The Puzzle

Sunday, August 31, 2008 – 9:20 A.M. I have been puzzling over a puzzle this weekend, and I am not getting very far. It is becoming so frustrating that I am close to calling it quits, which is something I hate to do no matter how bad things get.   Friday afternoon, there was a faint knock at my door. When I opened it no one was there, but someone had left a small package for me. I grimaced because I knew exactly what it contained – a cell phone. After my “adventure” last weekend, my sister told me to get one or she would get one for me. Because I knew it was more than just a threat, I decided to get one online before my sister bought a pink (her favorite color) and feminine one for me. By getting one myself, at least I had control over what kind it would be.   When my CNA came to prepare dinner for me last night, I let her open the package. It was the dreaded cell phone, just as I suspected. It was a small black rectangular device, smaller than a cigarette package. There is a small screen and 17 buttons each of which has some type of marking on it.   My CNA unboxed it, quickly put the batteries in, and then said, “See, it works.” Huh? She had lost me long before that while she was in the process of opening its box. I watched mesmerized as she plugged the phone into a battery charger, which she plugged into a wall socket. She suggested I let the battery charge for 10 hours, and then charge a second battery that I had gotten for another 10 hours.   I have tried working with the phone on and off throughout yesterday. So far, I have successfully managed to find the confirmation order, new phone number, and instruction booklet, the latter of which might as well have been written in Greek. I got the phone turned on and found the menu just before it turned itself off.   The part of the instruction booklet that I could read said I could get more information about the phone package (or something like that) online. When I tried getting that, it required my new phone number, which I had, plus my PIN number, which had been sent to the mailbox on the phone. I located the mailbox, but do not know how it can be reached.   I have a 30-day trial on the AT&T phone, but I will probably be returning it long before then. There are supposed to be eight speed dials, which I cannot find, and I have a hard time using the small buttons.   This is one puzzle that is not worth puzzling over.