It’s been 4 weeks since I’ve written a post… Yikes! I’m back on track with Dukan, but will write about that tomorrow… Today, a rant that’s been brewing for 9 months… That’s the sum total of my time back in the States. I know the response that I’ll get out of some people (if you don’t like it, move away, lol) but this is MY country and my rights include freedom of speech 😀

Cell phone communication in the United States SUCKS!! I fly in, turn on my cell phone at MIA (Miami International) and I have ONE BAR… Can’t call ride from baggage, have to walk around outside to be able to hook up with ride, who is ALSO experiencing shitty cell service!

I can’t speak on my cell phone at home. AT ALL. I have to go outside (difficult in this rainy season in Florida) and sit on a fallen palm tree across the road and even then, I have a shitty connection. I am constantly sending texts (so much so I’ve programmed the response as a text) that says, “At home, shitty cell service, text only”. Sad 😦

Traveling to Nashville, TN for a conference last month, I tallied my dropped calls. I know, why would you do that? To see if I really is the cell service. Over the course of my two day drive, on MAJOR HIGHWAYS, I dropped TWENTY NINE CALLS… 29!!!

In Abu Dhabi I could be dune bashing in the middle of the desert. Nothing but sand, camels, Hummers and Jeeps for MILES and I never ONCE dropped a call…. NOT ONE TIME, EVER! Not when we were in town, not when I was at home, not when I was driving out in the wadis… Not a single, “can you hear me now”, not a single dropped call.

Every single city in China… Again, not a single dropped call, hard time hearing, tilt your head to the left to hear every single word, EVER. I even had cell and Internet service in the bloody SUBWAY!!!

Is it because we don’t have enough cell towers? Am I safe from being tracked at home with pings (I say this tongue in cheek). Is it because certain companies own the towers and don’t want to share? How about the fact there are far too many cell companies? Blah, blah I hear some of you saying that having multiple companies keeps the rates down… To that I say BULLSHIT! In Abu Dhabi I paid $40 USD a month for unlimited calls, text and Internet. In China I paid $25 USD for the same. What are you paying for AT&T for the same service? For dropped calls, for sketchy service, for not being able to make an emergency call in some places, if you need to?

We’re suppose to be the most technologically advanced country in the world… News flash, we aren’t. We’ve got a long way to catch up… I wish we would!

Ciao!