I guess I would have been surprised out of my mind if Cingular had actually followed up on their promise to have a phone for me today if I prepaid at the beginning of the week. As it is, completely failing this one thing is consistent with every other interaction with phone companies I've ever had. The model of the relationship is: I give them money, and they cause me a headache. Like a teenage kid, huh?

Oh well. My old phone isn't dead or anything. It is, if nothing else, bombproof. Battery's still good. It has survived numerous high speed intersections with concrete. Reception's good. In fact, all these things are why I've waited so long to replace it. New phones seem to be made out of flimsy plastic all around, at least here in the USA. (Japanese cell phones make ours look paleolithic). I figured I would only replace the starTAC if a phone came out that was made of metal. Well, that phone exists now. So that's why I'm dealing with Cingular.