Happy belated Father's Day to any dads who actually read my blog! Today's "Mundane Monday" topic is inspired by Spo who was without his cell phone for a couple of days and the effect that had on him.
I have a cell phone but I don't think I'm particularly dependent on it, although I am more now that I do supply teaching, as this is the method by which I am reached. My husband agreed to a cell phone, but rarely uses it and usually leaves the house without it! We still have a "land line" at the house and most people who have known us for a long time reach us that way if they need to.
I prefer texting to phone calls. I don't love talking on the phone. This might be down to being a little bit of an introvert. I might also be because of growing up in the country with a party line. We shared a phone line with three (?) other families. You knew if it was your phone number that somebody had called by the ring. Our ring was one long and two shorts. Kind of morse codish in a way. Sometimes Mrs. Baer down the road would pick up the phone and listen in on our conversations. My father put a very tight rein on how long we were allowed to speak on the phone. What if someone else wanted to use it?!?!
We still get phone solicitations and scam phone calls. Microsoft has been known to call us, we've almost been incarcerated due to not paying our income taxes quickly enough, and there is usually a $350 charge on our credit card that requires our attention. (These, of course, are all fake).
A phone memory of mine was the phone over at the farm. It was attached to the wall. This is where my grandmother and uncle lived. They actually wrote people's names and phone numbers on the wall around the phone! I guess that was a convenient and quick reference for future phone calls.
So, chime in. Do you still have a land line? Are you a cell phone person, always checking your phone, playing games, listening to pod casts, texting and receiving texts, or do you shun the "new fangled" technology altogether? Did you have a party line (sounds a lot more fun than it actually was) when you were growing up? Do you enjoy talking on the phone, or would you rather not?
We still have a line land although it is hardly used but then again our cell is hardly used. I'm not a fan of being tethered to either plus I'm not important enough to really need to be. One of my best memories of my Mom & Gran centre around the phone. My Mom called my Gran every morning at 9am - I wish I had a photo of that memory. I worked with a woman who was a phone chatter & if at home her phone had not rung in the last 15 minutes, she's pick it up to see if it was still working ... LOL. ... Mary-Lou =^[..]^=
ReplyDeleteFifteen minutes?? Oh, heavens no!
DeleteI only have a cell phone now. Have it on me most times. Did have a party line when we lived in Elmvale Ontario as a child. Now living in the country in Georgia dont feel the need for a land line just another expense. Enjoy your day.
ReplyDeleteElmvale? As in the Elmvale zoo?? I know of people who have given up their land lines because they don't want to pay for a phone twice, as well. I don't think husband will be convinced.
DeleteDont remember any Elmvale zoo. Went to school in Elmvale but lived down by Allenwood beach.
Deletewe got rid of the land line I do not call alot but I am guilty of texting and checking facebook much to much.
ReplyDeletecathy
I never succumbed to Facebook, but do text a limited number of people.
DeleteMy phone was MIA for 9 days recently (thank the grandkids). I found that I missed the camera most of all. With 4 grands under 6, there are always photo worthy moments. I hate making calls and leave that to hubby but love to talk. For the first 5 or so years I had a smart phone, I refused to text and still get upset when people use text instead of personal conversations. Yesterday 2 of my hubby's 3 kids simply sent texts that said happy father's day. Grrrrrr.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the camera feature is probably the handiest thing on my phone.
DeleteI have a landline because I have no mobile phone signal at my house so in order to make phone contact with the outside world I have to have a landline. It is mainly only used for business calls these days to utility companies etc. I would be lost without my mobile and am guilty of checking for messages, whats app conversations etc. wherever I am. My friends all contact me via my mobile and most use Whats App. I don't do Facebook so not guilty of that habit but I do check my blog for comments when I am out shopping. I have got used to Whats App conversation both text or video calls. I used to worry about what I looked like but now it doesn't concern me! I take my mobile to bed with me and sometimes read blogs during the night. I do all my Zoom classes on my mobile too. So conclusion is I would be totally lost without it. (We call cell phones mobiles in the UK).
