My phone is broken. Why? I do not know. I took it out of my pocket last night and it said "Insert SIM." Now, this had happened to me before, so i shut off my phone, took out the battery, took out the SIM card, and put it back in. I tried starting my phone up again, but to my dismay, "Insert SIM" came back on the screen.
Needless to say, I am not a happy camper.
I called the Cingular people for some help. I got a lady who sounded like she knew what she was doing, but in all reality, could do nothing for me but tell me to go to the nearest Cingular store. I asked her why the phone would just stop recognizing the SIM card and she told me that sometimes the phone malfunction. Wonderful! I don't drop my phone in water or step on it, but it still decides to malfunction.
Needless to say, I am still not a happy camper.
So, this morning, i get up at 8:15am in order to shower and get ready before making a journey to the Cingular store on University. I planned my bus trip on the Madison Metro site and had my bus pass ready to go. I get on the bus outside Chadbourne which takes me to the corner where the Cingular store is. I get out and walk up to the door to find out the store doesn't open till 10am. I got there at 8:55am.
Needless to say, I am starting to be an angry camper.
It is partially my fault for not looking up the hours of the store (I just assumed the open at 9am). I have to be back by 10:30am for work, so waiting until 10 is out of the question. Instead, i get a bagel from Panera and head to the bus stop to wait for the buss that will take me back to campus. However, I find that the bus i planned to take no longer stops at that corner.
Why is this happening to me?!? It seemed like everything was going wrong!
Well, instead of stressing out anymore, I decide to just get on the first bus that comes and ride it around for a while. It was an interesting trip. It went south for a while, then west, then back east till it finally got to Johnson Street. I got off the buss and walked home.
What I thought would be a very productive morning turned into an adventure of sorts where nothing but consuming a bagel and riding around aimlessly on a bus were accomplished. My phone still says "Insert SIM," and I am more confused about the transit system than i was before this morning.
What this morning has shown me is that not having a phone, as much as i don't really want to admit it, makes me feel disconnected from the world. Technology is so important in today's society that if one thing malfunctions, a feeling of hopelessness ensues. If you are without technology, it is almost as if you cannot function as a member of society. People rely so much on technology, using it for many different things, like e-mail or phones or calendars.
...It has also shown me that I need to take the bus (other than the 80,81, 82, or85) more often.
To conclude, if anyone is good with phones (or bus routes for that matter), let me know. I am open to suggestions on how to fix this problem.
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3 comments:
i agree that something as little as not having a phone for even a few hours can make you feel like you must be missing out on something. it's definitely a weird feeling. i didn't get a cell phone until i was into my freshman year in college and i always wondered who everyone was talking to between classes and felt like i was missing out on something. now that i have a phone i realize i really wasn't missing much of anything. i also get the feeling like my day is missing something when i haven't checked my email...or away messages. that's another story though. technology is definitely a part of our lives that we don't really appreciate until we don't have it.
This reminds me of a bus trip from hell i had once. About 3-ish years ago a friend and I decided to take the beloved Madison Metro from W. Washington street to the Nielsen Tennis Stadium down by the UW Hospital. According to the Ride Guide (in those days it wasn't possible to just type in your depature and arrival locations on the internet) we would take bus X leaving at Y:30 and arriving at Y:45. Needless to say, someone screwed up. I remember seeing the Stadium from the bus window though it appeared to be about a block away. Thinking that the bus would loop around and pass right by the Stadium as we deduced from the trusty Ride Guide, we stayed on the bus only to watch as the Stadium got smaller and smaller and smaller. At this point, both of us being relatively new to Madison and to the art of public transportation utilizing, we stayed on the bus knowing that eventually it would make the turn for campus. And turn back it did, some 45 minutes later. After a nice tour of the near west side, and a nearly complete loop of the bus X route, we finally did pass right by the Nielsen Tennis Stadium. (at one point the driver asked us to where we were going only to embarrassingly reply 'campus') The catch was that the bus only passes by the stadium on its return leg and not on the way out. Needless to say tennis was cancelled that fateful day. Moral of the story: had we been able to plan out trip on the Metro website, this mixup never would've happened. Fast rhetoric: 1. Not-so-trusty ride guide: 0.
I guess I don't have much to say besides, man that sucks. The other thing that I wanted to say is, isn't it always amazing that whenever you need stuff not to go wrong it always done and it groups. It is so frustrating. And also the thing with cell phones is that they always break down even if you don't do anything to them and the phone lines do absolutely nothing to help. Sorry for the rant.
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