Kris and I have recently separated ourselves from our sanity and acquisitioned cell phones.

The primary reason for getting these horrid little devices is that Kris is too often out driving around or "on assignment" for school. There have been several times in the past few months when it would have been really nice to have a phone.

So we ponied up the cash to T-Mobile and got two sleek little Samsung phones, and I have to admit cell phones have come a long way since I had my Sprint POS phone several years ago.

The thing I hated the most about Sprint was their inability to send me a bill in a timely fashion. Usually the bill would arrive bimonthly, indicating that I was past-due. That bill would be followed by a notice from Sprint saying they were just about to turn me over to collections for non-payment.

The second thing I hated about Sprint was their inability to deliver my voicemail. Sometimes messages would float around in the ether for days before my phone alerted me to the new voicemail. Of course, by the time I checked the message, whatever opportunity had long since passed. It was particularly annoying because some of my so-called friends would call my cell phone instead of my home or work number, even though they knew that I never got their messages and I had explicitly and repeatedly told them to try me at home too or instead.

So, now we've got these phones.

Kris has spent the last several days trying to find the perfect ringtone. He discovered that he could download a plethora of ringtones free for the taking from a website using the WAP browser. He's chosen something Final Fantasy. When I got home tonight, standing here in the same room, I called his phone from mine so that we could bask in the glory of his new ring.

I have a new ringtone too. Mine is the musicbox-like theme from Amelie. Until I get sick of it anyway.

The call quality has vastly improved, or maybe just the phones have, but the two or three conversations I've had have been much less crappy than I remember. We also have flip phones, so my phone doesn't randomly call people from inside my purse. Everyone programmed into my phone should thank me and send cash.