Grrrr! Cell Phones...

There is nothing that compares to receiving a phone call, or text message, on your emergency telephone line at 4 o'clock in the morning.  If my regular, old-fashioned home telephone (an honest-to-goodness land line) rings in the middle of my sleep, that's startling; but when my emergency phone rings, or buzzes, it scares me, because I think of all of the things that can happen to friends, family and pets.  I waited a very long time to get a cell phone.  I do not like the damned things - and I hate talking on them.  I only got one when it became apparent that sometimes my clients felt the need to contact me while I was walking their dogs.  I even had clients offer to purchase a phone for me, and put that phone on their plan, with them paying for it monthly.
   I finally broke down and purchased my own cell phone.  I give the number out to a very few friends, to family, and to my clients.  When I start working for them, I tell the clients, this cell phone number is for emergency purposes only - call my home number, or e-mail me, if you want to schedule something.  No one listens to instructions anymore.  If I did not follow instructions regarding the care of these folks' animals and houses, I'd be in BIG trouble.  But my requests and instructions regarding making contact with me are totally ignored.  It's amazing...  One of my clients calls multiple times each day, just to chat, and/or to ask my opinion of a certain pet product.
   I don't seem to remember living anywhere as narcissistic as Boulder.  Here, it seems that everyone believes that "the rules apply to others, not me."  People walk across busy streets in the middle of traffic, not using crosswalks.  People go through and turn on red lights, if no one is approaching.  The law says that one must pick up your dog's poop - but less than half do it (I do, even though the dogs I walk are not mine).  People on bicycles blast through Stop signs and red lights.  I heard a teen-ager on the bus tell his friend that he'd left his tablet on the bus - and the other kid said, "Oh, I don't like that one.  My folks will buy me  a newer, better one, when I tell them I lost it."  This stuff just astounds me.
   Anyway, I was sound asleep at 4 o'clock in the morning.  My cell phone was plugged in and charging on the stand beside my bed.  I was caring for Bop and Tiko, two cats, whose owners were on their way back from Spain.  They were due back at home between 6 and 7 that night...  Suddenly, my phone started buzzing and crawling across the night stand - then it whistled three times in a row.  That meant I either had three voice messages, or three text messages.  My mind immediately flew to several older critters that I have cared for over many years, and I worried that one had passed away.  I turned on the light, grabbed the phone, and saw 3 text messages.
   Tiko and Bop's parents/owners were at Heathrow Airport, outside of London, on the way home - how were the boys, how was the weather, any problems with the house?  Two pages of questions...  Then the third text was - "Whoops!  Forgot the time difference - you're asleep, aren't you?"   "Not any longer," was my response....
    Boulder is in a valley on the edge of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains.  Even though there are plenty of micro-wave towers, reception for cell phones is very spotty.  Sometimes the cell phone will ring in one part of a specific house, but nor in another.  My cell phone only works in my bedroom of my apartment.  Even so, people's voices fade in and out - that's why I prefer to use my real telephone - it doesn't fade in and out, and always has good reception.  I still think that cell phones are NOT a convenience.  Guess I'm still an old-fashioned so-and-so!

