15 July 2023

The Great Compromise: No, sorry, you can't have my number :(

Back in 2011, when the bodybuddy/lifemate and I were in our early twenties, newly-mated (we didn't get married 'til a little later, but we moved in together, some might say, "too soon," but not either of us, so who cares), we started our first business and realized that we were going to be on the phone a lot, and so, it was in those few months of learning what we learned that we traded our (my Blackberry, his MyTouch [lol]) smartphones for a JetPack, which was (is still a thing?) a wireless wifi device. I know, I'm old. 

In short, we wanted a landline, so that we could not be reached when we were not in our "office," aka our living room. Business requires a lot of phone calls, yuck. I had my Samsung Galaxy Note and an iMac, and the bodybuddy/lifemate had an eleven-inch, Toshiba tablet that was about as thick as my laptop, ha, and some typa MSI laptop he custom-built ordered. At home, we had a landline-type phone. The JetPack gave us wifi on the go for our devices and the particular Verizon service that we were paying for at the time, also provided us with a "landline" number through that same wireless wifi device... phew. That was a long time ago.  

My point is that we've been savvy and treading the various "mobile phone" loopholes ever since, surviving by our wits, living wifi-only. My further point being our use of VoIP. 

The crackdown on VoIP is official and thorough. So, we've been resigned to opting back into the SIM-level of communication, which we both absolutely detest.

And so, I present, The Great Compromise.

The selfie of me and my "daily driver," à la Marques Brownlee, is my third smartphone, and it has never had a SIM card. It is wifi-only (like the two others), and you can't call me on it (well, you technically can, but it's an internet call). I use a handful of various messaging apps to communicate via "text." The first smartphone was the Samsung Galaxy Note that was weak as shit (and that the bodybuddy/lifemate lost in transit when we moved to South Korea in 2013); the second was an LG something or rather that was the most awesome, and I had such a great time with that phone that I was quite pissed at it when I had to switch over to my current phone, and I even had my current phone for about three months before I finally got it out of the box and set it up *eyeroll* The bodybuddy/lifemate is about to inherit my current phone and upgrade his two current phones into one nice tablet, and he has a desktop. I will get a new smartphone—still wifi-only (yea yea, you get it)—and have my flip phone as a business line. I have a laptop that will soon be downgraded into a media laptop that's hooked up to our tv, and I'll get a new laptop by the end of this year. All of our devices have cost under $250, and we will buy all of our needed upgrades this year at the same price point.

Whatever. I can't even go over my first cell phones, cause I can't name them by name like we can our smartphones, these days. I had five of them, however, before my Blackberry. I know that there are some serious geeks out there that know that kinda shit, but I'm no geek; I'ma nerd, duh. 

I will say, however, that this flip phone I have now is cool. It slaps nicely when it shuts, and it's gotta good weight to it. It's the flip phone I wish I could've had back when they were a thing.