Cell Phones are the spawn of Satan

[StG58]

Did a bunch of work around the place on Saturday, and the wife went to town and did her shopping thing. When she got home in the evening and the chore were all wrapped up she wanted to go out for a ride and see if we could spot any wild life moving around. She would dearly love to see a bear wandering the woods, as opposed to eating berries and things around the place. But, our little black bears are really shy so it's not to often that you see them in the woods. Anyway, road trip!

I loaded up the TJ and away we went just before dark to see what we could see. We drove across the Siuslaw on skid trails and mainlines, and ended up at the beach eventually. Unfortunately, nothing was moving, so we didn't see a critter the whole time that was larger than a racoon or mouse. The wife, bless her heart, went to pull her cell phone from her pocket to check her messages and discovered that it was missing. Gone. Disappeared like a puff of smoke.

I don't know if those of you with wives and sweethearts that go Jeepin' with you have noticed, but there are a lot of females who have bladders that are very small. There seems to be a need to pee at fairly frequent intervals. (especially if they are consuming a beverage or two en route.) We covered about 70 miles or so of back country in our search. All of it on dirt and brush at worst and gravel at best. We dropped down onto the coast at about 3:00 a.m. No cell phone reception for hours, and as it turns out, no cell phone!

We discussed the matter, and decided that her cell phone had dropped out of her pocket at one of her bio-breaks along the way. There was no way we were going to find it in the dark. We headed back home and caught three hours sleep, and headed out to search several hundred square miles of countryside to find something slightly larger than a pack of cigarettes. Yee-haa!

After careful consideration of all the possibilities and coming up with a plan, we started back tracking the woods. Thankfully, I have a good GPS and keep the tracks for future use. It was fairly easy to analyze the tracks to determine where the pee stops were, within 20-30' or so, and localize the search to those areas. Eureka! I found her cell on the second stop from the end of the previous trip laying in the tall grass just off the road. Oh, did I mention that the cell phone case is a light green color?

So, I hate cell phones, and consider them the spawn of Satan. Evil devices.

The weather at the beach on Sunday was delightful though, so we napped on the sand and then messed about down there for the rest of the day. It was not a total waste in that event.

 

[Chris]

Sometimes I sit around and think about what life was like before cell phones. Now I'm not as old as you, so you have more knowledge about this than I do. However, having grown up in the 90s and very early 2000s, I spent most of my teenage years (probably until about 19) without a phone, and when I did get a phone at 19, it was incredibly basic. No color, no texting, just a plain old flip phone.

Anyways, I remember how back then the only thing we used cell phones for was to call people and check-in. They got so advanced, so quickly, that before you know it, they could do almost anything, and people couldn't put them down.

In many ways they've made our lives easier, you can't argue that at all. The side effect of that though is that now a lot of people have serious addiction problems when it comes to cell phones, and I would say that for a large portion of the population, cell phones now control our lives.

So while this is obviously a bit off-topic, what I am trying to say is that I often yearn for the days before cell phones came about. Things were much simpler then (or so it seemed).

 

[StG58]

Well, I remember getting my first cell phone, for business, and it was huge! Because you got billed by the minute, you didn't use it much. The battery lasted about an hour and a half or so. The only thing it did was phone calls.

The new smart phones are pretty cool, but we are so dependent on them now. The wife was almost in a panic when she realized that hers was gone. Her life is on that thing. (hence the road trip back into the woods after a few hours sleep) It sure has me thinking.

It seems that we have a lot more contacts, and "friends"than we used to, but they are much shallower. Not as connected. And friends seem to come and go much faster. Even something as basic as shopping or eating out has changed because of being connected through a cell phone.

Life has become instant, and our reactions to what is happening to us and around us have become instant as a result. I'm pretty sure that's not a good thing. We all say things that don't come out the way we intend, or do things that have consequences that are unintended. You used to be able to think it out and explain or apologize or restate in a cleaner fashion. Can't do that now. Everything blows up so fast that there is no time to "tell the rest of the story". It's communicated, people react, and the moment is gone now. Causes a lot of unnecessary butt-hurt.

 

[Overlandtjm100]

I haven't owned on in 3 years and I love the freedom. The best part is, my girl understands. Since I have no desire to be reached by the rest of the world by phone, my life has been much simpler. I don't have facebook, twitter,Instagram or anything else to track my activities. Its really not that nessesary. In a world where everyone is plugged in, why be afraid to do anything or go anywhere when you know that the VERY NEXT PERSON you come in contact with has one in their pocket. Maybe I'm old fashioned (I'm 36) or maybe I just want to be me without too many outside influences. The people who matter know how to reach me.

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[LCL-Dead]

I've actually been debating switching back over to a flip phone. The big thing that keeps me from doing it is that I love using my phone as an e-reader (I have an S7 Edge). That's basically all I use my phone for these days, an e-reader, a tool to do a quick reference check on the web for something I'm unsure of, maybe watch a youtube video or two while I'm waiting somewhere or as a basic call phone.

