Several days ago about midnight on my way to the 7-11 I had a flat tire. Thankfully I had my cell phone and I called AAA. It would have been hell if I did not, I would have had to walk the rest of the way and try to call them from the 7-11, but I don’t have the number memorized and if they did let me use the phone I would have had to call directory assistance and then AAA, talking through a mask.
I have a bad back and I do not need to be changing tires. Love AAA.
Anyway for a long time I have thought about getting a phone just to keep in the car for emergencies, but with my cell provider I would have to buy a new phone and pay for minutues that I would probably never use. And so far I have never forgotten to take my phone with me when I drove somewhere.
Then I rememberd TracFone. That was my first cell provider about 12 years ago, and at that time I always left it in the car because I don’t really talk on the phone. And we had a home phone of course, remember those?
For $21.95 I got a phone and 180 minutes. And they do not expire, I just have to use the phone once every 6 months. Setting up a Gmail reminder now, and just have to get a charger, the one that came with it only plugs into an outlet.
Instead of a charger, get a portable battery bank instead. It’s fine if the phone is out of power 99% of the time as long as you can power the the few times you need to use it. Plus, a portable battery bank is generally a useful thing to have in a car anyway.
I carry a portable battery thing always. I live too rural not to.
I don’t know, I am going to turn the phone off now and probably won’t turn it on again until…forever.
Although one time a few years ago, in a driving snowstorm in 15 degree weather in Rhode Island, I ran out of gas on the outside of town. Called AAA but my phone was almost out of charge. And I could not charge it in the car because my car battery had run down. I had been sitting there with the radio on and the heater on and as I found out the battery needed to be replaced. Oh and the window of the car was halfway down, I had opened it a few minutes before just to let a little fresh air in, and it got stuck. So I am sitting there for half an hour with wind and snow blowing in, I am trying to warm my hands on the Wendy’s chilli I had just bought, which was the reason I ended up in that situation to begin with.
Phone was dead by that point so I couldn’t call AAA to get an update on the arrival time and I start to get out of the car to walk somewhere, I was afraid of getting frostbite. I don’t know exactly where I was going to go, I didn’t see any businesses open but thought there might be one around the corner up ahead.
Just then the truck pulled up and gave me some gas and charged my car battery.