Errand day. Mobile phone shop to make arrangements for suspending service when we’re away. Have to admit that they’re better about doing this than Canadian mobile providers, who seem to want to have you prepay at horrific rates or pay for full year contracts. Some translation difficulties, though. The monthly suspension fee they refer to as a fine, which always sounds unduly punitive. Bell Canada doesn’t call the suspension charge a fine but suppose it amounts to more or less the same thing. And Bell doesn’t want to see your passport in order to do business but probably know more about you than your nearest and dearest anyway.
The only phone number we have year round is a UK mobile number. Based, of course in a country where we rarely spend more than three weeks, but works anywhere in the world. Not horrifically expensive, and in fact quite reasonable - except when used in TRNC and Türkiye, which seems to have not made inexpensive arrangements with any other country - except perhaps Azerbaijan. Not unreasonably expensive to use in Canada for us, but many Canadians have contracts that don’t include communicating with non-North American numbers.
Yes, of course. Communication possible in ways undreamt of in our youth. On the other hand, the assumption of both businesses and governments is that everyone has not only a telephone but, in many cases a smart mobile phone. (And yes, there are unsmart cellular phones still in existence. And very nice our last one was, too. Slid into a smallish pocket and used easily available inexpensive batteries which I, alone and unaided, could install in about twenty seconds). So countries will proudly proclaim that their networks cover, for example. 96% of the “landmass” (UK) or 99% of the population (Bell Canada mobility). Have a correspondent in Wales who lives in a spot that doesn’t receive a signal, which causes endless difficulty with agencies that are simply not equipped to deal with exceptions. And am dubious about the accuracy of Bell’s claim.
Telsim not our only stop, though. Acquire ant powder at the excellent DYI, which, unlike the mobile shop does not require either passports or cash despite our undisguised intent to commit murder. Then other stops for raisins, Turkish pepper, and black olives. Olives now reposing in the sun awaiting pitting.
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