a joke and a lesson to be learned

[gene]

New for me this year is that I now have texting on my phone.

I do not have data! Please send all photos to my email address.

My wife sent me a text yesterday telling me that she would be late getting home and that we were having leftovers for dinner.

I texted her back: GZKW

When she got home she showed me her phone and asked me what does that mean. I told her that I was trying to type OK TY but there were so many cars blowing their horns at me I couldn't get the letters right so I just hit the Send button.

That's the joke. Here the lesson to be learned:

I was talking to a guy who told me that in the last 1 1/2 years, his nephew from his brother's family and his neice from his sister's family were both killed in separate, unrelated car accidents. Both were texting when the car accidents occurred.

gene

[Darren Henry]

Former co-worker lost her 2? year old daughter at a highway intersection that was regulated by traffic lights under ideal driving conditions.

The figures they used to come up with the "distracted driving" law here in Canada is that some one texting and driving is 34 % more likely to be involved in an accident, talking on a cell phone---18%, driving impaired---12%.

And yet the punishment for distracted driving is a $300 fine and two demerit points on you license. Driving over .08 is minimum 1 yr suspension/$1000 fine (maybe more,now)/ and in some provinces mandatory jail time. Opening bid!!

[sofadoc]

I have a lot of customers now that absolutely refuse to communicate with me in any way other than text.

They'll text me a question that will require a long drawn-out answer, or a lot of back and forth conversation. I'll try to call them..........nothing. I'll text them to call me at their convenience.........they never do.

But I can shoot them a text any hour of the day.......they respond immediately.

I refuse to text while driving. I know my limitations.

[Virgs Sew n Sew]

I don't even talk on my cell while I'm driving.  We're also getting ready to go back in time rather than forward and turn-off our cells.  I have the "blue" button in my HHR so we'll by minutes on that for car communications.  Otherwise, I have a land-line.

We bought the cells when I was working in Alda so that we could communicate with each other without tying up my boss's business line.  Now that I'm just right downstairs, we rarely even use any minutes.  Bob gave his to his mother, who is in the nursing home so that she could call her sis which is a long distance phone call.  Several weeks ago, I tried for days to get my MIL to answer her phone.  It started immediately going to voice mail which told me that the phone needed to be charged.  I ended up calling the charge nurse and asking her to get our message to MIL and then asked her to tell Mom to charge her phone.  Several days later, my SIL called me after leaving the nursing home.  Phone has disappeared.  We immediately checked its activity and there has been none for the last 3 or 4 months so we "suspended" it.  We believe that she inadvertently tossed it into her trash can and it's now in a landfill along with one of her hearing aids and her tv remote.  Needless to say, we're not buying a new cell phone for her to lose.

Kinda wandered off track but I'm big on free association.  That's why I like the word game we've been playing so much!

Virginia

[mike802]

I dont text.  I dont have a real cell phone either.  I watched a video on youtube where three cell phones surrounded some popcorn, all the phones were called at the same time and they all rang together, the popcorn started popping.  I do not want that many microwaves entering my brain.  We have a flip open cell that we buy minutes for and only use it in emergency's.

[SteveA]

I'm with you on that Mike - I have the same flip phone but at some point we'll both have to update because the phones will be outdated.
I love when customers send photos to my flip phone and they are no bigger than a dime and you can't expand them. 
I put a rotary dial phone (land line)  from the 60's in the B/R - the Family thinks I'm losing it  -
SA

[sofadoc]

I should probably start a new topic. But heck I'm old........I won't remember tomorrow anyway.

I have submitted to societal pressures to own and operate a full-tech cell phone. So many customers want to text a photo for a quick ballpark estimate. And if it keeps me from having to visit their home, I'm happy to oblige.

I wish I had kept some kind of data regarding in-home estimates back in the day vrs. the new texty ones. It seems like I end up getting a lot fewer jobs now, than when I gave them a more personal touch.

What I mean is.........it seems like for every 10 text estimates I give, I only get about 3 of them. I think the ratio was much higher in the old days when I went to their house, and schmoozed them.

On text estimates, I tend to throw a big fat number at them without any detailed explanation. I'm sure that many of them see that price and get discouraged.

At first, I loved giving text and e-mail estimates because I thought it was an easy way to weed out the "tire kickers". But now I'm starting to wonder if I'm scaring off a few that just need a little encouragement.

I have more work than I can do, so I really don't worry too much about it. But my way of doing things probably isn't the best way for a more ambitious shop.

[Darren Henry]

I have submitted to societal pressures to own and operate a full-tech cell phone.

In my case it was thrust upon me. I maintain a "pay as you go" cell phone for when I'm back in Kenora. My old service provider discontinued pay as you go and the new one had two option---a plastic flip phone that belonged in my great nieces' toy box or a smarter then me phone that so far hasn't fallen apart. Some of the features are nice---free international text (807 407 5209 if you want to rant at me in person), calculator, driving instructions ( up until I got my self disqualified),   etc...but we put too much emphasis on technology and let our brains rot. As you say Dennis , there is still no replacement for human contact---at least until Gene's robot gets affordable. LOL