New Telephone

[Edwin]

The ten years we lived in the Stehekin Valley at first we had almost no communication whatsoever, except for a community phone that you had to wait in line to use, and then we were not supposed to be on that phone very long if anyone else was waiting for the phone which was the case most of the time. Then the technology came in for 2 way satellite communication, and most everyone in this valley got the internet satellite for the internet. We were not the first, but among the first. When we moved here we brought our satellite with us for the internet. It got more reasonable as we had it for a number of years, and so now we have this internet connection still. We got a cell phone when we moved here that I thought was quite expensive, but we used it a lot. We were on our daughter's family plan, and we were on it since 2009. Our other daughter had an extra phone that was the same, AT&T, and the cost of that was much less, like $10.00 instead of $38.00 or more, so we are very happy about that. The only thing is that we had the same phone number for those years, and now we have to give a new number to a lot of people that now have a wrong number for us. That part is a hassle. The other thing is that this new phone is a touch phone, and we are not accustomed to using it. So, we are having a terrrible time doing what was easy on the other phone that we were used to using. I downloaded a manual for the phone that is 186 pages long, so if we read all of that, maybe we will know how to use the phone!

[red]

My sister in law is using a Blackberry Phone and battery got drained. She charged it but it won't get on. Maybe some people here knows about Blackberry phone. Help!

[Edwin]

Red, I am not trying to ignore your question, but I just don't know the answer, and I was hoping that someone would respond who does know the answer. I do know from experience about 2 way radios, that if you drain those batteries below a certain point they will not come back, even if you charge them. I have had personal exerpence with that because where I worked for 10 years I had to carry motorola radios to communicate with fellow employees as well as with my employer. As far as the phone I think all the information is in the chip, and if the battery charges up it should work. But then I don't know everything about these cell phones. The battery charges last longer in some phones than others. If a phone is searching for towers that will drain the battery. Maybe when the battery charge dropped too low some of the needed information was lost. I don't know. I hope someone will respond who knows more about this than I do.

[Tigger82d]

I don't know anything about blackberry phones, mine is a cheap gophone. A easy search online came up with a solution to the problem which seems to be quite often on the blackberry. Check this site out and it might give you an idea what to tell your sister in law. Good luck. http://www.ehow.com/how_7684362_blackberry-wont-turn.html

[red]

THANKS, JUST TALKED TO MY SIS IN LAW TODAY AND SHE GIVEN IT UP TO WHERE SHE BOUGHT IT AND WONT USE IT AGAIN. SHE DOESN'T LIKE IT.

[crisipicada]

My sister in law is using a Blackberry Phone and battery got drained. She charged it but it won't get on. Maybe some people here knows about Blackberry phone. Help!

I went to globe center in our city last week. Almost all my officemates are using globe plan since last year. I am not very much attached to cellphone even my cellphone. Actually, I am turning it off during Saturday night until Sunday night so that I wont get disturbed on Lord's day. My phone is very cheap it cost me less than 1,000 and it is very much friendly to use. Since i am always the one left at the office while others are on inspection at the city proper, I need to contact them from time to time while they are the concerned person to talk to. I realize that I spend much of load everyday and why not get a plan.

My officemates introduce me a plan - unlimited call and text to globe users. And also they always commented on my cellphone that it is obsolete. Since I need to get a plan so I decided just last Friday, March 30 to get a plan. The relation officer try to introduce black berry, and wow it very expensive and I need to add cash to avail it. I did not get it but I rather choose the free phone while need to pay the monthly plan. Thanks that I was not tempted to get a blackberry phone.

[red]

That's good of you. Cheap phones are okay as long as it lasts long. It depends on how to use it too. I have BB phone for more than a year now from Globe. I don't wait for the batt to be totally drained. I rather turn it off. I find it user friendly and plus the BB messenger is free can communicate love ones overseas. But I use unlimited call for my hubby.

[Edwin]

When we moved back we didn't get a telelphone line, because we were without a telephone for 10 years, and our kids loaned us a phone and we got on their plan for the cell phone. Ours on our kids' plan cost us about $38.00 or so, and we talked about all we wanted. It was AT&T, and if we talked with another AT&T no time accumulated. We got along fairly well with that plan until our daughter came to stay with us, and she called a lot of people not on AT&T, and talked longer than we were accustomed to, and that bill was $120.00 or so, and we still have a little of that to pay, then after this month that will be done. Our daughter from out of town kept giving us her old phones to use, as she gets a new one once a year on her plan, so that worked great, except that we had to get used to a new phone every so often, which was difficult. Then that daughter put us on her plan, and we got off from this daughter's plan, and our phone bill went down to $10.00/month with unlimited texting, and lots of talking time. I don't know why we get such a good deal from the other daughter, but I am thankful for it. We just got another phone from her a few weeks ago, and it is all touch. You touch things you don't intend to, and things happen that you don't intend to have happen including calling people by mistake! We are getting used to it, but I have never sent a text using that phone. Actually I have never sent a text using any phone, except sending messages to our daughter's phone using the computer, and that works great. I think I should figure out how to send a text in case I want to/need to at some point in time. I understand that the batteries run down more quickly when the phone is seaching for towers. Anyway for some reason the battery in this phone stays charged much longer than in our other phones, and that is nice!

[Edwin]

For 10 years we had no telephone to run to when it rang. It didn't ring because we had no phone except for one in the community that everyone stood in line waiting their turn to use. Once we got internet there we had internet communication. Since we moved back we have a cell phone that we use for our communication. We only have reception in certain areas of the house. We can't get reception most places from here to the pavement about 10 or so miles from here. We try to keep the phone where there is reception in the house, because if we don't no one can call us. We just get some messages telling us there were missed calls.

When people go to Performing Arts Center activities, they are told to turn off their cell phones, and don't use cameras with flashes. A few Sundays ago someone's cell phone rang in church! Carol always turns hers off as we are walking towards the church building. We had a guitar musician who was up front playing in the church service. They stopped to pray, and his watch alarm went off, playing the "Yellow Rose of Texas!" He couldn't hear very well, and he was the only one in the church who didn't hear that tune! Crisi, that is great that you turn off your cell phone so that you will not be interrupted observing the Lord's Day. Good for you on that one!

[Edwin]

There are 2 or three phone companies that are the main ones here. Sprint, Cellular One, and AT&T are three that come to my mind. Most of the people in this area go with AT&T, and that is the company that we are with also. We are actually doing our daughter a favor by taking this phone, because she was obligated, but it is very cheap also, and I am not sure why it is so reasonable, but I am happy about that. The new telephone number that we got was one that a lot of sales people were targeting. We get calls all the time from people trying to get us to do something about taxes, and some of them are trying to get us to open credit card accounts. Some of the calls are real people, and then others of them are automated message calls. With the other phone and other number we seldom got any calls like that, but they will probably die away eventually. It is really different to have a phone with you every where you go, instead of it being in your house!