I was going to wait until my phone had arrived to tell this story, but I swear it's never going to show up so I'll just tell you this now. I got a phone. And when someone says "got a phone" you know they don't mean "I had Verizon come to my house and install a new landline" because even here, people are not doing the landline thing. Anyhow, this was sort of a compromise birthday present where I was asked what I wanted by a certain family member (it's not elegant, but it does work) and this was not exactly what I wanted, but it was something I could use and wouldn't pay for. At the time I decided to get a phone (prepaid something or other with a lot of minutes, I don't think it takes pictures) I was unsure whether my Mom was going to be in and out of the hospital for months while I was doing some heavy travelling, so it seemed like a good way to keep in touch. So, I got a phone.

Actually, I ordered a phone. From Amazon, who I normally don't do business with, except when birthdays and holidays roll around. And I ordered some minutes, which you order separately. They just send you a card with a code that you enter and it gives you the minutes like magic. All the gifts in my future will be secret codes. Well, my order was delayed. Perhaps my phone is popular. So I got the usual email from Amazon telling me my order is delayed because they've been able to automate decent service to some degree. Then my order was delayed some more. Amazon, trying to keep me happy said "Hey you know what, we know you must be frustrated because your shiny new product hasn't arrived at your doorstep." I wasn't really. "We're going to go ahead and split your order so that you don't have to wait for everything. Isn't that decent of us?"

And a few days later a box showed up at my house, a phone sized box. Inside it was a card, for one thousand minutes. My phone, if it ever arrives, probably doesn't work in Vermont anyhow.

tags: phone, jessamyn, abada abada, amazon