I didn't get my first cell phone until I was 21 and had been to Iraq and back. I'd had a loner for a few months back in high school but I had no use for it, nobody to call and used it more as a status symbol than anything else. My mom made me carry it because I was always cycling around San Diego and going to the beaches by myself.

 

[Umbra]

I have one because my kids are still fairly young and I like that the wife can find me quickly if necessary.
That being said, mine is strictly for calls, texts when speaking isn't practical and the occasional need for directions.

Stg58, might I suggest a tracker app for your phones. Life is much easier when someone misplaces theirs. Don't ask me how I know. :BangHead: My friend found the thief that stole his daughters phone with one as well. Fun story.

And I was just thinking while reading another post concerning FB and folks getting mad when they don't know what you had for lunch.

One of the funniest things to me about mobile/cell/smart phones is that people think they have a right to be upset with you when you don't answer the damn thing.
At 50, I can fondly remember the days when it sometimes took days for someone to find me.
We finally ditched the landline recently. I used to giggle like crazy when my wife's cell would ring maybe three times, then after 5 seconds, the home phone would ring. I knew she was about to get chewed out by her mom or one of her friends for not being instantly available.
Apparently in 21st Century Woman World, you must take the phone with you to the ER, shower,toilet,bed.

I also recall when people didn't get offended when they would call and NOT leave a message. Now with universal caller ID, people expect you to check your phone and call them back if you just see that THEY have called.

I used to be required to carry a work phone. I had a 100ish employees. You can imagine.
I still cherish the look on some faces when I would be getting scolded for not immediately answering or returning a call and I would apologize for crapping or showering. They usually looked a little like a carp.

 

[StG58]

A tracker would be a great idea, but do they work without cell service? I spend a fair amount of time where there is no cell service. ..for miles.

 

[Overlandtjm100]

I have one because my kids are still fairly young and I like that the wife can find me quickly if necessary.
That being said, mine is strictly for calls, texts when speaking isn't practical and the occasional need for directions.

Stg58, might I suggest a tracker app for your phones. Life is much easier when someone misplaces theirs. Don't ask me how I know. :BangHead: My friend found the thief that stole his daughters phone with one as well. Fun story.

And I was just thinking while reading another post concerning FB and folks getting mad when they don't know what you had for lunch.

One of the funniest things to me about mobile/cell/smart phones is that people think they have a right to be upset with you when you don't answer the damn thing.
At 50, I can fondly remember the days when it sometimes took days for someone to find me.
We finally ditched the landline recently. I used to giggle like crazy when my wife's cell would ring maybe three times, then after 5 seconds, the home phone would ring. I knew she was about to get chewed out by her mom or one of her friends for not being instantly available.
Apparently in 21st Century Woman World, you must take the phone with you to the ER, shower,toilet,bed.

I also recall when people didn't get offended when they would call and NOT leave a message. Now with universal caller ID, people expect you to check your phone and call them back if you just see that THEY have called.

I used to be required to carry a work phone. I had a 100ish employees. You can imagine.
I still cherish the look on some faces when I would be getting scolded for not immediately answering or returning a call and I would apologize for crapping or showering. They usually looked a little like a carp.

This is exactly why I decided I could live without one. I own a tablet for use researching my projects like this forum for instance. Most of my friends commend me for giving up my phone and wish they could get out of answering theirs every 10 min

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[Strahan]

I once lost my cellphone in a similar manner. I'm an IT worker who works from home, so my cell is indispensable to me. After I found it, I installed a GPS app (Life360) that keeps its location updated with a website. I think it's meant for families who want to be able to keep an eye on the kids' whereabouts. A year later, I was out car shopping and when I got home I realized my cell was gone. Could have been at any of seven dealerships, I was annoyed till I remembered the app. Went on the website and it showed where my phone was. Went back, it was under the driver's seat lol.

Best of all, the app is free

 

[KMET]

What a great story. Sadly, my wife wants nothing to do with off pavement travel.

I've had something clipped on my waist since 1980's, I'll occasionally even whip out my old BB 9900 for a day or two.

 

[Kyle_W]

I agree. I need to break my tether to my phone. I don't play games on it or any of that bullshit, but I still check it extremely often for a text or to waste time scrolling through this forum; but that's because I'm alone most of my time at work and at home. [emoji51]

@Strahan, Life360 is awesome. My entire family and me use it to see who's home to feed the dogs, and experience envy when X and Y family member is at Yellowstone or somewhere else amazing.


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[StG58]

What a great story. Sadly, my wife wants nothing to do with off pavement travel.

Now, that's very unfortunate. It's taken awhile to get the wife into most of my outdoor activities. She has eventually come up to speed on a lot of them; and has recently discovered the joys of driving off road. She's slipping into Grandma mode though and it's becoming a bit of a problem. Constant contact on the cell phone with a fairly large extended family and lots of friends she's made over the years. I'm afraid that it's getting to the point that I'm going to have to "raid west" on my own, and she can stay at home and hug grand-kids. Hate to see it happen, but I'll get old and die if I sit at home on the couch much more.