O.J. Simpson -- dead

Occasionally I will still glance at where the answering machine used to be out of habit, but my landline went bye-bye about 10 years ago.

 

We had a landline that came with our AT&T fiber internet, but all we used were our cellphones. I eventually unplugged it because it only rang for some form of phone spam. Deleted it from the internet package because it was just wasted money.

 

Our former landline phone has a proud place in our home as a wall unit decoration.

 

I think my last landline was in 2007ish, and it was also because I was renting a house with a college buddy. Also at the time, the landline was completely free with the cable, with no real way to unbundle it, so we plugged in a phone. After that point, I was mostly in apartments by myself, so there was no point to have a house phone.

 

We kept ours until the 2016 election and dumped it thanks to all the robocalls. We only kept it that long because our local 911 didn't have the ability to track incoming cell calls to find your address if you couldn't speak.

 

I pay for a landline because it's cheaper to bundle my phone/cable/Internet but I don't have a phone plugged into it. I had a landline phone at the previous house and the only time I used it was to call my cellphone if I couldn't find it.

 

Scrabble GARDENING EDITION? What kind of super advanced nerd shit is that?!

 

Funny story that just happened this weekend. We kept a landline until two years ago, partially because it was cheaper with the bundle, partially because we have four kids and it was almost necessary to have a central line for all sorts of things. But we changed internet providers two years ago and it wasn't bundled to have it and pretty damn expensive, and at that point three of the four kids had cell phones. So we dropped it. Haven't really missed it. That central line actually got annoying because none of us checked messages or used it and then we'd miss things tied to it (a long time it was our main school number for example).

This weekend I took my kid to early baseball warmups and somehow took my wife's and my phone along with us. He forgot a piece of equipment and when I tried to reach out to her I realized I had her phone. Wanted to let her know I had her phone and to bring the gear and I couldn't reach her. No neighbors around, my oldest two kids are not home. I was at a loss. Texted one of my oldest kids and he was like, home phone? Um, we haven't had one for a few years. Then after the kid I was with was warming up, he was like, home phone? Sheesh. But that was the only time in two years I can really think of that it would have come in handy.

 

Wife saw it at a bookstore and bought it.

25 bonus points for a seven-letter gardening word! "What kind of super advanced nerd C-O-M-P-O-S-T is that?!"

 

"Today's the day, I can feel it. I'm finally gonna get a bingo by using F-E-R-T-I-L-I-Z-E-R on two triple word score squares."

 

Holy shit, now I gotta pony up for a landline again.

 

Use your computer to trigger the "find my phone" and listen. Works fine if it's in the house and the battery isn't flat.