Well, it looks like I got another dead phone. I just had to replace my Samsung Flip 5 because when I went on vacation, the big interior screen stopped working. The phone was still active, and I could remote connect into it from my laptop, and I could still do some things on the outside screen, like view messages and notifications. But I couldn't do things like get an Uber or launch my web browser.

So I went to the Verizon store when I got back just under a month ago, and I decided I might as well upgrade to the Flip 6, which has been working fantastically for the past couple of weeks. Now, all of a sudden today, it seems to be dead. It won't turn on, it won't take a charge, and so off to Verizon I go tomorrow again.

But the reason why I'm writing this is kind of a rant and a complaint because I also have a smartwatch, the Galaxy whatever-it-is Gear, I think, and I'm paying extra so that the watch has cellular service of its own. If I go for a bike ride or walk the dogs, I don't have to bring my phone with me, and I'll still get messages on my watch. So I'm thinking, okay, my phone's dead, at least I'll still be able to get important text messages and calls on my watch, but that's not the case. Apparently, the phone has to be on and working so it can push messages to my watch, which is not how this was sold to me at the store.

Furthermore, Verizon doesn't have any means to allow me to log on to their website or use an app on my tablet or a different phone so that I can get my messages. So I'm literally dead in the water until I get my phone replaced. This is unacceptable in the 21st century. So I'm thinking my next move is to switch all of my contacts on all the different websites I'm on to use one of my Google Voice numbers as my primary number because it's portable, and I can log into it from any web browser.

The reason why I need my phone so much is because so many different websites now have two-factor authentication, which I like, but it requires you to get a text message in order to log on the website. So now I can't log on to my bank's website or PayPal without my phone, and my phone can't receive messages because it's dead, and my watch can't receive messages because my phone can't push the messages to my watch, which is a service I'm supposedly paying for. So yeah, I'm a little ticked off today, and now I've got to waste my time tomorrow to go back down to Verizon.

I thought of switching over to my fiancee's plan. She's got T-Mobile, and I had T-Mobile before for years and years back up in Buffalo, and even when I first moved to Florida. But I got rid of T-Mobile because I was on vacation literally in downtown Anchorage, AK, a good-sized city, and I had no service. We're talking zero service, and I was able to get in touch with T-Mobile and complain, and they're like, "Oh yeah, nationwide service only accounts for the contiguous 48 states, not Alaska or Hawaii." Now, this was back in 2015, but still, come on, so that's why I left T-Mobile, and they were very rude about it, too.

I've been very happy with Verizon, but it's just little things like this. Oh, and the reason why I didn't want to switch over to my fiancee's plan is because during Hurricane Ian a couple of years ago, I had no service, and she did. Sometimes, when we're traveling, she won't have service, but I will. So I like having two separate phones on different networks, although I wish all these cell phone providers would just merge all the towers together so we don't have to deal with this.

Okay, rant over. How happy are you with your phone provider, and who do you use?