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Hekate

(90,978 posts)

5. Our main reason for keeping our landline as long as we did was for emergencies...

Reply to question everything (Original post)

Sun Mar 24, 2024, 04:37 PM

Mar 24

Anyone remember the Northridge Earthquake? We lived 100+ miles north, and the roll of the earth woke us up. Immediately after, our power went off and stayed off. I knew I could get San Diego on my clock radio if the fog & atmosphere were right, so I tried my car’s radio to find out the epicenter and extent of the quake. The electrical power was still out over a wide region when my sister phoned me from Massachusetts — from her landline to mine — to see if I was okay. I said yes, and asked her what her TV news was saying.

We moved, we now have a Spectrum bundle for the house and I have a cell phone. I am not being a Luddite when I say that giving up something as old and reliable as landlines to our homes seems a dubious tradeoff. Why not both?

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19 replies

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Highlight:

Landlines are dying out. But to some, they're a lifeline. [View all] question everything Mar 24 OP

I've had the same landline number for 30 years kimbutgar Mar 24 #1

63 years here - same phone number since marriage No Vested Interest Mar 24 #3

32 years malaise Mar 24 #11

Same landline number foe 42 years. I will not get rid of it. Trueblue1968 Mar 24 #13

I've always had one. Arthur_Frain Mar 24 #19

I learned that they survive hurricanes way better than cell phones. Just unplug the electric handsfree and plug malaise Mar 24 #2

When the cell towers go out or all the power is out, landlines continue to operate. PSPS Mar 24 #4

Our main reason for keeping our landline as long as we did was for emergencies... Hekate Mar 24 #5

I don't get cell service RSherman Mar 24 #6

I don't have a land "line" but have had a cordless VoIP phone for 20 years now elocs Mar 24 #7

What about rural areas that do not have Internet connection? Or low income that cannot afford it? question everything Mar 24 #16

i have AT&T VOIP and a Verizon cell phone. Most people i know only have the cell phone Takket Mar 24 #8

I have a land line and cell phone. No plans to get rid of my land line. Fla Dem Mar 24 #9

Same here. And then there are some who are trying to text to my landline question everything Mar 24 #17

This happens to me all the time. Even moonscape Mar 24 #18

I converted my ATT landline to an ATT cheap plan cell phone 2 years ago. Gidney N Cloyd Mar 24 #10

I had my last landline in the early 2000s. Straw Man Mar 24 #12

I have a landline. Beacool Mar 24 #14

We have a landline with a residential cordless system and two of these: Stinky The Clown Mar 24 #15