An Affair with mobile Phone

An Affair with mobile Phone

Temmy, my wife once told me that she discovered I now have a second wife who is threatening to take her place, I was so shocked to hear that because that thought had never crossed my mind, so I asked her who was the second wife and how did she get the news. Her reply shocked me further. Temmy informed me that my Mobile phone is the second wife.

My Mobile phone… mmmmmm…,  well… I am guilty of being too attached to my phone, yes, my mobile phone virtually separated me from other things in my life (Apart from my Wife). I even use it more than I visit my laptop since I can do virtually everything I want to do with my mobile phone.

Nokia 3310 Era

When Mobile phone was introduced in Nigeria in 2001, nobody ever predicted it will become an essential commodity now. In fact it took me a whole year before I can join the league of mobile phone users since I never saw any sense in it then.

Perhaps maybe due to rugged and non flashy style of the early phones arrival in Nigeria, many do not see the need to buy it.

You will remember with fond memory the Nokia 3310, and how we play the snake game with it. I still remember the Samsung R220 blue face with antenna which I used with the aid of an outside antenna attached to a long pole all in the bid to get network and be able to call out.

However, what I really don’t want to remember is that tiny voice always reminding me that my credit will soon expire when I just bought a 750 MTN card which was suppose to last for only 7 days.

I started my phone with Samsung A800, a small portable blue open and close phone with a green light background whom I collected from my Old man and I was so proud of the phone as I show it off to my friends who were still glued to Nokia 3310.

In this era, yours truly quickly settled down into the mobile world and I learnt how to compose songs for the Nokia 3310 and the likes and I was the rave in the campus as students sought me out with their Nokia 3310 begging me to help them ‘tush’ up their phone with some sounds. I still laugh whenever I remember how we were satisfied with those sounds then and feel so fly anytime our phone ring and it plays monophonic sounds.

Infrared and Polyphonic Era

After my first experience with Sansung, I migrated to Sony Ericsson with Z200, and that was when the Infrared age started and you can imagine my elation when I discovered that apart from making calls and playing games, I can actually send files such as pix and Polyphonic ring tones, by bringing my phone side by side with another phone.

To some of us, that is the best that can ever happen to us on the technology era, imagine you being able to actually transfer pix to my phone, all I need to do is snap myself and send it to other people’s phone through my Infrared. It was simply wonderful

Mp3 and Bluetooth Era

I moved through different ranges of Sony Ericsson from Z200 to K350i, K750i and later W800i and P900i and in all these, I was introduced to Mp3 and 3.5 mega pixel camera as well as Bluetooth. I guess this was where the addiction started from, as I tried various styles and innovations with my Sony Ericsson.

Being a bachelor at that time, it is natural that I stay awake most nights with my ear phone in my ear listening to cool music blaring into my ear while I also try out other things that my phone application allows me.

Internet Browsing Codes

All through these periods there were still a limit to all we can do with our phones, as our network providers felt we don’t still qualify to enjoy full internet access, so you can imagine how happy I was when in the early 2008, I stumbled across a free browsing code and browsing cheats…

Wow, so I can actually browse on my phone for free? This realization was so superb, I formed a clique of free browsing code users, and we create codes for various versions of phones and share it among ourselves.

Much later, we discovered browsing prov and created provs for our MTN and GLO. It was so wonderful.

China Phone era

A friend of mine visited me in 2009 and was holding a very big mobile phone with large screen. On closer look, I discovered that it was a dual sim phone so I really got interested, what type of phone is this? I asked, an sure it will cost more than 100k, I thought within me…

As I still held on to the phone, it sudden rang…. Omg! I quickly threw down the phone as the sound that came out from the phone was as if a loudspeaker had been placed in the room. My friend gently picked the phone with a bemused look and calmly told me that was how the phone rings so loud.

Wow…. What type of the phone is this? I collected the phone from him to look for the name of the brand but all I could see were some strange names I cant easily recognize among the different brands I know. Then he explained to me that it was a China phone….

Welcome to era of China phones… some call it Shinko phone… over the years, we have course to see many china phones ranging from ITEL, NOKLA, NKIA, TECNO, and even names such as GODWIN, and others.

Later, we begin to see some of these China phones having Mobile Television where you can tune to local channels.

Right now, it has become so difficult to even recognize them again as some China phones had been so designed to look like Nokia and other brands, that one of the easiest way to recognize them is the MNT that takes the place of MTN

Blackberry, Ipad, iPhones and DSTV phones

After following the trend of phones, I quickly jumped at DSTV mobile phone following a brief flirt with Nokia phones, but by this time, the new rave in town was Blackberry and iPhones. And sharing of PIN became the order of the day.

Moreover, in a bid to outdo each other, the Mobile network provider created the monthly, weekly and daily internet plans which allowed subscribers to have access to internet.

The introduction of Blackberry and frenzy rate in which our society embraced it is alarming going by different news being heard about blackberry thefts among other things.

Despite my addiction and romance with mobile, it has never crossed my mind to get a blackberry or an iPhone even when I can afford it, I just do not see any thing attractive in it and am still waiting to be proved wrong

However, by now, after my conversation with my wife, I realized that I had really got so involved with mobile phones and as a married man, I ought not to allow it become my second wife. I need to take a decision once and for all.

One thing I promised Temmy was my undying love for her and I think if I need to do that, I have to reduce my addiction to mobile phones.

Just before you say “ YES I DO”

(Strictly for Intending couples)

(Caveat Emptor:  This write up is strictly for Intending couples, before you go on reading it, you must identify yourself that you are in that category)

Okay, having done a little test and had screened out all the players or the unserious lovers from reading this piece, intending couples, lets study something together about your ideal person… some pitfalls you will have to avoid before saying YES I DO.