ReplyDeleteI suspect we would use the Whats app if our kids lived far away. I remember Skyping daughter a few times when she was in university.
DeleteWe never had a party line phone when I was a child but we ran a business and had one of the first phones in our area which might have been why. Party lines seemed to come a bit later.
ReplyDeleteYes, we had a party line when I was a kid! We didn't get rotary phones until the early 1970s. I laughed at your statement about "a very tight rein on how long we were allowed to speak on the phone. What if someone else wanted to use it?!?!" That was so true! And remember the excitement and dread when a long distance call came in? That always meant bad news because it was expensive to call!
ReplyDeleteOh, a long distance phone call had to be timed correctly as they were so expensive! Remember reversing the charges?
DeleteWe haven't had a land line in the 14 years we have lived in our current house. I prefer text or e-mail to calls unless it's family. I use whats app for messages, occasionally video calls and sending each other photos. I also use my phone for photos and google maps is handy. I am not obsessive but certainly wouldn't want to be without it. During lock-downs the whats app has been really useful.
ReplyDeleteGoogle maps is a handy thing for a lot of people. Here in Canada, our cell phone plans are apparently one of the highest expenses in the world. Data costs a lot of money. We have a GPS unit that we plug into the vehicle.
DeleteNo landline. DH and I each have our own mobiles. Majority of calls to the landline were annoyances, so don't miss it or the answering machine. Of course, the one concern is that when there are emergencies (such as 9/11 and other disasters), cell phone service often crashes--big time--while landlines generally continue to work. Oh well. I dislike talking on the phone. Don't spend a great deal of time on it except to check bank accounts, the weather--if it is stormy--to text family members. Not on any social media so no need to obsessively pick it up. Have it set on 'Do Not Disturb' mode from 8pm to 8am so that only emergency calls from family members can come through during that time--a nice feature.
ReplyDeleteAs a teenager, we had an Ethan Allen telephone stand (a combined seat and small side table where the-only-phone rested) in the hall between the kitchen and living room, so it was almost impossible to have a private conversation. I remember that I usually laid on the floor and put my feet up in the seat of the stand while talking...family members had to step over my body to get through the hall. Periodically, my father's voice could be heard from the living room reminding me that I'd been on long enough. Time to hang up.
I only fairly recently learned how handy the banking app is on my phone (thank my daughter for that).
DeleteYes to party line growing up - and yes that is Morse code. My Mum had actually been an operator on a manual exchange and knew Morse code as a result. When she and Dad were engaged they were living hundreds of miles apart so when she had a quiet night shift she used to ring him from the exchange. My grandma had a phone so old it was in a wooden box on the wall and you had to wind a handle to alert the exchange you wanted to make a call. I wonder what she would have made of smart phones!
ReplyDeleteYes, I think the generation that has gone before us would be shocked by cell phones... computers themselves would have been shocking, but a computer you can fit into your hand?!?!
DeleteI am with you, I am not a big phone talker. I don’t have a cell phone, I tend to email people. We did for a short time when I was young (1960’s) have a party line but we had a neighbour who listened in on everyone’s calls and my Mum wasn’t happy with that. My grandmother had a party line until the day she died in 2000. She had moved into long term care from the farm but Bell let her keep her original phone number and she paid party line rates. I still remember her number, I think her ring was two longs and a short.
ReplyDeleteWow, Bell doing something nice for someone?? (Can you tell I've had bad relations with Bell?). I've not been a big phone talker since I was a child. I don't really understand how people spend so much time on their phones. What do they have to talk about? I guess I'm quite antisocial.
DeleteI have a land line and a cell phone. Due to the rural setting with lots of trees and lack of cell towers, cell phone reception is nearly non-existent at my home. (A roofer said the only place he could use his cell phone was on a peak of my roof.) Like you, I get lots of scam calls on both phones. I find it offensive when in a group someone is constantly checking their cell phone and texting. The message being sent to those in the group is, "I have far more important things to do..." I have been known to ask said individual to leave the room to conduct their important business elsewhere on their phone.
