I did it. I took a deep breath and I made a life change.

I switched mobile phone service providers.

After weeks of deliberating, which to the casual observer looked more like weeks of hemming, hawing, hand-wringing and general angsting, I switched from Sprint to Cingular. There were a few reasons for the switch, not the least of which is Cingular's coverage here on the Island of Misfits seems more steady than Sprint's. But what it finally came down to was this:

Cingular wanted me as a customer. Sprint couldn't have cared less.

I ventured into many a Sprint store in the San Francisco/Oakland area, hoping to find a phone that 1) wasn't another cheap piece of crap; 2) I could take/send photos with; and 3) could use iSync to synchronize with iCal and Address Book on my iMac. Sprint's offerings seemed quite flimsy--both in terms of selection and the actual phones themselves. Seriously, these looked like phones that Simon would be able to destroy in about 12 seconds (assuming he ever gets bored with his latest obsession--the Cat Dancer). One of the Sprint Stores had some of the more sturdy-looking Motorola phones from the Nextel line (the two companies have recently merged). However, whenever I tried to ask about the Motorolas, the sales rep would shoo me back to the cheep-o Sprint phones. Out of sheer frustration, I gave up.

I researched online and chewed over the possibilities for another week or so, then wandered back to the Cingular store where Jason cheerfully absorbed (and answered) my previous barrage of questions. When I got there, he had a customer he was helping and asked his manager if she would help me. So Tami, the manager, and I headed over to the phones. I had narrowed my choice down to two, both priced the same, but my "first choice" was only that price after a mail-in rebate. I told Tami that I really liked the phone and it was my first choice...but I have a near-religious aversion to mail-in rebates. Her response, "OK, then. Instant rebate! It's the end of the month and I feel like it!"

I took another deep breath. Part of my hesitation with change (of any kind) lately is that fear that not only will it not work out all right, but might just bring all kinds of doom into my life (the events of this year have created a personality quirk that leaves me somewhere between Piglet and Eeyore). Well, come what may, I now own a Sony Ericsson S710a. It's a phone with a 1.3MP camera. It's sleek and sexy, plays MP3's and, after picking up a Bluetooth adaptor, it synchs beautifully with my iMac. It takes pretty damn good piccies, too. Behold:




NOW GROOVIN' TO: Bunnyman and Chickengirl from the album "20 Minute Loop" by 20 Minute Loop