Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Phones

The other day I was on my cell phone, talking with Emily, and the home phone rang. She said, "Does that phone ring all the time?" I said, "Well....yeah I guess it does."

Today, out of curiosity, I tried to keep track of how often I talked on the phone. I think it was 22 times from roughly 8:00 to 3:00. Maybe more. I made some of the calls, arranging for Stephie and Lisa to go to Emily's today, and also arranging the dinner next Sunday when Ben is baptized. But the phone rang a lot too.

I don't know how often normal people talk on the phone but to me that seems like a lot.

My situation could be helped out if I had a headset so I could talk without having one hand tied up next to my head. I bought a little gadget a while back that plugs into the phone and has this little earpiece and another prong that's supposed to pick up your voice. Well. Somehow my ears are not normal ears and I can never make these little gadgets fit. They flop around and fall out and just plain hurt.

What I really need is a headset like I use when I talk on Skype--a serious set of earmuffs with a mouthpiece that stays in place. The problem is that my Skype set won't plug into my cell phone, which in my children's eyes is not far removed from the old crank-and-holler style of telephone.

I've seen people walking around airports and such talking into thin air. They always give me such a turn until I figure out they're not talking to me. Anyway, Paul says I can't go with a wireless setup like that unless I'm willing to upgrade my phone.

Oh ye techno geeks, is there anything that would work for me without making me give up my precious phone? Where would I go to find it? And if you want to spell out exactly what I should ask for, that would be ok too.

I have a Verizon phone but the Verizon people in their little booth always look so young and intimidating and easily amused so I never get up the nerve to ask them.

Update: Oh people, I love you, I really do. I read my comments and there were answers, clarification, instructions, even links. I didn't have to go to town or talk to patronizing tech people. I clicked on the Amazon link and there was exactly what I needed. I ordered two. "TWO?" said Paul, Emily, and everyone else I told. Well yes. Think of the possibilities. One for the house, one for the car. One to use when the other is lost. One to use and one to make me feel like I am well taken care of and all bases are covered.

Quote of the Day:
[I found this in my file. After church one evening last summer I was listening to conversations around me]
Men: You sold any of your ryegrass?
I sold almost all of it!
Really? Leonard sold his?
Yup. They say the farmers in the south aren't buyin' it. Prices are gonna come down.
Awww, they say that every year.

Moms: I put him in the sandbox and he hasn't figured out how to get out yet.

Teenagers: Have you ever sent a text and you were talkin about a certain person and you sent it to that person.....and I was like whoa!

10 comments:

  1. This will be too late for you, but a man in a gas station in West Virginia told me that, "if evolution is true, then it will only be a few generations until people are born with cell phones instead of ears".

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  2. If you're willing to use your land-line phone, try a head-set like I have from Wal-Mart. It think they run about $15.00. It arches over your head with an ear-piece over your ear (not in it). The mouth piece position is adjustable. And it's hand-free. You can fold laundry, dust, do hand-sewing, and maybe even noisier projects, while you talk on the phone. --Linda Rose

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  3. Wireless won't work, but all cell phones should have a standard 2.5mm headset jack.

    If you want an over-the-head headphone, you can use something like this $12 Panasonic headset from Amazon. You can also get ear-bud style headsets from Wal-Mart, OfficeMax, or any cell phone shop.

    Or for $220, you can have a professional-quality dual-ear headset from Hello Direct.

    All of these will also work with cordless phones that have a headphone jack.

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  4. If you want to go wireless with your cell phone, just about any new phone is bluetooth enabled. Some times the new phone even comes with a bluetooth included.

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  5. I love your observations on other people's conversations.

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  6. I have the same problem with earpieces not fitting into my ears. A few years back I found a headset like what Linda Rose wrote to you about. It works great for me. I hook my cordless onto my belt and away I go. I got it at Radio Shack. I'm pretty thrifty, so it didn't cost much. Certainly not more than $20..
    Wendy

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  7. Good point, Wendy. I forgot to mention, you need a belt to hold the cordless or a pocket to drop it into, or depending what you're doing, you can lay the cordless down.

    Linda Rose

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  8. I too have seen people talking into thin air.

    Can you imagine if you took one of them and dropped them into 1800 Amarica? or Jesus' day Israel? They'd be casting the demons out for sure! Perhaps that's what Moses had???

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  9. Smart you ordering two!

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  10. Possibly more trouble than it's worth, but you can buy an adapter to use Bluetooth (wireless) w/ your old cell phone. I like my Plantronics Voyager 510 wireless headset (comes w/ a few different earpieces)--when I can find it, that is.

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