Bruce's Journal

[greybeard]

I'm very computer/media/electronics literate, tho not nearly as much as I once was, and tho I can use a smart phone and it's apps and built in functions quite well I simply can't see paying what amounts to what a good weaned calf is worth for something that is mostly used just to jabber talk on and play games on...and, has to be upgraded/replaced every 2-3 years.
Go to a family gathering or public place where people used to socialize in their immediate surroundings and you will see what so-called "smart" phones have done to the world.

 

[CntryBoy777]

Well, it is like most things in life....it can be used for good, and it can be used as bad.....it also depends on the definitions that those 2 carry with the one that turns the phone on. Out here where we live....sometimes it is our only means of communication. Ya can get a decent phone for $150....ya don't have to have the bells and whistles....but, texting is certainly easier on a touchscreen than that push the button so many times for a letter.....when I gave up my flip phone, my thought to myself was....why'd ya wait so long?..and just what was ya trying to prove?.....I was resisting change.....

 

[Latestarter]

I see the new ads on TV... get your new "whatever" phone 10 and save $400! Yeah and in the small print underneath, you need to agree to a 2 year contract for service, it must total more than $89.00/month for the plan, and if you stop the service you will owe a prorated share of $1,200.00+ for the phone! TWELVE HUNDRED DOLLARS! That's 2 and a half mortgage payments!! No fricken way! I have a Samsung G-6. I'm now 4 iterations "behind the times" and that's fine with me. I use the phone for GPS as required, and for weather radar pics when my internet is down due to storms. I rely on that for tornado awareness. Can't do those things on most flip phones. I can take pics if I really need to as well. Might be appropriate in the case of an accident or things along that line.

 

[CntryBoy777]

We use Cricket....no contracts....2 "unlimited" lines for $90/month....1 phone would be $50, I believe....they use the AT&T towers for service....

 

[Mike CHS]

I don't use a phone enough to justify the expense of one of the smart phones although Teresa has and uses one very much. I only have a few people that I like to talk to on the phone and although my phone has a text feature, I don't use it to send and I won't answer one sent to me. I will read it but just won't answer so most that know me "assume" I got the text. I still prefer voice when communicating.

 

[Bruce]

I don't use a phone enough to justify the expense of one of the smart phones

Same here

I will read it but just won't answer so most that know me "assume" I got the text.

Bad assumption here. I don't turn my phone on unless I'm away from the house, we don't get a reliable signal and the phones die hunting for it. But for whatever reason, TracFone doesn't seem to send the texts or voicemail through when the phone is turned on. A few months ago I turned it on and had 3 voicemails. Of course the system ASSUMES you have the phone on at least daily and doesn't give the date, just day and time. 2 of the voicemails were from someone I would want to talk to so I called him. Turns out he had called and left those messages about 2 months before.

TWELVE HUNDRED DOLLARS! That's 2 and a half mortgage payments!!

You mean almost 1 payment But I agree, they really do want to suck your wallet dry and the small print likely gets some people.

 

[Bruce]

We got rain most of the day Tuesday. Pond got some water. Still really GREEN water but water none the less. Maybe I should have put marked stones at 1 foot depth intervals down the slope of the pond so I would know how deep the deepest part is.



The boys were looking over my shoulder. They like to hang out in the rain, excuse their "hairdos"

 

[Latestarter]

The alternative to stones would be to go drive a tall stake into the bottom now, and mark the various depths on it so you can see at a glance. Not too deep to wade into now, but might become so soon...

 

[CntryBoy777]

The algae bloom may provide the food for what is there to survive thru winter....and it is good to see the Boys out and about.....

 

[RollingAcres]

The algae bloom may provide the food for what is there to survive thru winter

I'm not sure if they can survive the frozen tundra up here.