Closer To Gone.

Pay phones have been slowly disappearing for years.  The cell phone has been slowly killing them.  And now two more in Saskatoon are gone.  The SaskTel pay phones in the lobby of the Saskatoon Public Library's downtown Francis Morrison branch have been removed.  There were a pair of them.  The library now has a free courtesy phone just inside the doors of the main floor.  It will be interesting to see how well that works.  It will also be interesting to see which pay phones here are the next to go.

I Hate Answering The Phone.

Please don't phone me.  Not that many people do.

How Rare?

I just answered a wrong number.  And it made me wonder how rare wrong numbers are these days.  Many people don't even use the keypad on their phone anymore, they use stored numbers.  So the chances of a wrong number are much less than they used to be.  I suppose someone, someplace, keeps track of that kind of data, somehow.

Seven To Ten.

Today marks the end of the seven digit phone number in Saskatchewan.  The existing 306 area code is almost used up, so a new area code, 639, will be used for new numbers in the province.  This means you will need to dial an area code before entering the rest of the number you wish to connect to.  Apparently most customers have begun doing so, although it might have something to do with the automated message that's been running for  a while.  It notified you that you would soon need to enter an area code to reach the number you are trying to dial, then would pass on your call.  Now if you don't dial an area code you get an automated message telling you to dial again with an area code.  I'm sure it will still confuse a few people for the next while.

Always Remember.

Before you get out of your vehicle, make sure you have the keys in your pocket or other carrying place.  it will save you a lot of walking.  Especially since payphones seem about as rare as unicorn poop these days.

867-5309=$2.60

If you're old enough to remember the early '80s you may remember the song "867-5309/Jenny" by the group Tommy Tutone. The song peaked at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1982. As you might imagine when the song became a hit that phone number caused a lot of trouble for phone companies across North America. People phoned it to find out what was on the other end, much to the chagrin of whoever had the number at the time. Other people tried to get the number assigned to them by the phone company. Somehow I got thinking about the song today, and having a bit of time while waiting for a bus I dialed the number into a pay phone. When I did the digital display on the phone asked me to deposit $2.60. I have no idea why it did that, and you'll forgive me if I don't potentially waste $2.60 trying it from my home phone to see what happens if you do dial it. I've seen a couple of sites online that claim it's inactive for this area code, 306, so perhaps it's simply set up so that pay phones give out that ridiculous price so people won't phone the number.