At some point yesterday, I had only partial service on my cell phone. I was receiving calls up until about 2 p.m. and then only emails and FB messages after that. Home I go and I call my wireless provider to see what the problem was.
I spoke to a really polite girl who gave me a rehearsed answer she read off of a sheet of paper. I asked when the service would be repaired and how much intermittent service there would be. She didn't have an answer for that.
The dilemma I face is simple, it's the only phone number every one of my business contacts has. I still have email, facebook, twitter, linked-in, and two tin cans with the string attached, but my cell phone is so convenient. I now feel kind of naked and exposed without it. It amazes me that I've become so dependent on the little piece of electronic shrapnel. I went for years as a hold out, I wasn't getting a cell phone ever, I said. I always thought that if someone really wanted to get a hold of me, they'd leave a message. Then I became a single parent that worked all the time. I sucked up my pride and bought the first one. After a few weeks with the little pocket sized communicator, and it did look exactly like a Star Trek communicator, I was hooked. It was so easy to just call the kids and check on them, make sure the homework was getting done, that they got rides from another parent after hockey practice and ski training, that they were in bed on time when I worked nights for the RCMP. It was so simple.
Then I opened my own business and it was so easy to just carry my office with me. My phones have all been really great for multi-tasking. My appointment schedule is in my phone, my emails, facebook and twitter access for marketing, and of course all the numbers from my Rolodex from years of traveling, networking, and meeting friends were all added. Here's the funny thing, I can still remember phone numbers from when I was 10 years old because I had to memorize them all or write them down in an address book. Today, not a chance, they're all on my cell phone on speed dial. I think my brain has become cell phone lazy. If I had to recall my mother's phone number off the top of my head... couldn't do it.
So here I am, taking a day to shuffle some personal business around, and I am at a loss without my cell phone to complete some important tasks. Even my on-line banking is done from my cell phone so often, as I'm almost always running from one job to the next, that using my computer to transfer funds seems obsolete. Sad but true... I have become something I said I'd never be... a digital junkie.
Today, because I have all this personal business to attend to and I have lost access to some critical points of communication, I'm taking a minute to evaluate the cell phone... is it really necessary? Would my photography business survive without it? Would I be able to pick phone numbers out of thin air like I used to do, not too many years ago? Do I really have to text, email, and FB anyone within minutes where business is concerned? Hmmm ... things to consider.
After careful review, some parts of the wireless addiction I am not sure I want to give up. I can email, text, or call my clients at will if the weather changes an outdoor shoot to an indoor shoot. My kids can reach me anywhere, anytime, any day if they need to, 24 hours a day. I like being able to text my girlfriends for Sunday Breakfast if I'm going to be late... Lol! ( of course this will make them laugh) .
But after that, do I really need it? I called my cell phone provider to inquire into the process of canceling the service, not that I was married to that decision, but just seeing what the process would entail. The bottom line is that it's too expensive to opt out of the digital age at this time, it would blow my tightly wound budget to shreds. So that ends the dream of kicking the digital habit right there! Lol!
Today, I will have to actually walk to the bank to take care of business. I haven't been inside a real bank in months. Is the process there still the same? The digital age is changing by the microsecond so who really knows what's next? Will I be digitally x-rayed like they do at the airports? Do I need a computer chip embedded under my skin so they can just scan me as I step up to the counter? What about biometrics? If I stick my thumbprint on a screen, can they just transfer the money from one account to another? Or maybe a retinal scan? I DID NOT SAY RECTAL I said RETINAL. There are also retinal scans at some airports for airport staff and frequent cross border travelers.
Digitally, I think I've covered all the possibilities of what happens without the cell phone. It chaos really. In a world where everything we do depends on the advances we make technologically, we could be in for a rude awakening if a meteor really did knock out our communications satellites.
As far as the digital black book goes... yes I have that in my cell too and not sure I want to discard that little gem either!
Don't forget to check your Compass!
Cole
I spoke to a really polite girl who gave me a rehearsed answer she read off of a sheet of paper. I asked when the service would be repaired and how much intermittent service there would be. She didn't have an answer for that.
The dilemma I face is simple, it's the only phone number every one of my business contacts has. I still have email, facebook, twitter, linked-in, and two tin cans with the string attached, but my cell phone is so convenient. I now feel kind of naked and exposed without it. It amazes me that I've become so dependent on the little piece of electronic shrapnel. I went for years as a hold out, I wasn't getting a cell phone ever, I said. I always thought that if someone really wanted to get a hold of me, they'd leave a message. Then I became a single parent that worked all the time. I sucked up my pride and bought the first one. After a few weeks with the little pocket sized communicator, and it did look exactly like a Star Trek communicator, I was hooked. It was so easy to just call the kids and check on them, make sure the homework was getting done, that they got rides from another parent after hockey practice and ski training, that they were in bed on time when I worked nights for the RCMP. It was so simple.
Then I opened my own business and it was so easy to just carry my office with me. My phones have all been really great for multi-tasking. My appointment schedule is in my phone, my emails, facebook and twitter access for marketing, and of course all the numbers from my Rolodex from years of traveling, networking, and meeting friends were all added. Here's the funny thing, I can still remember phone numbers from when I was 10 years old because I had to memorize them all or write them down in an address book. Today, not a chance, they're all on my cell phone on speed dial. I think my brain has become cell phone lazy. If I had to recall my mother's phone number off the top of my head... couldn't do it.
So here I am, taking a day to shuffle some personal business around, and I am at a loss without my cell phone to complete some important tasks. Even my on-line banking is done from my cell phone so often, as I'm almost always running from one job to the next, that using my computer to transfer funds seems obsolete. Sad but true... I have become something I said I'd never be... a digital junkie.
Today, because I have all this personal business to attend to and I have lost access to some critical points of communication, I'm taking a minute to evaluate the cell phone... is it really necessary? Would my photography business survive without it? Would I be able to pick phone numbers out of thin air like I used to do, not too many years ago? Do I really have to text, email, and FB anyone within minutes where business is concerned? Hmmm ... things to consider.
After careful review, some parts of the wireless addiction I am not sure I want to give up. I can email, text, or call my clients at will if the weather changes an outdoor shoot to an indoor shoot. My kids can reach me anywhere, anytime, any day if they need to, 24 hours a day. I like being able to text my girlfriends for Sunday Breakfast if I'm going to be late... Lol! ( of course this will make them laugh) .
But after that, do I really need it? I called my cell phone provider to inquire into the process of canceling the service, not that I was married to that decision, but just seeing what the process would entail. The bottom line is that it's too expensive to opt out of the digital age at this time, it would blow my tightly wound budget to shreds. So that ends the dream of kicking the digital habit right there! Lol!
Today, I will have to actually walk to the bank to take care of business. I haven't been inside a real bank in months. Is the process there still the same? The digital age is changing by the microsecond so who really knows what's next? Will I be digitally x-rayed like they do at the airports? Do I need a computer chip embedded under my skin so they can just scan me as I step up to the counter? What about biometrics? If I stick my thumbprint on a screen, can they just transfer the money from one account to another? Or maybe a retinal scan? I DID NOT SAY RECTAL I said RETINAL. There are also retinal scans at some airports for airport staff and frequent cross border travelers.
Digitally, I think I've covered all the possibilities of what happens without the cell phone. It chaos really. In a world where everything we do depends on the advances we make technologically, we could be in for a rude awakening if a meteor really did knock out our communications satellites.
As far as the digital black book goes... yes I have that in my cell too and not sure I want to discard that little gem either!
Don't forget to check your Compass!
Cole
