Cell phones - Not the only answere for long distance calls

Many people with chemical sensitivity issues also have electrical/wireless sensitivity issues (something that we at CIIN know very little about). That is not breaking news. Yet every week I talk to someone who has those issues and is still using a cell phone. Most of those people know it is not good for them, but the cheap long distance rates and convenience overrule them.

The convenience is hard to argue with, but there is an alternative for long distance, at lease for those who have or can get a wired phone. Calling cards! There are many available, and their rates can be really good. Some go as low as 1 penny per minute (I've seen lower too). Here is just a sampling:
callingcards.com
callingcardsplus.com
centcalls.com
pennytalk.com
callingcardsonline.com
And some, if not all, of the cell phone companies offer there own too.

Obviously, some are better deals than others. It pays to make comparisons. I've used Callingcards.com off and on for 10 years or more, and it's worked pretty well. I'm not trying to recommend them, just letting you know I've gone this route successfully. There have been rare times when I could not connect via a pay phone when I've been traveling, but as I said, that's been rare. And calling regularly from your home phone should pose no problems.

Two issues to keep in mind, other than the need for access to a wired line. First, the basic rate is not the only thing to compare. Some have maintenance fees, weekly or monthly. Some have connection fees for each call. You will need to figure what works best for the calling you do – lots of short calls, lots of long calls, a mix. It will take a little study.

Second, contacting these companies is usually done via the internet, and for MCS/ES people that poses a problem. You will probably need someone to do the basic search on line, but it looks like there are customer service numbers you will be able to call. I can't guarantee this, but it should be possible to get a card/set up an account that way. That is how you can "recharge" the card too.

The reason I bring this up in this blog is that electrical sensitivity is not something a person should keep challenging by using cells phones. It seems that, like chemical sensitivity, continued exposures make things worse over time. And MCS/ES people can feel pretty damned isolated. That means the telephone link is important.

By the way, I have found over the years that people who can get their chemical sensitivities under control (this means practicing avoidance seriously) often find their electrical sensitivity gets much better. I hope this helps someone.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year — and Happy other holidays too.

P.S. For those with ES, you might find the post 'Wednesday, March 07, 2012
Search tool for antennas and towers' below helpful.

Wednesday, March 07, 2012

Search tool for antennas and towers

The Wrong Cause

At CIIN, I talk to people every month who are most likely misidentifying the cause of their distress. A woman thinks her couch has somehow gotten contaminated, but it turns out her new neighbor cleans with chlorine bleach. A man thinks the sewer is venting into his house, but he has just started parking his car in his attached garage.

But the situation is usually not clear cut, and people too often latch onto the first thing that comes to their attention. And then they can find themselves working like crazy to make their life fit into the world that evolved from misidentifying the problem. It's like trying to drive a square peg into a round hole — even if you appear to be making progress, you are not fixing the problem.

My message, as poorly as it has come across here, is that if you think you have identified the cause of your trouble and no solution you come up with seems to fix it, consider the possibility that you focused on the wrong thing. Keep an open mind.

Well, I am done babbling for now. Good luck.