That I found my rare (not commonly used) replacement earbud for my Nokia phone just now on the net. It was even less expensive than I paid for it at Radio Shack 3 yrs ago. Plantronics MX200...

I have an older model phone, that is very basic (and that suits me and my hubby fine).
It does NOT
play music
take pictures
go on the internet

And I have never sent a text message on it. But we both manage to run ours enough for our needs. (my hubby doesn't use his much except to be available to me --free family plan---and when he goes on the road to audits for emergencies.)

My son however has a phone that does EVERYTHING... he even has custom rings for each person, so he knows who is calling without looking at the thing! And he paid $500 for it...it opens up and has a keyboard inside even!

My earbud cracked and died on vacation, and no stores carry this older type on a cord anymore with the special comfort clip for the ear. Since we don't have wireless features, I need this older type only. And I found it at Amazon !!! so... happy, happy joy joy.

This is how I buy on the internet...my eccentric thingys.

Forgive me for jumping subjects, but I had to comment on your hummingbird as I have four feeders in the yard facing the back porch and one would think the yard was O'Hara airport with all the traffic. The feeders are placed near lilac bushes for rest stops. I notice they don't like to share the bounty that's why so many feeders. Last year the wood hornets gave the lilac bushes and hummers a hard time, but they had been almost nonexistent this season. Wearing a red hat in the yard brings the hummers right in your face and the air displacement they create is rather loud for their size. Last evening while setting on the bench I counted about 14 with the red throats the most noticeable, they disappear very quickly once leaving the feeders and they will migrate out of here about the middle of October.

Mrs. D.

I have a question about phones.

Alan and I have a pre-paid phone. We add $50 every 4 months or so. We get something like 8 hours of talk time. We only use it for the Access-a-ride (you have to have a phone when you travel on those things).

Or let's say I'm around the corner with a big load of wash, I'll just ring up Alan and say "come outside and help me". This is about all we use the phone for. NO gimmicks, no pictures, no internet, just like you do with yours.

Now here's what I dont' understand at all. You mention that your son paid $500 for a phone that has a keyboard.

I have seen these things. My friends kids are on their porch. One of these phones is called The Sidekick. You should have seen my face when she flips it open and this keyboard popped up. I said "whatever will you do with this?" and she said "oh, I text message my friend". Now her friend was standing right in front of her.

So the two of them are text messaging each other. I looked at these two 26 year old women like they had lost their minds.

I said "excuse me but I have to ask a stupid question". "Why are you text messaging each other when you are standing right in front of each other?" They looked at me like I had LOST MY MIND!!!

Somebody please explain why the younger generation has lost their marbles, or is it me who has lost the marbles???

Melody

I don't think it is just you Mel.

Besides the PHONE I really get rather horrified by the CONTENT of the conversations I am exposed to!

Now my son is techie and at work, they all have novel things. His programmer supervisor just got an iPhone. So in his line of work, I expect "some" of this keeping up with new things. (But it seems he has a new expensive phone every year!)

At my now former job (which I have just retired from) the conversations daily were stultifying. It appears to me people have to talk on the phone about their tattoos, new nail polish, hair gel, what their boyfriend/girlfriend said at breakfast, the newest movie...endlessly. These folks just cannot stand to be alone by themselves. Even up North, at the laundromat when I was trying the laptop there, and people asked me etc, and I told them I live on an island with no electricity etc... they say--"what do you do all day?" You know I am comfortable alone with my thoughts, no problem.

Having my cell phone was handy this year tho, when my husband left twice to return to work and I was there ALL ALONE...I could at least call him each morning and we'd exchange events, and set up return stuff to bring, and I'd get the weather report from him. If I got an important mail or call at home, at least he could field them for me now. When we came home, separately several hours apart, we called each other a few times, to check in. One example was a large piece of wood I passed on the freeway with about 20 nails sticking up, in the left lane. I called him to warn him to stay to the right at that spot. He called me when he left the island, finishing closing up, so I wouldn't worry that he fell off a ladder. Cell phones are ideal for this, and I appreciate mine for it. In the past I used to worry A LOT.

When my son was up for a week, he just tuned in his phone to the internet for our weather reports!

