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Thursday, October 20, 2016

Being out of touch



Doesn't this seem like a great time to be in some other country than the United States? Not forever, mind you, just until around the third week of November or so. That should give the dust some time to settle.

We expect to be in contact with the world 24/7 these days. Back in the day I'd disappear into the woods for a while. I had no idea what was going on in the rest of the world. There could be a major war going on and I'd have no idea. With most people having smart phones, people get upset if you don't get back to them instantly. Stay out of touch for a week and you are forgotten. . . or fired. Employers want you to be reachable at all hours of the day or night.

A few years ago my lovely wife and I were sailing down the west coast o Florida. Soon after leaving the Everglades City area we lost cell phone connection. There's a low powered tower in Flamingo, but it's only for AT&T service. At the time we had a Verizon phone so we were out of luck. Bad weather kept us in port for a few days.

Once the weather cleared we sailed across Florida Bay to the Keys. In the middle of the afternoon we came close enough to a tower to get service. Suddenly the phone came alive as messages flooded in. Once we were at anchor it took a long time to go though them all. The funny thing is, maybe one or two were of any real interest and none were all that important.

I'm not a hermit, but it is nice to take a break from all the noise and confusion once in a while.

-Sixbears

8 comments:

  1. The only REAL reason for a cell phone is safety.

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    1. For years I got by with a cheap pay as you go basic cell phone. It was for safety when traveling.

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  2. Sometimes I forget to turn mine on for a whole week. When I do all I get is spam messages. If someone really wants me they know to call the land line.

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    1. That used to work fine for me -until half the people I know no longer talk on phones but text all the time.

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  3. I ditched my landline due to the customer no-service. When my cell phone sounds off if I don't know the caller I don't answer. If it's important they can leave a message and I'll call back. Also, most people who call me have their own special ring tone.

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    1. There's no cell service where I live. Most people could not understand that a cell message would not get to me until we happened to drive into town.Now I've got a cell phone that can work through my wifi connection.

      My big problem is that when my Internet connect goes down, everything goes down -none of my phones work. If I walk to the other side of the lake there may be enough cell signal, but a reliable signal is 4 miles away.

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  4. I'm with you, Sixbears - ready to get away from the political and the phone nonsense as well. What happened to the days when people really talked to each other, over a phone or over the back fence. Now we don't know if our texts are going thorough, have been received, or are just being ignored. I'd rather someone just call me, or better yet - come visit!

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    1. I've been going to just about every face to face get together I've been invited to. The real personal contact has been great.

      Turns out the more times you say yes, the more often you are invited.

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