Ah, I'm sorry to hear your husband has to face such challenges. My niece has CP and she is continuing to go through surgeries that may allow her to walk- she says thank goodness for the internet! Anyhow, have you ever considered walkie talkies? My parents live in a cell-phone poor area and they like to walk in the woods a lot so they got walkie talkies. They also use them to communicate between barn and house. Just another possible solution for when you have to replace your phone someday. Cheers!

I got more info today - both from my brother's significant other (SO) who sent me a long email and from him when he called me. He completed the intake evaluation today and he goes in Monday for detox and then into treatment for four weeks. He seems very committed to it and I do think he realizes he will die soon if he doesn't do this. Hopefully it's not too late as his SO indicated he is pretty sick - unable to eat, etc. I was encouraged to hear him rather enthusiastic about his four hour conversation with the intake counselor who is a nine year recovering alcoholic. I know it will be important for him to develop relationships with other recovering alcoholics, which in the past he despised - things like AA meetings which he has attended in the past - required I think as a result of DUI arrests. He's anxious to get in and get started though scared about the detox. He knows he will be given medication to help with this but I felt very bad for him as I don't think I've ever heard him express fear about anything. So things are progressing. It's so tragic how awful addiction can be.

I guess it all depends on how much you call from home versus away from home or on the road. We use pre-paid cellular. The new phones were free after rebate and my wife and I each spend about $5-$7/month for the STI Mobile/Sprint service. We only make quick 1-2 minute calls for necessary reasons and it works fine anywhere in the country that Sprint covers. Voice mail and text messaging are turned off on both cellular phones. Other cellular providers are now joining the pre-paid game with good deals. We are still stuck with the old telephone company for home and home office lines. I must have the reliability and quality of a landline for my business. I do pay too much for long distance, toll-free, and local service for my business compared to the low rates available today. Bills are typically $35-$50/month for relatively low volume usage. The last time I switched was from MCI to Ameritech(i.e. SBC/AT&T/who knows?) It was a pain to switch, but the new lower rates were good for a year before they went up again. Our home phone line just went up to $22/month for local phone service. It started at $18 several years ago. Pre-paid long distance service is $.025/minute using cards from companies like Cheap Phonecards. The latest cards don't require you to enter the pin every time from home and you can program the 800 access number into speed dial. The long distance cards are great from hotels too. We are seriously considering the switch to broadband phone service, but our local numbers are not yet portable for Vonage or the others. We are just outside of their large markets. Broadband cable internet is $30/month and speed is around 300K or 10 times faster than dial-up. It is fast enough for our needs. The total bill (excluding my business) is around $67/month for all phones and broadband for my wife and I. Here is a link that might be useful: Cheap Phone Cards

Plllog- I do see your point. The only severe (not extreme) alerts I have received late at night had to do with flash flooding, which doesn't affect me but very well could affect some of my low lying neighbors, and severe thunderstorms which produce high winds and large hail. I personally keep these alerts activated. Straight line winds can and do cause a lot of damage BUT, it isn't something I'm prepared to wake up in the middle of the night to suddenly batten down the hatches for. Large hail however? If my phone buzzes in the middle of the night for severe thunderstorms with straight line winds and producing large damaging hail, I will get up, get my outside dogs and bring them inside. Whether that warning was sent at 2 PM or 2 am, my response would be the same. Protect my animals. I guess what I'm saying is that, at least for me and the rather extreme weather we have around here, I still would want to be notified, even if it is the middle of the night so I can take steps to minimize damage and protect my pets and/or property. I can't testify to what qualifies as severe weather in other parts of the country, I only know my own stomping grounds. I've never been annoyed or awoken by a useless weather report. Every one I have received was not only valid, but acted on immediately to protect my family, property or pets, regardless of the hour. I could see how getting a winter advisory in the middle of the night when you are safe and warm in your bed and knew a winter storm was coming could be an annoyance though, it just isn't my experience in my part of the country.