Over-relaiance on modern technology is a double-edged sword. My wife takes pride in paying bills and keeping records on-line. We argue every time tax season comes around because she has tossed some important paper records. One year, after chiding me about getting certain records on line, the sysytem she accessed was down for several days. Another time, our home network was down. Paper records would have been nice then.
In the same vein, it still makes sense to have a landline, in case of emergency and your cell coverage has problems or your cell batteries are low and cannot be recharged. I keep an old rotary phone in the basement in case the power goes out.
Of course, I used to wear suspenders and a belt just to make sure my pants didn’t fall down.
In California, 911 calls from a cell phone were automatically routed to the California Highway Patrol, not the local police department.
This may have changed in some locations as the use of GPS in cell phones, and the ability to route the call based on the cell tower receiving the call are implemented.
-PJ
I had a friend that lived in a nice area of Phoenix- in fact just a few blocks from Nancy Reagan’s mother. Cell phones worked in half of her home and not in the other half. Service there may be better now but we used to laugh about that. You could make calls from the living room and most of the bedrooms but not the kitchen or office.
The cell network is connected back to the twisted pair network. If landlines fail, cell may go as well.
I have the same problem. My property is a black hole for technology and I don’t see the turning around any time soon.
I’ve never appreciated crappy cell phone reception anyway.