Banes

Most of you know what a cable tie is.  For those who don't, it is a thin, flat plastic thing with one nubby end  with a slot that the other end can go through.  It enters, but cannot back out, as it is designed to grip firmly.   They come in a variety of colors, but predominantly in blue, white and black.

People who drive around in phone company repair trucks always have an amble supply of them.  These workers are always in need of those little fasteners. 
When rewiring is done, for example, those handy things can easily be cut off with snips.  And snip the workers do and did.
My husband was one of those people for many years.

Quite a few of those cable ties found their way to our home.  One use Ray had for them was securing Christmas lights to the house. When it was time for the lights to come down, snip he would!
He did not limit the use to only season, but found many opportunities for their use and to snip them off!
Where they fell is where they stayed.

Over the years I have pick up quite a few of these plastic darlings.
Too many....

A few years ago I declared to my husband that they had become the bane of my existence.
He looked at me quizzically.
I explained and he grinned!

The other day I decided that something else has taken its place as the bane of my life.

The telephone.

As I thought about sharing these thoughts I decided to get an official definition of a bane.
Dictionary.com states that it is something causing misery or death.
In my case, misery works and as far as death, well, my bane may just become the death of me!.

Alexander Graham Bell could not have imagined just how deep an impact his invention would make.
He also would never have had any idea of how far in the dust his basic invention would be left in less than one hundred years!
Yes, the telephone has come a long way baby....

First, a phone in the general store followed by many homes becoming connected.
And, of course, down the road the advent of cell phones.
For the majority of adults and teens there is one in every one's pocket.
I know that there are also a good number of younger children carrying one.

I resisted getting one for a few years.  I did not see the need.  Ray kept urging me to change my mind.  One night's driving around trying to find a public phone won me over to my honey's position.

Today my favorite feature of my cell phone is the keyboard that gives me the ability to text.
It keeps me in touch with my children.
That is enough of a reason for me, however, there is another...
It saves me from making many phone calls.  One can get their message across without having to commit much time to doing so.
There are too many calls to be made to engage in conversations each time.
After all I need time for all those automated systems that I need to connect with....

Have you noticed how many companies begin there pre-recorded message by asking if you have tried getting the needed information on their website?
I would love to be able to register my response to this query!

Each month a withdrawal is made for our benefits from our checking account.  It covers a number of benefits, for which the total was established prior to Ray's retirement.
Or so I thought.

The individual monthly withdrawals have all been for different amounts.
The website that should have been able to solve the mystery did not, so I had no choice but to turn to the telephone and their wretched automated system.

Hitting "O" for operator didn't work.  They needed to know the topic of my concern.  I selected accordingly.
Two days and five individuals later I finally found someone who admitted she did not have access to the information that I needed, but committed to jumping through all the hoops for me until she found the right person.  The previous four individuals all gave me misinformation or informed me that I needed to dial the number that I had dialed!

Matthew happened to come into the room while I sat with phone in hand waiting to be connected with the one who would and did have the answers I needed.
I looked at my son and informed him that phones were now officially the bane of my existence.  Like his father had done, he, too, looked at me quizzically.
I explained, but with a bit more drama than Ray had witnessed.

I told Matt that if I were to end up in hell, which praise God (!) I won't, but if I did...
Upon arrival I would be handed a phone!!