{"id":138950,"date":"2025-01-24T02:44:28","date_gmt":"2025-01-24T08:44:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=138950"},"modified":"2025-07-07T10:17:01","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T15:17:01","slug":"cell-phone-issues-this-week-made-me-want-to-scream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/01\/24\/cell-phone-issues-this-week-made-me-want-to-scream\/","title":{"rendered":"Cell Phone Issues This Week Made Me Want To Scream"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week, I decided to switch my cell phone carrier and get a new phone because my ancient one wouldn\u2019t work at all on the new network. What I didn\u2019t know…<\/p>\n

\"ScreamingScreaming Western Grebe<\/span><\/p>\n

Was how much craziness would ensue. And yes, there have been times this week I felt like screaming.<\/p>\n

The grebe above isn’t actually screaming, but it does look like it was. Sometimes I edit photos of my bird and animal subjects that make me laugh and save them in my files in case they work well with something I might write about. This was one of those funny images.<\/p>\n

My new cell phone was scheduled to arrive on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, my old cell phone decided to go crazy. I couldn’t get past the lock screen.<\/p>\n

At first, I simply couldn’t see the keypad to enter my pass code. Then I figured out where the numbers were and managed to get into the phone. For all the good that did. Every screen I tried to access was black. I couldn’t do anything.<\/p>\n

My phone toyed with me for a while, and then the lock screen completely froze. It stopped responding to my touch altogether.<\/p>\n

The problem was that I needed my old cell phone to approve a message in their app from my previous carrier for a number transfer PIN, but I couldn\u2019t view those messages or approve them on the phone.<\/p>\n

The only thing I could do was use the Phone Link app on my laptop, which was connected to the old phone, to view and send text messages or make phone calls. More accurately, I used the app to dial numbers and then talked on my phone.<\/p>\n

I spent hours chatting with my old carrier Wednesday night and Tuesday morning while logged into my account through my laptop browser. I talked with at least 11 technicians (possibly more), but nothing worked or was resolved.<\/p>\n

Whenever they texted me a link to grant access, I kept ending up on the security page of my account. I desperately wanted to keep my old phone number, I\u2019ve had it for 24 years.<\/p>\n

I logged out of my account and waited for the carrier\u2019s “normal hours” to call them. That last technician was able to text me a link, and when I clicked it, I could finally generate the number transfer PIN. I could have danced!<\/p>\n

My troubles weren\u2019t completely over, but I finally managed to activate my new phone with the new carrier.<\/p>\n

I lost my contacts but was able to retrieve text messages from my bricked old cell phone and used them to rebuild my contact list. It took a lot of time, but hey, I ended up weeding out quite a few numbers I don\u2019t need anymore.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t shut the old phone off, it doesn\u2019t work, but sooner or later, the battery will go flat, and that hunk of junk will be toast.<\/p>\n

Maybe my old phone took revenge on me because it knew it was about to be replaced. Who knows?<\/p>\n

Anyway, yes, there were moments this week when I felt like screaming. But this morning, I\u2019m heading out into nature and away from technology for some peace, relaxation, and joy.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

P.S., I switched to Visible<\/span><\/a>, which for a single person has much better pricing than my previous carrier.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Western Grebe photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week, I decided to switch my cell phone carrier and get a new phone because my ancient one wouldn\u2019t work at all on the new network. What I didn\u2019t know…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":138947,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[124,1148,89,26,161],"tags":[4004,699,4072,16169,4142,4157,877,707,90,4094,2127,4046,16170,165,7473,3996,5123,4014,4095],"class_list":["post-138950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-humor","category-utah","category-western-grebes","tag-adult","tag-aechmophorus-occidentalis","tag-calling","tag-cell-phone","tag-close-up","tag-funny","tag-grebe","tag-grebes-2","tag-humor-2","tag-marsh","tag-open-bill","tag-portrait","tag-scream","tag-spring","tag-visible","tag-water","tag-waterbirds","tag-western-grebe","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/western-grebe-spring-open-bill-mia-mcpherson-2176.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-A98","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":101210,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/29\/clarks-and-western-grebe-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":138950,"position":0},"title":"Clark’s And Western Grebe Images","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 29, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"On my trip up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge last week I was delighted to see and hear both Clark's and Western Grebe species from the auto tour loop.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Spring Clark's Grebe close up, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/clarks-grebe-spring-mia-mcpherson-5961.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/clarks-grebe-spring-mia-mcpherson-5961.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/clarks-grebe-spring-mia-mcpherson-5961.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/clarks-grebe-spring-mia-mcpherson-5961.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":116223,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/09\/24\/demure-looking-western-grebe\/","url_meta":{"origin":138950,"position":1},"title":"Demure Looking Western Grebe","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 24, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week, I photographed this demure looking Western Grebe on one of the water units from the auto tour loop at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Demure looking Western Grebe at Bear River MBR, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/western-grebe-demure-adult-mia-mcpherson-0816.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/western-grebe-demure-adult-mia-mcpherson-0816.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/western-grebe-demure-adult-mia-mcpherson-0816.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/western-grebe-demure-adult-mia-mcpherson-0816.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":150809,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/07\/25\/nesting-western-grebe-photos-from-bear-river-mbr-in-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":138950,"position":2},"title":"Nesting Western Grebe Photos From Bear River MBR In Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 25, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning I\u2019m sharing two nesting Western Grebe photos that were taken at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in northern Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Nesting Western Grebe, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/western-grebe-on-nest-mia-mcpherson-4541.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/western-grebe-on-nest-mia-mcpherson-4541.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/western-grebe-on-nest-mia-mcpherson-4541.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/western-grebe-on-nest-mia-mcpherson-4541.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":113164,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/05\/03\/springtime-grebe-and-avocet-portraits\/","url_meta":{"origin":138950,"position":3},"title":"Springtime Grebe And Avocet Portraits","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 3, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning I am sharing two springtime portraits that I took last week at Bear River MBR. The first is a Western Grebe, the second, an American Avocet.","rel":"","context":"In "American Avocets"","block_context":{"text":"American Avocets","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/shorebirds\/american-avocets\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Springtime Western Grebe portrait, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/western-grebe-portrait-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-2171.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/western-grebe-portrait-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-2171.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/western-grebe-portrait-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-2171.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/western-grebe-portrait-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-2171.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":101597,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/04\/14\/spring-clarks-grebe-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":138950,"position":4},"title":"Spring Clark’s Grebe Images","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 14, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm sharing a few spring Clark's Grebe images today that I took up in the marshes of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge during the first week of April.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pair of Clark's Grebes in early spring, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/clarks-grebe-adult-spring-mia-mcpherson-2649.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/clarks-grebe-adult-spring-mia-mcpherson-2649.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/clarks-grebe-adult-spring-mia-mcpherson-2649.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/clarks-grebe-adult-spring-mia-mcpherson-2649.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":117253,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/10\/20\/bathing-western-grebe-giggles\/","url_meta":{"origin":138950,"position":5},"title":"Bathing Western Grebe Giggles","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 20, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning, a bathing Western Grebe gave me the giggles. Amidst global turmoil and my own personal struggles this year, I needed those laughs.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bathing Western Grebe - Score!, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/western-grebe-bathing-autumn-mia-mcpherson-4597.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/western-grebe-bathing-autumn-mia-mcpherson-4597.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/western-grebe-bathing-autumn-mia-mcpherson-4597.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/western-grebe-bathing-autumn-mia-mcpherson-4597.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138950\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}