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Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Your text is on my list

"How was your Christmas?"

The text message came as a surprise. I don't recall where I was when I got it. Work, maybe. As we texted back and forth a few times, I began to wonder how long it had been since I had heard from her. I wondered where she was and what she was doing. I wondered if I should read anything into her texting me, beyond just keeping in touch. And not least importantly, I wondered who she was.

That's because, though I've had my Blackberry Curve for two months, I've still yet to transfer the names and numbers from my old phone to it. Therefore, I had not the slightest idea who I was texting.

My last phone was so old, all I had to do was pick it up and say, "Sarah, get me the drug store." No, seriously. It was so old that the sim card wasn't compatible with the Blackberry. So the only way to get all my numbers on the Blackberry is to enter each one manually. Think of it as the technological equivalent of needing to transfer all my Tom Jones 8-tracks to iTunes. In both cases, I've yet to get around to it.

Cell phones have completely ruined me from remembering phone numbers. I feel lost now. I know like eight phone numbers, total. Even those I have begun to recognize, I mostly know only by the area code or prefix. I still couldn't dial the entire number from memory.

Incoming calls aren't so bad, as I can usually recognize someone's voice within the first five minutes of a conversation. But anytime a text comes in, unless it's one of the eight I've committed to memory, I sit staring at the ten digit sequence like it's one of those 3D pictures. And maybe if I squint a little harder and concentrate a bit more, the name that goes with the number will magically come to me. Which, by the way, is also pretty much how I approached most of my tests in college.

Texting has become like my own little game of 20 Questions. I send a series of fairly general, innocuous messages, until finally the other person unknowingly reveals some clue as to their identity. During football season, I would typically have two or three people texting "Roll Tide" to me before, during, and after games. To this day, I'm still not certain who a couple of those people were.

My call list on the Blackberry stores twenty numbers, and has become my ad hoc phone book. If you're not one of the last twenty people who have called me or who I've called, there's a decent chance I won't be able to contact you until you call me again and get your name back on the list.

Anyway, back to the conversation which inspired this post. The unknown "she" eventually sent a message asking, "What is ur address?" Still unsure who this person was and only knowing she had an out of state area code, I chose not to respond. I mean, as a semi-popular blogger, one can never be too careful, right?

About a week later, after a complex process of research and elimination, I finally figured out there was a 99.95% chance the mystery texter was Lil' Booty. (That's almost as good as a DNA match right there!) I called and gave her my address, and we shared a laugh.

And no worries about me getting all my numbers transferred onto the Blackberry. I've officially put that on my bucket list.

"Jenny, I've got your number. I need to make you mine. Jenny, don't change your number. 867-5309..."

21 comments:

  1. My last cell phone was old too. I had to transfer all my numbers to my new phone by hand. What a pain. But it got done.

    Oh, and a small thing: but it's Your Text not You're Text (in your title).

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  2. Cell phones have completely ruined me from remembering phone numbers.

    Now Bone, be honest: would you have remembered phone numbers even if cell phones had never been invented? :)

    It took you a week?!?! An entire week?!?!? Wow, I don't think you were working too hard on figuring it out... and when you say "research" was done... you mean she emailed or IM'd you and informed you it was her? O:)

    Your comment about the bucket lists worries me a bit though... I mean, really, lets hope your "bucket" is a long way off... and that your Crackberry won't function for that long. In other words, you should just sit down one afternoon with the iTunes cranked (stay away from the store until you're done: buying a song or two can be your reward) and just enter them. Not fun... but a lot better thought than the bucket.

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  3. LOL! I've been a royal pain lately and not answered any calls from numbers on my caller ID that I don't recognize. So anyone calling me with their name blocked is not getting through...they better leave me a message.
    Then monday it turned out to be someone I should have answered for. oops!

    I had to transfer all my numbers by hand too. boo hate that.

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  4. It wasn't me, if it makes you feel any better ;)...although I do text a lot. However, my Crackberry's primarl purpose in life is to keep my Gmail updated and bring me my blogs when I ask for them...good stuff! :)

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  5. Of course you would have remembered those numbers, Bone, just as soon as you looked them up.

    I think TC has your number.

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  6. Xinh: It is a pain. I'm not looking forward to it, obviously, as I'm putting it off as long as possible. Thanks for pointing out the typo.

    Charlotta: Well, hello!? I texted and asked if you had any pictures of Wonder Woman. You said, "No, what kind of sick question is that?" So I crossed you off my list :)

    TC: Yes, I'm certain I used to remember numbers. It's just, there was no need for it with all the numbers stored in my cell, so that freed up some of my memory for other things. What, I'm not sure.

