Life After the Dial Tone

Going Out

So, I did it. I had my cell phone disconnected.

I don't really need it. I don't. Really.

We don't go out much, so there's no good reason to have four cells phones in the house plus a land line.

Waste of money. Don't need it. Don't.

I had to go out tonight, to get in the car and drive. Away from home. Away from the house phone. Along a highway where there are no phones.

Remember what that was like, being able to get away from people and not having to worry that the office was going to call, or that the phone would ring at an inopportune moment? Do you remember the freedom of being out of reach?

I really don't need to call anybody from the car...unless of course the car breaks down...out in the middle of nowhere...where there are no phones...at night...where there may even be chupacabras.

Wouldn't it be ironic if I was to be eaten by a chupacabra because I got a flat tire and didn't have my phone with me on a rainy night when I decided that being retired means I don't need no stinking phone to bleed me dry with monthly charges for a service that I would only need in case of emergency?

Still, I'll get used to it, not having a phone that is. I don't know if a person can get used to chupacabra attacks. They scar you for life if they don't kill you outright.

I took Sand's phone with me this time, just as a precaution, but I know that next time I'll go alone. I'll lock the car doors and plan my route. I won't stop until I'm there, and I won't tarry on the way back. I will live my life free of my electronic shackles... notwithstanding the chupacabras.

I'm just saying.

There is nothing to fear, but fear and chupacabras.

 

So I am  going along living my life happily, believing that all is well. We have shelter, we have plenty to eat, and we are warm. I have done the math, and there are sufficient funds to keep us sheltered, fed and warm for the foreseeable future. Then I read this article on the BBC News web site about  "the 99ers."  This is a phrase that describes those in the US who have received the maximum 99 weeks of unemployment benefits and still find themselves without work. There are several interviews with 99ers who are of course good people who have come upon hard times. They have lost their homes and their dignity, and they are broke.

I do not doubt there are many 99ers out there, and my heart goes out to them. I am not one of them, however, and I have God to thank for that. He has been most generous to me, and has provided me with a family that has stewarded our resources well.

Funny thing is that when I read an article like this, alarm bells start ringing inside my head and I begin to think that I must be wrong about something. Maybe I added the numbers wrong. Maybe the stock market is going to crash and we will lose everything. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

What if I happen to be the first human in to live to be 200 years old? Do I have the resources to cover that?

I don't know if everybody who retires goes through this, and I don't know how long I'll continue to get rattled when I hear about how bad things can be. I know there is a lesson here about trusting in God, and maybe one day I'll figure that out.

In the meantime, Sand and I are canceling our plans to go to Texas. I read they've got blood sucking chupacabras there, probably stealing money from old people.

I'm just sayin'.