I Guess Britain’s got Talent

I’m not too sappy, and I find it hard to believe that I’m actually recommending Youtube videos of a talent show, but both of these videos are great in their own right. Enjoy! (Click twice to load them on the main Youtube page)

Voicemail is an American Curse

Of all the countries I’ve been to and lived in, none embraces voicemail with even a fraction of the unadulterated vigour that we Americans do.  My host families in China and Chile never had it in their homes, and cell phones never gave the opportunity to leave one either. Same with Germany, and it is glorious. Maybe it’s because I am keenly aware that I am not important enough to ever expect other people to have an urgent message for me.  Mabe it is beacause the voice menus are so annoying and I don’t have a visual voicemail a la iphone to make scanning and screening easy.

Anyways, apparently the new term for all this is ‘voice-mail phobic.’ Thank you NYTimes. 

I thought of all this really only because I went to a glasses shop to pick up some contacts yesterday. They didn’t have my exact prescription, so they got my phone number to text me when they are ready to be picked up. SO MUCH BETTER.  Then I wonder if this is just one step closer to total consolidation and to eventually  getting a facebook message from ‘my friend’ the optomestrist office.  I wouldn’t be opposed.