"E.T. phone home"

Today I bought a new cell phone.  Cell towers are more widely spaced up north than "down below."  As I drive north my phone goes into a frantic signal search, runs down its battery, and eventually lapses into a catatonic state.  Lake Esau is a cell phone Bermuda Triangle.  I can get a signal at the Presque Isle post office, or on the road halfway to US-23, but not at my home site.

If E.T. had tried to phone home from the east shore of Lake Esau, those nasty government scientists in hazmat suits would have bagged their quarry 30 minutes into the film!

The Verizon shop on Robbins Rd. assures me that my new Motorola Entice W766 is just what I need.  It offers much better reception than my 4-year-old clunker, they say.  This is not a smart phone.  I leave those cutting edge gadgets to my tech-savvy brothers, with their iPhones and Blackberries.  I don't need a phone that folds the laundry and tells me bedtime stories in 42 languages.  A dumb phone is fine for me.  If this one doesn't perform as advertised, I have 14 days to exchange it for two tin cans and a taut string.

Meanwhile, I arranged today for an electrician to set up the terminus for the power line at my lot.  The process is moving forward. •••