To come: A Flashback post about a flashback.

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Music: “Don’t Call Me Baby,” performed by Madison Avenue

I think my cell phone may be officially dead.

Note: This does not explain the long gap in posting, but it is probably why most people are checking in here, which is why I’m touching on it first.

I first thought it was a problem with a battery, but after borrowing a spare from a friend, the phone maintained its steady practice of turning itself on and off every other second (which wouldn’t be bad if I used it as a metronome.)

So I’m personally out of tricks. Part of me has a long-shot hope that some unknown Verizon techie might be able to figure it out, but it may be cheaper to opt for a new phone.

Note: People who may want to get ahead of the rush and start reminding me of their contact numbers are free to do so through the usual channels, with the exception of phones, of course.

It’s been interesting that through this I find I don’t hate phones as much as I used to. I’m not sure if this is because I’ve matured some or if I’m finally accepting it as a necessary evil.

It seems there are very few places you can go where you can’t be reached, though I’m closer than most. In the short amount time before landing my current job and flying out West, my family and I reviewed a lot of cell phone coverage maps. I quickly discovered I was moving into a gap on most of the maps.

However, between the energy boom and necessity (one drives another, which pushes the other in turn), I found some carriers had encircled the town and at least placed it on the perimeter of what is covered.

There are still some faults with the system. I typically end up turning off my phone when out riding in the country because the frequent in-service-out-of-service chirping drives me nuts. Also, considering the tenuous nature of the system, I can think of two times where my reception was killed because some construction crew severed a cable on the other side of the state.

And expansion is still ongoing. I’ve read the federal government is spending millions to make camping areas “more connected” or “cellular friendly,” or some other phrase the AP writer mindlessly copied from PR press release.

I laugh at the idea of park rangers getting tired of dealing with complaints from people about not having an internet connection, but I’ve benefited from the process. Last summer I’d spent a day hiking around the Grand Tetons (it’s the national park immediately south of Yellowstone.)

It was my Dad’s second recent trip out West. A few weeks before, he and my Mom took a trip where they visited me on two separate weekends when I was off, and in the meantime trekked back and forth across the region.

Anyway, my Dad and I had stopped near the summit of one of the medium sized hills, and on the highest ones accessible by car (we were winding down after a long day). It was about an hour before sunset, but the view was killer with a view of sparkling rivers in the far distance on one side and snowcapped mountains on the other.

In the middle of taking in this vista, my cell phone rang. A friend from the East Coast was calling to say “Hi.”

After a quick conversation, I looked around and saw a gleaming tower that partially peaked out from the trees on the hill. I mentioned it to my Dad, who said it had not been there a few weeks prior when he and my mother surveyed the area. Thanks Uncle Sam.

So anyway, I guess I’m more accepting of phones than I used to be. My current model served me well. I specifically asked the dealer for a sturdy model that could be dropped a lot, which is an unofficial feature I’ve taken advantage of.

I’m a few months short of being able to trade in the phone for a new model after two years, but it looks like that’s a cost I’ll have to swallow. As it is, it’s outlasted about four pairs of shoes, two watches, and a pair of glasses.

As I’ve said many times before, I’m rough on technology. Just ask my mother who has spent years watching (and sometimes paying the replacement costs) of me finding new and creative ways to wreck my possessions.

I’m the only person I know who dropped a pair of glasses in a football field before the start of an all-day marching band festival. You can imagine how the frames turned out; and the lenses were never recovered

All in all, my cell phone got off easy.

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