Friday, January 4, 2013

Today, I Entered the 21st Century

Samsung Galaxy SIII
For some time now I have been using a standard cell phone. You know, the kind that flips open. The kind that has a rather rudimentary camera. The kind which has a tiny memory capacity.

Seems that the kids would send me pictures, which would quickly overwhelm my phone's memory, requiring me to delete something before I could look at incoming traffic.

Only to find out that it was the WSO doing a "Reply to All", not as text, but as a picture.

So I would've deleted a cute picture of Bear (the Nuke's dog) only to read the WSO's inane "LOL" response to some other message.

Apparently I spent a goodly amount of time "bitching" about that. Note that word in quotes. This is because men do not "bitch". We complain. We grumble. We mutter. But we do not ever "bitch".

Okay. We do. Sometimes. I will grudgingly admit this. But I won't bitch about it.

So, in order to cut down on "Dad's constant bitching", the WSO decided to get me a new phone. Off to the AT&T store she went to accomplish that goal. But, 
hélas, she was unsuccessful. Let me explain why.

Back some years ago when my son, the Naviguesser, received his commission in the United States Navy, he thought it would be nice to get his younger siblings cell phones for Christmas. Because he was making good money as a black shoe Professional Surface Warfare Officer. So he went forth and did so. And his sisters were quite rightly pleased.

At one point, I asked the question "Who's going to pay the cell phone bill, oh son of mine?"

"Why I will Dad, at least until my sisters graduate from college and receive their own Naval commissions." he replied in his best Officer of the Deck (OOD) command-voice.


Over the years, my son remained in the system as "The Account Holder". I guess in AT&T's eyes this is somewhat akin to being "Duke of York". It's a hereditary title which one cannot pass on to someone else. Even though his phone is on a different account. Most confusing this is to a simple guy like moi.

So every time we want to upgrade a phone (which is what AT&T calls buying a new phone) we have to jump through various hoops. Such as getting my son to add whoever wants a new phone to the account. Apparently one can have as many phone lines as one wants, but one is allowed only two people "on the account". Other than "The Account Holder" himself.

Alright, he did that like a month ago when the Nuke "upgraded" her phone. And he had to do it again today when I "upgraded" my phone. But that does not explain why the WSO was unable to simply purchase a new phone for me. Well, it does in part.

The other reason was that AT&T would not be able to transfer my "Contacts" (read: saved phone numbers) to my new phone without having my old phone. So in lieu of buying me a new phone, the WSO bought me a gift card with which to purchase my new phone.

And of course there were hoops to be jumped through there as well. I had to "activate" the gift card. Online. Had to have a special "activation code" to do so. Which the WSO had. In California. She was in Michigan for Christmas.

So there was a bit of a delay in my getting a new phone.

But have one I do. I have joined the 21st Century.

It's a brave new world for the Old Sarge.

A brave new world...

5 comments:

  1. And here I thought computers were harder than they have to be. At least you don't need a code from someone else to buy a new box.

    I used to be with Ma Bell but she disowned me when I moved to NM all these years ago. It seems like she didn't have a presence here on the High Plains o' New Mexico at that time and ALL my minutes were of the roaming nature, which caused Dear Old Ma no end of grief and/or expense. So she disowned me. I was given 30 days to find a new home and I've been with Sprint ever since.

    That's a danged nice phone ya got there, too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm just discovering that I am NOT as big a Luddite as I thought myself to be. This here newfangled cellphone is giving me a great deal of pleasure. Why just now I heard it chirp, wondered what that meant and checked my messages. Hmm, no messages, what gives?

      Then I remembered that earlier today I had discovered (with great wonder and joy) that I could actually check my blog! And my G-Mail, which of course is where comments to the blog come in as well. The chirp I heard was the comment you left.

      So Buck, your comment above is the very first here to be audibly signaled by my brand new cellphone.

      Kid, meet candy store.

      Delete
  2. Enjoy the new phone. If it's a smart phone and you expect to surf much, watch your data usage. It can cost a lot if WSO/Nuke didn't get the unlimited data plan. Another warning is that you may want to avoid the cheaper upgrade next time it's available. Some providers are kicking users off the unlimited data plans if they accept the upgrade. I avoided the smart phone for years and now I can't imagine not having it. I use it for anything and everything.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I only plan on using the surfing capabilities at home on my own network, or somewhere else where I won't be bouncing off a cell tower.

      Sound wisdom Tuna!

      Delete
    2. Pandora. That's what eats the data minutes with me. I have the unlimited data plan and that's a GREAT Good Thing.

      Delete

Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

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