ReplyDeleteIn our general area there are pockets of very weak or non-existant reception. This was particularly bad when teaching / learning became online. We had a teacher who used to sit beside the outside wall of a school with her laptop to get the wifi so she could do her online teaching.
DeleteI still have a land line which I use for most all my calls, incoming and outgoing. I use my cell phone to keep up with friends and family, text messages, photos and I follow them on facebook. I can order my groceries on my phone. I don't usually make calls with my cell phone. I know, I'm weird. So be it. You have a super day, hugs, Edna B.
ReplyDeleteNope, not weird at all. My husband still does all of his calling on our landline, too.
DeleteWe have a land line (that I never answer because it's usually scam calls). Paul and I both have cell phones. I only use mine to WhatsApp friends and family (we have family chats and I can talk to my daughter in Oz for free) and play scrabble! And I use it as a camera too these days.
ReplyDeleteI think the WhatsApp must be invaluable when you have loved ones far away!
DeleteNo, I'm not a talker, so although I use my cell phone for almost everything else... texting, pictures, notes (keep all my dates for dr. appts on this), calendar for daily tasks, google anything and everything from recipes to how to's, camera for our security cams, calculator, etc., I don't talk on it much. And I do use the 'do not disturb' while driving or sleeping at night. Oh, I also read books from kindle on it. And I am on Facebook, but mainly to see family pics posted... hardly ever post anything there myself. We discontinued our landline about a year ago. No one used it except scammers or politicians. Kids all have cells.
ReplyDeleteAnd no, if we had a party line when I was very young, I don't remember it... but do remember a small black round metal phone in our hallway.
Oh yes, you reminded me, the calculator is very handy on the cell phone. I still do not read on a tablet / phone. I much prefer a book with pages, although I know it's much more cumbersome.
DeleteOh, I agree... prefer an actual book myself... but when you're out of books, you can just pull one up on kindle anywhere (late at night, at the doctor's, etc.) And I tend to read a lot of 'samples' then.
DeleteWe still have a land line which I use most of the time. I only normally use my cell for texting but since the pandemic I have to use it a lot more to tell shops I’m at their front door waiting for my stuff which I don’t really like. I often wonder what people without cell phones do.
ReplyDeleteThat's true! I have to wait on the orthodontist's little porch and text them when I get there.
DeleteI still have a landline and I also have an old fashioned mobile phone. I have a severe hearing problem so don't really enjoy being on the phone any more than I have to be.
ReplyDeleteI can understand that it would be more than frustrating with hearing difficulties to use phones... any kind.
DeleteWe have two cell phones plus a landline.... I don't like chatting on the cellphone, maybe because of my hearing aides. But the landline is fine. I remember my Mother having a party line up in Nova Scotia. Her neighbors must have loved my long weekly phone calls! Her ring was two long!
ReplyDeleteI often wonder what she would have thought of all the changes since her death in 1998... computers, cell phones and so on!
So much has changed in such a small amount of time! I love Nova Scotia and lived there for a year. Did you grow up there?
DeleteOh boy do I remember having a landline growing up and then when I was raising my girls before cell phones. That big phone on the wall in the kitchen with the 9ft cord so you could walk around with the kitchen wall phone to different rooms. I remember my first princess pink dial phone I got to have in my bedroom. Woo Hoo!!! I use my cell mostly to take a call or text. I am not one to hang out on my phone for games etc. I use the computer for almost everything else. Have a great new week. xoxo
ReplyDeleteYou had a princess phone?!? You lucky duck!
DeleteI do still have a land line (maybe not for long) and a cell phone, but it is a little flip phone -- it can't do much but calls and text (I don't like to text because you have to do it one letter at a time on this phone!). I carry it with me only when I travel or use it at the lake. I'm going to get a smarter cell phone this summer, I think. This one is too annoying. And then I may lose the land line. We'll see. i prefer to talk to people I want to talk to but I know texting is very handy.
ReplyDeleteI think it's funny how you described it as, "a smarter cell phone", Jeanie! The difference between an old flip phone and a new smart phone will blow your socks off! You just need a teenager to show you all the stuff!
