[dancingdoc2]

It was about ten years ago that I purchased my first cell phone. This was when I was still living in a small town at the heart of California's Mother Lode. A local cell phone company placed a 1/3 page ad in the local paper advertising what I affectionately referred to as "the Valentine's Day Special". For $8/mo. and 39c/min. they would provide an analog phone. This was several years before California had installed solar powered emergency phones every mile along major highways and byways, so I figured one of these telephones was cheap insurance to have while driving, especially because I drove a lot at night and many times on the back roads.

I had two telephone lines at home, one public and one private. Now, I was about to have a third "chat line" that followed me everywhere. I decided that if I could keep the cell phone bill under $20/mo. it was worth having so went and made the purchase just before Valentine's Day. The phone actually worked pretty well in and around the Sierra Foothills which I found surprising.

When I moved to Sacramento, in 2003, I canceled that plan and signed up with Ma Bell and switched to digital. My plan was to use the free minutes at night and on weekends to make long distance calls. Good plan, trouble was there was no reception in the house and only marginal reception on the street! So much for good ideas. AT&T had the best coverage of the various services in the area yet there were still drop outs along the major corridors and surface streets that annoyed me.

I did not use the phone all that much and $35 or so a month was more than I was willing to spend so I just decided than I'd go without. Emergency phones had been installed by about '05. My better half had a cellphone on a family plan with her father and sister and after he passed away that ended that. We both decided we still did not need an expensive contract plan and now that the state requires a vehicle driver to use hands free phones, the only bells and whistles we wanted was Bluetooth technology and either an earpiece or visor mounted speakerphone.

In this area Net10 and TracFone offer pay as you go service. We chose the latter because they offer a family plan. We pay about $16/mo. total for both phones and because our phones come with double the minutes and activation time, we pay 10c/min. So, while the per minute charge may be more than with contract phones, I can guarantee you we are not paying those outrageously high monthly fees! Radio coverage has improved considerably over the past few years and this was a pleasant surprise.

I LOVE technology and am a gadget guru of long standing, and have had a love affair with the telephone and making PBX equipment, etc. for the home as a teen, yet this is my limit. I do not like texting and I do not need a planner; however, I must say I have used the tip and regular calculators, and the conversion calculator a few times. So, there is my rationale for communicating in this manner.

What really galls me is the iPhone. Not only is the device expensive, service is, what, something over $100/mo??!! Add to this my satellite bill, land line bill, food bill, taxes, and so when is enough enough?