2019 Life Logs, Day 81: Cell Phone Blues
Date: Friday, March 22, 2019
Weather: Overcast, Rain, Wind; High 43, Low 39 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Tonight I’m singing the ‘Cell Phone Blues’. I babied my cell phone until it just wouldn’t do the job anymore and then switched to Mark’s old cell phone about a year ago. It was a much better phone than mine, but also much older. And the transfer was painful. The AT&T guys told me at the time that I really needed to buy a new phone, but I ignored them. Since then, Mark’s phone has worked for me, but there was a problem in keeping it charged. And this morning, after being plugged in all night, I opened my email and the phone went black. It had turned itself off. I turned it back on and saw it had no charge before it turned itself off again. I plugged it in quickly and waited for it to have enough charge to function. I would turn on but there were constant pop-ups saying that this or that was no longer working. These little pop-ups had an OK button, but when I clicked on OK the pop-up would go away for a second and then pop-up again. If I got a text, I could click on it to read it, and work very hard to send an answer in between pop-ups. I tried shutting the phone off and on various times, but the problem just returned each time. It was time for a deep breath and the thought that maybe I really did need to buy a new phone. I did a search on my computer to find the recommended phones, searched Amazon to find the best prices, and decided on a particular mid-level Samsung Galaxy. I printed out the information and headed to the AT&T store. I think Mark bought this phone in 2011 and paid a fortune for it. I remember when he returned from the AT&T store with it and told me the cost. I was flabbergasted and just didn’t understand why he wanted to upgrade from his old flip phone. It took me another few years to move to a smart phone, but I paid significantly less for mine. Anyway, when I got to the AT&T store, the agent really tried to figure out my problem, but he made no progress. He finally suggested a new phone, listened to my requirements, and made some suggestions. I asked if he had the phone I had found on Amazon and, yes, he did. But it cost double to buy it in the AT&T store, literally double. When I showed him the Amazon print-out, he suggested I go home and order it online. But before heading home to order a new phone, I made a stop at Walmart. It was such an ugly day that I decided to do my daily walk-about in the store instead of outside! Never thought I’d become a Walmart walker, but here I was. While walking every isle, I came to the electronics area and decided to see what they had for phones. The phone I wanted was there and was the same cost as on Amazon. Bingo! Getting the low price meant I had to buy in on a Walmart installment plan, but the salesman said I could then take it directly to the AT&T store and pay for it in full. So I did. I have miles to go to get all of my apps back up and running, but at least I do have a phone. My goal today was to make a number of important business phone calls, but that didn’t happen. Hopefully, I’ll learn to use this new phone and get back on track on Monday.
