Cell Phone Follies

As modern human beings we are accustomed to using tools to make our lives easier and more convenient. These days, there are many tools at our disposal. I sit here writing this on my laptop, surrounded by remote controls, MP3 players, walk men, desktop computers, cassette tapes, DVDs, DVR's, everything. Also on the couch here next to me is my cell phone.

It's small and blue with silver highlights, 10 digit keys, a green talk button and a red end button. It's got a nice little digital camera. I can play games on it like Arkanoid and Tetris. Right now as a screensaver there is a picture of an alligator that I took the last time I was out in the swamps. It's a fantastic little device! It's pocket-sized, light and the best thing is it's not a flip phone like everyone else has. It's a slider phone. You've seen the Matrix, remember those phones that they had, where the little keypad slides down and the phone opens up. It's one of those kind of phones! Quite the fashion accessory. Yep, this phone does just about everything right now except make phone calls...

You see I dropped it today. While I was doing dishes and talking to my parents. It got a little wet. Actually a lot wet. So I put it next to the stove while I was cooking dinner this evening to dry it out. Which seemed to work pretty well. So I was able to turn it back on and check my voicemail and leave a message for Laura. I plugged it in to charge and now it can't find service. It takes one dunking in a bit of soapy water and now we won't work at all. Well, everything works except the talking phony part! How is it everything works except the phone part!

It seems that I have bad luck with cell phones. Only one of the phones that I've had in my possession has been retired due to old age. One of them was stolen out of my car. One of them shattered into a million pieces during the mango incident. Another one went down when I was pushed into a pool while wearing my pants. In another one the contact to the battery actually melted! It turned into this weird greenish smear. The guy at the phone shop took one look at and said "You're going to need a new one of those."

So now I'm left the equivalent of a Game Boy with a camera and phone numbers. It looks like tomorrow I'll be headed out to the Sprint store to get myself a new phone.

Also I'm skillfully growing a beard.

Milestones

It seems as if everyone these days are talking about milestones. Every time I pick up the phone I get news that someone else is engaged, or having a baby, or hospitalized in South Dakota. I won't name names, you know who you are. I guess that since most of us are hitting 30 in the near future (or are already there)it makes sense. Life marches on and time flies!

That made me think that I am approaching a few noteworthy milestones myself. In August I am finally Graduating. After four years of toil I will be an Alumni of the University of Miami with a Masters in Public Administration and a Masters in Public Health. The road has been long a tedious but It feels worth it in the end. I will be moving out of Miami in the fall to a location unknown. Hopefully It will be North of where I am. I feel the need for snow and Ice again.

The other day Laura and I were out at Shinjo Japanese Buffet. We were doing math to figure out how many plates of sushi I'd eaten. We also did the math on our state of togetherness. It's just over 7 months!! That makes it my second longest relationship ever!! Does this mean that I'm maturing emotionally? Am I really capable of having a girlfriend for longer that six weeks? Apparently! Crazy! I haven't seen the same girl this long since college! What a slut I am...


This is Laura playing with my slingshot at a camping trip to Jonathan Dickinson State Park. I took the sunset picture on the same trip.