Credit must be given to Zicolo Abiola Issac for the inspiration to write this, he  wrote a wonderful piece in his Facebook page which I found very useful and which am going to adopt most of his points and discuss about it.

Of course by the time of writing this note, I am still single (If you are reading it after February 18, 2010), so many will say, “What do you know about Love and marriage to teach us” but, I have had my own fair share of the Love and Relationship and there are some topics about love in which I consider myself worthy and qualified to talk about.

Okay, enough of this rambling, lets start….

Do you have a relationship with a girl or a guy and  you are telling yourself that its time to settle down… as a lady, do you think its high time he proposed, and as a guy, do you think this is just the right moment to pop the question.

Well… most people get to that stage without actually knowing how they get there. Many just start conceiving marriage thought without the right motive.

To some, it may be the age factor… the thought of “ Oh, I am getting old o… when will he propose na” or “All my age mates are married, am tired of doing the best man, its time I take her to the alter” comes readily to mind.

If that’s your motive for getting married, then you better check out yourself, you are seriously not ripe for marriage, and you are heading for a turbulent time in your marriage.

Deciding if you’re ready to make the commitment to marriage is only half the battle, before you ever think of settling down, there are a few things to consider first because, you must figure out if the man or woman in your life is the right one to devote yourself to until death do you part. Believe me, this is not a joking matter, there are a few warning signs that your boyfriend girlfriend is not marriage material. It’s a complex situation but we are going to address them carefully here.

• Is he or she the Touch and Go person: Are you getting married to a restless person, a guy or a girl who has trouble committing to a job, a friendship or even a hairstyle might not be the best person to swear your undying loyalty to. If she has tried numerous short-lived career paths or is constantly making new friends and dropping the old ones, these may be indications that she’s not the kind of girl who’s in it for the long haul. settling down simply may not be in the cards for someone so free-spirited and fickle, Even if he/she sticks around, consider the possibility that his/her ever-changing lifestyle could derail your own life plan as well. Remember getting married means combining your lives in nearly every sense. Give some serious thought as to whether or not she will be a good influence on your future.
• Is He/She the Jealous Type? If your boyfriend/girlfriend is jealous of every guy/girl who comes near you, going to the putting a ring on her finger is not going to make her more secure. Everyone gets jealous sometimes, but if you find yourself constantly having to reassure her that the other women in your life are not a threat to her, this could spell doom for a long-term commitment. Two years ago, a guy actually called me on phone to tell me to steer clear of girlfriend…. It really turned me off from that kind of relationship. A good husband/wife is not possessive or irrational. As long as you’re not giving him/her any reason to be suspicious, she should be able to keep the green-eyed monster in check.
• Is the sex life totally different? Have you really have cause to wonder if your partner’s sex drive match yours: Sex is an important part of any relationship, and the way you relate to each other physically has a big influence on whether you stay together after you say “I do.” One sign that to show that he/she might make a bad husband/wife is if his/her sex drive differs wildly from yours. Whether it’s much higher or much lower than your own, his/her libido will have a huge effect on your happiness as a married couple. Sex-drive issues can be the result of medical or psychological problems, so problems might come and go, but either way, it’s best to work this out before you walk down the aisle.
• Is he/she happy when your friends are with you? Mmmmm…. This is a very sensitive matter, have you thought about his/her disposition towards your friends? A guy/girl who disapproves of you hanging out with your friends will become a husband/wife who doesn’t want you to have your own life outside of the marriage. Even if he/she is not that fond of your buddies, he/she shouldn’t stand in the way of you spending time with them on your own. Provided your friends aren’t convincing you to rob banks or visit a Juju man. He/she should trust you to make your own decisions about your friends. If he/she tries to restrict that now, it’ll only get worse after you say your vows. One of my girlfriends was always against my friends, she will always ask me what’s my use of staying with them. She once asked me to choose between her and my brother when there was a conflict of interest… of course you can imagine that I will chose my brother, the relationship did not even lasted long for me to consider her a wife material.
• Is he/she trying to change you? If your boyfriend/girlfriend is constantly fussy about your appearance, your behavior, your personality, your career path, your friends, and your habits, he/she is essentially telling you that you’re not good enough for him/her. Everyone can make improvements in their lives, and a good partner should help you become a better person, but if he/she is forever on your case about changing one thing or another, he/she is certainly going to make a bad husband/wife. You also have to decide whether or not the things he/she is asking you to change are reasonable or out of the question. Can you give up your vision of a loft downtown for his/her desire for a house in the suburbs? Are you ready to start putting on jean just because he/she says that’s how he/she wants you to dress? What if you’ve always wanted to be a father/mother and he/she is dead-set against having children? Ask yourself how much you’re willing to give up to please him/her. A lady was always nitpicking about lots of things about me, she complained about the way I eat, she complained about how I laugh, she complained about how I sleep, she complained about virtually everything about me so one day I asked her, “are you sure I am what you want? You better decide now because this is who I am, I can’t start changing how I walk, talk, eat and sleep because of you”.

Contrary to the wisdom of pop songs, love is not enough to make a marriage work.

Getting married means sharing your entire life with another person, so you want to make absolutely sure that he/she is someone you’ll be happy spending time with day in and day out. Keep an eye out for these warning signs that your boyfriend/girlfriend will make a bad husband/wife and avoid committing to the wrong woman.

If he/she has all or most of the above traits, then you had better think twice before you decide in saying “YES I DO”. Marriage is an eternal thing and once you are inside, it’s till death do you part.