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My son and my wife have my cell number.

A couple of weeks ago I was riding through downtown on my scooter on a 4 lane main artery that goes straight through the middle of town, 4 lanes one way.

A city cop was beside me on my left.

A young woman talking on her cell phone walked right out in the street in the middle of the block right in front of the oncoming traffic. I had to swerve right to go around her and the cop to my left had to brake hard to keep from hitting her. She was totally oblivious to the whole thing until the cop hit his siren while she was about 5' in front of him.

I went on and didn't see what he did or said, but it was the stupidest thing I'd seen in a long time.

I admit to using my iPhone, my second cell phone, my iPad mini, my lap top........ I just love that stuff.
I also really like being away from them, and of course, I am still doing a lot of paddling, camping, hiking. I enjoy being with my buds, and hate to miss an event with friends.

That said, ya wanna sell that unused iPad? I need a new one.

My sister is a techno-freak.

When it became the norm, she thought texting was fabulous. My retort of course is that its ridiculous,you have a PHONE in your hand!

Now, to take the sublime to the ridiculous, she has " Speech Texting" where you speak into the phone..... and it writes out and sends a text of what you said.



That kind of schitt makes blood squirt out of the corners of my eyes!

I actually like my phone, but no where near an addict. When it comes to conversions or trying to accomplish anything I'll call you. Texting is for short phrases that help prevent any conversations I don't want to be involved in and for recording CYA messages.

While at a hotel pool bar in Waikiki two months ago, we watched a young couple stare into their phones for an hour, occasionally groping blindly for their drinks. They never once looked up at the amazing ocean scenery, the people around them, or even to do more than grunt to the server. Whyinhell did they fly to Hawaii anyway, we asked ourselves. You can be a phone zombie anywhere.

I kid you not..... a woman in my own neighborhood was run over and killed by a trash truck backing down her street. She was taking out the garbage and had her ear thingie in while talking on the phone. The truck backed over her and she was caught up in the wheels. Dragged for some 10+ feet. The truck even had one of those loud beeping signals. It happens.

The Company now make the guys running around off the back of the truck walk behind the truck when backing down streets.

Cops found fault with the pedestrian.

Don't have computer other than this iPhone. All I got. If I didnt have it I wouldn't be able to stay up with all my compares on the fire.

The way I see it is some of these poor people are so connected they can't break free from work anymore.

My wife is one of them.

Her job is demanding and she gets text messages from co-workers at all hours of the day and weekends even though they only "work" Mon-Fri 8-5. She used to have to check work email occasionally when not at work, now the cell phone and texting have replaced that and people are made available 24-7. It's part of the gig now and expected by management. They have been suckered in and it is too late to stop.

I hope to hell my job never gets like that, and if it does, I'm done.

In other news, at the gym I go to probably 60% or more of the folks have earbuds in listening to some kind of music.

When you see someone standing near a piece of equipment you want to use it's courteous to ask them if they're using it or about to. When I see someone with earbuds sometimes I'll mouth the words but not make a sound. When they say, "What?", I'll act like I'm talking slower and louder but still not actually make a sound.

When they finally take the earbud out I'll continue to just mouth the words and not make a sound - but that depends on if the guy is a lot bigger than me and looks like he might not see the humor in the situation.

Funny how exercise makes me relaxed and pleasant but a lot of folks get real grumpy and angry at the gym. Maybe it's because they are away from their cell phones for a few minutes...

I think it's great! Several reasons I like my phone-first, I can hardly buy anything without doing a little research. If I'm at a store and see something I might want, I can quickly check if there is any reviews on it.
Second is texting. Texting is the best thing about these phones. I despise phone conversations. They go on too long, you usually don't even want to be talking to whoever is on the other end and they always happen at inconvenient times. Texting allows me to send or receive information in the shortest amount of time possible. And if I get a text from someone I don't want to talk to, I can ignore it or respond later. If I get a phone call now, I generally ignore it and let them text me. Usually ends up being a simple question that can be answered in one sentence, much better than having to spend several minutes on the phone.
If I'm out with people, I don't take my phone out until they become boring...but then I'll try to leave if I can. Lots of oblivious people lost in their phones out there, but it saves me from having to talk to them, so I'm ok with it. People who are intersting enough to be worth talking to usually aren't the ones glued to their phone anyway.

My father is almost 99. He does the same chitt. I keep telling him to leave it on in case he has an emergency....heart attack, wrecks his car, whatever. It's good for emergencies.

Poobah, you ain't getting any younger man. You might want to start leaving it on.

Hear ye, hear ye! The true danger of being connected.

I run heavy equipment doing construction. Weather has a lot of bearing on how I do my days work so being able to check the radar is important.
Everything is loud and I hate shutting machines down every time my phone rings (owner/operator so I try hard to answer). Texts come in handy for the small details. Look at them when I have time and answer when I have time. Everything from SO wondering what time I'll be home for the evening to one of my guys wondering which job site to go to.

This world is going faster and faster everyday and a cell phone is a great way to save time and speed up processes.

I don't pull my iPhone out until everybody else has theirs out. My hearing has deteriorated to the point that carrying on a conversation is very difficult, not just for me but also for those wanting to talk with me. It doesn't usually take long for everybody to get tired of repeating everything for me and either turn to private conversations or retreat to their smart phones, I understand their frustration.

Smart phones are a blessing to me though, because my family can text me. Multiple Dr's have said that there is no help in sight for my type of hearing loss. Face to face I can do fairly well in a quiet environment, but in a room full of noise, I'm toast…I can't talk on the phone at all now and I spent 30 years in the telecommunications business. That just kills me. Friends know not to call me and text me instead. So if you see me texting on my iPhone, it is about the only way I have of communicating with family and friends. In a world where it is getting harder and harder for me to stay connected, I'm going to keep every option I have that works.

Brian, you might have a point...I used to give my 83 year old mother hell when she didn't answer the phone ( she lived alone)


When you are 83..you NEED to answer the phone!

He droves at 99?? Good for him!!! That is impressive.

It gets pretty worrisome for your loved ones when they can't get a hold of you. You never know, that minute of reboot time might save your life.

I've resisted so far and hope to keep just a flip phone. Plus its now "vintage" like my #1 in 7x57.

My old flip phone died. I had to get this 'second generation' flip phone. It doesn't even have that sweet little plastic antennae. I have no idea how its able to pick up a signal without it!