Moving back into the modern world

I don't have a cell phone, or a mobile, if that's what you call them. I had one when I lived in Minneapolis, but I felt that I didn't need one when I moved to the mountains. It has been nice to be without that leash, even though there have been times when I could have used one. The rest of my family owns cell phones and they had started to become more perturbed by the fact that I didn't have one.

When Brian and my dad came to pick me up at Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) when I went home for Thanksgiving, Brian thought the world was going to end since I didn't have a cell phone. They had told me they were going to pick me up out at the curb--just driving through instead of parking. But, because the line was so long to get into the drive around, and because of the call of nature, they decided to park. Well, there was no way for them to communicate with me. So after a while they finally walked to the curb outside the Delta area and couldn't find me. The problem was that I had decided to walk down the curb a bit to find a more open spot. I figured, since they are driving by, it doesn't matter where I'm standing. After a while they figured that might be the case and Brian found me a little ways down the curb. As Brian put it, "There are 250 million people in this country and 249,999,999 of them have cell phones. Why don't you?"

So, with me missing a cool gadget to carry around, the ability to call people in other states without a calling card, the family pressure, and the possibility of moving into the city again, I decided I should start looking at phones.

One hinderance was that I didn't know what carrier to look for, as I wanted maybe be on a family plan with my parents and/or brothers and certainly be on the same provider as them so we could all talk to each other for free. That decision was finally made yesterday when my dad and brother Matt went out and signed up for a family plan with Sprint.

Now the search for the right phone begins in earnest. I'm thinking I'll have them buy a phone for me in Minneapolis and put it on their plan some time in the near future so we can all start talking. Though I have to find out what kind of service Sprint has in Montana. I know it doesn't provide "home base" service here, but I would think that you can at least use a phone along the I90 corridor. We'll have to see.

Anyway, I'm a little excited about having a new phone soon. It should be pretty cool.