I spent the morning in the Verizon store straightening out my multiple communications paraphernalia. I have more stuff than the Apollo astronauts when they went to the moon. My latest addition is a 4G Broadband Mobile Internet Access. It’s a little box, smaller than a cell phone that lets you get on the internet from anyplace. No more paying large fees in fancy hotels to get computer access and you can hookup anywhere Verizon has coverage, which is everywhere. It’s very fast and cost $50 a month. I’m going to use this for internet access in our new home since we are in a remote location and the telephone doesn’t have DSL and there is no cable hookup.

This internet box is only one of my Verizon toys. We have two cell phones. My phone is a Droid which is the same as an iphone with dozens of applications including; GPS, e-mail, facebook and all other internet connections. I can tunes into ball games through ESPN or get instant weather reports including Doppler pictures that are real time. That little phone lets you have the world in your hands.

I have mixed feelings about all this fancy communication. I still like my old phone with a cord that just rings rather than playing some fancy tune. That old phone has the ear piece over the ear and the mouth piece in front of the mouth and I can actually hear the person I’m talking to. There is also just too much dependence on the phone these days with everyone having an answering system. I can never talk to anyone in a business I try to contact without going through a complicated menu of punch 1,2,3 etc. I’m always placed on hold to listen to music and some voice telling me that all representatives are currently busy and please hold because my business is very important to them. Humbug!. Where is the secretary or other human? The phone is the reason unemployment is so high.

I long for the old days when I picked up the phone and the operator said number please. My number was 134. The operator probably listened to all the conversations but she could also find anyone for you. That was real personal service.

Don’t guess I should complain because all the numbers I need to know are programmed into my phone and all I have to do is push a button and the party I’m calling addresses me by name when they answer because the have caller ID. If I don’t want to call, I now simply send a text message. All this is pretty fancy stuff, but it comes with a price tag. My communication bill per month is now as much as I used to pay for groceries for 6 months. Oh well, talking rather than eating is a good way to Keep the weight down. Maybe I should write a book on that subject.