Splash........oh crap

Two Fridays ago, as Tall Boy and I were scrambling around preparing for the anniversary party, he called and said that his cell phone kept shutting off whenever he unplugged it from the charger. It showed a full charge but would not hold the charge once disconnected. We just got the phones last June but the warranty ran out so he'd need a new one regardless. So, Saturday morning I got up and headed off to the Cingular store to rescue the phone.

When we originally got our cellphones in 1998 or 1999, we got them through a promotion for Pepsi because Tall Boy worked there. The carrier was AT&T Wireless and came with all kinds of discounts and endless minutes etc. It rocked. We never, ever, ever exceeded our minutes, never paid more than just the standard plan costs and never had a problem with the exception of wishing the coverage area was fuller (but who doesn't wish that right?). Last June, when we needed new phones, we contemplated switching to Nextel so that he and I could direct connect for free while he's on the road but they don't have coverage in the woods of Maine so we stayed with what we had. Just after we renewed, AT&T was bought by Cingular but our plan was managed by a seperate division within Cingular that handled all the old AT&T customers.

When I went in to get TB a new phone last Saturday, I was told that if I just wanted to replace the phone, I'd need to use the mail-order department that manages the AT&T customers and that I couldn't walk out with one right then unless I "switched" to Cingular. Since Cingular has been getting my money for a year now and since I couldn't fathom TB being without his phone for however long it would have taken to deal with the AT&T division, I just picked a new phone and switched him over. But, I kept my phone and plan with AT&T because my phone is fine, I never exceed my minutes, the cost was less with the Pepsi discounts and because, truthfully, I don't usually have more than 20 calls a month to or from my phone so I didn't see the need for the change.

Until this past Saturday night. When my phone

fell

in

a

toilet.

So, it looks like I'll be doing that change-over now anyway. I'm such an idiot.