Utter disaster. Try putting your handheld computing device on the hood of the rig and cleverly driving away, forgetting about the miracle of technology resting on the bonnet. Thirty minutes later, by the Lake and Stations of the Cross, you ask yourself, where's the dam phone?
It was lying, smashed, in the middle of a crossroads near the Compound, and I picked it up after a devil in the detail drive home. There you are, fella, welcome back. But the mini computer was irretrievably busted and smashed, so I went to T Mobile for a replacement.
The TM persynn asked me what I wanted to buy, and I figured a brand new, up to the minute Samsung phone. Time to upgrade and spend some money. Salesguy sensibly said no, save your money, get the same thing without the brand at way less cost. In fact, why not buy my old phone?
What? How much? 200 bucks, same phone we're selling for 400. Yours, for cash. I couldn't say no to an obvious deal. But had to ask, "Don't you lose on commission, I mean, you just lost a sale." He replied, "We only get 5 dollars a sale, so so what. I hate corporate, in fact, I want to join the Army, get into IT." We talked about that, and phones.
Your Pal,
LSP
13 comments:
Funny, the Samsung I decided to buy from Sprint, now TM, was much cheaper buying through lease than cash. 100 at least. I did not understand it then and do not now, except it ties me into not leaving them.
I think you made the right decision, LSP. Of course, I'm sort of an "anti-phone" type. I have a smart phone, but only use it for texting and the occasional call. I only go online in an emergency.
I know some peeps in Minnesota who are always complaining about being broke and just spent over 1K on two new phones (I think they were Samsung.) ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? And then they're on them all day. I shudder to think what they're monthly bills are. My phone costs me about $10.00 a month through Tracfone.
Now, that being said, I know there are people who rely on their phones for business type stuff (like you), and I think that's fine and quite clever.
In other news, I bought a cheap charcoal grill for the occasional steak or burger (ala LSP) since I gave away my fancy gas grill. Last night I tried lump charcoal and, oh my - how great is that stuff??? I thought of you while my steaks were searing delightfully.
God bless you.
Well, that sucketh.
Last time I pulled that stunt, our kids were still in school. For some reason or other, I felt the need to rush outside with one of the handsets for our land line. Then set it down on the bumper of my truck and a few minutes later, drove somewhere. Never did find that handset.
Just before we moved here to DFW, I was dragged kicking and screaming into the modern age, and bought an Iphone 5s. Still using it. When we first got here, I will admit that the map function was quite handy. That said, I am still very much old school. I study the route on my phone before departure. I just feel naked if I don't have the route IN MY HEAD. I also keep AAA paper maps in my truck.
I spent more for a heavy duty case and screen protector than the phone. Xfinity (not my favorite company) is tied into Verizon which has the best coverage in my area. Got the very same setup for my autistic son in Seattle. All up, out the door, around $80. Monthly bill is $89 with unlimited minutes for him (and he uses them, yikes!)
I've dropped the phone a few times with no bad consequences but will forgo your test, if possible.
Sounds like you won the support lottery.
Concur with WSF- Get a GOOD case and screen protector... They are worth the money, although launching it off the hood at speed is NOT recommended... ;-)
I use prepaid, ED, because I don't want to be subject to their "plans" and it's cheap. But good Lord, what a racket. Do you remember the old days when we had letters and phones? I do, and it was alright. Saying that, I like the info flow.
Adrienne, charcoal grills are great, except on Fridays, so I'm totally with you. Phones? As above to Ed, what a racket. Still, I like the connectivity but at 1k per phone? How stupid.
RHT, I agree. I hardly ever use the gps function, just memorize the map. Have maps too, on paper. Still, useful, if unused in my case.
Unlike the phone which was smashed last night. Won't be doing that again, I hope.
WSF, $89 for two accounts? That's a good deal, I pay 50, which covers calls to Canada and as much data as I need. So that's ok. But I have to say, do these gadgets make our lives that much better? Dunno. A mix, I think.
I was really surprised, Kid. Nice result and saved lots of USD.
Mr. NFO, I bow to your superior wisdom.
And bloody hell, attention to detail, LSP.
Well LSP, it could have (potentially) been worse. Before he finally passed, we had an old guy in the local fun club who was still reliably breaking 25 at trap and skeet just about any time he wanted to, which was often, well into his nineties.
One evening Kenny walked off the line and laid his brand new Browning BT99 single barrel trap gun atop the tool box of his pickup. And promptly forgot he hadn't put it up. Shortly after he said Boys it's suppertime, see ya later and took off. He was seen to leave with the shotgun still on the tool box and one present took off to try to catch up with him.
But Kenny heard the dinner bell ringing and was not easily caught. Over a mile of dirt road and two miles of black-top later, the pursuit had almost caught up when Kenny did a rolling right hand turn thru a red light and the shotgun skittered off the tool box and slid into the middle of the intersection. The pursuer stopped his truck, retrieved the shotty, doffed his hat to several motorists taking this all in, and went straight to Kenny's house, to find Kenny had already arrived, discovered the shotgun was missing, and immediately started retracing his steps. Our Good Samaritan gave the shotgun to Kenny's wife and went home expecting somebody had found a pay phone and called the po-po to report his license plate, this happening before cell phones were common, but, no visit was forthcoming.
It is by such deeds and misadventures that we are remembered and become Legend. But, can you imagine the hilarity that would ensue if that happened today? 17 people would have been on the phone to 911 whilst simultaneously videoing it and tweeting and twitting and putting it up on youtube and no telling where-all else.
Post a Comment