Today, I'm a Grouch

I hate being plugged-in and turned-on.  With my computer, I can easily turn it on and off, and can switch web sites and I always try to keep the "Chat" turned off - when I'm on my PC, I'm concentrating on doing specific things, and hate being constantly interrupted by obtuse conversations.  I like straight e-mail, or speaking with a person face-to-face.  I dislike telephones, whether it's my land-line or emergency cell phone - but some people can't seem to grasp that fact.
  I was up at 5 this morning, and was on my way to work before 7:30.  I had several stops to make, and three sets of dogs to walk, which meant I walked about 15 miles all total today.  I usually take a 90 minute nap in the afternoon, so I can get up and go again in the afternoon and evening.  Today, my landline phone rang six times while I was trying to nap; and my cell rang twice.  Both of my numbers are posted on the National Do Not Call list, and were listed the day I received them, so I shouldn't be getting many stupid phone calls.  I looked at the caller identification for all calls - I was awake, because of the ring, after all.  I did not recognize a single number, name, or place that any of the calls were made from.  And that angers me.  I purchased the telephone itself, and I pay for the use of the wires and voice mail on the land line, and for the use of air-time on my cell.  Complete strangers call me and ask me who I am.  It's none of their business.  Why do I keep getting off-the-wall calls when I'm on the No Call List?
   I guess seeing the dead raccoon with it's head sticking out of the driveway culvert put me in a bad mood this morning.  I know that a lot of people don't like raccoons, but they were put on the earth (or evolved here) for a reason...  I told the guy who owned the house that he had a dead raccoon in his driveway, and his response was, "Good riddance!"  I told him the body was stuck in the culvert pipe of his driveway, and he started cursing.  Why blame the poor dead critter for dying in an inconvenient spot?  The man owns three dogs that are allowed the run of the neighborhood, and I thought he'd be happy to remove the carcass before his dogs decided to make a meal of it.   Oh, well....
   I was able to watch  a bunch of cottontail rabbits playing, and several male flickers trying to romance their ladies.  Saw several hawks flying and a group of about 100 Canada geese were flying northwest very early this morning.  he squirrels are beginning to chase each other like crazy in the trees, so mating season is upon us...  Just be careful about interrupting skunks - they spray like mad and have party orgies in the early hours.
   Be safe!

Electronic Things

As a child, I remember the basement of Williamson Hall at the University of Florida being cram-packed with huge computer components - mainframes from IBM.  I was fascinated by them, and I remember Dad telling me that computers were the way of the future - that the computers would give humans more time to relax and be with their families.  I remember hearing the same thing in the news reports on television, and being taught that maxim in school.  I grew up thinking that, as computers grew more sophisticated and smaller in size, they would "take over" doing mundane human tasks and that people would have more time to spend with their families, doing fun things.
  Now I'm 58 and am using my personal computer to blog on the wide wide web.Times have changed, computers have changed, but I don't see people relaxing and spending more time with friends and family.  What has happened to the utopia that was promised back in the early 1960s?  Of course I realize that computers can only do what they are programmed to do - and that takes human programmers.  With cell phones, cameras built into cell phones, SmartPhones, i-phones, i-Pads, i-Pods, and all of the other new miniaturized gadgets (Dick Tracey and Star Trek come to life), it seems that humans are more tightly attached to their electronic gadgets than they are to each other.
  I thoroughly enjoy watching a few programs on my television, and I usually have the local news on in both the morning and evening to be certain I'm aware of local events; but I am not sitting directly in front of the monitor, staring at it, and it alone.  Currently, I'm at my desk, with the television turned on - I've watched the local news and 30 minutes of the national news, while checking my e-mail and my usual electronic news.  I usually check the local newspaper two or three times a day, to see if there is any "breaking" news that affects me.  I use my personal computer to do research, to blog, and to stay in contact with distant friends.  I use my land line telephone to speak with friends at a distance.  I do own a cell phone, but it is only for business use - for people who need to contact me while I'm caring for their houses and pets.  The cell phone can take and make telephone calls, and take and make text calls - nothing else.
  The other day, while a friend was visiting, my home phone rang; I glanced at the caller ID, saw it was an 800 number, and ignored it.  My friend was almost literally twitching with each ring, and was amazed that I didn't answer it.  I told him that I paid for the phone service, and I owned the instrument itself; since I owned it, I was not a slave to it - the same with my cell phone.  I have the choice of answering, or not answering, the device.  It is NOT alive; I do not "owe" it an answer; it is a tool to be used, as I desire.
  Some people have declared that I am against technology and against using technology.  I don't think that I am against technology at all - but I refuse to make myself a slave to electronic gadgets.  Being able to look something up on the internet in minutes is fantastic- instead of having to go to the library and look up the information in an encyclopedia.  Being able to watch a movie from a DVD on my television is much superior than having to pay to see the movie in a theater, with loud obnoxious people that I don't know kicking the back of my seat.  Listening to my favorite music, whether it's recorded on vinyl, tape, or CD, is marvelous.
-  But I am the master and owner of these devices.  They do NOT own me, nor do they govern my actions.