Ten minutes to write. Less time to read.

I’ve had my cellphone for maybe two, three years; and I’m due for an upgrade on July 28.

I think my cellphone knows its days could be numbered, because it’s acting oddly.  For example, it doesn’t always ring when I have an incoming call even when I have the volume on super high.  It doesn’t hold a charge as long either; what once lasted a week or so now only lasts a day.

I’ve never been a cellphone person.  In fact, all the wireless Internet features on my phone are turned off; and I can only call or text on this machine.  I can’t determine the weather or answer email or get the location of the nearest Starbuck’s.  So I refer to it as my dumb phone and like it that way.

What bothers me most about my cellphone’s new behavior is that I suspect telephone companies wire them in such a way that they begin to fail just when one’s contract is up. I can’t prove it, and my cellphone isn’t revealing any secrets; but, being the cynic that I am, this seems logical.

July 28 is more than a month away; could it be that the telephone company even programs the cellphone to fail in enough time to make the customer (That would be me) really frustrated and willing to purchase some new, over-the-top edition that probably can’t be called a dumb phone?

I’ll keep you posted.