Saturday, May 17, 2008

Mobile madness

WHY oh why is the mobile phone coverage so awful in Oxford? I just changed from pay as you go to contract, with the aim of not feeling incredibly guilty every time I make a call to another mobile. I must have been having a blonde moment, seeing as it is near on impossible to do such a thing in Oxford. This would rely on two phones both having sufficient signal at the same time. Practically unheard of!

Perhaps it's the dreaming spires getting in the way; perhaps it's a conspiracy to maintain the so-called Oxford bubble, or perhaps some greater power above thinks there should be some places free from the irritating bleeping of ringtones and the tedium of having to listen to strangers' conversations. The funny thing is, this still seems to happen. Cyclists, in particular, seem to have no problem chatting to their friends, generally while on their bikes, and usually when cycling very slowly in front of me or veering onto the pavement when I'm walking. Not that I'm grumpy or anything... Perhaps the key to beating this mysterious block is to move faster than it...

It does at least give me a good workout leaping around trying to rescuscitate a conversation that's been crackled out mid-flow, or waving my phone out of various windows in the naive belief that this will actually make a difference. The most frustrating thing is that the signal can be full until the second someone picks up, at which point it withers the second I've said 'hi'. I swear I can hear it giggling in its rebellion. On the plus side, it has led to some rather amusing delayed text messages, eg:

Me: "Hi watching a film tonight. Fancy coming over?"
Friend: "Sounds great. What's it on?"
Me: "It's about Aids and suffering"
Friend: "Awesome!"

At least, I assume these are caused by delays...

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