A while back, I wrote a post with some advice on how to feed medicine to your cat. I now have realized that if your cat is determined not to take the pill, it isn’t going to happen. Javier is on steroids (long story) and he’s decided that he is not going to let us feed him medicine any more. No amount of water or rubbing his throat is going to change that.

Now, on the cell phone saga. My Samsung phone from T-Mobile is on its last legs. The screen was damaged a while back and there is this black nothingness spreading across it. I can barely read the phone number I am about to dial, and I get the feeling that one of these days it isn’t going to work at all. It lost its charge today, so I panicked and decided that I had to get a new phone. The problem is that I don’t want to renew my contract, so I don’t want to get my phone at the T-Mobile store. T-Mobile blows (to put it mildly), and there is no way in Hell I am signing another contract with them.

I went on Craigslist, my favorite place to shop for things, and found a place in the Mission District of San Francisco that claimed to be selling inexpensive used cell phones. It is on Mission St., which is the sort of busy city thoroughfare where you can buy Ecstasy or crack at two in the afternoon, shop at a dollar store, catch a bus, buy cheap socks, get really good tacos, enjoy a drink, and purchase a neon Last Supper themed wall clock. It is also really filthy and there are tons of pigeons. Oh, and I used to live there. Anyway, I called the cell phone guy and he said he had some used phones. He also said that when I get there I should either call and let him know I’m there (duh, no cell phone!) or “knock on the window.”

I took the BART train over to the neighborhood and walked two blocks to the store. Actually, I walked past the store and then turned around and realized that it looked like it had gone out of business. There is plywood over the door and the metal security gate was closed. I knocked (hard) on the window three or four times a face appeared as the curtain at the back of the display window parted. The owner let me in to a small, dark space with leather jackets (all for sale) hanging up the height of the left wall and glass cases under the counter filled with cell phones in the middle of the store. There was also a work bench covered in electronic gear and a number of computers.

All of the phones were heavily used and most had minimal features and sold for $40-$60. I asked why I wouldn’t just go on ebay or craigslist or buy a phone there that was newer and probably cost less. He said I should buy from him because it was a reputable store. Plus, he doesn’t charge sales tax.

I told him I’d have to think about it.