katallison: (fresh hell Scully)
katallison ([personal profile] katallison) wrote2004-02-17 07:04 pm

the status of stuff

1. Family situation has resolved more favorably than I had expected, hence I shall indeed be attending Escapade (barring unforeseen catastrophe).

2. I have picked up a mild but disgusting head cold. This does not constitute unforeseen catastrophe, but it does mean I am one spacey sniffly wet mess. I will endeavor not to breathe on or fondle my fellow con attendees.

3. Aha! I *finally* figured out my e-mail problem: in the thick of getting slammed with MyDoom-laden crap, I twiddled my spam filters--not wisely, but too well--and just now discovered that they were filtering out all kinds of perfectly legit mail as well. Thank jeebus I scanned through the "Probably Spam" folder before emptying it, and now all I have to do is actually *reply* to all the backlogged messages. Which will be a little complex given that my brain has been replaced with phlegm, I am doing little but blowing my nose and staring vacantly into space, and I get on an airplane in 38 hours, a timespan during which prodigies of job stuff, laundry, and packing must be accomplished.

4. Um. OK, after years of swearing that I was never getting me one of those gah-darn cellphones, no way, no how -- I, uh, finally got a cellphone. ::glaring around belligerently:: *Solely* due to responsibilities connected with aforementioned family situation, I hasten to add. My utter-novice conclusion about cellphones, after an hour of wrestling with two different instruction manuals trying to get my voicemail box set up, is -- my *god*, this thing is annoying. Fidgety, twiddley, full of complicated and non-intuitive menus (and this is a dead-simple cheapo prepaid model, I should add). It doesn't help that I've never used a cellphone in my life and am hazy on the most basic concepts (nor that, as mentioned, I have phlegm for brains today).

Um. I need to answer e-mail, don't I? Yes? Yes.

[identity profile] liaison27.livejournal.com 2004-02-18 12:38 pm (UTC)(link)
I too got a cell phone due to a family crisis. I used it a couple of times. After the FC was over, I had to keep it for the sign up period. I use it about three times a year. Why do I hold onto it?
It seemed like a good idea to have for road emergencies, or when the electricity went out - as it is wont to do for days at a time here. But is it really worth the annual fee?
I thought about dumping my land-line phone instead, but then my cell battery goes dead in my purse and I realize I've been carrying around a useless hunk of plastic.

I see people literally glued to the things. There is a male student here who uses it while trying to deliver mail and equipment one-handed. I've had to listen to one-sided conversations in the next bathroom stall. Why are there so many people who seem unable to remain alone with their own thoughts for any length of time? Have computers made us into compulsive multi-taskers?

Re:

[identity profile] katallison.livejournal.com 2004-02-18 05:37 pm (UTC)(link)
The whole thing mystifies me, too. Since I'm fond of driving around solo in out-of-the-way areas, I figure it can't hurt to keep this thing even after the FC subsides, and under my current prepay plan as long as I top it up with $10 worth of minutes every 45 days, I'm good, so it's not a big outlay. But I just dislike the whole concept of cellphones -- that thing of being expected to always be available. Errgghh.