Hungry Legs Faster Than Cell Phones?
Our bum nephew stopped by late afternoon yesterday. He asked what was for dinner. He always does that but this time I could sense a bit of desperation. Maybe it was the look on his face? I told him we'd already eaten (we had) and he wasn't invited anyway. I suggested he go across the street and sponge off his parents.
He turned and went across the street, seeming a bit disappointed, although being turned down by me was nothing new. He's always asking what's for dinner and I always reply "It doesn't matter. You're not invited".
I mentioned to Connie I thought he seemed pretty serious this time. She mentioned some frozen taquitos we had in the freezer that weren't being eaten and that this might be an opportunity to get rid of them. Good idea! I wondered out loud if I should send him a text message asking if he wanted the taquitos.
She immediately walked in from the other room and threw me my cellphone. Always looking for an excuse to text someone I took advantage of the opportunity. I texted him, "We have some frozen taquitos. You want them? You can cook them over there".
I don't know that it was even a minute before there was a knock on the door again. There he was. I gave him the ten or so frozen taquitos. He actually seemed relieved when he turned and went back across the street.
I lay back down on the couch and about 20 seconds later my phone rings. I have a text message. It's a reply from our bum nephew saying "I'll be right over", yet he'd already been here and left.
Not sure if that's a testament to how fast a hungry guy can move, or how slow and unreliable cell phone text messaging can be sometimes.
posted by Fred Mangels @ 7:10 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
I don't text. I can't understand why anyone does when you can just talk. I'd be curious to know whether text data arrives faster or slower than a phone call. Sorry about your nephew. There are a lot of "Hiring" signs around town just now.
I'd never even considered texting until I bought the phone I have now. I could text on my old phones but it never entered my mind and, quite frankly, I had no interest in it.
When I bought my new phone I was going to get a different phone because it had a larger view screen. The salesman kept harping on its texting abilities? "If you text a lot, this is the one for you". I had no real idea what texting was at the time and wasn't interested.
I bought a different phone instead, but the salesman's talk on texting had me intrigued so I gave it a try and thought it was kina neat. Now I probably text more than talk.
I can see all kind of useful applications for it. First of all, a text message only uses 30 seconds, as opposed to minutes for talking. It's short and to the point. You can text someone "Are you home?" and they can quickly answer with a simple Yes. One minute between the two of you as opposed to two.
We never use it that way but I also thought it would be useful for traveling. When we go to UCSF, for instance, if you wanted to tell someone you were safe and arrived at the hotel you could just text, "@ Villa Inn, Room 115", and that's it.
I have to have the back gate open at a rental I work at. I just text the tenant, "Mowing your lawn tomorrow (Friday)". She replies, "Ok, thanx" and knows to have the gate open.
Not sure about faster or slower between text and voice. I've had hold ups with both. Called the wife once to ask if she'd bought something already as I was stopping by Winco. I was on Herrick Avenue in Pine Hill when I called. Left a message on our answering machine.
I left the phone on as I went to Winco waiting on an answer but hadn't gotten a reply by the time I got there so turned it off. That was ten minutes or so after making the call. The wife said later she called me back and left a voicemail right after I'd called, but I never got the call. When I got home I checked my voicemail and there it was. Not sure how long it had been there. Probably stuck in the cell tower?
Oh, and the nephew, he has had plenty opportunity to get a job. He simply isn't interested, although he did work on a cruise ship for 3 or 4 tours a few years ago. He stopped doing that because he didn't like the few "duties" he actually had to perform.
Scary situation. At 40, his parents won't be there to feed him forever, and I'm not going to, regardless. The wife seems to be fine with him eating over here. I'm not. Do it once and he'll be over all the time.
Oh, also to be fair, he does play piano for at least a couple churches in town that brings him some money. He also does computer work for people on occasion that brings in a little more. I believe his dinky rental uses up most of that money, though.
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