracuse, I met a guy who worked for a cell phone company. At one point he asked who my cell service provider was (it wasn't the company he worked for) and he said, "Gee! I have this phone that you could use. And its much better than yours! You can come over to my apartment and get it." (Ha, Ha! I know what you're thinking, but save your assumptions for another blog. *grin*) So I had this phone that certainly didn't LOOK better than my phone and it didn't seem to have amazingly better features than my phone (except for maybe voice dialing, which I never used). But I figured, WTF, I can have a back-up phone. It resided in a desk drawer for a very long time and I basically forgot about it.  So I wasn't in too sorry a shape after all. I had my back-up phone... which I am currently still using. I have never gotten around to rreplacing it. And this phone is a piece of work. The screen shows literally two lines of black text... it resembles an old Volvo in it's boxy appearance and frankly, I'm embarassed to pull it out and make a phone call. It took me months to figure out the volume control, and I still don't know how to "reject" phone calls like I could on my first phone. (There was some morbid sense satisfaction in pushing the button for "reject" when certain individuals would call.) And the lame little screen still says, "VStream" for Voicestream, the precursor to T-Mobile. People actually comment on how old my phone looks.
 Enter my business partners... and our new office... (and an IRS refund burning a hole in my pocket). Our business took over the partners' home phone line because they already had published it on their business cards. And, they acquired new cell phones... exhaustively researching their carrier and phone options. The other day I was talking to Pam and asked how I should spend my IRS refund. I basically had a few options... either a cell phone... an iPod... or a mini-vacation. She immediately said, "Get a new phone! You should look at the Motorola V300, that's the one I really wanted." So I went to the T-Mobile site... found it... and I called and ordered it, all in the span of five minutes. I was done with my old phone and just needed the prodding from someone to make the call. I had put it off long enough.
Now, I can't wait for it to arrive. I'm going to have a cameraphone... and cooler rings... and a color screen... and AIM... and games... and *deep breath* Who needs a vacation!? | private feedback | |
Hey! I'm Shane... a proud gay progressive Democrat who has recently relocated to New York City from Ithaca, NY. As I am no longer in Ithaca, I haven't quite decided the fate of this blog. Drop me a line!
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