Ring My Cellie When You Feelin' Lonely

I love Verizon Wireless. Yes, they're a big, fake corporation with no interest in me whatsoever except my $65 a month for use of their service. But their service works just about everywhere I go (it doesn't work well at my Mom's house-- we're in a bit of a valley), most of my friends have it so it's free for me to call them and talk about my waxing needs, and my calls aren't dropped like they were when I had Cingular.

I also love their "New Every Two" program, which gives you a new cell phone for free every two years when you renew your contract. In the midst of my financial cleaning house, I realized I was long overdue to renew my plan and get a new phone, so last week I renewed the contract and ordered my new phone. I didn't get the Razr-- I read some terrible reviews of it online-- but the Motorola E815. All the Bluetoothy goodness of the Razr with none of the lemon accusations. I really don't need a super phone-- as long as I can text message, take drunken pictures and call people, I'm fine.

The new phone arrived yesterday, and I hastily activated it. So far, I love it. All it needs is a Kelly Clarkson ringtone to be my very own. But last night when I got home and took my old phone out of my gym bag, I got a little sentimental. I had that phone for about three years. I got it when I was at home in Rhode Island, taking care of my Mom after her first hip replacement. It was so shiny and new, and with the first form of a digital camera I'd ever owned. The kids I babysit took off-kilter pictures of each other with it. The ringtone that I had set as my default had to be changed once the Whatever and I broke up, because I always associated that ring with him calling. We had an hours-long discussion on that phone after a fight. I downloaded another tone that sounded like a phone, which was beginning to bum me out since I associated it with the most recent contestant in the Amy Dating Game. The "4" key was sticking because of my fast and furious text messaging skills. The connection between the phone and the charger was spotty. In short, it was time to say goodbye. It was a good phone, and I can only wonder what stories this new phone will have with it in two years.