The goods and bads of cell phones

I love the convenience and flexibility of a cell phone. I like it so much I don’t have a landline telephone. I like being able to see who is calling where ever I am. I like having both my emails — personal and work — on my phone. Texting is one of my favorite ways to communicate. I can Google on my phone. Most of the people I talk or text with have their numbers stored on this wonderful invention.

I can work, visit with friends and family out of town or across the world and be at the beck and call of any of the groups with whom I volunteer.

While I’m old school and love the print edition of the Daily American Republic newspaper, I often check the morning’s edition page by page on my phone while I’m drinking my first-morning beverage or get the latest DAR Facebook and/or Twitter updates on my phone.

Now, I’ve been praising this great invention known as the cell phone, I want to share a few things I don’t like about it.

One carrier keeps telling me they are going to interrupt my service except for 911 calls if I don’t let them tell me about how their business can provide better service.

I wonder if they’ve ever thought I might have had their service and decided it didn’t work for me.

Since they’ve been threatening me I’ve been having all kinds of problems. I understand the problems are probably not caused by this company, but I’m unhappy either way.

My phone will show it is fully charged in the morning. In a time frame of a matter of minutes or maybe an hour I’ve lost all my charge. Yes. I understand the battery is dying or may be dead, but I didn’t have this problem with a landline.

I was out of town at a training meeting earlier this week. Everyone else in the group was getting great service. Not me. I wasn’t getting the group text messages. Half the time I couldn’t send messages. I might as well not had email on my phone since it wasn’t showing up.

I’d try to find a way to plug in my phone if I wanted to talk, but that didn’t always work. Plus, I missed two online copies of my DAR. Thank goodness I still have the print edition to read when I get home. When my phone would work I took the time to double check the front page, obits, police and fire reports.

Phone shopping is high on my to-do list and I know one service provider I’ll not be checking out.

Barbara Ann Horton is a staff writer at the Daily American Republic. Contact her at bhorton.dar@gmail.com.