Can you hear me now?

Remember when we were kids and we played "Telephone"? We'd talk into a tin can or plastic cup attached to another one by a long string. No surprise we couldn't get the message across.

Today's phones have come a long, long way. They don't even have to be plugged in! They fit in our pockets, take pictures, get email, play music and do just about everything but make me a cup of cappuccino (I can't wait for that one to come out!).

I'm not as bad as my parents, who still have a rotary phone. I do have a cell phone through work -- a Blackberry actually, which does the phone thing along with email and Internet -- but Jim and I do not have a personal cell phone. His reasoning: "I don't need one. I'm not that important." In other words, anyone who needs to get ahold of him can wait until he gets home -- even if he's out of town a week.

I can understand some of his reasoning. It is annoying to see people talking on their phones all the time (especially while driving!). What does everyone have to talk about that it can't wait?!

I admit I do like having a mobile phone in case of an emergency -- especially in the winter. Other than that, I really only use mine for a few work calls and once in awhile to call home before leaving town to see if I need to pick something up. I prefer, though, to talk on our "land line" because the signal is always clear. Well, until yesterday anyway.

For some reason our phones quit working (no dial tone), which was weird because we get a package deal with our cable service and our cable and Internet worked fine. So I log on to the company Web site, send a "Help Me!" email about our dead phones.

When I get the response email, it says: "Thank you for notifying us about your phone problem. To talk to a service rep, please call XXX and select option 2."

I'm supposed to CALL to tell someone my phone isn't working?!! If my phone was working, I wouldn't have to call! I guess it is assumed that everyone in America has a cell phone. Good thing I do have one for emergencies after all.

And it wasn't so bad enjoying a quiet Sunday afternoon at home. I wish it would have happened last Sunday instead when I was getting calls from the gloating Packers fans! That's OK. They were pretty quiet this week!