Kid and cell phones

Yikes!!!!! Scary for sure!!! I've heard of ball lightning before. What a phenomena. Glad you mom was okay, as well as your house for the most part.

The fact they are all cordless was probably the reason they went out. Cordless phones are always plugged into electric power. We have a cordless in every room in the house (lots of phones here) but we still keep two phones that are not cordless (so 2 phones in 2 of our rooms, kitchen and family room), still plugged into the old phone outlets, no electricity needed. Our cordless do not work either when power is out, but those 2 non-cordless still work with no electric.

But I do believe you, and your hubby. :wave:
I have a corded phone in the closet to use in case of a power outage lasting long enough that we can charge our cellphones (still have a landline).
 
The fact they are all cordless was probably the reason they went out. Cordless phones are always plugged into electric power. We have a cordless in every room in the house (lots of phones here) but we still keep two phones that are not cordless (so 2 phones in 2 of our rooms, kitchen and family room), still plugged into the old phone outlets, no electricity needed. Our cordless do not work either when power is out, but those 2 non-cordless still work with no electric.
It wasn't just because we had cordless phones. The phone lines themselves were fried and all had to be replaced. The lightening came out of the jack in my mother's house, which was all burnt. Honestly, it was something to see, all the repair people were astounded. Cordless or corded would not have made a difference in this case. It is probably just one of the rare situations where all land lines were dead that didn't involve cutting a line, although the net effect was the same.

ETA: From The NY Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/04/...k-on-the-telephone-during-a-thunderstorm.html

"A bolt of lightning that strikes a telephone line can cause an electrical surge to shoot through the wires and enter a handset.

The odds of this are relatively small, and most phone companies have protective measures in place. Still, the risk exists, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recommends that people avoid using telephones and other appliances during electrical storms.

Cases of customers' being jolted while on the phone in a storm are well documented. A few have even died. In 1985, for example, a teenager in New Jersey was killed when lightning caused an electrical surge to flow through his telephone wire, enter his ear and stop his heart. Similar incidents have been reported."

* Note, no differentiation between cordless or corded handsets. Many of these incidents occurred before cordless phones were invented, going way back to the turn of the last century.
 
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I know these are slightly older comments:

I think that knowing how to use a paper map/atlas is EQUALLY as important as knowing how to used google maps, especially in an emergency. and atlas will never run out of wifi /data or power in a catastrophic event. We have cell phone and a landline. That land line has cordless phones and 2 corded phone attached to it. We had a snow storm a couple of years ago guess what worked? Only the corded phones, the old rotary dial and analogue push button ones. They had enough charge coming through the telephone wire to call out and receive calls to family that still had power. The cell phone were useless as the internet and cell towers were damaged and not fixed for a few days.
I know how to use an atlas and I will still prefer GPS (even with its downsides). One thing that makes GPS helpful is when people can report things like road closures and things like detours are integrated into the system. Paper maps cannot do that. Now GPS doesn't always catch things but it generally catches a lot.

The cell phones WERE fully charge. They had no SIGNAL due to to towers be knocked out. The buried phone lines still worked! In Las Vegas maybe not. A rain/wind or snow storm can make power and data difficult to access. All I was saying was don't be come TOO dependent on technology and forget how to use older methods. Ever driven in area where towers are few and far between? Now put some sort or storm, or natural disaster that interferes with or damages those. Driving without access to your data knowing how to use and having a map or atlas to guide you would be helpful. I can drive on many major highways and not get a signal especially mountain passes/ valleys.
Offline viewing is available even if I doubt a huge ton of people do it. But I will say we recently did in Jamaica just in case. Offline viewing won't help as far as route options due to traffic but it's still an option.

Also for the most part at least in my experience the Maps app on the phone has done a pretty good job of at least staying open in terms of where I was last at when the signal was strong. There have been times where the signal was lost while driving but then I pinch out the route and look at it just like I would on a physical map and can figure it out

Your point on at least knowing older technology I can totally get. Though my house wasn't built with landlines anyways so I guess I'm just running my luck each day lol. On the plus side power lines in general for a while have been built underground as new development occurs so when our power goes out it's due to issues at the station generally and well that's not something we can help.
 
I'm going to be more careful, sticking to my cell.
It wasn't just because we had cordless phones. The phone lines themselves were fried and all had to be replaced. The lightening came out of the jack in my mother's house, which was all burnt. Honestly, it was something to see, all the repair people were astounded. Cordless or corded would not have made a difference in this case. It is probably just one of the rare situations where all land lines were dead that didn't involve cutting a line, although the net effect was the same.

ETA: From The NY Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/04/...k-on-the-telephone-during-a-thunderstorm.html

"A bolt of lightning that strikes a telephone line can cause an electrical surge to shoot through the wires and enter a handset.

The odds of this are relatively small, and most phone companies have protective measures in place. Still, the risk exists, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recommends that people avoid using telephones and other appliances during electrical storms.

Cases of customers' being jolted while on the phone in a storm are well documented. A few have even died. In 1985, for example, a teenager in New Jersey was killed when lightning caused an electrical surge to flow through his telephone wire, enter his ear and stop his heart. Similar incidents have been reported."

* Note, no differentiation between cordless or corded handsets. Many of these incidents occurred before cordless phones were invented, going way back to the turn of the last century.
 


Electronics today are tools to use for education. I couldn't imagine saying 'Regular pencils were good enough for me in school, so I'm not buying my kid a mechanical pencil.'

I wish DS's school saw it that way! Instead they're cracking down more and more on any sign of cell phones, when I think they should instead be teaching cell phone etiquette and using them as educational tools.

It's a weird world we live in where everyone needs to be connected to people miles away while ignoring the ones right in front of them, but it is what it is. No use fighting the times right?

Great insight!

I will say my reliance on GPS has decreased my sense of direction somewhat.

It probably has for me too, but I consider it a small price to pay because it has seriously expanded where I feel comfortable going alone (or with kids). If I've got that "be in this lane, your turn is coming up" crutch, I feel so much less anxious driving!
 
My oldest received her phone at the age of 13. She has no social media, I reserve all rights to her phone at anytime.

Now for school most of her friends have phones as she is now in high school. They use technology for getting information out in many different app formats. So the phone is helpful.

It is nice that I am able to track her when she is out and about and able to send messages while she is at school vs going through the office.
 

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