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Cool like Uhura
As I’m sure you’re aware (or maybe not, but so what? play along!) California went hands free phoning while driving today and I think that this is a very good first step, at least until they get around to banning cell phones altogether.
I hate talking on the phone. And I really hate the fact I can be reached any time any place because I carry a cell. Unfortunately, due to for reals job, I’m on call 24/7 in case there are "problems". For this reason I have to take my cell with me everywhere which, in a word, sucks.
This evening the ever-thoughtful and hootertastic mrs tbogg presented me with a Jawbone which, presumably I’ll use for hands-free talking but more likely for listening to music while pretending to be on the phone. Of course none of this will happen until the lovely and talented Casey sets it up and teaches me how to use it because I am stupid in The Ways of the Cell.
Having said all of that, this is my favorite story from the Day the State of the State Improved:
Chula Vista traffic officers had cited 55 motorists by late afternoon, hearing some novel excuses in the process, said Bernard Gonzales, a police spokesman.
“A male motorist was still holding his cell phone in his hand, while talking to an officer … He claimed he was using it to scratch his head,” Gonzales said.
In another case, he said, “a female motorist was talking on her phone, and saw the officer looking at her. She attempted to throw (the phone) out the driver’s window, but it clanked and fell into her lap.”
Epic Cell Fail.
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I knew the world had taken the express elevator to the ninth circle of hell the day I saw a guy emerge from the rest room at my local coffee shop holding a coffee in one hand and a cell phone to his hear with the other. You just know he didn’t flush….
Now that “hands-free” is the law, it will be even more difficult to distinguish between the homeless schizophrenics who talk to god from the rest of the shoppers in the aisles at the supermarket who believe that the world is their phone booth.
TBogg gets a Jawbone. Yea, verily, there’s a Judges 15:13-17 joke in there somewhere.
Yeah, I hate cell phones, too. And now that they have GPS capability, I hate ‘em even more.
Agree completely. I long for the day it is illegal to drive and yak at the same time period. 99% of those who do so are too stupid and incompetent to do both at once. I have suspicions about their abilities to walk and chew gum as well.
I’m waiting for someone to use their phone’s vibrating ring as an excuse. ”I was massaging my neck, officer, honest…”
And Ruthie, I think those folks should be added to one of the new circles being added to the ever-expanding depths of Hell…Ninth circle’s too good for ’em.
Being a semi-Luddite, I comply with the California ordinance here in Pa. With the exception of the ”on my way” call, I pull over for prolonged or important conversations. Too much pressure for my pea-brain to drive and manage that apparatus.
Too much pressure on my farsighted eyes to dial the damned thing and not run into the car in front of me. As Boomers age, we have 3 choices:
1. learn to program the cell for voice-activated calling
2. get one of those sad giant key versions as seen in ads in senior-friendly magazines (I saw it at the doctors office, honest!)
3. leave the thing turned off and feign ignorance that it was in said state when confronted by the inevitable “I TRIED to call you!”
A buddy of mine just got one with text messaging. The last time he came over he spent the whole time furiously texting; not only was it annoying, it was rather pathetic at how this little device had sucked him into an alternate universe.
I have a flip-phone and use the lid to hold the phone on my seatbelt across my chest like a clip. That lets me hear it over the stereo when it rings, and I use the speakerphone feature to talk. Even on my chest it works well enough. Still have to open it to answer and activate the speaker, or to dial, so it’s not a perfect solution, but it has the advantage of not costing $120+.
Amen. It’s too bad they’re punished with just a piddly-ass $25 fine, though. People with no regard for human life should at least be waterboarded or something.
Meanwhile, I’m hoping the Assembly gets around to passing my bill requiring all cell phone users to have their own personal Cone of Silence when talking in public.
What you need is blue tooth visor phone — hands free, and much easier than those ear clip thingys.
http://www.google.com/search?q…..=firefox-a
Now that you are about to be assimilated, what will be your Borg name?
I tried to take my phone with me in the car, but the cord didn’t reach far enough. Besides, dialing is pretty difficult when you can’t see where the holes are.
WA just put the same law into effect, but with a $124 fine. I don’t think hands free makes any difference. People talking on the phone aren’t concentrating on their driving.
Ha!
I’m with Tbogg: I just don’t care to talk on the phone.
On a recent major grocery run, I walked in next to a young person who was talking on a cell phone. Throug every aisle, the produce section, the bakery, checkout, and back to the parking lot, the phone never left the ear. That’s a long time to hold a microwave radiator next to your brain.
Time to change the message on your cell phone?
“…Thank you for your message, which has been added to an automatic queuing system. You are currently in 352nd place, and can expect to receive a reply in approximately 19 weeks.”