New phone

My apologies to those of you who tried to call me by cell phone over the past 6 weeks. One day, I was utterly unable to find my trusty old phone. I scratched my head, and hoped it would show up again, but it seemed to have vanshied into a crack in the universe. Turns out, it had slipped the surly bonds of my pocket and vanished into a crack in my buddy Bill's couch, where it lay dormant for over a month. Meanwhile, I was phoneless, and unable to get an affordable replacement because I was still locked into a contract with Sprint. Just before becoming un-indentured to The Sprint Guy, Bill located my battered old Samsung during a cleaning frenzy.

I've cut ties with Sprint after several years, opting to join the in-laws family plan (now that I'm family) at T-Mobile. So I don't suppose I'll be able to deduct the phone as a business expense any longer, but at $15/month vs. $55, who cares? I have better uses for that $40/month.

I didn't have any problems with Sprint, which was usually crystal-clear and had good coverage. But the big monthly bill was an avoidable expense, and a good chunk of my calls go to lines in the new family plan, so it made sense. But I did have to wait out my locked-in contract before I could make the jump.

Now I have a shiny new Nokia, with camera, voice-dialing, and purportedly an FM radio built in there somewhere (haven't found that feature). Nice, compact little jobby that only set me back $50. And I even get to keep my old number. And thanks to Bill, I can salvage all my crucial numbers off the old phone.

My old Samsung phone is junk -- it didn't close properly anymore, the antenna was bent like the nose of a talentless boxer, and the microphone didn't work well anymore. But I have an old wall charger, car charger and over-ear headset I can let go cheap. So if you could use these accessories, talk to me. You can call me on my new phone.