It's not that I'm lazy....

... it's a problem of motivation, really. If I bust my ass and [write my thesis really fast], I don't see another dime.

Yes, I'm posting at midnight on a Friday night. Why didn't I go out, you ask? Because I'm doing work of course, like a good graduate student. But first I had to shoot the breeze with my roommate, make dinner, take a nap, read everyone's b-l-o-g-s to make sure I hadn't missed any comments or anything, and rip a couple cds onto my computer.

Ok, enough with the links. This is taking way too long, and I'm having to think too hard. What was I writing about, anyway? Oh yeah - my cell phone. My first question is, what are those things actually called? My Dad explained to me once why my phone wasn't actually a cell phone, but I am ashamed to say that it's one of the few bits of information he has shared with me that didn't stick. Wireless phone? Mobile phone? Contact gizmo? Essential accessory? Well, whatever mine is, it's an outdated one.

I am one of the few people left on the planet who does not have a color screen on their phone. That's right folks, my screen is green with black writing. Don't be deceived by the picture - it does not glow nearly that brightly and it is much more green. I have a choice of 4 backgrounds - sun, moon, flowers, leaves. The best feature is that I can change the greeting to my name instead of "Sprint PCS." Oh, and I can customize rings for individual people - it was actually one of the first models on which you could do so. Camera phone? Don't even go there. I don't think regular cameras had been invented when I got this thing.

Things that don't work on my phone - all notifications. No "new voicemail" icon, no "low battery" indication. Nope, I have to leave my phone on at all times so I can see the "missed call" window and then guess whether or not I have a message worth wasting dayime minutes to listen to. I also have to charge it every night, just in case - because otherwise, it will inevitably turn off in the middle of a call.

The most frustrating lack-of-feature on my phone is the inability to text message. Actually, I don't really care (I've never had the feature, so I guess I don't know what I'm missing), but if I did care, I imagine it would be frustrating. The annoying part is that people may think they are texting me, and their phones tell them I am getting the message, but I am not. Strangely enough, I do have a "text message" mailbox on my phone, but the only messages that get through are from Sprint. I know this from the one time I didn't pay my bill because their online system was messed up back in 2001. They took full advantage of my limited text-receiving capability and informed me about 12 times that my bill was due and they were going to take away my individualized rings AND my '5' key if I didn't pay up.

You may be wondering why I don't just get a new phone. What, I ask you, would be the fun in that?

I was reading an article today about Valentine's Day, and it said that 86% of people (plus or minus 97% - it was a very official survey) would be "texting" instead of sending cards this year. I figure I comprise the .003% of the population that can't text. I guess that means I'm out of luck in the Valentine department. Maybe I'll go hang out by a payphone and see if anyone accidentally calls me on it.

By the way, I got a beautifully wrapped present in the mail today - does Mike know me or what?? He said it would have gotten here yesterday, but the text wouldn't go through.

Good night. I hope I don't have insomnia.