Phones

I caught Robin's cold and was going to take a nap and realized I wouldn't be disturbed by the phone ringing.  No political calls, no would-you-like-an-estimate calls, no don't-forget-to-do-such-and-such-for-the-schools calls, no calls with only silence on the other end.  Every single adult I know was at work (two exceptions - one US expat and one Japanese expat) and they probably wouldn't call anyway.

On the off chance that someone (my darling husband, 99% of the time) calls while I am not home, there is no answering machine, but a light flashes to indicate a missed call and I can see the number of the caller.  I had to ask a classmate's parent how to make it stop flashing because I couldn't figure it out.  I had never had a phone with "intuitive wheel navigation" before.

I have started carrying a cell phone because I was shamed into it by the school secretary.  I have called no one and have received no calls, which is good because we bought only twenty minutes for it.  If we start getting calls we can buy more minutes, but I think that is a long ways off.  I am proud to say that have memorized the phone number, in case someone asks for it.

When people answer the phone they say their name.  This seems to work well, although sometimes I answer with my usual hello so that the caller might respond in English.

Our phone numbers are eight digits, but there are no area codes.  I haven't figure out whether I am supposed to write the number as 12345678 or 1234 5678 or 12 34 56 78.

Doctor appointments are made online and if you wish for a call back instead of an email your mobile phone gets charged about $0.75.  I wonder what happens if you have a pre-paid phone?