DeleteWhen we bought a country property just outside of Mount Forest 38 years ago we had a party line. In fact we still do but we're the only "party" on it. We still have our land line in Toronto as neither my husband or I have cell phones. I prefer the land line because in an emergency the police, firemen, ambulance can trace the call to your residence whereas a call from a cell phone can't be traced as easily. I communicate a lot by email, too. Enjoy this beautiful start to summer. Hugs, Elaine
ReplyDeleteI am quite familiar with that part of Ontario, Elaine. That is true about emergency contact. Yes, the weather is gorgeous (we had big wind and rain yesterday, but the sun is back out today - Tuesday).
DeleteIn the house I grew up in 1955 we had Baldwin 98450 shortened to BA 98450. I do remember it being party line but don't remember what our ring was. I have a land line now that I "have" to "have" as our small mountain community requires one to get the wifi/internet.They charge $XX.XX for the mode and the line is at lower cost then if you just got a landline alone.
ReplyDeleteHowever you can use the line for phone calls and I have my handheld hooked up to it. Not for long though as I will be cutting ties er lines with it and going with another stand alone company for internet services.
Our landline is a package deal: phone, internet, and cable. I've not looked into what we would pay for just internet and cable. But I doubt husband would embrace just using the cell phones. I may have to drag him kicking and screaming into the future.
DeleteI just got my first cell phone this year but use it sparingly. It is handy for texting the family, though. The grandkids prefer to keep in touch that way. I still have my landline and have no intention of getting rid of it any time soon!
ReplyDeleteYou would get along well with my husband!
DeleteLandlines rule in this household! It's connected to our buildings's front door for when we buzz visitors in and is also our connection to the quaint internet service our country calls Broadband, plus it's a 50s rotary dial bakelite dream job :) We do have a couple of modern handsets in other rooms and in fact Mr. P bought a replacement online last night as we found one had gone on the fritz - he does love his fancy technology. As for mobiles, I was a late adopter and don't always carry it. It's mostly used as a camera but we use them for messaging & video-calling family & friends overseas. A classic mix of old and new technology at our place.
ReplyDeleteAhh! That is a necessary land line for you, then. You reminded me of the Rhoda show from years ago and how she would answer the buzz from "This is Carlton, your doorman." You may have no clue what I'm talking about, so just ignore if that's the case.
DeleteOh, yes, we had Rhoda! A spin off from Mary Tyler Moore, I think?? We also had crazy things like Laverne and Shirley and I still think of those pull-down beds and basement apartments with high windows at street level as ‘L&S’ things.
DeleteStill have a landline here as well as cell phones. I try to only use the cell for emergencies, texting and checking the weather when I am not near my computer.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Jackie, I agree that the quick weather app is handy for checking!
DeleteWe still have a land line in the house. My partner has a service business so he books calls. We also have a cell phone that resides in the glove compartment of the vehicle. It's for emergencies and occasionally if I have to contact him while he's doing the service calls....that's if he remembers to check it between appointments.
ReplyDeleteThat's part of the reason for our landline, too. Husband conducts a sideline "business", selling specialized auto parts. That's funny about remembering to check the cell phone. Same thing here.
DeleteI live in a very rural area just on the edge of Algonquin Park. We don't have any cell service at home. We are also at the end of the line for the Bell lines, so we are grossly underserviced. I feel so bad for the kiddies on my road trying to home school with the BAD BAD internet service out here.
DeleteI did grow up with a party line. Actually the first phone (a crank phone) was put into the house when I was about 5 or 6 years old. I never used it but I do know mom and dad had to crank it to get the operator to transfer their call. Later came the dial phone on the party line, and strangely enough 1 long, 2 short was our ring tone as well. I must admit to being sneaky and listening in to neighbour's calls when mom and dad weren't around. The neighbour Brenda was a few years older than I (still is but she was a nearly grown up teenager then), and I used to listen to her conversations with her boyfriend. Mostly heavy breathing so I'm not sure now why I thought it was so interesting.
