Going Analog!

I finally did it... I said goodbye to my precious smartphone and got a regular, old-fashioned cell phone (yes, it still has a camera). I went to T-Mobile today, and got one of those "FREE" phones - of course, it's only free because I had to sign onto another 2 year contract. Then I downgraded my plan, getting rid of my dataplan. So no internet, no apps. No Facebook, no emails, no Twitter (except through text messaging), etc. It's 2008 all over again :P Hahaha!

This new plan will be saving me at least $27 a month. It doesn't seem like much, but that's $324 a year. If I keep cutting little things out, pretty soon I'll have a grand to spare by next year. Maybe (hopefully) even more! Another advantage to this, is to un-tether myself from my phone. If there was 10 seconds that I'd have to wait in line at the grocery store, I'd check my messages on my phone. Even if I had nothing to check on my phone, I'd still be messing with it. Whatever happened to standing in line for 10 seconds without having the urge to fixate on something? Also, looking down at your phone constantly is REALLY bad for your neck - worse than one thinks (but that's a whole other story), because it is a "silent killer" (no symptoms felt when the damage is done). So I felt I had to simplify my life. It was nice to know that some of my friends had already gone that way, and it inspired me to do it, too. If they can survive without it, so can I!

While I was waiting for the lady to transfer my data from my old phone to my new phone, there was another customer who was hitting on all the female workers. He was laying it on THICK. My first impulse was to Tweet about it. OOP! No phone, can't do it! Crap. Well, while I wait, I can finish replying to my client's email. GAH! Again, no phone! Oh well. I can play my word game. AUGH! Ok, ok, fine. Hmm.... my mind wanders... I wonder if I should take Millhouse to the dog park on Wednesday. It depends on the weather. Let me check the weath- YARGH!!!! Ok, SERIOUSLY, I was GLUED to that dang smartphone. When I got back home, I was customizing my phone. No live wallpapers that move and interact with you, no ringtones that you can download, then edit yourself... It really made me realize how user-friendly those smartphones are. Which is cool - but also dangerously addicting. Oh boy, what did I get myself into??? Is saving $27 a month really worth it??


By the evening, I had refreshed on myself how to use Twitter through text messaging. It's definitely limiting, but maybe limits are a good thing! With so much stimulation with technology, no wonder people are getting so-called "A.D.D." The quietness of these 8 hours going analog has actually been refreshing. I really felt like one of the civilians in the movie Wall-E, when their screens were turn off. They stopped yapping on their chat phones and realized the beauty that surrounded them right then and there! I saw the sun, I saw the trees, I saw the doggie poop... :P Well... I'm still adjusting, but I get spurts of excitement for doing something good for my wallet and good for my well-being. :)