    Yes, I will do it and reward myself with iTunes. Great idea! Thanks, TC!

    Renee: Oh, I've been doing that since the nineties :) With all the telemarketers and stuff, if I don't know the number, I don't answer.

    Jennifer: Haha. Thanks :) Yeah, mine's primary purpose is internet and email, too. Oh, and the camera of course.

    Marcia: Nah. She may think she does, but I've still got plenty of secrets :)

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  7. that's priceless-- gotta love the "what can i text to figure out who this is without asking who it is" text!

    oh, and Roll Tide.

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  8. I'm glad you finally got a phone with a camera and can now send pictures! THanks for the snowball picture! I can't believe you guys go that much snow. Wish I was there so we could all have a snowball fight!

    It would be like that time we were at SMs and almost got snowed in and had to drive home in that mess 3 years ago! Fun times!

    See you this weekend for Wii bowling championship round 1!

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  9. it has been like a million years since I've been here and am trying to catch up. Has 3WW moved to another day? How have you been? (well, other than being traumatized by unknown women on the cell phone) :-)

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  10. Bone quit showing off. Verizon doesn't come with a Sim card, and I'm putting off getting a new phone I desperately need because of the transfer problem

    Of course they might be nice enough to transfer numbers for me in SC. Used to transfer them here, stopped a few years ago

    Love the Lil Booty part--the rest was pretty good also

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  11. Cami: You can say those words around here anytime :)

    Java Boo Boo: Or, just I had to drive home in it. You were already home, and LB spent the night at M's.

    Judy: Yes, it has :) No, 3WW hasn't moved to another day, just another site. You can click on the 3WW button on the sidebar and get there.

    Pia: I wonder if they'd transfer mine, if I told them I couldn't figure out how to do it... without it taking two hours.

    Thanks. Hope you're feeling better.

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  12. Verizon transfers numbers... but they get pretty tee'd off if you switch to AT&T, and then it's no dice. Best is if you sync your phone to your computer, and then life is good, but you have to have a phone with that kind of capability. (I use PLAXO to keep my contacts sync'd with everything, and they have saved my but a few times by keeping everything backed up when one device or another decided it should erase--and they weren't offended when I got my iPhone for Christmas and switched from Verizon to AT&T).

    Don't you have Caller ID with your phone book? Unless a number is blocked, I know who's calling by name, if they're in my cell's phone book. It's just strangers I have to guess at--and blocked calls. And in that case, I frequently won't answer, so if they don't leave me a message, they are S.O.L. I figure if it's important, they'll leave a message. Otherwise, they were probably just trying to sell me something.

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  13. One reason why I don't text. :) What you need is a nice girl to transfer your phone numbers for you.

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  14. Here's a thought. When you hang up, go back to the recent calls and save it... Then the name & number are there and they don't get bummped after the 20 call rotation. :)

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  15. I'm glad it was a she and not a he. That could have been sticky.

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  16. i once deleted a bunch of people from my phone and then got a text saying "happy birthday!" i had no idea who it could be so i tried to play it off while trying to decipher who in the hell it was. i even finally tried calling the number but it was an automated voicemail instead of the person's voice! darn it!

    i should have just ignored it frankly cuz that guy is an ass. ;)

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  17. at least you have a blackberry, lol

    I've gotten use to storing #s on my phone too and often find myself using my cell instead of my desk phone since it has the numbers... but good story, like the way you weave it in

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  18. Hubby submerged his phone and it was fried. I tried to recover some numbers from the SIM but many were stored in the phone. I don't think he has them all back yet. As people calls he has to go to recent calls and save the number to his addy book. Yes, this is the tech life.

    Stop by and check out a pic I posted. I want input from people on whether or not its real. (I'm hoping not.)

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  19. Gay: Yes, I have caller ID with my phonebook. I just haven't transferred any of the names over from my other phone, so all that shows up is a number. And some of them, I don't recognize :)

    Lass: Hmm, how would that work? "Say baby, what do you say we hang out at my place tonight? I'll watch some Seinfeld and you can enter phone numbers into my Blackberry. Sound fun?"

    Melanie: Yes, I've had that exact thought. Just haven't acted on it yet :)

    Hotpinksox: Me, too.

    OK Chick: It's right there, at the very end. One item :)

    Sizzle: Yeah, once I figured out who it was, I wished I would have ignored it, too :)

    Kidding, Lil' Booty!

    Sage: I do the same thing, for precisely that reason.

    Actonbell: Thanks! :-) I was hoping someone caught that.

    Kontan: I looked at the pic last night. Wow. It looks real to me. Wow.

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