Phone--for me?

There are many things about being back in the states that take some getting used to.

Phone calls are one.

Image courtesy of Pong / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

For the past six years we haven't even had a home phone.  We used our cellphones for local calls and phone over the Internet for family and friends in the states.  But family and friends rarely called because of the time difference.

What this means is that for the last six years the phone didn't ring very often and when it did it was almost always someone I was happy to talk to.

A ringing phone was a positive, joyous event.

Not so much any more.

It's not like the phone rings off the hook or anything it's just that every time it rings I get that jolt of excitement, that initial thrill of --who's been thinking of me and called to chat.

The answer here most often is your friendly neighborhood cancer/firefighters/politician fundraiser.

At first the kids were confused.  "I think our phone isn't working right.  When I answer there's no one there and I have to say "hello, hello, hello" before someone finally answers."

As I wrote this my phone rang.

Caller ID showed that is was the Children's Cance...

It suddenly occurred to me that I didn't have to answer the phone.

Cool.