Efficiency and the Device
I have cellphone service again. I went two whole days without it... and I was musing on how when I was a kid, we didn't even have a telephone in the house. Or electricity, but that's beside the point. Had there been an emergency, at a few years in my life, going for help would have involved a half mile run, ride on pony, or bicycle ride (or walk, because when it is more than 20 below zero you don't run. It's bad for your lungs). My mother didn't drive until I was in my later teens, and Dad was frequently working hundreds of miles away. We were lucky to have people that close to us.
All that in my past, and I was so very stressed the last couple of days trying to resolve the issues with my phone that arose when I tried to switch services. Which, by the way... do not try to use Visible Wireless. They may be cheap, but you get what you pay for. Which in my case was cheerful, confident incompetence. They had no idea what they were doing, but they were friendly while assuring me they were fixing the problem! Which was, I realized by the end, that they had sent me a defective SIM card. Easy fix. Never even occurred to them to try. I really, really do not like to be bold-faced lied to, and told that I must be doing something wrong while I am jumping through the hoops they hold up and keep switching out. So I paid a little more, had service in two minutes, and my phone number ported and usable in three minutes. T Mobile is a strong contender to take down the erstwhile giant of Verizon (Visible is a subsidiary of Verizon). Them, I recommend. The store folks were friendly AND knew what they were doing, which was delightful. See what a difference that is, Visible?
Back to my rambles, though. Why was I so stressed over being without the phone? Because like so many other labor-saving devices in our lives, it enables our grasps to far exceed our reach.
The First Reader was wondering why I wouldn't just take and use his phone during those two days. Because it wasn't just that I wanted a communication device. I use my phone to keep lists - so many lists - to pay bills, to track the budget, to keep track of my diet and exercise. I use it to update this blog if I am out of pocket and can't reach a real computer (and let me tell you, wordpress is not friendly to mobile interface on the backend). You do what you have to, and the modern woman is expected to juggle a myriad of household duties while she works at a career. I'm telling you, this little rectangle with the glowing screen is a lifesaver.
And the fact that I can hike solo, with a text to a group chat that announces where I'm going, and approximately for how long, gives me both the freedom and the safety to do something I love. For that matter, when it comes to safety, I have learned that workplaces sometimes don't bother with updated emergency phones and lists in the immediate workspaces - they assume that in the case of something big going down, everyone will have a cell phone and use it.
I have the ability - and use it! - to keep my ADD self on-track and productive by dint of reminders and alarms and calendars. I've been using a device for this since the original Palm Pilot. Trust me when I say that I am not Type A, existing in a role where I must be, in order to take care of my family and myself. If I don't stay on top of stuff, who will? The smart phone gives me a powerful tool I can use to my best advantage. Oddly enough, social media is way, way down there in the list of my app usages. Kindle? Yeah, that's up there. Also, Amazon Music and Overcast (a podcast player and organizer). Half the time I don't even have facebook on my phone any more - I keep deleting it when it stresses me.
With my phone, I can stand in a grocery line and read. Or sit in my car waiting on grocery pickup and answering a client's email. Or add stuff to the grocery list - one I won't lose or accidentally toss out.
Like any other tool, if mishandled it can be a detriment. But it's become my computer-on-the go. And this, from a woman who first learned to program in BASIC on a Commodore 64 using cassette tapes to record those programs! We've come so far, baby!
And there's my alarm. Time to pack a lunch and scoot for work. With my handy-dandy fully armed and operational phone in my pocket.