To have a mobile or not?

A big decision. I was a late adapter to the world of mobiles. But these days it clings to me. Calls arrive late at night and early in the morning. I think my window of latest and earliest is 1 AM and 4 AM. It disrupts family life and meals but you cannot switch it off in case a call really is important. However, a Manx Telecom account is a luxury I can do without as using it in England is just ridiculously expensive. And so I shall soon junk the mobile and my current number. But do I bother with getting a UK mobile account? Heck my 10 year old daughter has one as does my 74 year old father although the latter has not yet worked out how to use this new-fangled device.

The case for is that there is the odd vital call and I need to take it. I can call folks when I am on the move although since this is usually on the Oxford-London drive sooner or later I will pick up three points. And it is a handy alarm clock.

The case against is that folks who really need to speak to me can call me on a landline either at home or at Real Man Pizza where I have an office above the shop and can get hold of me. My PC is switched on all day and I do receive and answer emails and so I am always contactable. Rarely in my life going forward as a writer will there be something so urgent that I need to be contacted immediately.

Meanwhile being contactable in this way is disruptive to family life and to my ability to switch off. I am conscious that having a mobile allows me to make non vital calls in the way that one drags on a new cigarette when you do not really want another fag.

On balance I plan to dig out an old alarm clock and use that. At some stage soon, those of you who have my phone number will need to start contacting me by email or by leaving a message at Real Man Pizza or, for the privileged few, calling me at home but risking a diatribe from a.n.other if it happens to be during meal times/out of work hours.

Am I missing something?