The Hot Line

Mercury in Gatorade

The Hot Line

Inspired by the notion of a wired phone, red in color? It’s even better, colored by the images from a time in the past, when there was the hot line to Russia, or the central command, something important. “Launch the missiles!”

I toyed with the idea of a similar hotline, and I used a flasher, back in the days of wired phones and phone lines, instead of a ringer, as it kept me happy. No noise, and I could honestly say, “I didn’t see the phone.”

Was a little weird, and freaked out more than one girlfriend, but then, that was a trailer park in old South Austin, a land more myth and fable than reality. I might be missing Radio Shack and easy solutions.

Mercury in Gatorade

The idea, recall the current astrological conditions, is resurrected. The first part of the problem? I don’t have a wired phone jack anywhere in the house. As further amusement, I had to borrow a wired phone, RJ-11 jack, remember those? I had to borrow a phone from a neighbor to see if the wireless internet modem thing worked, as there was a hot outlet on its backside. It didn’t work, or not that I could make it work, but it was a wireless phone, and maybe the battery was dead.

We’ll never know.

Still, there’s the appeal of a hot line phone. I looked at my current, older model iPhone, as it’s red and in a clear case. Think that’s as close as I’ll get, and I have no desire to go back to wired landlines.

That’s part of history.

The Hot Line


The Hot Line

This is part of as mercurial miscue, as I was thinking about adding an “office only” hot line, and it would need to be a wired line for that one phone to work. However, it circles back around to added complexity and is that adding value? Besides, I’m mostly mobile with my work.

Less is more. But sometimes, cool toys, you know?