So I think that people today, many people, not just young ones, cannot stand to be alone, by themselves for any length of time, and have to have reassurance constantly. The cell phone fills that niche perfectly. I had some people at work with TWO phones even. I never took mine in...I kept it in my car, and went out there if I had a serious reason to call home or doctor's appt or something. Sometimes I think that people will grow so dependent in these ways, that if an emergency happens, and the satellites go down, or the towers fail (they sometimes do up North) people would PANIC...having no internal coping mechanisms! But then I am very old fashioned and used to being personally accountable and resourceful....

Yes MrsD, i will be getting that Visa prepaid card, its a great idea and safe which suits me fine, there has been lots of things i have wanted to buy on the net and some sellers don't accept Paypal even on Ebay, but not a problem if you have a Visa card.
My prepaid mobile phone is a must were i live as well, [ seaside/country] if something was to go wrong on my car whilst on the road, then i only have to ring for road side assistance and they will get me moving again or arrange for a tow, if it was something major, $30 of prepaid time can last me months as i only use it when i really have too, text messages are ok once you get the hang of it, i think there only 20 cents each for anywere in Australia.

I have had a good look around for Methylcobalamin in Australia but they are very expensive, one place wanted $58 for 30 x4 mg tabs without delivery charges, then i emailed another compounding pharmacy that wanted $88 for 30 tabs without delivery charges, Iherb is defiantly the cheapest by far.
all the best,
Brian

First of all, a question for Mel.... I live in the burbs in Atlanta. What the heck is Access a Ride? We have a cultural gap here.

Mrs. D, I know what you mean about people being so plugged in these days. I just spent a week in Virginia on my favorite niece's farm. She has two kids ages 5 and 7 that I was babysitting. She is so wonderful -- she is raising her kids with no tv, no computer games or video games. They get no cell phone reception. It was heaven. Played board games with the kids, read a lot. Of course, she also has no air-conditioning....but it is amazing how quickly you learn to cope with even that!

Hi Dakota:

In New York, it's called Access-a-ride, in California, it's called Get A Lift. In various states, well, they all have their names for it. What is IT??

It's a system where disabled people get picked up right at their front door and delivered to another place. But you only get approved for this service if you cannot take the usual public transportation, such as Buses or trains.

Because I have degenerative joint disease, I can't climb any steps and god forbid if I am on a bus and that bus moves a certain way, well, the pain goes right through me. I also have a frozen shoulder that when the weather does not cooperate, well, I can't hang on the over thing in a bus.

So when I have to go anywhere in the five boros, I just call Access-a-ride. Like for example, a few days ago Alan and I had to go to my girlfriend's funeral. They showing was from 2 to 4. You are allowed to have one guest accompany you. They pay the same fare as you do. $2.00 each way.

So we told the access-a-ride we had to be there by 1:30 p.m. If you tell them 2.P.M. believe me, you'll never get there because they are always late. That's the only downside to having this service. But beggers can't be choosers. Alan cannot drive because of his neuropathy so he was approved a few years ago for the Access-a-ride. We each have our own access-a-ride identification cards.

So you get picked up either in an Access-a-ride bus or a regular car with the words ACCESS-A-RIDE on it. In Staten Island it's always a car because Staten Island has all these hills and the buses can't go around the corners (or some such explanation as it was told to me).

So imagine having door to door service for $2.00. When they come on time, there's nothing better.

So the day of the funeral, we told them to pick us up at 4:15 p.m. They came at 4:12 p.m. This was very cool, believe me. It's better to have them come early than to wait for 3 hours.

A few years ago, Alan and I were in Staten Island attending my Aunt's 80th birthday party. We were scheduled for a 9.m. pickup to return to Brooklyn. Guess what time the Access-a-ride came?? 1 a.m.

I will never forget. We closed down the Chinese Restaurant, then we went next door to the catering hall, well, they closed down at midnight. So there we were, Alan and I alone in the street waiting for this darn Access-a-ride.

See, that's where the cell phones come in. You have to call them up and yell "where the heck is my ride"? Imagine being stranded at 1 a.m. without a cell phone? They kept saying: "20 more minutes". Jeez.

Well, after that incident, we have never used the Access-a-Ride for any occasion after 8 p.m. We just can't take the chance.

Not too many places to go. So we go to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast .

lol

Melody