ReplyDeleteI got rid of the landline when I retired. It was an extra cost that I felt I could do without. I occasionally leave the house without my cellphone but most of the time it is within arm's reach. I use it for phone calls, texts, checking weather, reading Twitter posts, and Face timing my grandson. I don't consider myself tech savvy but I manage and when I run into an issue I holler at my son. :)
Interesting that you and I shared the same "rings"!
DeleteWe still have our land line as our "main" phone. We do have one cell phone (an old flip phone) that we use as an emergency traveling phone. If one of us leaves the house alone, he/she takes the phone "just in case." When we first moved up here to rural Minnesota, we had a party line and one old gal ALWAYS listened in on our calls. I'm like you in that I don't like to talk on the phone. I did when I was a teenager though (of course) and my dad had a fit-kaniption when he discovered I'd been on the phone for more than 5 minutes. It was a source of contention between us.
ReplyDeleteJenn, you ask the best questions of us readers which bring back so many memories!
Yes, way back when... I enjoyed talking on the phone, probably as a pre-teen when my friend Jeanie lived down the road - she was always so funny. It was a source of contention in this house as well, especially with my father and my older sister. I remember him actually walking up to the phone and pressing down on the parts (the cradle??) to hang up on a phone call of my sister's that he deemed too long.
DeleteI'm not dependent at all on my cell phone. In fact, I don't even have a data plan on it yet. I just have no use for it at this time. We don't have a traditional landline. Instead, we have a VOIP phone connection; calls are made through our internet connection. It's cheaper than using a landline and it works just as well.
ReplyDeleteI admit I have no idea what a VOIP phone connection is! Sounds very economical!
DeleteIt is what we used at my office - your phone actually runs off your internet connection. You did have the option of having a "hard phone: but most of us used the other option which was a set of headphones and you answered, ran conference calls etc. all off your computer. But of course, that morning when you arrived to find the "system" was down - you couldn't even call tech services because your phone didn't work if your computer didn't work! :-)
DeleteI have a landline - which I get teased about constantly, especially since it is designed to look like an old rotary phone - but - whenever there is a big power outage and cell towers are affected I get the last laugh as my phone still works!
ReplyDeleteI do have a very old cell phone - not a Smart Phone - which is strictly for emergencies or when arranging to meet folks and there are delays - that sort of thing. I have to actually remember to turn it on!
I use emails much more than texting - which has ruined both my thumbnails and I enjoy chatting on the phone but on my landline. I find talking to people on cell phones is terrible - things echo and people wander off to do the dishes or something and you hear all kinds of background noise which is just annoying - plus the damn things are always cutting out.
At Thanksgiving my church asked that we do a 30 second blurb about what we were thankful for and then they were posted with our online service. I still get laughs and comments about being thankful for my landline, which works during power outages, which I don't have to remember to recharge, which doesn't die on me at the most inconvenient times and which I don't have to worry about losing!
You present a strong argument for keeping a landline, Margie!
DeleteI gave up my landline after a mouse chewed through the wiring. I am appalled by the amount of time I have spent on my cell phone and am now taking two days a week 'off'. It's a relief! I prefer to text, too. I am not a talk-on-the-phone person at all.
ReplyDeleteHi Jenn :) I would LOVE to have a landline. The only reason I got a cell phone to begin with was for safety when I drove long distances alone in a very scrappy car. I admit that I use it more than I thought I would though. It has come in very handy with the GPS for learning how to get around New Brunswick. And I also prefer to text than call. Introvert? Yes, me too! :)
ReplyDeleteHeavens am I late to the party!
ReplyDeleteCan I rationalize I did not have a working phone until recently?
No I thought not
No landline here - I think - I think Someone recently got one for work.
hi Jenn! I think I'm back to blogging! LOL We gave up our landline easily 5 or more years ago. Don't miss it at all. I've gotten into Instagram during the lockdown. So many pretty photos to look at! I prefer texts to voice calls, too. I know a large part of that is because I'm a visual and tactile "learner', not an auditory one. :)
ReplyDelete