High Tech Nightmares

"Are you there?"  A pause, and a deep breath and "Can you hear me now?" and the conversation signaled it was dead when I heard that digital beep and the screen on the iPhone switched  back to the menu.

The top drawer of the dresser in the master bedroom houses an impressive collection of "old cell phones" that have went to the bone yard for various reasons. They are now kept as spares to be used in the event that the ones we are carrying now get lost or are stolen. Both these events happen often with cells.

The husband is in Eldorado, Arkansas. My cell phone blasts a disaster siren, the ring tone assigned to him, and I slide the screen selector to the "on" position only to hear a sputtering of sliced and diced words. I speak into the phone telling him I can't understand a word he is saying and then touch the "end call" on the screen and pocket the phone. This is not the first call attempted from his location there so there was no point in waiting around on the phone for it to clear up. We are back to communicating via email. Technology...don't ya love it?

Yesterday while shopping, I was approached by a salesman for Direct TV. Do I really want to go "satellite" on my television reception? Do I need 214 channels? After listening to his spiel for about 30 minutes, I told him I would get back to him.

I came home and made some phone calls to family and friends about Direct TV. One person is still waiting on customer service to come to her home to find the problem with her reception. It's been weeks since she had TV reception. Another says "I can call cable TV and they are quick to address the problem; I wouldn't have Direct TV even if it was free!"

 I looked at flat screen TVs and admired the 46 inch Vizio that was reduced to less then 500.00 and was tempted. Maybe they have improved the life span on these flat screens? I came home and typed into Google "complaints on Vizio TVs" and the horror stories flung themselves against my screen.  Just for fun, I typed in "complaints on Sony LED"s" and "complaints on Samsung LEDs" and on and on with different manufacturers. Try it sometime and especially right before you go to buy an "upgrade" to that old trustworthy CRT  set you have been watching for the past 15 years.

I still carry a cell phone wherever I go and hope I don't enter a dead zone when it's crucial that I need to use it. I'm staying away from Direct TV and flat screens for now. Gone is the hope that those flat screens have improved since the 1500.00 one I purchased that lasted 3  years before it was kicked to the curb. I'm not ready to try another one until someone can assure me that they have improved.

I'm off to go Christmas shopping for non tech items. I'm back to stuffing stockings with toothpaste, brushes and gift cards for gasoline.

Merry XMass? and I'm done.