Mobile phones.

[Retired]

Hi,

I've owned a mobile phone for about 8 years; this phone cost an whole £5 new through eBay and it broke my heart to put on £10 credit; 8 years on I've now got £4.40 credit on it this after a first £10 top up; I only ever use the phone to let Bron know I'm on my way home from Rufforth Auto Jumble once each month weather permitting so perhaps only 9 times each year.

Just to indicate how much I know about these mobile phones when I topped up with credit I topped up with Vodafone; I thought all was well until the money was refunded then I topped up with O2 and all was well.

A few months ago I bought Bron her first mobile phone it being new and O2 just in case of emergencies. I put £20 credit on it. Bron used her phone once just to test it; this morning Bron asked how often she needed to use her phone and I thought it to be once every 3 months? Now when Bron tried to ring our landline her phone is absolutely useless bringing up a "Invalid sim" message so in an emergency Bron is expected to contact O2 first before using her new mobile phone? So much for modern technology in an emergency; a box of matches to light a fire sending smoke signals would prove more useful.

I don't trust anything having a circuit board fitted and I dislike any phone with a passion; I used to have three desks one in each of my departments at work with five phones in total and I also had a pager; at times I would have three pagers when my colleagues were off site; the phones and pager/s used to drive me mad hence I now detest phones.

Out of curiosity I've just browsed the web; I can contact O2 by phone hopefully to resolve the problem which would be highly useful stuck in a remote area in an emergency with a dead mobile phone.

OK I'm a dinosaur and proud of it but I remember the days long ago when things bought were reliable especially "Made in Britain" We're visiting Meadowhall Shopping Centre tomorrow so we'll pop into O2 and ask them to get the jump leads out to bump start this useless phone.

I've just been up the mountain with a very old very reliable hoe to do some weeding.

Modern technology; Bahhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Ian]

Normally sim cards should last more than 3 months, I think it's a call or text every 6 months for them to keep the sim card active, so I suspect something went wrong at o2's end. Hopefully they can get it sorted at the shops .

I love having a smartphone and would hate to give it up. I don't use it as much as some, but here's an example of a few things I did today with it:

• Online traffic/directions to Delamere Forest for a walk, also had a quick Google to find a nice cafe nearby.
• Replied to a few Whatsapp messages from friends/family, most of them are group messages, so it's great to organise things where a lot of people are involved.
• Did a bit of web browsing to find out how to fix a light sensor.
• Added a few things to our shopping list
• Took some photos

Having said all that, of course there are non-smartphone ways of doing it, but I've always got it in my pocket so it's very convenient.

I know that in 40 years time I will be posting the same sort of thread as you, but related to some of virtual reality mind-reading all-in-one bit of kit (that's what the future holds for technology, right?) . I think we adjust to what we grew up with and adapt to use it. Plus, in your case, you probably had enough of phones after dealing with them at work - I can't imagine most pagers/calls were good news in a busy workplace.

 

[Ian]

I've just spotted your post on GF... Haha that is one way to solve the problem .

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks Ian; I hope I'm still around in 40 years time to read your updates?

Bron and I are just fed up with people; apart from a handful of very close friends we prefer to be left well alone but this is proving impossible by the number of people who visit us wanting money; criminals who openly admit they've been in prison not only wanting but trying to force us to buy poundland dusters for £5 then when politely told no thanks they then turn abusive; I reported one such guy by chatline to the police; endless charity begging bags; fresh fish; tree surgeons and resin drives all at our door; there's absolutely no let up because we've bettered ourselves and all these people feel entitled to what we've worked so hard for.

https://www.gardening-forums.com/threads/mobile-phones.15812/#post-166610

Yes I've had a good moan on your sister site at the link above above but yesterday resolved the problem to my entire satisfaction; if the club hammer hadn't worked it would have been the sledgehammer next; I sure felt a lot better for it.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Ian]

I think your next DIY project should be a big gate, they'd be hard pushed to get through that .

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Many thanks for your excellent suggestion Ian; I'd enjoy making a huge steel gate but better still I think I'd wind another transformer to put a lot of power through the gate?

Kind regards, Colin.

Above is a home wound 3 phase 415V transformer; one of these connected to a steel gate and switched on should keep unwanted visitors away? This transformer weighed around 75kg and is seen here powered up on test; not a project for a novice.