An Idiot and his phone.

Of course you realise that,  in this particular case, by putting this in the category of "General Stupidity",  it has absolutely nothing to do with anyone other than.....me.
Probably should be some other category altogether for that, since we're screwing up the stats here,  but that's a totally different subject.

So here we go.

Back in the early fall of 08 I suppose it was,  I broke down and got a Nokia "pay as you go"  type of cell phone.   Had a local Dutch phone number (which I never did really learn off by heart,  but that's not unusual)  so that on the rare occasion that my travelling companion needed to contact me,  and I wasn't right by the home phone,  it was possible.
 (This was considerably better than the loaner phone I had when we first arrived in March of 08,  which was actually based in the UK.  Talk about getting a crash course in that whole country code thing. Yikes!)

Now,  I didn't exactly have bluetooth on the bike,  so if someone called,  I found I had to pull over.  I've seen plenty of people riding bikes and talking on cell phones both in the Netherlands and here in Wienerland,  but I'll tell you right now,  it wouldn't be only a bike helmet that I'd need if I were to try that.  I didn't learn to ride a bike until I was damned near a teenager,  and it's not exactly a skill I've ever completely mastered.
So no,  no talking and riding at the same time for me,  thank-you.
(both hands on the grips)

So fine,  when we moved on down here in November,  I figured I had to get something local.   Come to find out,  the phone I purchased,  which was somehow tied in to "Vodaphone",  what ever the hell that means,  was "locked",  and for something like €30 I was able to get it "unlocked"  so that I could buy a local sim card with a local Austrian phone number.
What do I know?   Sounds about right?  That didn't include the sim card though,  which I needed so that I could actually start making calls.  The thing is,  incoming calls are free,  and I rarely call "out",  so I've been working on the same €20 since November.   I think I might be down to somewhere around €14 by now,  and I have until next  November to use that up.

All was right in cell phone land.

That is until yesterday,  when I dropped the damned thing.  I had dropped it once before,  put all the pieces back together,  held my breath,  and it lit up and continued to work.
Those Nokias are tough!

Yesterday however,  it did NOT fly apart,  but instead just sort of stayed in that one spot on the floor.
One would normally think that that was a good thing, but I guess all that "flying apart" was some sort of energy dissipation?  That would be my guess,  since it died without uttering a peep.



Crap!


There's certainly no problem on a street like Mariahilfer when it comes to finding a place to buy a cell phone.  I'd wager that by simply turning my head I'd be able to see two or three places without ever taking one step.
As it was however,  I thought I'd go on over to Kaiserstrasse to the place where I had had the busted phone "unlocked" in the first place,  when I happened to notice a dedicated "Nokia"  store just a few meters on up the street.

Probably not a bad idea to try there first.  Too bad I hadn't done that back in November!

See,  here's where the idiocy continues.   For a whopping €35,  I simply bought another phone.  It's already "unlocked".   Think maybe I got somewhat taken when I got the other one "unlocked" for right around the same amount of money?   Hm?
The things ya learn.

Makes me want to spit.

The beauty is,  I simply put my existing sim card in the new phone,  and it's all good.  Same number,  same amount of time left.

Just feeling a little dim,  is all.







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