The plan:
Late breakfast.
Uber to the hospital.
In-person yoga.
Leisurely walk.
Bus the rest of the way home.
Read a trashy novel.
Dinner with my besties.
And then.
Before I even got into the Uber, there was no cell service.
Just like that.
Exactly how does one function when suddenly transported back to 1978?
Fortunately, I had a little cash. The Uber driver got tipped. Yoga was good. I visited with an old friend and ran into a fellow Asylum inmate.
So far, so good.
Now: how to get home?
I have a bus map in my head.
I have a plastic bus pass.
What I do not have is real-time information.
Which bus is best today?
Where to transfer for the best connection now?
For familiar routes, no problem.
For anything new — potential disaster.
On the first bus, I started poking at my phone.
This is what I saw.
Exactly what one wants to see when one is already off the grid.
When I got home, I called the helpful human number.
On the phone that is not working.
One hour and three minutes later, I was still on hold.
I stopped holding.
Meanwhile, my iPad, also on an eSIM, is working perfectly. My account appears fine. My phone has decided it no longer believes in towers.
Google Fi helpfully notes:
“We are investigating a known issue…”
Of course you are.
ChatGPT suggested I have a glass of wine and wait for things to magically resolve themselves.
Gemini suggested dialing *#*#34866#*#*.
For now, I am going with wine.